MSM is touted as a wonder supplement. It claims to make your skin clear and radiant, make your hair strong and thick, increase flexibility and relieve pain etc but this is not the full picture. I want to tell you my experience of msm because I have been mislead about this substance and I don’t want others to go through what I have.

My mom and I had heard such good stuff about msm so we were in no doubt about its safety when she stated taking it four months ago to grow her hair. However shortly after taking it she had some worrying side effects . She was taking one teaspoon each morning for two weeks, and then in the second week something strange happened with her sleep cycle and she started sleeping only once every two days, or in other words she would sleep one night and then the next night be awake all night. By the end of that week it dawned on her that it was the msm that had done this, so she stopped it immediately and thought in a few days or so she would go back to normal, but it has now been four months in all and she still cannot sleep!
It was definitely the MSM that disrupted her sleeping cycle as she is on no medication, healthy and was not taking any other supplements, the strange thing is that the MSM seems to have caused some kind of blockage in her body and nothing seems to cut through this blockage and make her better.


She has now spent hundreds of pounds trying every sleep remedy in the health shop and ayurveda and acupuncture and nothing worked at all. She has had to resign to sleeping pills from the doctor, the only thing that will allow her a few hours sleep a night.

We are so desperate to know how to reverse this side effect of the msm. Everywhere we look for information says msm is completely harmless and non toxic and yet it has caused this major side effect for my mom. We have emailed the raw food company we purchased it from (Detox your World) and called them about the situation and were very disheartened when they completely refused to know and kept declaring that msm is so wonderful and couldn’t possibly have caused my mom’s sleeping problem. But we know 100% that it did.

We have come to the realisation that even so called ‘harmless’ things are harmful to some individuals, and it really hurts when people refuse to believe you when you tell them that it has caused a problem. I am so sorry I ever found out about raw foods now, because if I hadn’t I would not have known about MSM, With raw food companies there is no comeback if you ever have any problems with their goods. Right now me and my mom feel so alone with this problem and we wish someone would help us.

I have watched her health go downhill, she is barely recognisable to the person she was before and it has been such a strain on the family. She is 60 years old and until now has been remarkably healthy and never had to take medication for any health problem. But since this has happened she has become suicidal and I’m worried if she doesn’t find a way to get better she will take her life. She often blames me for recommending the msm to her, but I never knew it could be harmful to anyone, everyday I live with the guilt that I have contributed to her distress, and if she doesn’t get better I will never forgive myself.

At the time she took it we were not aware msm is such a powerful liver detoxifier. She has spoken to a very qualified Harley Street Nutritionist whom she is going to see soon who told her over the phone that he believes the msm have upset her nervous system due to the liver (sulfation) pathway it detoxifies. As of now, we don’t know if this can be reversed but we are hoping it can be cured.

In my research on MSM I have also found on a particular forum that many people have terrible vivid nightmares when taking MSM. So bad, that many have had to discontinue use of it.

It is all too easy to get carried away with the good things to do with the raw food lifestyle, but by sharing the bad side it can help others. So if anyone has had a similar situation on MSM or any other side effect please share. If any one can help me with any suggestions on how to cure this problem I would be so grateful.

I know that it is sulfer and some people who are allergic to sulfer have reactions from MSM. I found this site says that the MSM detoxes drugs from the system and this sometimes causes reactions, not from the MSM, but from the drug detoxing. It mentions LSD but also says that over-the-counter drugs could also give people similar psychiatric reations. HOpe this helps.

[www.oralchelation.com]
Well, that was fine, but he then gave some MSM to a friend who had a different dream experience and I want to tell you about that.

This lady took MSM -- about 2 heaping teaspoons per day, for only a few days, and then quit in terror!

She had dreams alright! But, they were nightmares! And, if that weren't bad enough, her dreams CONTINUED when she was awake. My friend called me in a slight panic.

I told him about street drugs and psychiatric drugs. I mentioned above that these are "oil-soluble" drugs -- that means that they stay in the system for ever. But, there is more.

You've heard about "LSD Flashbacks?"

Or Trips!

LSD, you know, was designed by psychiatry as a treatment tool -- none of their drugs ever do any good, but they sure cause problems.


LSD, like other illegal drugs, often gives the person not only a "high" but also a "trip." The trip can seem pleasant or terrifying -- it's all a matter of what kind of thinking is going on in that person. If that trip is a terror, from LSD, for instance, then taking MSM is very likely to re-stimulate that LSD trip. After all, the MSM is causing a tiny amount of LSD to "leak" out of the cell and cause an LSD trip.

Now, you can be so afraid of this that you don't want to experience it, and don't take MSM, or take it in small doses and don't have the detoxification in so dramatic a fashion.

Or, you can realize how very valuable this is to your body and go for it!

Many medical drugs would also cause these "trips."

So, my friend's friend was now more comfortable. She had taken some psychiatric drugs and wanted to be free of their influence. She went back onto the MSM, had more dreams. They lessened in their impact and eventually she found that MSM helped her "sleep like a baby."

So, will you have vivid dreams? I don't know.

These reactions are as variable as people's experience.

i agree with lilian swan

that it sounds like your mom is detoxing and having whatever toxins in her blood simply recirculating throughout her bloodstream and brain which keeps her awake at night

At one time I looked into MSM and didn't get any because the source of the MSM was from garlic and I decided to get my sulfur directly from the whole plant as a whole food.

Wow, Interesting! Thank you for sharing your experiences.

If you are the kind of person who only wants to put raw foods into your body, MSM doesn't count as raw, as it is cooked and highly processed. From what I understand, MSM is made from pine trees or something like that.