Overview Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue and vitamin D

Created June 2010
* Large doses of vitamin D reduced CFS/Fibromyalgia in > 10 studies* Many books and online forums recommend vitamin D for CFS/Fibromyalgia* Vitamin D also reduces a wide variety of pains*            (More Fibromyalgia/CFS info below){include}

  • Vitamin D Levels can be restored quickly within a week with a loading dose.

    • With a loading dose, you will probably feel the benefits in a week.

  • A Vitamin D test is generally NOT required before having a loading dose.

  • If you don't feel better within 2 weeks, you do not need to continue taking vitamin D for CFS/ME/Fibromyalgia.

    • When stopped, your body will naturally reduce and eliminate any excess vitamin D within 2 months.

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Source of above chart = Medscape

FibroGuide - easy introduction to Fibromyalgia featured on Medscape

Fibromyalgia is the second most common condition affecting your bones and muscles. WebMD 2017

huge resource, but nothing about Vitamin D

Vitamin D is one of 10 nutritional supplements which appear to treat Fibromyalgia (combo needed?) – July 2024

**Neuronutritional Approach to Fibromyalgia Management: A Narrative Review

Anastasiia Badaeva, Alexey Danilov, Anastasiia Kosareva, Mariia Lepshina, Viacheslav Novikov, Yulia Vorobyeva & Andrey Danilov

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Fibromyalgia (FM) is a complex and common syndrome characterized by chronic widespread pain, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and various functional symptoms without clear structural or pathological causes. Affecting approximately 1–5% of the global population, with a higher prevalence in women, FM significantly impacts patients’ quality of life, often leading to considerable healthcare costs and loss of productivity. Despite its prevalence, the etiology of FM remains elusive, with genetic, environmental, and psychological factors, including nutrition, being implicated. Currently, no universally accepted treatment guidelines exist, and management strategies are often symptomatic. This narrative review explores the potential of a neuronutritional approach to FM management. It synthesizes existing research on the relationship between FM and nutrition, suggesting that dietary interventions could be a promising complementary treatment strategy.

Various nutritional interventions, including vitamin D, magnesium, iron, and probiotics supplementation, have shown potential in reducing FM symptoms, such as chronic pain, anxiety, depression, cognitive dysfunction, sleep disturbances, and gastrointestinal issues.

Additionally, weight loss has been associated with reduced inflammation and improved quality of life in FM patients.

The review highlights the anti-inflammatory benefits of plant-based diets and the low-FODMAPs diet, which have shown promise in managing FM symptoms and related gastrointestinal disorders.

Supplements such as

  • vitamin D,

  • magnesium,

  • vitamin B12,

  • coenzyme Q10,

  • probiotics,

  • omega-3 fatty acids,

  • melatonin,

  • S-adenosylmethionine, and

  • acetyl-L-carnitine

are discussed for their potential benefits in FM management through various mechanisms, including anti-inflammatory effects, modulation of neurotransmitters, and improvement of mitochondrial function. In conclusion, this review underscores the importance of considering neuronutrition as a holistic approach to FM treatment, advocating for further research and clinical trials to establish comprehensive dietary guidelines and to optimize management strategies for FM patients.

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Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Long-haul COVID-19

CFS and Virus as of Sept 2024 include:

  • Chronic fatigue syndrome, the immune system and viral infection - Jan 2012 FREE PDF

  • The viral origin of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome - Aug. 2023 FREE PDF

  • The persistent viral infections in the development and severity of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome - January 2023 FREE PDF

  • Epigenetic reprograming in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: A narrative of latent viruses - May 2024 [https://doi.org/10.1111/joim.13792|FREE PDF

  • IgG Antibody Responses to Epstein-Barr Virus in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Their Effective Potential for Disease Diagnosis and Pathological Antigenic Mimicry - Jan 2024 FREE PDF

  • Chronic fatigue syndrome related to herpes simplex viruses infection – a narrative review - June 2024 FREE PDF

..no compelling evidence that any supplement will help Fibormyalgia (aside from vitamin D... - Feb 2024* in certain circumstances) will improve symptoms of fibromyalgia ** ConsumerLab *---

59+ Vitamin D Life pages have FIBROMYALGIA OR FATIGUE in the title

This list is automatically updated

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ME/CFS study Feb 2024* ‘Deep Phenotyping’ Identifies Abnormalities in ME/CFS MD Edge ** Deep phenotyping of post-infectious myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome *https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45107-3 FREE PDF

1.7% of American women now have ME/CFS - 2022 CDC Dec 2023 (2021-2022)

and 2% of all Americans who are below the poverty level

Fibromyalgia treated with 50,000 IU Vitamin D weekly and rehab therapy for 6 months – June 2022* Can the Combination of Rehabilitation and Vitamin D Supplementation Improve Fibromyalgia Symptoms at All Ages? *J Funct Morphol Kinesiol. 2022 Jun 20;7(2):51. doi: 10.3390/jfmk7020051.

Dalila Scaturro 1, Fabio Vitagliani 2, Sofia Tomasello 3, Mirko Filippetti 4, Alessandro Picelli 4 5, Nicola Smania 4 5, Giulia Letizia Mauro 1* 6 month Results (Group A <50, Group B >50) *image

  • Numerical Rating Scale (NRS),

  • Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ),

  • Short Form 12 Health Survey (SF-12)

Several studies have indicated a correlation between vitamin D deficiency and widespread chronic pain syndromes, such as fibromyalgia. During this study, the effect of supplementation with vitamin D in association with physical exercise in patients with fibromyalgia was evaluated, in terms of improvement of pain, functional capacity, and quality of life, also evaluating the presence of any differences in age. A single-center, observational, comparative study was conducted on 80 fibromyalgia patients.

They are randomized into 2 groups:

  • Group A, consisting of patients ≤50 years; and

  • Group B consists of patients &>;50 years.

Both received weekly supplementation with 50,000 IU cholecalciferol for 3 months in association with a rehabilitation protocol. Patients were assessed at enrollment (T0), 3 months (T1), and 6 months (T2) from the initial assessment with blood vitamin D dosage and administration of rating scales (NRS, FIQ, and SF-12). From the comparison between the two groups, we have seen that in young people, supplementation with high-dose vitamin D improves short-term musculoskeletal pain and long-term functional capacity. Conversely, musculoskeletal pain and long-term quality of life improve in the elderly. Supplementing with high doses of vitamin D in fibromyalgia patients improves the quality of life and pain in the elderly and also the functional capacity in the young.

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11 of 12 studies found Vitamin D helped Fibromyalgia - review March 2022* Efficacy of Vitamin D Supplementation in the Improvement of Clinical Status in Patients Diagnosed with Fibromyalgia Syndrome: A Systematic Review *Curr Rheumatol Rev. 2022 Mar 7. doi: 10.2174/1573397118666220307122152 behind $95 paywall

Nanditha Venkatesan 1, Mallika Gyawali 2, Rinky A Botleroo 2, Rowan Ahmed 2, Roaa Kareem 2, Opemipo D Ogeyingbo 3, Renu Bhandari 4, Abeer O Elshaikh 2

Background Fibromyalgia syndrome is characterized by extensive muscular pain and chronic fatigue. Among the pharmacologic and other nutrient supplements that have been studied, Vitamin D has garnered attention owing to the critical role it plays in inflammatory and pain pathways. We conducted a systematic literature review to examine the efficacy of vitamin D supplementation in improving the clinical status of the patients and alleviating the symptoms of fibromyalgia.

Methods We searched Cochrane CENTRAL, PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, and grey literature (medrXiv and biorXiv) for observational studies, randomized controlled trials, case-control studies, and case reports published in English from January 2011 to May 2021, using the terms vitamin D and fibromyalgia or FMS. References were reviewed manually, and articles were only included if they were specific in their diagnosis of fibromyalgia.

Results 2651 studies were retrieved, with 12 studies fulfilling the inclusion criteria. 11 out of these 12 studies were of high quality and showed a low risk of bias.* 11 of these also demonstrated definitive improvement in clinical status and various outcome measures following supplementation with Vitamin D. *Conclusions Our study emphasizes an association between the supplementation of vitamin D and the improvement of the clinical condition of fibromyalgia through a systematic review of high-quality studies. The study also identified areas for future scope for research that is needed for standardizing the detection and treatment of this chronic condition through cost-effective supplements such as Vitamin D.

German website and book – relief in 1 week - 2014

* Excellent Vitamin D website with a Free Vitamin D evaluation service in English and another in German * Healthy in Seven Days - Loading dose of Vitamin D – book 2014, which has the following chart

image* Case studies in the book include Back and leg pain, Chronic fatigue, Lethargy, Fatigue, Exhaustion, Neck pain, and Emergency relief from exhaustion *.

4 Vitamin D books with sections on Chronic Pain/ Fibromyalgia

  • The Vitamin D Solution: CFS on pages 4,12,67 Fibromyalgia 4, 6, 12, 65-68

  • The Vitamin D Cure: Chronic pain and Fibromyalgia pg 133-136

  • Power of Vitamin D: contained in chapters pg 25-34, available as an e-book for $5

  • Vitamin D Prescription: Fibromyalgia on pages 4, 20-23, 80-84, 171, 185, 198-199

Loading Dose of Vitamin D

Overview Loading of vitamin D

Check that you are not allergic to vitamin D by trying a small amount - say 1,000 IU and seeing any reactions (only about 1 in 300 people are)

The brand vitamin D with the least amount of additives and no reported bad reactions is Bio-Tech - which also is the highest-rated brand on Amazon.

Of the few people with reactions to vitamin D, many appear to be deficient in Magnesium - Magnesium Chloride is a good supplement.

A typical loading dose of 400,000 IU - can, for example, be achieved by 50,000 IU capsules once a day for 8 days.

After loading the dose, just one tiny capsule every 2 weeks

See also Vitamin D Life - related topics

Fibromyalgia worse if low vitamin D – June 2020* Association Between Low Vitamin D Levels and the Greater Impact of Fibromyalgia *J Clin Med Res. 2020 Jul;12(7):436-442. doi: 10.14740/jocmr4136

Susyane Ribeiro Beserra 1, Fabiola Isabel Suano Souza 1, Roseli Oselka Saccardo Sarni 1, Myllena Maria de Morais Pereira 2

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Background: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a clinical syndrome mainly characterized by generalized chronic pain, fatigue, sleep, and cognition disorders. The role played by vitamin D in the pathophysiology of painful syndromes is poorly known. Studies assessing the association between vitamin D and FM have presented conflicting results. The aims of the current study were to assess vitamin D levels in FM patients by comparing them to healthy controls, as well as to analyze their impact on this disease.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study comprising 43 FM patients (ACR 2010 criteria) and 40 healthy individuals. All participants had their vitamin D levels measured, and FM patients also had their total calcium, albumin, phosphorus, and parathyroid hormone (PTH) measured. Clinical variables capable of affecting the results were evaluated, and the fibromyalgia impact questionnaire (FIQ) was applied.

Results: There was no statistically significant difference in global mean values of vitamin D between groups. In the total sample, only 4.8% of the individuals had vitamin D deficiency, which corresponded to the deficiency found in the group of patients; in the control, no one had vitamin deficiency; 39.8% had insufficient levels, and 55.4% with sufficient levels. The mean serum vitamin D values were similar between the FM and control groups (34.8 ± 12 and 34.7 ± 12.3 ng/mL, respectively; P = 0.806). However, a significant negative correlation was found between vitamin D concentration and FIQ values; that is, patients with the greatest impact of the disease had lower concentrations of vitamin D (P = 0.018).

Conclusion: FM patients did not present a higher prevalence of vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency than healthy individuals, although low vitamin D concentrations could indicate more severe disease impacts.* Clipped from PDF *“…” fibromyalgia impact questionnaire (FIQ), which comprised questions organized into 10 different items focused on investigating participants’ functional capacity, professional status, psychological disorders, and physical symptoms.”

See also PubMed - CFS, Fibromyalgia, and Vitamin D.* Search for (fibromyalgia OR "Chronic Fatigue") "vitamin d" 141 items as of April 2024 ** Psychological Outcomes and Quality of Life of Fibromyalgia Patients with Vitamin D Supplementation-A Meta-Analysis - April 2023 doi: 10.3390/jcm12072750. FREE PDF 8 trials looks good

See also web - CFS, Fibromyalgia

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  • Vitamin D at CureTogether: Fibromyalgia, MS, Psoriasis, etc - Dec 2013

    * Vitamin D is fairly popular among 113 treatments and has some effectiveness even at low doses (assume 2,000 IU without a loading dose) **image

  • 15,000 at Patients Like me commenting on CFS* CDC on Fibromyalgia ** Fibromyalgia is a disorder of unknown etiology characterized by widespread pain, abnormal pain processing, sleep disturbance, fatigue, and often psychological distress.

  • People with fibromyalgia may also have other symptoms, such as Morning stiffness, Tingling or numbness in hands and feet, Headaches, including migraines, Irritable bowel syndrome, Sleep disturbances, Cognitive problems with thinking and memory (sometimes called "fibro fog"), Painful menstrual periods and other pain syndromes.

  • Fibromyalgia often co-occurs (up to 25-65%) with other rheumatic conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and ankylosing spondylitis (AS).

  • Prevalence 3.4% women, 0.5% men - averaged over all ages - increases with age

  • Working-age women with fibromyalgia hospitalized for occupational musculoskeletal disorders were almost 10 times less likely to return to work

    • Causes and/or risk factors for fibromyalgia are unknown, but some things have been loosely associated with disease onset:

    • Stressful or traumatic events, Repetitive injuries, Illness (e.g., viral infections), Certain diseases (i.e., SLE, RA, chronic fatigue syndrome), Genetic predisposition, Obesity

    * Note by Vitamin D Life: most of these are associated with a decrease in vitamin D levels * Effect of Correction of Low Vitamin D in Fatigue Study (EViDiF Study) Aug 2014

  • A Primer on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome GreenMedInfo Jan 2015

    • Mentions Vitamin D

  • Hope for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome SLATE Nov 2015

    • "And the hallmark symptom of the illness is that exertion can make patients* much, much worse. *"

    • ". . . the National Institutes of Health spends $5 million to $6 million a year on a disease that affects a million Americans. (For comparison, about the same number of people with HIV/AIDS receives $3 billion in NIH funding.)"

    • the article describes the major shortcomings of the previous PCE trial

  • ME isn’t just ‘exercise phobia’: it’s a physical illness. Nov 2015

    • People die of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) when PCE-type techniques are used.

    • 74 percent of ME patients are harmed by the therapy

  • CHRONIC PAIN: WHAT IT IS AND HOW PROPER TESTING HELPS Dec 2020

    • does not mention Vitamin D

ME and CFS share 85% of the altered genes - Jan 2024* Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia: A Single Disease Entity? MD Edge ** "Close to 2,100 proteins were identified, of which nearly 1,800 were common to both conditions."

Rreporting on

  • Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia are indistinguishable by their cerebrospinal fluid proteomes - Sept 2023 FREE PDF

Wonder if Long-COVID has similar altered genes.

Fibromyalgia description - diagnosis takes many years

Fibromyalgia - Burden of disease and disability and how it changed History by Drdoc on-line

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Fibromyalgia pain is worse than labor pain - 1988

Pain Medical Musing from a 1988 book

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Nice body chart by Dr. Carey

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EasyImmuneHealth 2014?* Fibromyalgia and Vitamin D Don't Get Misdiagnosed ** Fibromyalgia and Vitamin D Deficiency very often have COMPLETELY IDENTICAL symptoms. *Large numbers of people have been misdiagnosed with Fibromyalgia when they simply have Vitamin D Deficiency- don't be one of them.

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Chronic Fatigue Syndrome associated with different gut bacteria

5 Common Causes of Chronic Fatigue - Sept 2018* 5 Common Causes of Chronic Fatigue and Tests That Help Reveal The Cause Self Hacked *1) Anemia: Iron Deficiency, Vitamin B12 Deficiency, Folate (Vitamin B9) Deficiency

Overview Iron Supplements and Vitamin D

Vitamin B12

2) Poor Thyroid Function (Hypothyroidism)

Thyroid and vitamin D are the only body components which have a receptor on every cell in the body

Hypothyroidism risk reduced 32 percent in those getting vitamin D levels above 50 ng – Oct 2017

The Role of Vitamin D in Thyroid Diseases – Sept 2017

3)* Vitamin D Deficiency *4) Poor Liver Function

5) Low Testosterone Levels

Magnesium fights Fibromyalgia - a few PubMed studies

  • Magnesium and Fibromyalgia: A Literature Review - 2021 📄 PDF

  • Fibromyalgia and nutrition: Therapeutic possibilities? July 2018 (Magnesium) 10.1016/j.biopha.2018.04.056

    • amino acids, magnesium, selenium, vitamins B and D

  • Effects of transdermal magnesium chloride on quality of life for patients with fibromyalgia: a feasibility study Sept 2016 doi: 10.1016/S2095-4964(15)60195-9

A Wiki dedicated to ME/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - Jan 2024* https://me-pedia.org/wiki *3,300 entries as of Jan 2024

Has an OK entry for Vitamin D and CFS

CFS sufferer for 25 years helped by improving his mitochondria - May 2022* Toby Rodgers ** He was helped by Sarah Myhill’s book, Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Myalgic Encephalitis, 2nd ed.: It’s Mitochondria, Not Hypochondria

  • Johnson thinks ME/CFS is caused by a virus.8

  • "...estimated 1% of the global population has ME/CFS

  • took >20 years for him to be diagnosed as having ME/CFS

    • Note: on average, the time is seven years to be diagnosed

#090:** Short URL =__ http://is.gd/fibrovitd

Tags: Chronic Pain Overview