An Angry Letter To QuackWatch

My own personal experience was, as I look back at it, very dramatic.  At the time I thought it was "normal."

Let me take a minute of your time to mention that I first got interested in the "vitamin business" when I went to a lecture about parasites -- and how just about everyone's body was filled with them.  I saw this gross pictures of tapeworms that were 10 feet long -- having been "expelled" from the body.  Ugh!

The lecture urged me to buy this herbal combination which would kill or loosen the grip of these parasites -- I was convinced.

It is not often that you will spend hours on your hands and knees, peering into the toilet, looking for wiggling things!  I did.  I never found a wiggling thing.  But, the herbs certainly did cause loose bowels and some stomach rumbling.

I mention this because the worst thing a vitamin can do for you is "nothing" which you can observe.  You swallow this pill -- you don't perceive anything happening.  It then devolves back onto faith or technical knowledge.  I take CoQ10 for that reason.  I personally don't feel any different when I take it, but I believe from my reading of the literature that it is a very important nutrient to take.

So, I have been a believer in "detoxification" for many years, and also a believer that any effect I can observe is better than no effect observed -- and I view the "value" of that effect as separate from whether or not there was any effect.

In other words, when I experience some effect on my body (a rash, for instance) I realize, first and foremost, that there is an effect there.  I withhold judgment as to whether that effect is good or bad.

Then, I make a separate judgment on the goodness or badness of the effect.

Since I believe so strongly on the value of detoxification, I am prone to regard any effect that COULD be a detox effect as a good effect.

You understand that this is an inclination, not science.

So, my personal experience with MSM.

First, I resisted taking it for a couple years after I heard about it.  The stuff I heard sounded too good to be true, so I just simply didn't believe it and didn't buy any or try any.

Then, I heard a story one more time and it was convenient to buy a small bottle of capsules -- and I gave it a try.  These were 500 mg capsules of MSM only -- no additives.

Now, another inclination I have, not necessarily good, is that "more is always better."  So, I started with about 4 of those capsules.  I took them around noon of that day -- about 2 years ago.

Well, I quickly noticed that I had this tremendous increase in energy.  After a few hours I found that it was hard to walk -- I felt like running.  I was running up the stairs and singing to myself.  I found it hard to believe that MSM could do this, but MSM was the only new thing I was using.

That night I couldn't get to sleep.  I was wide awake, full of energy and finally gave up sleeping and worked most of the night on my computer tasks.

I didn't think that level of energy could last, but I was willing to try.  I took fewer capsules the next day, and still had that incredible level of energy -- but I was dragging a bit at the same time.

No sleep that night.

So, by the next day I took my 2 capsules in the morning -- no more during the day.  I still felt great, and now I managed to get a full night's sleep.

Amazingly, I found that my dreams were in Technicolor and I slept very soundly, I had not had trouble getting to sleep before, but now it was a decidedly nicer sleep.

This high energy, good sleep "thing" lasted several more days -- the effect winding down -- as I took increasing doses of MSM to see if I could maintain that feeling.

After a couple weeks I was taking about 12 capsules per day (6 grams) and there was no more energy effect -- I was sleeping very soundly however.

Then, that fateful day I "twigged" on the cause of the high energy.

I was having nothing more than a "drug high."  I became convinced that this was true.

I had never, in my whole life, used any "street drugs" but I had some normal amount of medical drugs and even weight-loss "pills."  I analyzed my reactions to those MSM capsules and decided that I had a drug high -- a very rapid detoxification at a light enough level that the toxins coming out of my cells were not enough to cause sleepy or tired feelings.

Now that those toxins were removed, I was probably into a period where the detoxification, if any, would be slower and now so dramatic.

That was very much the case.

It was about 5 weeks after my first taking of MSM that I started getting a rash.

The first little "bump" was not anything to even notice -- it was just a small red bump on my chest -- with an itch like a small mosquito bite.

Then, within a few days, that one bump got larger, itched a lot, and there were many other small bumps.

I'm sorry if this is a bit gross, but you may have this happen to you and you should know.

Those bumps became very uncomfortable -- itchy!  I would, naturally, scratch them.  When I did that, there was blood.  It wasn't running blood, just a little blood where the "scab" had been.  These were not "regular scabs" either -- just little red bumps that itched.  If you scratch them, there is blood.

Well, that itchy feeling became very uncomfortable -- but by now I knew that I was in a full detoxification mode and I was willing to have the discomfort in favor of the detoxification.

But I looked for ways to ease the itch!  Skin lotion wouldn't help.  Finally, I found MSM lotion and that took the itch away immediately.  The itch, however, would only go away for an hour or two.

So, this rash on my chest went on for some months -- getting bigger and bigger bumps, spreading over more and more of my chest.

Then it started to clear up.  Hurray!  I thought.

But, then I started "feeling" bumps (itchy places) on my back.

Yes, the rash then transferred to my back.  About this time I went to Germany for a 10 day trip and I carried lots of MSM with me -- to continue the detox process.  I also carried MSM lotion with me to ease the itch.

I spent lots of time standing up against doors and corners to rub my back against the corner or the door -- to reach parts of my itchy back I couldn't reach with my hands.

Then, the rash started to clear from my back -- my chest was completely clear -- but move to my buttocks and groin!

If your first experience with a rash is in your groin, you probably won't want to tell anyone -- and you may want to hide from your spouse. I've never had venereal disease, but I suppose it looks like that rash in some advanced stage.

If you want uncomfortable itchy, try it in your groin.

Well, fortunately, that didn't last too long, but it then spread to my arms and legs.

In total this took 9 months.  You can hardly believe, by now, that anyone would go through this -- but I so strongly believe in the value of detoxification that I did go through it and I would encourage you to do the same.

All during that time I was taking MSM in both capsules and loose powder -- a total of about 10 to 15 grams per day.

After those nine months the rash was all gone -- I've been free of ANY uncomfortable effects of MSM since then.

I suppose I attained pain relief during that time, too, but it didn't rise to much of a level of observation -- so dramatic was the rash.

Now, with no rash to occupy my mind, I find that MSM gives me very quick relief from back pain.

I often forget to take the stuff -- and will sometimes go for a few days without taking any.

Then, for whatever reason, I awake in the morning with a stiff neck, or painful back.  I now rush to my MSM container and take a heaping teaspoonful == washing it down with water.

I will often find the pain gone within an hour or so.  In earlier years a back pain, or a stiff neck would seem to stay with me until I could go to bed that night.

So, MSM is a permanent part of my life -- I take 10 to 20 grams per day, don't always remember, but ALWAYS remember when I have some pain somewhere.

When I started to sell this stuff, particularly in bulk form, I expected EVERYONE to go through this detoxification process.  I have been amazed at how few people have the same experience I had.

The great majority of my customers who tell me about their experience talk about immediate pain relief from arthritis, etc.

I estimate that only about 10% report a rash, and even fewer report to me the "drug high" reaction I had for the first week.

So, you are most likely in the "majority" of people and would find a dramatic detoxification not very likely.

I am convinced that MSM continues its detoxification process at a low level as long as you take it -- making individual cell walls more permeable -- so that the cell can more easily get rid of garbage and absorb nutrients.

I encourage you to give MSM a chance to change your life.