Guaifenesin and Fibromyalgia (The Surprising Truth)

Guaifenesin is the medication in Mucinex, an over-the-counter drug that is sold as an expectorant to break up mucus. Years ago, a Dr. St. Amand started the Guaifenesin protocol to reverse fibromyalgia symptoms.

My interpretation of his theory (from reading his book and his website) is that fibromyalgia is a disease caused by a gene that makes fibromyalgia sufferers not have an enzyme that allows phosphates to be secreted out of the body via urine. So, the phosphates build up in every cell in the body, eventually stealing the energy of each cell.

Years ago, I read his book, became excited about his theory, and started on the guaifenesin protocol. I had fantastic success with it for about 9 months, and then my progress stalled. Eventually, I stopped taking guaifenesin and started treating my remaining fibro symptoms with more stretching, relaxing, and massage – all things I had also found very helpful.

My progress continued and I developed my own treatment plan for fibromyalgia and never returned to guaifenesin, or even thought about it until I started writing my book. As I researched my book I discovered that Guaifenesin has analgesic (pain-relieving) and skeletal muscle relaxant properties, and that in large doses these are so great veterinarians sometimes use guaifenesin during surgery to relax the animals.

Wow! Guaifenesin has a skeletal muscle relaxant property? Well this explains a lot. This explains why I never cycled (felt worse before I felt better), which is something Dr. St. Amand says will happen. This also explains why I eventually plateau’d, and this explains why my own efforts at relaxing and stretching were successful after the guai stopped being successful.

Source by Lisa Klein Weber