by Jackie Hart, MD
Q: Can you tell me more about a supplement called NADH, particularly for the management of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome? It has helped my 35-year-old son, who has fibromyalgia, tremendously (allowing him to come off of his pain medication and antidepressants), but my 31-year-old daughter, who has chronic fatigue syndrome, has experienced only slight improvement.
A: I find it interesting that your son with fibromyalgia has fared better with NADH (sold under the trade name Enada) than your daughter with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), because NADH has been studied for use with CFS, but I cannot find any studies looking at its use for fibromyalgia. With that said, there are certain similarities between fibromyalgia and CFS.
Finding relief from symptoms of either fibromyalgia or CFS can be difficult and frustrating. Both conditions can cause sleep disturbances, whole body pains (fibromyalgia pain tends to be in muscle and soft tissue, whereas CFS pain tends to also occur in joints), headaches, and feelings of depression as well as helplessness.
Because of some of the similarities between these two conditions, there can be overlap in the approach to treating each condition. These are two illnesses for which integrated medicine can truly be applied; in fact, I would say that improvement of either fibromyalgia or CFS requires integration of standard and alternative medical approaches.
Studies of NADH
A study published in February 1999 in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology showed that more than 30% of patients with CFS who took 10 milligrams of NADH for one month had improvement in their symptoms; there were 26 patients in this trial. Another study, with more participants, showed that 83% of those with CFS who took NADH improved after taking the supplement for 18 months. This information suggests that perhaps in the first study the supplement was not taken for a long enough duration to produce significant positive results. Therefore, perhaps your daughter may see more improvement in symptoms over time.
Regarding your son, I have not found studies looking at NADH for fibromyalgia specifically. Although no side effects were reported by the people in the studies mentioned above, the safety of the supplement, to the best of my knowledge, has not been tested. If your daughter is pregnant or planning to get pregnant, therefore, I would recommend she avoid taking NADH during that time.
How might it work?
NADH is a coenzyme, which is a very small particle that facilitates the job of enzymes. Enzymes are proteins that induce chemical changes in the body necessary for normal function. As a coenzyme, NADH helps enzymes produce energy to feed all cells, including muscle cells. In theory, therefore, if there are low amounts of the enzyme (as is postulated with CFS) or if the enzyme is used inefficiently (as may be the case in muscle disorders such as fibromyalgia), giving a person more of the coenzyme may allow him or her to use what is available for energy production more effectively.
Because the reasons why people develop either fibromyalgia or CFS are not clear, the proposal of using coenzyme NADH as a beneficial supplement is still theoretical and should be used cautiously. I think it is terrific, however, that your son has been able to stop taking his pain and antidepressant medications, since the goal for treatment of fibromyalgia is improvement in symptoms. I would recommend that he and anyone else considering using NADH inform their doctor.
Q: Can you tell me more about a supplement called NADH, particularly for the management of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome? It has helped my 35-year-old son, who has fibromyalgia, tremendously (allowing him to come off of his pain medication and antidepressants), but my 31-year-old daughter, who has chronic fatigue syndrome, has experienced only slight improvement.
A: I find it interesting that your son with fibromyalgia has fared better with NADH (sold under the trade name Enada) than your daughter with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), because NADH has been studied for use with CFS, but I cannot find any studies looking at its use for fibromyalgia. With that said, there are certain similarities between fibromyalgia and CFS.
Finding relief from symptoms of either fibromyalgia or CFS can be difficult and frustrating. Both conditions can cause sleep disturbances, whole body pains (fibromyalgia pain tends to be in muscle and soft tissue, whereas CFS pain tends to also occur in joints), headaches, and feelings of depression as well as helplessness.
Because of some of the similarities between these two conditions, there can be overlap in the approach to treating each condition. These are two illnesses for which integrated medicine can truly be applied; in fact, I would say that improvement of either fibromyalgia or CFS requires integration of standard and alternative medical approaches.
Studies of NADH
A study published in February 1999 in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology showed that more than 30% of patients with CFS who took 10 milligrams of NADH for one month had improvement in their symptoms; there were 26 patients in this trial. Another study, with more participants, showed that 83% of those with CFS who took NADH improved after taking the supplement for 18 months. This information suggests that perhaps in the first study the supplement was not taken for a long enough duration to produce significant positive results. Therefore, perhaps your daughter may see more improvement in symptoms over time.
Regarding your son, I have not found studies looking at NADH for fibromyalgia specifically. Although no side effects were reported by the people in the studies mentioned above, the safety of the supplement, to the best of my knowledge, has not been tested. If your daughter is pregnant or planning to get pregnant, therefore, I would recommend she avoid taking NADH during that time.
How might it work?
NADH is a coenzyme, which is a very small particle that facilitates the job of enzymes. Enzymes are proteins that induce chemical changes in the body necessary for normal function. As a coenzyme, NADH helps enzymes produce energy to feed all cells, including muscle cells. In theory, therefore, if there are low amounts of the enzyme (as is postulated with CFS) or if the enzyme is used inefficiently (as may be the case in muscle disorders such as fibromyalgia), giving a person more of the coenzyme may allow him or her to use what is available for energy production more effectively.
Because the reasons why people develop either fibromyalgia or CFS are not clear, the proposal of using coenzyme NADH as a beneficial supplement is still theoretical and should be used cautiously. I think it is terrific, however, that your son has been able to stop taking his pain and antidepressant medications, since the goal for treatment of fibromyalgia is improvement in symptoms. I would recommend that he and anyone else considering using NADH inform their doctor.