However, most physicians suggest lifestyle and more natural approaches to help ease fibromyalgia symptoms rather than guaifenesin therapy. Even though guaifenesin has been used for more than 20 years and was approved by the FDA in 1952, some people with fibromyalgia do experience side effects from taking the drug.

Eliminate Fibromyalgia Pain Immediately

Amand believed guaifenesin could treat patients with fibromyalgia by removing excess phosphate from the body, which he claimed was the cause of fibromyalgia. Since at low doses guaifenesin has been found to ease pain and relax hypertonic muscles, some physicians also felt it could aid people with fibromyalgia.

While some researchers agreed the calcium phosphate deposits affect the muscles, tendons, joints, and other tissues of fibromyalgia patients, no scientific studies have backed up the claim that guaifenesin works to relieve symptoms in fibromyalgia patients.

In fact, one double-blinded, placebo-controlled study in 1996 of guaifenesin showed no change in symptoms or in the levels of phosphates and/or uric acid in blood or urine between the guaifenesin treatment and placebo.

Guaifenesin is not a cure for fibromyalgia and fibromyalgia patients who use guaifenesin (the generic name for the drug) may experience a number of potential side effects including dizziness. At high enough of a dose of guaifenesin, fibromyalgia patients may experience temporary muscle paralysis. Some of the brand names for guaifenesin include Humidid, Fenesin and Robitussin.

Get Rid of Fibromyalgia Pain for Good

If you have fibromyalgia and are being treated with guaifenesin seek emergency medical attention if you experience hives, headache, swelling of your lips, tongue, or face, difficulty breathing or closing of your throat.
Report to your physician any side effects such as a rash, nausea, vomiting, stomachache, dizziness or headache.

Your doctor treating you for fibromyalgia will also want to know what other drugs you are taking in addition to guaifenesin. Even though there are no known interactions between guaifenesin and other medicines, an adverse reaction could occur by mixing any prescription or over-the-counter medicines.

Also, while being treated with guaifenesin, you will not be able to use topical products, which contain aloe and various herbs. Fibromyalgia patients taking guaifenesin are also advised to avoid using razors with aloe strips, taking aspirin and applying certain skin creams. If you are taking guaifenesin, you probably will not need to worry about adverse side effects from the skin creams, aloe or aspirin; rather, the products may simply block the drug from easing fibromyalgia symptoms.

If you physician does opt for guaifenesin to treat fibromyalgia, he would determine the dosage based on your individual response. The required dosage of guaifenesin varies from 300 mg. twice a day to 3600 mg. per day.

Your physician will measure treatment progress by judging whether your fibromyalgia symptoms have improved. Also, your doctor will feel for the location and size of tender points, spasms or hard patches in the muscles and ligaments. If guaifenesin is working the way it is supposed to in a fibromyalgia patient, the patches will decrease in size and eventually disappear.

Because there is no cure for fibromyalgia, guaifenesin is viewed as a maintenance drug that must be used for the duration of a patient’s life if he or she does not want the symptoms to return.

Some physicians prescribe guaifenesin for fibromyalgia as a way of easing some of the symptoms of the condition rather than trying to cure it. However, guaifenesin may cause a variety of side effects in patients with fibromyalgia so most doctors will recommend lifestyle changes before prescribing guaifenesin.

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