Ribose, fatigue and fibromyalgia

[Gary]

Even thought I'm certain that I was 18 just last week, I've also noticed increased fatigue in recent months.

My doctor did some blood tests and couldn't find anything wrong so we assume that it's old age creeping up on me. On the other hand, I have a strange and whimsical biochemistry so I thought maybe there's something else going on.

I heard about ribose (AKA d-ribose) on a body building site and, as usual, the online reviews varied between "hoax", "inconclusive" and "works great."

Nothing is ever simple, is it?

Ribose is a 5-carbon sugar (sucrose is a 6-carbon sugar) that is the building block for a lot of very important things in our bodies. From the name you'd be right in suspecting RNA and DNA but it is also used to build adenosine triphosphate (ATP) which is the primary energy system for all our cells.

Our bodies synthesise ribose all the time because there are either no food sources for it or very few (depending on who you ask). It either is or is not metabolised (broken down as normal sugar would be) when eaten so it either does or does not count as a carb intake for diabetics, again depending on who you ask, so diabetics should be cautious.

The research on the effectiveness of ribose as a supplement is "inconclusive" which means that the results depend on which study you read. Some focus on one claim, some on another and the results are "insignificant", "marginally significant" or "significant", depending on what is being measured.

It's important to notice that all of the claims are for improvement of function, not cures.

I decided to try it, even though it's somewhat expensive. The first place I found it was a small mall supplement store for $48/250g. The second was a larger health food store for $40/250g. The third was a Canadian online store for $33/300g. That's for pure d-ribose. Some products may contain fillers or other ingredients. Read the labels.

Ribose is claimed to improve muscle fatigue from exercise, chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. I've been taking it at the rate of 2 tsp twice a day for a few weeks and I think I've noticed an improvement in my fatigue level, especially after karate class. Then came Friday night.

I came down with a cold that evening. Usually when I get a cold it hits quite suddenly the first day and I get a stuffy nose with lots of coughing (which means little or no sleep and a very sore throat). Muscle aches and weakness are common and the cold lasts a week or more.

Friday night I wasn't sure that anything was actually wrong although I sneezed quite a bit. Saturday I walked briskly for about 20 km (12 miles) although I really suspected that I was coming down with something. Saturday night I was coughing but only occasionally. I did cough during the night but nowhere near as much as usual. My nose was definitely stuffy but decongestant spray took care of that.

Sunday I thought I'd gone two rounds with my karate sensei. I say two because it would be a major miracle if I survived one. Every core muscle ached which made coughing a special hell. But despite the usual brain-in-cement feeling I still wasn't as sick as I'd expect. I slept fairly well, only waking up occasionally to cough.

Monday my muscles felt much better. Still a bit of soreness but we went to Costco and I was walking normally. Another good night's sleep with only occasional coughs and nose blowing.

Today I'm feeling mostly normal with some residual symptoms. That's about a 4 day cold with greatly decreased intensity.

During the past few days I've been very tired as befits having a cold so I've done some napping and tried to get 9+ hours in bed at night. But my muscles have felt pretty normal (except for Sunday) instead of that
arthritic "I just ran a marathon and fought a cage full of tigers" feeling.

Bear in mind that whenever I get a cold I ALWAYS cough like a mad thing and very shortly my throat is so raw that it seriously sounds like I have whooping cough. Sleep is never an option, even with lots of pillows so I'm
sitting up.

So getting probably 75% of a normal night's sleep with maybe a half dozen coughing episodes (episodes -- not fits) during each night is amazing. It feels really bizarre to be tired but have my muscles working and to have the muscle pain of Sunday mostly go away over night.

Due to the ribose? Maybe. That's the only thing that's really changed since my last cold. Certainly lowered muscle fatigue is what I'd expect from increased ATP production. The reason one's muscles feel tired during a cold is that the virus hijacks the cellular machinery to make copies of itself -- which of course depletes the cells' ATP.

Anyway, I'm tentatively willing to say that the stuff works. For me, at least. As always, I am not a doctor and I am not dispensing medical advice.

My next experiment is to take the ribose only when I'm going to be working hard or when I suspect I'm getting sick. If it works as well as it seems to it's well worth the cost.

I know that quite a few of us have chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia so please take a closer look at the research results. If you think it may help then give it a shot. Unlike some supplements it's just a sugar so it's unlikely to have any particularly bad side effects (unless you are diabetic, as I said above).

If anyone else has experiences with ribose or links to good, solid research, please share.

[DANA]

Gary, it sounds like you enjoyed yourself and swinging your wife around the dance floor! It really does sound like a whole lot of fun! I enjoy dancing very much, but my husband is opposite and he does not dance.

Do you ever take AIRBORN when you have a cold or the flu? I love Airborn and it can be purchased in most pharmacies and grocery stores. It contains healthy supplements and herbs to lessen the time of being sick. That is wonderful that you have recovered so quickly from the cold!

[Gary]

The dancing went very well at the time but today I feel like I need a nap. I probably I needed another day to recover before spending the night jumping around on my toes doing East Coast Swing.

I've run into several people now who have the current cold and they've been sick for several weeks. At that rate, if I recover in less than a month I'm doing better than most!

[DANA]

Wow! You have really recovered quickly from your cold, Gary! That is awesome and I am so happy for you!

Hey, how the dancing go last night? What type of dancing is this? It sounds like a whole lot of fun!

Thank you for sharing that your Ribose is loose powder. I saw this online and wondered about it and I will have to decide which one to purchase. I can't wait to begin taking Ribose and I look forward to sharing my own results!

[Gary]

You're welcome. My lovely wife and I are going dancing tonight because I'm essentially over my cold.

I'm buying the loose powder rather than capsules or tablets. My current bottle is 250 g, the ones online are 300 g. I take 2 tsp (10 ml) twice a day which is somewhere around 5000 mg per dose.

50 x 3000 mg = 150 g which would be about 2 weeks worth or $40US/month. The powder should be cheaper.

I forgot one important point. Like coffee, ribose smells good (sort of like sponge toffee) but I found that it has a nasty lingering aftertaste. When dissolved in juice the taste disappears.

[DANA]

Gary, I am so happy that you shared this with us! I am a big fan of taking natural supplements and when I was initially diagnosed with fibromyalgia in March 2008, all the rheumatologist wanted to prescribe was an antidepressant that was supposed to help with sleep, but it kept me up all night long!

When I went to see my family doctor to share my new diagnosis, she said to me, "Check into taking D-Ribose and see what your fibro doctor thinks about it." Of course, the fibro doctor acted oblivious to any knowledge about the benefits of using D-Ribose to reduce fatigue, muscle aches and fibro challenges. I never purchased it because I did not know anyone who had positive results.

However, now that you provided excellent information and your own positive experience using Ribose, I am definitely going to try it!

Gary, I wanted to mention a website that I purchase many natural supplements for much less than how much it would cost to purchase locally. It is a terrific savings and that is why I order through vitacost.com. I am very satisfied with this online store that sells discounted natural supplements, beauty products, organic food and more.

How many milligrams is your bottle of Ribose? Also, how many capsules are you receiving in one bottle and how much does it cost? I checked out quality brands of Ribose at vitacost.com and for a bottle of 50 capsules of Ribose, 3,000 mg it only cost $19.99 when the actual retail price is $69.99.

Another brand of Ribose 1100 mg for 60 tablets for a discounted price $32.20 when it is retailed at $53.55. There are a wide variety of high end natural supplements and wellness products at Vitacost.
For me, it has been a major savings!

Gary, I am so glad to have learned more about the benefits of Ribose and I appreciate that you initiated this interesting topic. Keep me posted on how you are doing and I am glad that it appears to be improving your health!