Coenzyme Q10 for Fibromyalgia

Posted on Mon, 19 Dec 11

The first study to investigate treatment of fibromyalgia with coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) has demonstrated improvement in major symptoms such as fatigue, pain and migraines.

Surprisingly, there are no clinical studies of CoQ10 for fibromyalgia despite evidence to suggest CoQ10 supplementation may be of benefit. However a newly published case series suggests that CoQ10 may indeed relive fibromyalgia symptoms.

Five fibromyalgia sufferers ranging from 21 to 66 years old were treated with 300 mg of CoQ10 daily given in three divided doses. All had daily episodes of intense musculoskeletal pain and fatigue, stiffness, anxiety, sleep disturbance, and depression and three of them had daily episodes of migraine. The patients were then evaluated after nine months of treatment.

CoQ10 supplementation resulted in marked clinical improvement in major symptoms including fatigue, pain and migraines. Additionally CoQ10 treatment raised blood CoQ10 levels and decreased oxidative stress.

The investigators concluded that “the results of this study indicate that oxidative stress could be implicated in the severity of the clinical symptoms in fibromyalgia and suggest that CoQ10 and antioxidant therapy needs to be examined as a treatment in fibromyalgia.”

CoQ10 is extremely safe, non-toxic and well tolerated. While further studies are needed, CoQ10 at a dose of 100 mg three times daily could be considered as a treatment option for fibromyalgia and expected to produce improvements when used over several months.

Reference:

Cordero MD, Alcocer-Gómez E, de Miguel M, Cano-García FJ, Luque CM, Fernández-Riejo P, Fernández AM, Sánchez-Alcazar JA. Coenzyme Q(10): a novel therapeutic approach for Fibromyalgia? case series with 5 patients. Mitochondrion. 2011 Jul;11(4):623-5.