Effects of vitamin D optimization on quality of life of patients with fibromyalgia: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background: Numerous studies have been conducted to evaluate the frequency of hypovitaminosis D in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) and its association with FMS symptoms. This study aimed at assessing the effect of hypovitaminosis D on the symptoms and quality of life of patients with fibromyalgia. Methods: A total of 74 FMS patients with hypovitaminosis D were randomly assigned into group A (Trazodone 25 mg at bedtime + vitamin D 50 000 IU weekly) and group B (Trazodone 25 mg at bedtime + placebo). Serum vitamin D level, Widespread Pain Index (WPI), Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) were used at the beginning of the treatment and 4 and 8 weeks post treatment. Results: Significant improvements were observed in WPI, FIQ, and PSQI scores in both groups. Moreover, combination of vitamin D and Trazodone resulted in significant improvement of SF-36 scores compared to Trazodone therapy. Improvement in pain-related indices including the WPI and the physical component score (PCS) fraction of SF-36 was more noticeable in vitamin D/Trazodone combination therapy. Conclusion: This study suggests that vitamin D supplementation has significant therapeutic benefits in the management of FMS, especially in pain reduction of patients with fibromyalgia. According to our results, a combination of vitamin D supplements and a conventional antidepressant, when given to vitamin D-deficient fibromyalgia patients, could significantly improve both physical and psychological symptoms

Nutritional Interventions in the Management of Fibromyalgia Syndrome

“…After 8 weeks of intervention, the treated group showed a significant improvement in FM scores, in contrast to the placebo group [25]. Subsequently, other studies were performed to evaluate the effect of vitamin D supplementation in FM patients [26][27][28][29][30][31]. Although in a limited sample of participants, all of these studies reported a beneficial effect of vitamin D supplementation.…”

The Role of Nutrient Supplementation in the Management of Chronic Pain in Fibromyalgia: A Narrative Review

“…Another randomized control trial concluded that vitamin D supplementation was beneficial in reducing pain in FM. A combination of vitamin D supplementation and an anti-depressant showed further improvement in physical and psychological symptoms [ 117 ]. Additional studies have also found vitamin D supplementation may provide significant relief of FM pain symptoms in patients with preexisting vitamin D deficiency [ 118 – 120 ].…”

“…The connection between vitamin D and FM has been widely studied [107][108][109][110][111][112][113][114][115][116][117][118][119][120][121]. However, the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and FM is controversial among literature.…”

Suplementação nutracêutica e fitoterápica no tratamento da fibromialgia: revisão de literatura

“…Estudos recentes demonstram que não há consenso sobre a relação entre FB e vitamina D, em particular a relação causa-efeito (Ellis, Kelly, Shurlock, & Hepburn, 2018). No entanto, o tratamento com vitamina D demonstrou ser eficaz na melhoria de certos sintomas da FB (Martins et al, 2020),(de Carvalho et al, 2018 como a percepção da dor e a hipersensibilidade musculo esquelética e, ainda, existem evidências que em pacientes com FB com redução dos níveis séricos de vitamina D (20.1 to 29 ng/mL como insuficiência e < 20 ng/mL como deficiência), uma combinação de suplementos desta vitamina e um antidepressivo convencional, como a trazodona, pode melhorar significativamente os sintomas físicos e psicológicos dos pacientes afetados (Mirzaei et al, 2018).…”