Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain syndrome characterized by generalized muscular and skeletal pain, tender trigger points, sleep disturbances, persistent fatigue, morning stiffness, headaches and anxiety or depression. Fibromyalgia is often considered a woman's illness, but the July 2007 "American Family Physician" reports that this condition has been diagnosed in men and children, as well. Treatment for fibromyalgia includes exercise programs, behavioral therapy and medications. Many patients with fibromyalgia also use alternative remedies, such as tyrosine.
Cause
The underlying cause of fibromyalgia is unknown. Experts at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, report that genetic factors probably play a role. Scientists believe the centers in your brain that process painful stimuli are inappropriately sensitive and that fibromyalgia patients exhibit a disruption in neural pathways for sensing heat, cold and mechanical stimuli. According to scientists at Abbott Laboratories, abnormalities in serotonin and dopamine neurotransmission have also been found in fibromyalgia sufferers.
Neurotransmitters
Neurotransmitters are molecules that serve as chemical messengers in your brain and nervous system. Serotonin, dopamine, epinephrine and gamma-aminobutyric acid are among the important neurotransmitters that control sleep cycles, mood, motivation, pain perception, movement, appetite and a variety of other neuropsychiatric functions. Deficiencies or excesses of specific neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, leads to abnormalities in behavior, attention, movement, pain perception or mental function.
Tyrosine and Dopamine
Dopamine participates in an impressive array of signaling activities in your brain. Dopamine deficits are responsible for the movement abnormalities seen in Parkinson's disease, and imbalances in dopamine production or sensing have been implicated in depression, sleep disorders, memory and learning difficulties, attention-deficit syndromes and fibromyalgia. Dopamine is produced in your nerve cells from the enzymatic conversion of the amino acid tyrosine. Theoretically, consuming more tyrosine increases dopamine in the brain.
Research
A study published in July 2009 "Clinical Biochemistry" demonstrated lower plasma tyrosine levels in fibromyalgia patients, but tyrosine was only one of eight amino acids lacking in these individuals. None of the three drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for treating fibromyalgia -- pregabalin, milnacipran and duloxetine -- directly affects dopamine levels in your central nervous system, so mechanisms that do not involve tyrosine or dopamine metabolism play a role in fibromyalgia. Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York is conducting a study using up to 2 g of tyrosine daily in fibromyalgia patients, but the results of this trial are currently pending.
Considerations
Although tyrosine supplementation may increase levels of dopamine in your central nervous system, the connection between dopamine and fibromyalgia has not been clearly defined, and tyrosine has not yet been shown to alleviate fibromyalgia symptoms. Tyrosine doses of 500 mg to 3,000 mg daily have been used for other conditions such as depression. If you have fibromyalgia, ask your doctor if tyrosine is appropriate for you.
References
- "American Family Physician"; Fibromyalgia; S. Chakrabarty, R. Zoorob; July 2007
- "Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology"; Fibromyalgia: Mechanisms, Current Treatment, and Animal Models; J.D. Brederson, et al.; April 2011
- "Staying Healthy with Nutrition: Tyrosine"; Elson M. Haas, M.D.; 2006
- "Clinical Biochemistry"; Altered Amino Acid Homeostasis in Subjects Affected by Fibromyalgia; L. Bazzichi, et al.; July 2009
- ClinicalTrials.gov: L-Tyrosine Supplementation in Patients with Fibromyalgia
