Can i drink dmso

Some doctors began to use DMSO to treat cases of skin inflammation and diseases such as scleroderma because of its ability to penetrate skin. Scleroderma is a rare disorder that causes your skin to harden. Specifically, DMSO may help treat chemotherapy extravasations. This condition occurs when the drugs used to treat cancer leak and become trapped in surrounding tissues. It can cause symptoms that include:. However, more research is needed to assess the potential benefits and risks of using DMSO to treat these conditions.

This is a chronic condition that causes inflammation in your bladder. To treat it, your doctor may flush DMSO into your bladder using a catheter over several of weeks. While DMSO has been approved for a variety of uses in dogs and horses, interstitial cystitis remains its only FDA-approved use in humans. The use of DMSO in animals has been linked to changes to their eye lenses. This has raised concerns about the potential of DMSO to damage human eyes.

More research is needed to assess these risks. Other reported side effects from DMSO tend to be minor. The most commonly reported side effect is a strong garlic flavor in your mouth for several hours after you have been treated with it. Your skin may also give off a garlic-like odor for up to 72 hours after being treated. Doctors agree that you should be cautious when it comes to applying DMSO topically. It may cause dry, scaly, and itchy skin. It may also interact with other medications.

DMSO may have a pain-relieving effect, both topically when applied, as well as in the brain, though the mechanism for this is unclear. It is an interesting and difficult-to-study compound. It is exceedingly permeable: Within five minutes of being applied to skin, it is detectable in the blood.

It has a distinct flavor and odor that can be noticed after application to the skin, which makes doing a controlled trial difficult; subjects in a study find it very easy to know whether or not they have been given DMSO.

However, the evidence that it is effective is poor, largely because of the difficulty in doing good studies on this compound, but also because large-scale studies are very expensive and there is little enthusiasm on performing such studies on a cheap compound.

The risks appear to be small. Apart from the taste and smell changes, there are rare reports of allergies, discomfort in the bladder after instillation there and possible damage to the eye lens at least in animals. However, a mixture combining antibacterial medication with DMSO can pass through the skin and reach the affected area. For the same reason, DMSO is often added to antifungal medications for treatment of eye conditions and sometimes to steroids for targeted, topical anti-inflammatory treatment.

Likewise, avoid mixing DMSO with substances that could be toxic if ingested, such as organophosphates or mercury salt. Research shows that DMSO slows or blocks conduction of impulses along nerve cells, which in effect reduces pain from musculoskeletal injuries, postoperative incisions and other sources.

Relief is only temporary—lasting up to a few hours—because as the DMSO dissipates, normal nerve function returns. It can be combined with other pain-relieving drugs, however, to extend the analgesic action. Some applications of DMSO combine all of these: For instance, it is often used in surgical colic cases to reduce the risk of tissue adhesions due to inflammation and poor circulation; some surgeons think that it may also provide some pain relief in the hours following surgery.

The Jockey Club allows 10 micrograms per milliliter of plasma. If you compete with your horse, check any governing association rules regarding DMSO use. Also keep in mind that because DMSO can move other materials through the skin, combining it with other medications could result in a violation of thresholds for both.

A search of a research database will turn up a good sampling of peer-reviewed papers on DMSO use in horses, but the compound has gotten far less scientific scrutiny than have medications developed specifically for therapeutic applications. Scant information is available regarding dosing. Often veterinarians rely on their own experiences and those of their colleagues in deciding when and how to use DMSO.

Whether applied topically, orally, intravenously or by injection, DMSO requires careful handling. If you do, keep these basic facts in mind to make sure your horse benefits fully from this unusual preparation. Don't miss out! With the free weekly EQUUS newsletter, you'll get the latest horse health information delivered right to your in basket! Behavioral Problems. Medications and Drugs. Horse Care. Farm and Ranch. Hoof Care. Injuries and First Aid.

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