I, and several people I know, have had direct experience with silicon dioxide related pain and so I am trying to make the following information available to as many people as possible.
Statistics say that over seven million people in the United States suffer from Fibromyalgia. I expect that Canadian figures would also be high in proportion to our population. I believe that the cause could be silicon dioxide in our medication.
In most cases the onset of Fibromyalgia follows a serious illness or severe trauma. I suspect the initial problem may result from heavy doses of medication that contain silicon dioxide, taken to cope with the illness or injury, followed by pain medication (also containing, silicon dioxide) taken to cope with the painful effects of the previously ingested silicon dioxide so that it becomes a vicious circle.
Silicon Dioxide is an anti-caking agent that may account for up to 3% of a vitamin formula. It is used in the manufacture of glass, electrical components, optical lenses, abrasives, and ornamental and building stones. According to its MDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) it is a hazardous chemical requiring safety glasses, neoprene gloves, protective clothing and a respirator when handling. Prolonged exposure to this chemical can cause fibrosis of the lungs and may lead to death.
“Probably carcinogenic to humans” and has “sufficient evidence” of carcinogenicity according to the NTP (National Toxicology Program).
Silicon dioxide could be responsible for symptoms ranging from frequent headaches, arthritis, mood swings, neuroses, allergies and immune disorders and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. In other words it could be a major cause of ill-health in the western world.
Silicon dioxide was one of the main problematic substances contained in the breast implants that leaked causing Fibromyalgia like symptoms.
Silicon dioxide can be found in Tylenol Cold capsules, antacids, some, but not all aspirins, Motrin and Ibuprofen. It is also in some vitamins, wine, beer & toothpaste, crystal drink packages & I have even seen it listed in the ingredients for a brand of instant oatmeal. I am alarmed by the increasing number of food items that contain it.
I am not in the habit of taking medication for colds or flu but during the winter of 2007, after trying to shake a bad cold/flu I broke down and bought a box of Tylenol Cold capsules. The first box didn’t fix me up so I started on a second box and I eventually recovered from the cold/flu. I decided that it was time to spend a little money on my health so I splurged on various vitamins and supplements. Among these was a bottle of Milk Thistle, purchased for the purpose of regenerating my liver. I soon began to experience numbness in my right hand. This developed into pain that spread to my elbow, then to my shoulder and after a period of a few months to my left side. Eventually it became impossible for me to sleep through the night without getting up and taking something; usually aspirin, for the pain. Often I had to soak my shoulder in a bathtub full of hot water to relieve the aching before returning to sleep. I began my day feeling extremely stiff all over. I was 53. Arthritis immediately came to mind but I didn’t rush off to my doctor because my gut feeling was that I had caused the problem by something that I was doing differently. Eventually I figured it out. One evening, before going to bed I took a milk thistle capsule. I was up 3 times during the night. My right hand felt like it was on fire. I took aspirin the first two times and after a half hour I was able to go back to sleep. The third time the pain was more severe so I soaked my hand in hot water and took Ibuprofen. In the morning, convinced that the milk thistle had something to do with the severity of pain that night, I Googled the ingredients of the milk thistle one at a time and discovered what seemed to be a connection between silicon dioxide and my Fibromyalgia-like symptoms. I now believe that my problem was caused in the first place by the silicon dioxide that I ingested by taking Tylenol Cold and it was further exacerbated by the painkillers that I took. After this discovery I made sure that I didn’t consume anything that contained silicon dioxide and within a couple of days my pain went away and my body returned to normal. I have passed this information on to other people and have gotten feedback of similar results.
I am not suggesting that people stop taking their medication without discussing it with their doctor – just that they be aware of the possible effects of silicon dioxide. I am trying to pass this information on to as many people as I can. It seems criminal for people to be suffering from pain if the solution is as simple as switching painkillers to a liquid gel one that doesn’t contain silicon dioxide.
Thank you for reading this. Please help me spread the word.
Cow Shalt Not 
Jennie:
I spread! I stumbled it and tweeted it and dugg it. It’s a great post and was very enlightening. thanks for writing it
thank you. i find it interesting that sand could be so awful, but it is one of the common ingredients i am finding in things that seem to trigger a pain episode
Stumbled across this as I googled “silicon dioxide and arthritis”. I too, think there may be something to this. I’ve been eliminating dairy, gluten and sugar for the past couple months and sticking with whole, organic foods. I do supplement with vegan protein powder and a multivitamin. I recently switched my protein powder to one which had silicon dioxide. Wasn’t thrilled about this as I try to stay clear of additives but when you want vegan, gluten free, no soy, no sugar, & no iodine, you become somewhat limited in your choices. For the past month I have been experiencing only what I can describe as arthritis in my left (writing) hand. I’m only 34. Some days it’s so bad, I simply cannot write. When I, like you, tried to think of what I’ve been long differently, I came up with my new protein powder with silicon dioxide. Thanks for writing this. There’s not much out there but I also believe there is a connection. And as a general rule, this is why I try to stick to all whole ingredients – bc you just never know what toxic items are in our food (& supplement) supply!
Avoid Friendly’s – over half the foods I checked there had it in it. I think I figured out why it’s considered safe. They didn’t take into account leaky gut aka intestinal hyper-permeability which is also associated with fibromyalgia. I originally had Lupus symptoms. Elimination diet identified Soy as causing ~half the symptoms (other half indicated Fibromyalgia). Finding out Silicon Dioxide caused the other half and avoiding it reduced my reaction to soy. -Hope this helps some of you!
This should be on every Search Engine’s front page for ALLERGIES. I had a reaction to new meds (I don’t wear makeup so exposure there is out). This stuff boils at 5,000F. Crazy that doc’s treat for symptoms we get from meds but the FDA and USDA still allows it to be put in our foods, drugs and other products used on/in the human body.
BUYERS BEWARE! And USA get your heads out of the Bank and into well being.
I found this to be true as well. I narrowed it down by my vitamins after taking etodolac, which is an antiinflammatory and supposed to REDUCE joint pain, made me feel like my ligaments and tendons were ripping from my joints. I stopped taking it, the pain went away. Any vitamin I take that isn’t a gummy, I get the same results. The only difference in ingredients is, you guessed it, silicon dioxide! Problem is, I also take pain meds for my spine. They contain silicon dioxide! I can’t win! My joints hurt all the time. I’m pretty sure it’s Big Pharma keeping us dependent on them!
I keep gel capsule Motrin on hand in case I need something for pain.
Wow, after 20 years of cluelessness, I have finally come to think that silicone dioxide causes massive headaches in me. I used to attribute the headache to ibuprofen or vitamins i had taken, as the headaches always followed my taking of these pills. Usually they were hard pills. However recently i discovered some vitamins in gelatin capsules – no headaches whatsoever. I then bought another brand of vitamins in gelatin capsules…and – surprise – massive headache again. I compared the ingredients of the two brands of vitamins. The difference was that the headache-producing one contained SILICONE DIOXIDE.
I think I have narrowed down my cronic fatigue syndrome recently fom my pramacy changing supplyers of my Hydroclochlorthiazide pill manufacturer from Accord Health to Aurobino. Which the later uses Sillicon Dioxid as a filler. Please call me if you want to compare stories. I am switching back today. I think I have been having an adverse reaction to this. Put me in the hospital last week…Thanks for postiong this! ERIK
I found the information on this post to be quite interesting so I thought I’d add my two cents since I think it’s relevant:
During a period of about 9 months (from november 2018 to august 2019) I consumed a large amount of nicotine lozenges containing silicone dioxde (Nicotinell . By my estimates, about 2500 pills. Around june/july I started to get intermittent pain in my hands. At first I thought it might be due to stress or not eating enough, or some nutritional deficiency. After a while I started to suspect that it was caused by the pills I was taking. The symptoms mentioned on this article correlate well to what I was experiencing.
As I mentioned I started to get pain in my hands. It would be little “twangs” of pain that would come and go, in different locations, but it seemed to be primarily in the joints. I quit taking the pills about 3 weeks ago, and the pains and aching have decreased significantly, but now I am left with intermittent tingling and numbness, mostly on the tips of some of my fingers but also on my feet. And just today I started to get some numbness and tingling around my right little toe. When I stood up it felt like some debris was stuck on my foot, but it was just a spot that suddenly lost some feeling.
I also started to have a very strange pain related symptom which is that when I listen to music that I find pleasurable (the kind that gives you goose bumps), the middle joint of my right ring finger hurts. This particular symptom started about 1-2 months ago and it seems to be quite slow to resolve. I am sure it’s caused by silicone dioxide poisoning, because I didn’t have it before taking these pills, and it only appeared after taking a large amount of them.
There is a very interesting article which I think anyone researching silicone dioxide toxicity should read, and it’s titled “Silicon-Induced Contracture Syndrome” (google it).
I will check out that article. Thanks. Have you checked your food to see if you are still ingesting Silicon Dioxide from it? It’s in a disturbing number of products.