In recent years, antioxidant supplements have become popular to counteract the effects
of oxidative stress in fibromyalgia and one of its most distressing symptoms, pain. The aim of
this systematic review was to summarize the effects of antioxidant supplementation on pain levels
perceived by patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia. The words used respected the medical search
terms related to our objective including antioxidants, fibromyalgia, pain, and supplementation.
Seventeen relevant articles were identified within Medline (PubMed), Scopus, Web of Science (WOS),
the Cochrane Database of Systematic Review, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials.
This review found that antioxidant supplementation is efficient in reducing pain in nine of the studies
reviewed. Studies with a duration of supplementation of at least 6 weeks showed a benefit on pain
perception in 80% of the patients included in these studies. The benefits shown by vitamins and
coenzyme Q10 are remarkable. Further research is needed to identify the effects of other types of
antioxidants, such as extra virgin olive oil and turmeric. More homogeneous interventions in terms
of antioxidant doses administered and duration would allow the effects on pain to be addressed more
comprehensively.
