I am taking them in combination with Relaxin (a female hormone). At first this combo worked wonders for me, but lately it has stopped working. See my comments in the "One Year on Guai: Yes" thread, and in an old thread you can search for titled "Miracle Cure." I recently started the Guaifenesin protocol, and it seems to be helping me sleep quite a bit better. I'm still in the "you get worse before you get better" phase as far as the pain goes, but am optimistic that I'm onto something. Incidentally I got well enough on the Relaxin, Magnesium Malate therapy to train for and run a marathon. But after the marathon I steadily relapsed. I think the marathon was just a bit too much stress!! (But I'm still glad I did it.).