Damn Pain!

[Bud22]

Hi All,
I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in May 23.
Drs have put me on Co Codamol 30/500 and Pregabelin.
I'm also on Citalopram.
I cant take antinflamatories because of a heart condition.
The thing is, my pain has increased so much?
I've hardly slept in days.
Any advice on better pain relief?

 

[sunkacola]

Hi @Bud22 , and welcome to the forum.

My first suggestion is, if what you are taking is not helping with the pain, stop taking it!!
Why take drugs that are not doing, for you, what they are supposed to do. If they are not working, then they are not doing you any good, and because all medications carry risks and side effects, they may even be doing you harm. It is possible for a medication to make pain and many other symptoms worse.

Over what period of time has your pain increased?

Most medications are notoriously ineffective for people with fibro. There are some that only help some people, and you never know how any one individual with fibro will react to any given medication. It's always trial and error, and the errors are often not worth having given something a try. The ones that tend to work the most strongly are all addictive, such as opioids, and the best advice on those is just stay far away from them. They will very possibly only lead you into a whole lot more hurt than you already have.

Fortunately, you do not have to rely only on medication, and therefore doctors, to alleviate pain and other symptoms of fibromyalgia. There's no cure, and just as with drugs there's no one thing that helps everyone. but there are a lot of things you can do for yourself that will help you.
I wrote a post about this -- the post I wish I could have read when I was diagnosed years ago. If you are genuine about your desire to alleviate the symptoms of fibro, and willing to do what it takes to find out what works for you, you have a very high probability of having some success. Please read and start trying things, and by all means ask all the questions you want. We are here to help.

My advice for managing fibromyalgia (especially for newcomers)

I am not a doctor or anything, just a person who has lived with fibromyalgia for several years now and has done a lot of research and trial and error experimentation. What follows is just basics. There are a lot of variations. You will find your own versions of everything I say, as this is not a...

www.fibromyalgiaforums.org

 

[Bud22]

One thing I have found out the hard way is about sugary foods?
The pain does definitely escalate when I have it?
I'm definitely cutting down and trying to source alternatives.
Yes, I'm aware about opioids. Unfortunately I'm a bit compromised as to what they can give me because I can't take Nsaids and Asprin.
I'm in the trial an error phase with my medication.
Dr has suggested Duloxetine?
So hopefully that will help.
I'm seeing her next week and will definitely discuss some proper pain relief because I'm starting to feel really compromised as to what I can do.

 

[sunkacola]

I suggest you think twice about duloxetine. Many stories here and that I have heard other places about the side effects with that drug. Most people say it doesn't help much and the side effects are terrible.
I personally couldn't tolerate the side effects, not to mention that it did little for the pain until the dosage was increased to the point that the side effects were awful.

If pain escalates with sugar, then it is up to you to cut sugar out of your life entirely. Not just cut down, cut out completely. You can do it. It's of course a choice.....how badly do you want to be rid of at least some portion of the pain that you are in? If you want to eat sugar and you know it gives you worse pain, then that's your choice, but then think about how realistic it is to do that and then complain about the pain and expect a doctor to do something about it.

when you cut sugar from your diet, it only takes a few weeks before the cravings leave and after that you are home free. It's like any other addiction - it can be broken. Trust me on this, I have done it and have broken many other food "addictions" in order to have better health, especially since my fibro diagnosis.

Proper pain relief is not only found through drugs. You can do many things yourself, as I mentioned. Being dependent on drugs is always going to be a losing road, whether they are addictive or not. I am not saying never take a pain medication. I am saying don't ONLY take medication. Take as little as possible, and work to alleviate your pain through all the many other channels available to you. That is the route to better health, and if you are in better health you will very likely live with less pain.

because I'm starting to feel really compromised as to what I can do.

The truth is that most of us with fibro ARE compromised in what we can do. this is something that you may have to learn to accept, because fibromyalgia is a compromising sort of syndrome. Acceptance of this is very important. People who have fibro find that they have to adjust their lives around fibro -- learn what they can and cannot do, to what extent, how often, and so on. Have patience with yourself and with this process. Your life will not go back to being what it was pre-fibro, but you can have a life that is entirely acceptable if you are willing to do what it takes to take the very best care of yourself.

 

[thparker13]

Good morning - I've had success on Pregablin and Nortriptyline (helps with sleep too) along with two different muscle relaxants, one in the morning and one at night for sleep. I tried Duloxitine and found the side effects were the worst for me. I tried gabapiten and found it wasn't as effective as pregabalin. I've been pretty happy with this combo, but it took a little trial and error to get here. I do have break thru days on occasion, depending on what I tried to do, but for the most part this has been successful for me.