Hi
@bblack4jc - hmmm.. that is kind of a difficult thing to answer because no one treatment works well for everyone, or even half of us...
(going to apologize in advance, this might get long...)
the biggest thing you can do, and has the best results for the most people, is to try dietary changes - and that takes time and experimentation to work out what helps you the most. Things like gluten, nightshade family veggies, sugar, dairy and other things... all of these can have an impact on how we feel physically..
I have cut white breads (things like hamburger/hotdog buns, dinner rolls, etc) from my diet - dark breads are ok (for me)... and nightshade veggies... things like peppers, tomatoes, eggplant and potatoes (the last being quite hard to do as i like them in so many ways) and yes, it is making a difference in how i feel - my gut is much happier these days and some of the general inflammation has been reduced as well.
Sunkacola has a great post with lots of great advice and I encourage you to check it out...
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
For some of us, medications can be useful, but do try to avoid taking opioids if at all possible. Finding a medication that works for you, without nasty side effects can be a real challenge..
My physical med doc just asked me again about trying pregabalin (Lyrica) and again I said no to that one - the side effects, I feel, would be too detrimental - I am just not interested in it.
Gabapentin was tried, as was nortriptyline, duloxetine, fluoxetine, and sertraline... all of which caused side effects to varying degrees, some quite bad, others not as bad, but still detrimental.
*side note: these were all tried individually, not together, and each one was stopped before trying another. Also of note, coming off of certain drugs can be a challenge as well, many need to be tapered down slowly to avoid withdrawal symptoms.*
I am trialing low dose N at this time, but still kind of early to know for sure if it is helping or not.. I just increased to the 4.5mg dose a few days ago.. If, after several months (followup appt is in January), this is not really helping, then it too will be discontinued, and I will give up on the medication side of things.
Another thing to consider is comorbidities... Don't make the mistake of putting every little ache, pain, or other symptom down to being related to fibro.. new symptoms should be checked out to make sure there is nothing else going on..
for me, i have arthritis in my neck, lumbar spine and hands pretty bad.. other areas as well, but those three places are the worst. The neck is causing nerve pain in the arms and hands, lumbar region (including SI joints) causes pain and nerve issues down the legs.. both of which can be problematic in their own right, but add the fibro in, and life can be difficult.. so managing other problems, as well as the fibro, is an important aspect of taking care of ones self.
Sorry this has turned into such a book, lol