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SilvioMaF

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I know different things work for different people but I'm interested to see what kind of answers this will receive! My girlfriend has fibromyalgia and is always a battle to see what will help more - I am always on the lookout for something that will make her feel better and she has really learned to manage it a lot better over the years (when she cans). What works for you?

Medication in order of what helps her the most:
*Tramadol (pain, fatigue, huge energy booster for her to doctor's surprise?)
*Tylenol (pain)
*Cymbalta (pain, anxiety/depression)
*Ibuprofen (pain)
*Flexeril (pain, helps her sleep)
*Benedryl (help sleep, also a very mild anti-anxiety med!)
*Provigil (helps keeping more alert and helps her concentrate - reduces "fibrofog")

Non-medication things she does, mostly in order of helpfulness:
*Get enough SLEEP. (pain and anxiety levels skyrocket when she doesn't get enough sleep.)
*Hot showers/baths
*Massages (luckily I'm trained to give them)
*Gentle exercise/stretching. (whenever she has enough energy to do it)
 
For me it has been a combination of pills and vitamins. I take fish oil, vitamin d, magnesium, ritalin, lorazapam, tramadol, gabapenten. The gabapenten made the biggest difference, I hope to wean off the others in due time.
 
For me (recently diagnosed with FM and RA)
Tramadol 150 mg. twice a day and YES I do get the energy boost from this
Gabapentin 300-600 at bedtime daily
Mobic 75mg twice a day (usually only take one)
Pristiq 50 mg at bedtime for depression
Paquinel 200 mg twice a day
I am thinking of taking Curcumin for inflammation, still looking at pros/cons
and I do take Ambien as needed for sleep maybe once a week ONLY when I need it.

Would love to NOT take anything at all, but at 45 yrs old I know that medication and a positive attitude is needed :)
Tammy
 
No meds for me,Silvio, at least not at this point, they all come with some side effects, some are more serious than others, so no thanks. What I do now is use a combination of pain relieving gels and oils. That and trying to stay as calm as possible; anxiety doesn't help with pain at all. I'm currently trying to workout a bit, because staying in bed all day won't help me at all, some days is easier than others, just have to learn to cope with that.
 
I have been taking cymbalta for about 6 weeks with positive results; more energy, less pain, less anxiety, less fogginess.
 
Hi Silvio, I take neurotin (Gabapentin), tramadol for pain, cymbalta, flexeril for muscle spasms, as needed; ambien and trazadone for sleep and hemp oil with CBD (cannabidiol). I also smoke pot for pain, anxiety and sleep. I use a 92 degree therapy pool to exercise in and modified yoga to loosen up the muscle and to maintain range of motion. I'm aski g my GP to prescribe hydrocortisone and Xyrem to see if they help more than all the crap I've been taking. I also take a multiple vitamin every other day, 5000 IU of Biotin for my hair that has been thining and for my brittle finger nails. I also take 500 mg. of magnesium for restless legs and twitching.
 
No meds for me, I'm worried it would affect my writing. I try to have a steady sleep pattern, that helped a lot!
 
lilminks, I was wondering what the difference for you is after taking hemp oil with CBD vs. smoking pot for the pain. Do you find any noticeable difference with your pain or anxiety with just the CBD? Also, what is the dosage you generally take.

Also, I currently take Tramadol with no noticeable impact to my energy levels. Really interesting reaction.
 
Justbrown, I find the cannabis (hemp oil) with high CBD works wonders for everything. I am feeling the best I've felt in the 4+ years I have been suffering with fibro, degenerative disc disease, mild arthritis and Hashimotos. I want to get off all the meds, so I will see if I still feel as good in a couple months. I also use the other hemp oil from industrialized hemp, which also has CBD (cannabidiol). I take it own twice a week now and it seems to dry my skin out. I also mediate and do modified yoga and pool therapy. All combined, I am feeling well. The hemp oils are tinctures.
 
I've had FM for 6 years, diagnosed only a year ago. I previously tried combos of Tylenol and ibuprofen (one is processed by the liver, the other by the kidneys), which helped about 50%.
After being laid off and losing my health insurance, I finally got Medicaid in 2014. My doctor prescribed 30 mg. of duluxotine (generic of Cymbalta) which worked very well for me, although I felt a bit numbed mentally. I would have continued taking it. The problem was that Medicaid will not pay for it, and even as a generic, it is over $200 per 30 tabs where I live. I had to give up the Rx, and the pain came roaring back.

I recently came across articles about trials of dextromethorphan, a common OTC cough suppressant, being used for the pain of fibro. After doing a lot of research online, I decided to try it for myself; I had nothing to lose.

While the literature mentions doses of up to 90 ml (six times the single dose for cough), I was too scared to try that much. I tried 45 ml (3x dose) and I slept for 15 hours. This was not compatible for having any kind of life, as far as I was concerned, and I chalked it up to another dead end.

However, about a week ago, I just had such unrelenting back muscle pain, that I decided to try the cough suppressant again - this time, with only a single recommended dose for cough, of 15 ml. I also took one 200 mg ibuprofen. I didn't really expect it to work, and soon forgot about it.

That is, until I realized, about 40 minutes later while turning in bed, that my back did not hurt at all. I got up, walked around - no pain. Hours later, no pain. It lasted about 7 hours.

Since then I have been taking one 15 ml dose with one 200 mg ibuprofen three times a day (every 8 hours) I feel so much better. The lower dose doesn't make me overly sleepy (fibro seemed to make me sleepy anyway) or foggy.

I don't know if this is a placebo effect, but I doubt it. The relief is profound. I am so surprised that this happened at such a low dose. Check it out for yourself, I've listed links below. Apparently the mechanism of the cough syrup does something to the nerves that make one want to cough. This same mechanism may help fibro, according to researchers.

Evidently it is important to use cough syrup that contains ONLY dextromethorphan, and NO other ingredients like acetaminophen or decongestants. The brand I am using is Safeway Tussin Cough Long-Acting.

I would suggest consulting your doctor if possible.

IMPORTANT! DO NOT TAKE DEXTROMETHORPHAN WITH MAOI INHIBITORS. Also, if you decide to try this, keep it away from children and teens. This medication is abused by some to experience hallucinatory trips at very high dosages (300 ml. or 20x a single dose - called Dexing, Orange Crush, DXM). Kids these days know all about such things, so keep it in a safe place.

Teen Drug Abuse: Cough Medicine and DXM (Dextromethorphan)

Effects of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagoni... [J Pain. 2005] - PubMed - NCBI
 
Word of caution on the ibuprofen. My mom passed over 10 years ago but before she did, she had to go on kidney dialysis. My mom was the only person at the dialysis center whose kidney failure was not a result of diabetes. (As it turned out, she had lupus). Once while waiting on her to complete her treatment, I was in the waiting room area and a very young girl began talking to me. She was about 21 too, which was so sad. She looked really healthy but she told me her kidneys had failed. She volunteered the answer. She said (and I will never forget this), " you are probably wondering why I'm here at my age. I like to warn everyone I talk to so what happened to me won't happen to them. I was having some bad back pain and I started taking about 4-5 800mg ibupropen (told me the brand, but now I cant recall) a day. It caused my kidneys to fail. If you read on the bottle, it says it can cause kidney failure. So, please if you know anyone taking ibupropen for alot of pain, please let them know." I had no idea. So, I am passing her info on to all of you because I promised her I would. I call my sister with FM all the time to make sure she is not taking too many of them within a 24 hr period. Hope this helps someone.
 
I have Narcolepsy and FMS, been taking Xyrem for the Narcolepsy for 7 years now. It's the only thing that has worked to get me to REM sleep. The one negative thing about it is that it's highly controlled so it's always a struggle getting the doctor's office and the central facility to communicate effectively so that I receive it on time each month. I typically go a few days to a week without it due to the MISCOMMUNICATION, resulting in my lack of sleep! But I try to remind myself that I'm fortunate since I at least I have something that works for me!
 
Guaifenasin and probiotics have helped me the most. Along with exercise and a whole foods diet.
I don't always follow those, though, and then returns the pain. I wish I had the discipline to just stick with it, because I hate feeling terrible.
 
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