Fibromyalgia - which drugs?

[MiddletonPink]

Been recently diagnosed by MSK. The chap I saw wanted me to have steroid injections in hips/back, see the podiatrist and have cbt and then see how I was.

I go on Monday for injection. Have seen podiatrist and awaiting cbt.

But I'm in agony. Feel like I have flu all the time, pain in arms ( very hard to wash/dry hair ) hips and back are always sore, total fatigue, stiffness, fuzzy head, anxiety, feel very weak.

I am sick of feeling like this. Have made an appointment to see GP to see if I can have some medication for this. Take paracetomol and codeine most days.

Those with fibromyalgia what do you take and does it help?

Thanks.

I'm on 10mg of amitriptyline at night, sometimes double up if in a lot of pain.

I also take paracetamol, tramadol and diclofenac as and when I need it.

Thanks groovee. Did your GP just offer it or did you ask?

Are they just a pain killer or an anti depressant too?

My GP offered it to me when I was diagnosed. He explained in low doses it is a great nerve pain relief and would probably help me sleep. I asked for time to think about it and went back about 3 months later and asked for it.

At first it took about 2 weeks to get used to. I realised I need to take around 12 hours before I want to get up in the morning. My husband stayed late to get the children up for school and gave me time to come too.

It definitely helps with the pain and is very effective for me. There's a good group if you are on Facebook called UK Fibromyalgia private group.

Hi Middleton, I don't have fibro but am a patient at the Pain Clinic at the National Hospital for Neurology. They share some services with the Royal Hospital for Integrated Medicine on Great Ormand St. Anyway, one of the many pain treatments I was offered was a lidocaine infusion.It didn't help me at all but apparently for some fibro sufferers it is fantastic and they return on a three monthly basis. I'm not sure how widely available this is but worth investigating.

I am on amytriptiline and second the sleep and nerve pain control. Gabapentin has also been very good for me. If pain is neural drugs like cocodamol are only so much use IME.

Good luck

So, you have a fibromyalgia diagnosis? That just means your muscles hurt, which you knew already. This is a symptom - not a diagnosis. Your GP probably knows this in his heart, but may lack the expertise to make you better.

The chances are that you have problems on your thyroid/adrenal axis. Your body may have had a shock of some kind, just before your symptoms started, or they may have started pretty much as soon as you relaxed after a lengthy period of severe stress.

If you have not already done so, it would be worth getting these blood tests: thyroid function test, serum cortisol, ferritin, vitamin B12, folate and vitamin D and getting them properly interpreted. If all those come back at optimal levels then you might be a tougher nut to crack, but usually at least one of those comes back as badly out of whack.

I speak as someone who was diagnosed with CFS by a consultant who could not see what was in front of him! At the time I was in constant pain all over my body, I couldn't stand for more than about 10 minutes, stairs were almost impossible, the fatigue was crushing yet I couldn't sleep etc etc. Having raised my vits and mins to optimal level, taken adrenal support for two years and got treatment for an underactive thyroid that was not presenting in the standard manner, I am pretty much well.

Thank you all so much for your replies.

The GP was the one who first thought it was FM and ran a whole load of blood tests. Including thyroid, I specifically asked about those results and was told it was completely normal ( can't remember the actual number )

I lost a child some years ago and shortly after fell out with someone that I trusted with my life. I think that was the start of it all. The tiredness, the brain fog, the depression.

The pain started earlier this year. So along with the tiredness and brain fog I figured it was actually something that was wrong not just being tired and not thinking straight. But have bumbled a long with it.

Hopefully with medication I will start to feel a little bit normal again.

Thanks again for your posts