Fibromyalgia

[mickey1965]

I suffer from fibromyalgia and neurophy daily. When the pain is severe I can hardly stand it. Are there any new approaches to this condition. I am taking vicoden, cymbalta, pamelor and neurotyn? Help

[sara12345]

As mentioned above, you might try Savella.  I've seen tons of raves about it from many people on the internet.  I'm about to try it myself for my 24/7 migraines following my stroke.

I've also had fibromyalgia for years, but high doses of Trazadone and Effexor have treated the pain mostly.   But I still have a whole host of other diseases commonly seen in fibromyalgia sufferers due to the central nervous system overreacting to stimuli.  So it can affect the pulmonary system, esophagus, IBS, chronic fatigue system, heartburn, noncardiac chest pain, etc. etc.

[TheLightSeeker]

Hey mickey.
Welcome to the forum.
There are a lot of non-medical and non-conventional medicine approaches
lately as neuro-degenerative and auto-immune diseases are reaching epidemic proportions.
I will offer you some suggestions w/o going into much depth (as I normally do) and you may want to look further into the ones you're interested in.

1. Transdermal Magnesium Oil (MgCl with distilled H20 50/50 solution)
2. Malic acid supplementation (to correct deficiencies cause by excessive tartaric acid levels (muscle toxin) inhibiting malic acid production.
3. DMSO (30% Lab grade solution to distilled H20 below neck line and 10% above neckline
4. CoQ10 (co-factor in  cellular energy production)
5. Hypnotherapy for serious conditions. 12 sessions for fibro and like conditions is recommended with Therapists that offer comprehensive
programs. ( I offer this in my Holistic practice in conjuction with Reiki
EFT and Energy Psychology, with good results)

Let me know if you need more info.
Blessings,
Niko

[geminigirl1963]

I'm sorry you're having so much pain.  I also have fibro, as well as other chronic pain conditions (lupus, arthritis, DDD), so I can relate to what you have to endure every day.

I'm not aware of any "new" approaches to fibro - you're already on one of the "newer" meds that a  lot of doctors tend to try - Cymbalta.  How do you find the Cymbalta working for you?  Have you noticed it has helped with your pain at all?  Have you tried Savella?  That also is a "newer" med that is used for fibro.

Do you also take a muscle relaxer?  If not, you may want to ask your doctor about adding one to your med regime.  While I don't find that they help alone, I have found that they can be helpful when added to my other meds.

How is your sleep?  Do you have trouble sleeping?  If you're having trouble sleeping, that can (and does) definitely add to your pain levels.  With those of us with fibro (or any chronic pain condtion), it becomes a vicious cycle - we can't sleep well because we are in pain and we are in more pain because we aren't getting the sleep that we need.  Many fibro patients find they need the help of a sleep aid.

Some other non-medicinal things that I use to help (or at least try to help) is a heating pad and warm showers - I find that for me, extremes of temperature either way makes my pain worse, so I can't take the shower too hot, but other fibro patients I know like their showers much hotter.  So go by what feels best for you and doesn't cause an increase in pain.