medications help

[gillyb59]

Hi i was just wondering what sort of medication people where being given there fibro. I am on alsorts i take pregabalin 300mg twice a day tramadol 50mg twice a day and also have fentanyl transdermal patch 12.5 every 3 days and now pain management are going to give me a tens machine as im still in agony every day, I have also been on amatriptylin and 30/500 co-codamol, so not only got fibro fog but all the medication is not helping with my memory...

[Marky]

You could add in duloxetine, FDA approved for fibromyalgia. It is an antidepressant but is very good for pain as well.

What about a stronger anti inflammatory such as meloxicam.

You could also try for stronger opiates. I take targinact, prolonged release.

Baclofen for muscle spasms.

[LindseyMid in reply to Marky]

Please be aware that no-one online can recommend specific treatment options as we cannot know the whole story.

FWIW anti-inflammatory drugs and strong opioids are NOT recommended for Fibro.

[Marky in reply to LindseyMid]

I beg to differ.

I was put on those drugs for Fibro by our local pain clinic.

[LindseyMid in reply to Marky]

They are sometimes prescribed to people with Fibro and may be appropriate in some cases. However, that does not mean that they are recommended medications for the treatment of Fibro.

Strong opioids for example are sometimes used to take the edge of uncontrolled pain associated with Fibro. However, they are unlikely to provide good symptom relief, partly because they cannot work as effectively if you have Fibro and partly because they do nothing to help the processes of Fibro that cause symptoms (trying just to mask resulting pain). People with Fibro may also be especially prone to side effects, which can be serious with the strong opioids. So the risk-benefit ratio is often poor.

The evidence based EULAR Guidelines for the Management of Fibro specifically stated that strong opioids - e.g. morphine - are not recommended for Fibro

Fibro is not inflammatory, so anti-inflammatories are not a recommended treatment for Fibro. However, people with Fibro may also have inflammatory issues that these drugs ARE recommended treatments for, whether this is arthritis or tendonitis or something else.

fibroaction.org/Pages/Analg...

[gillyb59 in reply to Marky]

Thank you Marky i will speak to the pain management and ask them if i could try these thanks so much..

Keep well..

[LindseyMid]

Here is information on the treatment of Fibro:

fibroaction.org/Pages/How-I...

Fibro is best controlled by a multidisciplinary treatment and accurate and comprehensive diagnosis is critical - if you don't know whether a particular symptom is down to, say central Fibro or myofascial pain, then you cannot target treatments.

[gillyb59 in reply to LindseyMid]

Thank you LinseyMid

I am under 3 different consultents for orthopaedics for back, shoulder and hips i have had injections in hips and shoulder and am still having ongoing treatment for this as well as attending pain management. I was diagnohas been hard tsed with fribro 9 years ago but it o get any doctors that belive in this condition and been having all kinds of treatment so maaybe one day i will have the answers but thak you for the information.....

[LindseyMid in reply to gillyb59]

Do you have orthapedic issues as well as Fibro? Having multiple conditions affects what treatments are suitable and treatments must be targeted for the best results.

If, for example you have arthritis that is flaring up and this might or might not be exacerbating your Fibro, it is important that this is recognised and treatment given that targets the arthritis. More and more Fibro drugs are not going to help if the main issue behind a symptom is not Fibro.