Need some help with the next step

[Lovelyjuly325]

Was diagnosed about a year ago with fibro and OA. I am on 1800 mg of gabapentin a day it doesn't really help. My body feels like it's consumed with pain. I can't really concentrate on anything else. What is the next step

[TheAuthor]

Hi Lovelyjuly325

I sincerely hope that you are feeling as well as you possibly can be today? Welcome to the forum and it is wonderful to make your acquaintance. I have pasted for you below a link to our mother site, FMA UK which hosts loads of useful Fibro information:

fmauk.org/

I am so genuinely sorry to read that you are suffering and struggling, and if your Gabapentin is not helping then I would go and see your doctor / medical specialist and let them know. Many members have written saying that they have been transferred from Gabapentin to Pregabalin as this is the next rung of the ladder, so to speak, but your doctor may have different ideas on what to prescribe.

I want to sincerely wish you all the best of luck and please take care of yourself my friend.

All my hopes and dreams for you

Ken

[ShellyC23]

Your Gabapentin dose can be very gradually increased. I started on 300mg three times a day and now take 900mg three times a day. Still need to take paracetamol and codeine to stay on top of my pain. I find relaxation exercises help. See doc for advice on meds.

[bluebell99]

Hello Lovelyjuly325 and a warm welcome to our friendly fibro forum where you can get advice, understand, help and support. Our mother site fmauk.org has a wealth of information, including guides and links.

I suggest you go back to your doctor to see if the dosage of Gabapentin needs to be increased or he may offer you something else entirely.

A lot of fibromites, (including me) take amitriptyline to help with sleep, which helps to cope with pain. You could ask your doctor's opinion about that. If you do try it then make sure you take it early in the evening to avoid feeling groggy next day.

It may be a good idea to ask for a referral to a Pain Clinic where your medication may be reviewed and also be shown helpful guides to manage your pain.

I do hope you can get some relief very soon, I know from personal experience how miserable constant pain can make you feel.

Looking forward to seeing you around the forum.

Kay

[skit]

Hi Loveleyjuly 325 Welcome to this very useful and supportive forum.

I back up what bluebell and Author wrote.

My answer is to try a bit of relaxation technique. There is plenty on line or in books. Also try to get outdoors daily to lift the mood as pain and low mood is not good combination. Contact people ask about how they are so not to focus on self. Eat well and take the meds regularly. I take pregabelin codeine and paracetamol. Somedays are reasonable. Fibro is very individual, my muscles are not yours etc. If your GP has got a hot line to Pain Management at your hospital I would follow that. If you feel the cold or are very sore a microwave heat pad works wonders.

I truly hope you get some help very soon.

[jackie4ball]

Hi

Sorry you are in pain I too have fibro and OA and have had it for about 20+ years now tried lots of meds over that time. I didn't find Gabapentin helped with pain at all as someone else says there is also pregabalin which may help you but again wasn't helpful to me unfortunately we are all different and different areas have different ideas if you are in an area where they have a proper pain clinic then that may be helpful unfortunately we don't have that down here anymore. I have been on MST for a lot of years which is a slow release of morphine and also have oromorph which I take when the pain breaks through. Again it maybe early days to take this as it is a controlled drug and 1) you may not want to go down that route 2) you dr may not want to give it to you.

I would definitely go back to the GP though and see what other options he/she can suggest.

Pacing yourself if you can is also a help which is not always easy to do when I was diagnosed I had 4 children at very young ages as they got older they were very good and helped out a great deal 3 of them now have fibro and other health issues unfortunately but are all still managing to work they just can't do some of the things they used to love like ice skating and other recreational hobbies.

I hope you get the help you need and manage your pain

Jackie

[Al10]

If you have given your drugs a proper go and they are not helping? Perhaps it is time to wean off them. Ask your GP how to do it with minimal side effects, as coming off can be worse than getting on them. Don't get hooked on stuff that dont help. There may be something else you can try or you can read up natural ways of healing.

There is lots of info on the net and books that can help.

Meds if they help at all, wont actually heal fibro. And so many do damage!! Physical and mental. The alternative practitioner tries to get the body to heal itself by giving it all the nutrition etc that it needs. It isn't easy. Changing your diet, esp when you may have tummy issues is really challenging and needs to be done gently. Done right, it can start to make a difference. So many people are commenting now that taking probiotics have as a side effect, cured their indigestion etc. What a difference that makes! Others report better mental health.