appointments

[Acdf]

My Gp's still only doing phone appointments, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia without ever actually seeing a doctor think it's ridiculous!!

[fibropatient]

Hi, This is a difficult one. Whilst I agree conditions should not be diagnosed by phone calls. However if the Dr asks the right questions and you have be able to give clear appropriate answers by physically examining yourself then may be the correct diagnosis can be made. Especially with fibro as there are no formal tests that can be done to diagnose this condition.My main concern about your letter is what treatment has your Dr prescribed for you. If it is pain killers that may be fine if they work - great. However there are different types of other medication that can be used to control this condition that mean you do not have to take pain killers all the time eg anti epileptic drugs and anti depressants. Please do not alarm your self in to thinking WHAT I don't have those conditions! As these tablets have been found to be excellent drugs to treat fibro. Inevitably it will be finding the right dosage for YOU as these can vary widely. It will be interesting to find out more from you, to enable us to help better. So I look forward to your reply. Thank you for writing to us.

[Acdf in reply to fibropatient]

HiThanks for replying.

I have been given Amitriptyline 10mg to take at night and was told take 8 paracetamol a day, however 3 weeks in and I'm not noticing any difference in the pain, I have been trying to phone the doctors back to see where I go from here that's a task in itself!!

[fibropatient in reply to Acdf]

That was the treatment plan I started with but within a few weeks I had to increase the Amitriptyline dosage over the years. The highest dosage I took latterly was 100mgs, but that was after 15years or so. After 25 years I am now taking antiepileptic drug Gabapentin which seems to be working with the full dosage. So yes I would suggest you speak to your GP to see if you can increase your dosage of Amitriptyline.