Hello all !
has anyone been advised to go on anticonvulsant drugs ?
currently on tramadol but due to becoming resistant to its pain killing effects i have to cut down and rebuild the dose
also on citalopram for pain management
if this does not help anticonvulsion meds are the next step
anyone been on other painkillers and have you had any side a affects to anticonvulsion drugs ?
Hi, yes I know I wasn't going to be here today but I can actually answer this... I am super sensitive to nearly all pain meds but at night I get great sleep with only a few odd nights disturbed sleep and they are very rare .. My meds.... I take 75 mg dosulepin... Old cheap but suits me fine thats an anti depressant and 0.5 mg of clonezapam , as well as being a muscle relaxant it is an anti convulsant , I have been taking this same low dose for over a year and it suits me great. This is my 23rd year with fibro and its only the last year I have cured my sleep problem so never give up hope and anticonvulsants are certainly in my experience worth trying
Good luck
VG x
Hello Kam, anticonvulsant drugs are quite commonly prescribed for people with Fibromyalgia. I was prescribed them myself at the beginning of my treatment. We all tend to be prescribed different types of drugs in order to get the right balance of meds for our pain and our other symptoms.
I was prescribed Tegretol (Carbamazepine) and took this for a few months before being prescribed something else. It made me feel quite spaced out at times. I was taking Tramadol as well at the time and migraine medication.
We all react differently to our meds, so one person's experience with taking an anticonvulsant will not necessarily be the same as the next person. Side effects don't follow a pattern with us either, we all react differently, some meds agree with one person but someone else wouldn't get on with them at all.
It's a case of try it and see really. If you are prescribed a new med, give it time, but if you experience side effects that concern you please speak to your GP about this as they will be able to help you with this and of course advise you accordingly.
Anticonvulsant medications with Fibromyalgia can help to reduce our pain and help us to sleep better, examples of this type of medication are Gabapentin and Pregabalin.
Hope this helps.
(((hug))) xxx
Libs
Thats really great guys thanks for your comments im just a bit freaked read up on then and it says you have to have you liver function and blood platelets monitored regularly :S
Also common side effects vomiting and weight gain
Like we need anymore hassle ! X
A lot of the info posted about any medication can appear frightening, but that's worst case scenario. Most people are fine on their medications with only minor side effects. If you experience more than this then please tell your GP and adjustments can be made to suit you better.
I didn't have one check regarding my liver function or blood platelets whilst I was taking anticonvulsants, so I suppose it differs from GP to GP and Consultant to Consultant and whether there is an existing risk there in this respect.
A common side effect with most of our meds is nausea and weight gain, but again this doesn't affect everyone the same, we are all different and react differently too.
Try not to worry, we will help and support you the best we can. Any queries, please don't hesitate to ask, we are always happy to try to help.
(((hug))) xxx
Libs
I was on full dose Gabapentin with not much effect on my fibro but after seeing the pain specialist he explained all the things about fibro I was unsure of and explained pregabalin is the best med for it and was also taking me off full dose Amitriptyline and swapping it for nortriptyline as that's better also and pregabalin and nortriptyline are a winning combo for fibro. I'm weaning onto them gradually and although i'm only on a third of the dose he wants me on it's already having benefits for me. (he wants me on 300 mg pregabalin twice a day and 75 mg of nortriptyline at night). i've had no side effects either but Gabapentin often made me feel drunk. Interesting to see someone mentioning Tegratol/Carbamazapine. I'm on a High dose of that as a mood stabilizer for my bipolar and again no side effects although I was drinking tons of fluid at one point because of my Sjogren's and that and the Tegratol sent my sodium too low. God luck. I'd go for it and don't read all the side effects or horror stories these drugs are so commonly prescribed XXX
The ONLY drugs that works for me is Diazepam and Clonazepam, which doctors in UK don't like to prescribe. They are both anti-convulsants amongst other uses, but also the important thing is that they calm down the cervical cord which can cause the autonomic nervous system to dysfunction, which is exactly what happens in fibromyalgia according to the latest research. Diazepam is addictive but lots of people have taken it for many years without side effects, and I just have come to the conclusion that I have to live to the best of my ability NOW, and have the best quality of life that I can NOW, and although I fought against taking Diazepam for a long time, I have realised that I need it if I am to live with a reasonable quality of life. I too am really sensitive to almost all medications except Diazepam, and have paradoxical effects to most sedatives and anti-depressants (which stop me sleeping completely), and to many analgesics which increase my pain or cause tingling in my limbs, Codeine would you believe causes me to have diarrhoea, and eye drops for Glaucoma cause my eye pressures to rise instead of lowering them. I just think take what you need to keep you in the best state of health and mind, this is a horrible disease.
Unfortunately being less able to tolerate medication/being over sensitive to it is a really common symptom of fibro, one i've found i've had to deal with since my fibro started which seems alien to me because before, I rarely had side effects to anything but i'm so glad diazepam works for you as it's such a relief once we find a med that we can both tolerate and that helps us XXX
I am unable to take anything with ibroprofen in it so my doctor has prescribed me with Zormorph a slow releaseing morphine, pregabalin and an anidepressant as well as orimorph for breakthrough pain. None of these work. Morphine in any form keeps me awake, the pregabalin was prescribed because I suffer from anxiety. I don't sleep properly at night, but I have just spent 2 days sleeping all day and night, and this happens at least every three weeks. I am still soo tired and have no energy. My husband just said that I have to sort myself out. What on earth can I do? Am at my wits ends, I don't want to live like this for the rest of my life I need a medical miracle.
Tramadol
tramadol:(
TRAMADOL
tramadol
Tramadol
