Depo Medrone for Fibromyalgia?

[charlie9]

Hi there,

I have Fibromyalgia and as soon as the weather turns to winter I have flare after flare with IBS symptoms and it's just such a rough time over winter. I have the pain and symptoms all year but I find it very hard to manage in winter and it gets me very low. I don't have any ongoing support or reviews from any medical team. My mum has rheumatoid arthritis (since she was 17) and occasionally she'll be offered a Depo Medrone intramuscular injection. She has had one over the winter and it has really helped her and she was asking whether it might be something that will help me. I will ask a Dr but I thought with all of you on here someone may have experience of having a depo medrone injection or may have been offered something else to help with Fibro. I am currently prescribed co codamol 30/500 and amitryptaline but I took myself off the ami and wanted to try manage the symptoms as best as I could for as long as I could before going back on something like amitryptaline long term.

The co codamol sort of takes the edge off occasionally. It's not great but it took a long time for them to prescribe me anything so I'll take what I can get, I could barely walk when they finally prescribed it to me.

Anyway, Depo Medrone anyone?!

Many thanks

[poppyking]

Hi Charlie9

I too have fibro but also psioratic arthritis which never shows on my bloods but presents as swollen/stiffness/pain in my joints. I have depo injections for arthritis but my rheum nurse has never mentioned having them for my fibro - with your mum having RA have you been tested too? It's such a hard medical problem to address as I don't think docs know much about why we have fibro, so mine tend to ignore it and focus on PSA. I also take co-codamol 30/500 and same here it just takes the edge off. You really have to fight to be heard sometimes and then you end up feeling more stressed or like you are a hypochondriac. It's taken me years to get a proper diagnosis of everything. I really hope you get sorted.

[charlie9 in reply to poppyking]

Hi PoppyKing,

Thanks for your reply. I have been tested for RA many times. Last test was in 2012 just before diagnosis of Fibro. My inflammatory marker was 3, which was more than 0 obviously but not significantly high especially considering the pain i was in and how long I had been in pain for. I still think odd results should be considered though as there's a reason you do the test and if it's not normal perhaps a follow up would have been advisable?!! I don't know I have very little faith in healthcare these days! As ex NHS I want to believe in it and in ways I do, but for this sort of thing if anything it makes me feel worse! Like you say, you totally feel like a hypochondriac when you go. I have been in agony with IBS symptoms but I have powered through as last time I felt like an idiot asking for help. A nice Dr put me on co codamol when my hip was causing me so much pain but didn't put it on repeat, which he said he would. I saw another Dr who is just an A*** who frowned at me and said "I want you to take it sparingly" I felt like saying you get hit by a truck and then make sure you only take pain relief sparingly! Of course I smiled, thanked him and took my script.

I am going to have an appointment and ask to be seen for reviews to monitor my symptoms and pain. I blame everything on fibro and one day I could miss symptoms of something else.

It is really nice to find people on here to talk to. As awful as it is that you have it too. My husband copes almost too well and sometimes makes me feel like he is in total denial about it, which he isn't but can give that impression! So it's good to talk to people who actually understand.

[poppyking in reply to charlie9]

Your right as they see average within a number but we are not all the same and markers can be different. I too have IBS take anti spasmodic tablets when feel it coming on. They say stress but sorry I'm unconvinced, like fibro just another 'unexplainable' illness. And then docs say co-coda bungs you up, sorry doc IBS was like this even before I started taking co-coda. My partner sometimes ok but other times I think he thinks I'm making it up or being lazy. Men ehhhh I would like to see him last a day in my body when everything is flaring! I also stopped taking anitriptaline, felt like I was just upping the dose to get a good nights sleep then started putting weight on, so came off. Have they asked if you have ever suffered with psoriasis? Mine was only on my scalp as a teenager and continues in small patches to this day but it still can mutate into arthritis. Not that I want you to have it but I was diagnosed with fibro first then they X-ray toes and found it!! I would go back burst into tears and tell them how you feel. It's awful to feel like we do. I work for the NHS so completely understand. Don't give up, you will get there in the end! Take care

[charlie9 in reply to poppyking]

Yeah my ibs was there long before the prescribed me co codamol. Yes it's stress even when I reduce all the stress around me! They don't know half of the symptoms I get because I hate going! I generally stop taking the Co coda when ibs flares up. I'm not prescribed anything for ibs but they gave me meverine a few years ago. I steal my mum's when desperate. And take anything I can find in a chemist. Currently taking Andrews before bed every night to keep things moving! Lol lovely! Try to stabilise it all again this winter has been flare upon flare! The thing is the last time I went in and burst into tears the Dr said I was depressed and that was causing my pain. Since then I tend to put on a tough exterior although that doesn't work in my favour either. I don't know how to approach it anymore!

Anyway, I have patches of dry skin at the moment on several parts of my body. I have had this on and off my whole life. Just noticed it a fair bit recently. When I'm particularly worn out I get bumps allover my face, not usually dry just bumpy! I don't get this that often and it settles down again with rest. I assume the dry patches are weather related. I have to really push for any scans I don't think I could push any reason to xray me. My xrays of my back and neck are apparently fine. They didn't want to do my hip as it's likely fibro and it's a fair amount of radiation to xray it.

To be honest I'd just like some follow ups occasionally, a peptalk to keep me going and someone who knows how I cope and therefore assess my condition more accurately than thinking I'm a hyper condriach! And yes men! Bless him he tries but it can be frustrating. When he gets a cold he's dying and I wait on him hand and foot! Quite the opposite for me in this house! He gives good massages though before bed which make up for it mostly! So nice talking to you guys. I'm going to attempt the stairs to bed for an early night! Sleep well and hope the pain is manageable tonight

[poppyking in reply to charlie9]

Yep I've had everything too but now am on dicycloverine hydrochloride as when my spasms start bad I nearly black out with the pain. The tablets really help. I know I have to drink plenty of water to keep hydrated and if I do that I'm ok. I think mine start in my small colon. Once was admitted to A&E, don't want to go into too much detail

[charlie9 in reply to poppyking]

I'll look in to those meds. I'm going to ask about it when I go. I also have noticed ridges in my nails, something I ignored. There are 3 or 4 per nail. It could be nothing but I'm going to ask the question. as it can be a sign of psioratic arthritis. Who knows. But I'd like to try for a baby later in the year and I know with arthritis you should take additional folic acid to the normal amount. Plus I want to be as healthy as I can be before trying. Which also means gradually coming off all meds before we try... fingers crossed I'll manage it. We'll time it when I am doing a bit better in the warmer months and hope pregnancy puts it in remission and not a flare! Mum was better when pregnant, and has never been as bad as before she had kids. So i'm praying for a small miracle that I am similar!

[Claire_t84 in reply to charlie9]

Sounds like PA / spondylitis .. ask to be referred to a rheumatologist

[marmaris in reply to charlie9]

I have just been given this codamol but very reluctant to take it as I have read that it can become addictive. My mum took coproxamol for years until they stopped it and I saw how she became dependant upon it. I agree people or should I say some people in the medical profession don't seem to understand or comprehend the pain that we are all going through, the pain can bring you down and be very depressing. I am still on the road to finding out what it is I have and awaiting a pain clinic appointment with a rheumatologist.

[poppyking in reply to marmaris]

If your worried just take it when you really need it but then again my GP said that if I don't take it every 4 hours when I'm in pain there is no point taking the co-codamol at all. I don't feel I'm addicted, I really need it to control my pain plus it doesn't make me woosy anymore. So after that statement now I'm wondering if I am!!!! Lol ! My mum had a similar experience but with another medication, times have changed a lot and they should review your medication every 6 months (my docs do, and won't give me a prescription until they have seen me). I really hope you get sorted with rheaumatology ..... Be honest with them. All the best.

[charlie9 in reply to marmaris]

Everyone is different. A couple of my friends are high as a kite when they've taken a single dose. I have never ever felt any effects from it. I am not addicted at all, I do sometimes take it regularly throughout the day to try and get on top of the pain. But I'm lucky I don't feel the effects of taking it, other than occasionally some mild pain relief! My mum takes it and it makes her a bit sleepy, she only takes it before bed really so it helps her get to sleep with the pain she's in at night (has RA). We're all different and you have to go with how you feel. Pain is so destructive so weigh up if you want to try it or not and be aware of any addictive like behaviour towards it. I hope you get some more support and a diagnosis soon.

[earthwitch]

If it is fibro, then sorry, but depomedrone (steroids) are very unlikely to help, as fibro is not the same kind of inflammatory condition that RA is. However, if your doctor is willing to give you a try of the steroid shot and it does actually help significantly, that might provide some evidence that its not fibro, but is an inflammatory arthritis of some kind - possibly spondyloarthritis (of which Psoriatic arthritis is one type). Spondyloarthritis doesn't have any reliable blood tests, and doesn't even always show positive inflammatory markers (ESR or CRP) so you can show negative for RA but still have spondyloarthritis. Its a whole lot harder to diagnose for just that reason though.

[poppyking in reply to earthwitch]

Earthwitch you hit the nail on the head! Mine never show up in my bloods but yet feel my joints and there is inflammation.

[charlie9 in reply to earthwitch]

That's really interesting. My mum and some others are convinced there is arthritic involvement but nothing has ever shown in the bloods. I get mild inflammation which the Dr think look normal but anyone who knows my hands says your hands are really puffy today. Also, with the mild inflammation what I actually feel is like my hands and feet and wherever I'm feeling it are going to explode they feel so inflamed on the inside. I feel like their balloons of pain! When I can't get on top of the pain I will take one of my mum's voltarol and it helps. I don't find it often helps with the other pain though although sometimes helps. Very interesting. These conditions are just infuriating!! I have a special seat in bed sometimes when i'm too uncomfortable to lie down, I say it's the most depressing thing I own!! But I was sat up in it again last night feel very old for 28! But still, we keep going x

[charlie9]

Where have the replies gone? Can't see the replies anymore

[charlie9 in reply to charlie9]

I can see them now!

[netty44]

I have been prescribed Depo Medrone four times a year by the hospital for my fibromyalgia/lupus as I seem to be allergic to other meds. It works wonderfully for me and makes me feel normal for a few weeks. It's like a curtain being lifted and dropped again when it wears off. I cannot take codeine so just have to manage with paracetamol with the occasional tramadol.

I see your post is a year old so hope you have had some relief, if not, don't hesitate to ask your doctor. Good luck.