Are meds worth taking??

It is always a gamble whether you are going to be the person who
has to suffer through horrible side effects when taking any of the new meds. We all tolerate them so differantly.

I couldn't tolerate Cymbalta...nauseas, dizzy, couldn't keep food down. My Rheumy switched me to Savella...never any problems.

You will hear good and bad about all of them. The decision is yours. I was willing to take the chance because something had to be better than nothing. I've said in the past that Savella isn't a miracle drug for me but it has helped. I also use cyclobenzapprine when needed, and take Vitamin D and B-12 for fibro.

The meds I take for my other stuff are toxic, but I'm between a rock and a hard place on those.

Just remember, what works for one isn't guaranteed to work the same for you...in reality, your choice is a crap shoot!
Hope you come up a big winner finding what you need for relief!

Hugs, Robin

I have been taking Tramadol and have found that if you combine it with tylenol or ibuprofen, it works much better. Just make sure that your prescription doesn't already contain acetominaphin. One kind of tramadol already has that in it.

I take norco and it helps a lot. I still have pain but it isn't nearly as bad as it was before. Norco is a narcotic type pain reliever. It is on the lower side though. There are a lot of stronger meds. I want to stick with the norco as long as I can though. People build a tolerance to them and then they stop working.

Everybody is different. Some get the side effects and some don't. And it seems that the antidepressant type medications have a lot of side effects. That is meds like cymbalta and lyrica. Though I have heard that lyrica is nothing but neurontin with a different name. I don't know too many people that medication has helped. Most people can't seem to tolerate it.

I guess you should talk to your doctor and explore all your options. If you are leaning towards supplements and other natural ways of controlling the pain and fatigue, I would suggest trying that first. You might want to see a natropath, or holistic doctor. Either way, make sure that the doctor believes and will work with the fibromyalgia. That is very important. Otherwise your doctor will treat you like you are crazy or drug seeking.

Some people don't take anything at all. They rely on exercise and meditaion and things like that. If you can control your pain that way, I would say that was fantastic. Nothing feels better than not needing medications or other types of help. I do suggest that you keep as active as you can. The less you move around the stiffer that you get. And the less you are able to do.

Keep trying. Keep searching for ideas. I also take something for fatigue. That is adderall. It really helps me a lot. If I weren't taking it, I would be sleeping all day and night.

Take care, keep posting.

Hugs, Karen

I haven't tried any of the fibro meds yet. I am really not a pill taker, plus I am sensitive to medicines. Ha I remember immodium knocked me out for 3 hrs and when I woke up I felt "drugged up" and felt like I was talking in slow motion..lol.
I know some pills help but to me if the side effects are worse and will not let up I wouldn't take them. It's funny because alot of people ask me as soon as I tell them I have fibro what meds I take and they kinda don't understand that I only take 800 mg motrin and tylenol for pain. It never takes the pain away, just the edge, and they make me sleepy. I just try to limit what I do, hot baths help, and sleep.

Take care
KL

Klambert1 said...
I haven't tried any of the fibro meds yet. I am really not a pill taker, plus I am sensitive to medicines. Ha I remember immodium knocked me out for 3 hrs and when I woke up I felt "drugged up" and felt like I was talking in slow motion..lol.
I know some pills help but to me if the side effects are worse and will not let up I wouldn't take them. It's funny because alot of people ask me as soon as I tell them I have fibro what meds I take and they kinda don't understand that I only take 800 mg motrin and tylenol for pain. It never takes the pain away, just the edge, and they make me sleepy. I just try to limit what I do, hot baths help, and sleep.

Take care
KL

I am the same way, very sensitive to meds. I almost died having my dtr 24 yrs ago cause they gave me morphine. Turns out I am highly sensitive to it as is my mom (found out mom was later). A simple ibruprofen will make me sleepy. It takes the pain edge off but I can still work. Anything stronger is a crap shoot when it comes to work. The best pain reliever I found is hydrocodiene that I had when I broke a bone in my back. I see a NP who can not prescribe it if I am not mistaken. Do not want to go to specialist if I can help it. Luckily I still have some left. Using sparingly. Going to NP tomorrow any suggestions how to talk to her about pain meds without sounding like I just want  narcotics?

The side effects for me with the Savella, Cymbalta, Lyrica and Neurontin (which is similar to Lyrica but not exact) were really bad. But I am one of those people that will get any side effect listed. So much so that for awhile I stopped looking at the possible side effects just in case I was bringing them on myself (turns out it wasn't in my head- because I still got a lot of side effects). But as a lot of the others have stated you will hear some great stories of people who LOVE the drugs I listed. They were life changing once they found the right dosage or combination. So it is pretty much an individual thing. Here is one thing that I haven't heard alot of people commenting on: the price. Neurontin has a generic and Lyrica doesn't. So you can get gabapentin (which is Neurontin's generic name) on most of the pharmacies' $4 programs. Lyrica does not come in a generic and for me it cost around $200 per month. And it wasn't the miracle that it was for some so it was an "ouch" to my wallet :) The same thing with Savella. Cymbalta did have a generic so that didn't hurt as much to try (but again it didn't work for me.) So if you decide to try any of these definitely see if the Dr. has samples (my doctor's didn't give me samples AND bonus also didn't tell me that it would be as expensive as it was. So keep that in mind when you go in: samples. This journey, that most of us didn't and wouldn't choose to go on, has some rocky terrain at times. Good luck to you and know that we have all been there!

Hi there,

I too have IBS, plus IBD (ulcerative colitis) and of course FMS. I have found great relief with low dose of amitriptyline (1st generation anti-depressant). It was originally Rxed to me by my GI doctor for the IBS to slow the GI tract. A positive side effect is it really helps me sleep and takes away about 75% of the pain (at night at least)... also helps for OCD or anxiety.

Wondering if you've ever had your estrogen levels checked - anxiety, fatigue, migraines, depression can all be related to low or fluctuating estrogen levels. Worth checking...