Do you always need Meds??

Hi,

I have tried experimenting with not taking tramadol/tylenol during the day. The results
are pretty staggering; I feel like I have the flu if I don't. I am also taking nortriptyline
at night which I think is helping with my leg pain and sleep problems. But the flu
symptoms persist.

I wonder if anyone else has to take meds just to be functional?

I will be 60 on my birthday this year and was diagnosed in March after 6 months of symptoms.
Having a hard time coming to terms with what my new normal is.

Thank you,
Bella

Thank you Debbie. I have reduced stress alot, changed my work schedule. Still, need the meds.

Bella

I can't function without meds either. I have meds to stay awake and so I can sleep at night when I am suppose to. I take meds for pain, depression, anxiety, cholesterol, diabetes, blood pressure and so on. I feel like my life revolves around the medications. But maybe it is better than it revolving around the fibromyalgia. I don't know... But I sure can sympathize.

Hugs, Karen...

Oh, and forgot to mention, diet very important! Eat clean: no junk food, no additives, preservatives, artificial anything and low/no gluten.
Works for me. Hope this helps.

All great, informative posts! I always learn much from topics like this, and it's like doing an informal survey. Good stuff.

Ratoncitta: I have never heard of magnesium bisglycinate. Is it comparable to magnesium malate? I don't take much magnesium malate, so diarrhea isn't much of an issue; however, I am prone to IBS-D, so I found this interesting.

Thanks for the heads up on this. Could I ask where you find it? Thanks.

I went off Cymbalta and faced my fibro for almost a year, using just one tramadol to get out of pain enough to fall asleep. I decided to get back on the first med that had worked for me, Savella, and now I hardly need the tramadol. It is a much better life for me being medicated. Why suffer when there are so many things to try? My doctor encouraged me not to be a martyr…I am glad she did. I am able to do much more on the Savella.
HEART

Heart, had you been on the savella and it was working..but went off?

I take tramadol..and an anti inflammatory..i am sure neither is good for me..but i take meds to stay as functional as i can...

Its been a tough year..i seemed to handle the fibro, but when my d level got low i had so many symptoms that it got overwhelming.

I am getting some improvement by raising that level, but its very slow.. And testing my patience..

It was a busy week, so today i took off to rest up, get some sunshine, take time for my stretching....

Bella, what do you mean when you say the flu symptoms.. I do not think of flu symptoms with fibro as much as CFS...people with chronic fatigue syndrome seem to have the flu symptoms more?
Or do you mean the all over achy thing? That we for sure have..mine is so much worse with barometric changes...like tonight. Ugh...

I take mine every day, granted I don't take as much as told because I don't want that doped up feeling, but even with taking them I still have that all over achy feeling. It takes the edge off if nothing else, but it's different for everyone. Of course I don't think long term use of them is going to have a good effect either which is why I take as little as possible.

Ljm2014,
The first medicine I ever went on was Savella, and it worked beautifully with very few side effects for over a year. Then I experienced what can happen with SNRI and SSRI drugs..it is actually called "poop out syndrome," and means exactly that…it works well and then suddenly is not effective any more. My doctor explained that sometimes you need to cycle through a few different drugs to keep things working optimally. I went on Cymbalta next, and that was good too--until it stopped working as well about 9 months in. That was a very hard drug to come off…it took months of feeling like crap before the withdrawal effects wore off..dizzy, sick stomach, yuck yuck. It made me determined to see what my life would be like without any drugs at all for the FM. I limped through almost a year like that, but had to ask for pain meds (tramadol) for the nights the pain kept me awake, which was almost every night. This past spring my doc had me try noritriptyline, but that did nothing for the pain…made me sleep better but that was it. So the next step was to go back on what worked best for me, the Savella, which is actually the only drug developed specifically for FM. It is working well for me again and I am so happy to have my life back…almost. Like everyone else mentions, you never get completely out of the pain.
HEART

Ok thanks heart for sharing more detail on that..one of our rheumies locally puts patients on it, but i have not tried it...i did not know anyone who has flu like symptoms with fibro, but i thought i had read there are many forms of it..mine is genetic , no flu , but lots of pain and cannot sleep without a sleep aid

I get my magnesium biglysinate at a health food store. Oh, and as for quality of supplements I generally do some research first. Some are better than others.

I have had the "flu" symptoms for years. My flu test is ALWAYS negative. I was finally diagnosed with fibro, but always thought I had chronic fatigue. When the doc said fibro, I just agreed, glad to have an answer.

I tried to stop my meds, but was miserable. I am on subutex for pain twice a day. Pain will trigger my depression quickly. I realize exercise is just important as my pain meds.