Hi, I'm New Here!

Something can for sure help your pain! It is a bit of trial and error...seeing what works for you specifically and how you adjust to meds. But , its important to know that help is coming.

Hope you'll share what he thinks and how you do with the plan.

We all learn things from each other here.

Welcome happytobealive! I am so glad you found us! This is a great forum for support and to learn new ways to manage your fibro. I happen to just land on this forum myself and I never regreted it. It has really turned my life around.

I always tell new fibromites things that really helped me. I truly believe in educating yourself with reading material on fibro. There are many books on line or even used books stores. Then we kind of forget the public library these days. Lol The info I read really taught me so much about fibro. It reduced my anxiety about the symptoms I was going through. I felt like I could see myself on each page. My Dr's never shared hardly any info about fibro. I learned it here and the books.

You will see that you have many opitions in reducing your pain with fibro. We all react different to pain. Some of us can handle it more then others. So you will see people taking narcotics to natural remedies. You will have to see what route you and your Dr. wants to go down.

Try not to get discourage when trying new meds and treatments. It does take time to see what works best for you. I call it a trial and error method. I can tell you it took some time to perfect a treatment plan for me.

I try to keep my treatment plan simple as possible. It seems the more natural I keep it the better I feel. I do the following for my fibro. Heat, exercise, limit stress, rest when needed, magnesium, calcium, muscle relaxer, vitamin D, antidepressent and subutex for pain.

I hope we see you around the forum again. Feel free to ask questions or if you just need to vent the day away. You will never feel alone in this!

Post Edited (ak angel) : 9/28/2014 11:19:21 PM (GMT-6)

Thanks ak angel! I just got done doing my gentle stretches before bed. I do like it here! I think I have read everything I've found online and from the library Lol! I can't sleep without my moist heating pad and my "squishy" pillows under my neck and left elbow. The pain is what it is and always has been. I take a Tramadol, 1 melatonin, a St. John's wart,and 3 Ibuprophen and still stay awake 'till 4am or so sometimes. The next day I'm usually "Foggy Froggy" though. I have been praying for this door to open forever, and now it's exciting...but a little overwhelming! In a few days, I may feel better than I have in years. Wow...

Did you know you had Fibro before you were officially diagnosed? Were you able to try any non-medical treatments like diet / lifestyle change to help your symptoms? I ask because the bulk of the difference in diagnosis or not is simply the treatment options that are available. If your dr hasn't they will likely suggest either Lyrica or Gabapentin soon, and possibly and antidepressant (which may help with your sleep and pain).
I found that muscle relaxers at bedtime help me a lot. I tried all the different meds (multiple antidepressants, both Lyrica and gabapentin, and a few others) and found that for me Gabapentin helped most with the nerve pain. I occasionally use Ambien to help with the sleep, which seems to go in cycles for me (I'll go a while getting decent sleep, then go through a period of insomnia). Exercise was hard at first, but I was able to slowly build up. Tai Chi was great for me during the early period, so gentle and always left me feeling better instead of worse.

Happytobealive- since you mention you have trouble sleeping have you tried a muscle relaxer? I was against it at first, but I am on them now. It really helped My sleep. Plus I had a sleep study done and I failed it big time. So now I have a cpap machine and that has helped too.

My Rheumy put me on TRAZADONE. He explained to me that it would probably throw me for a loop and then knock me out. When I wake up, I will feel fuzzy headed and more than likely I will feel worse. The med. will take 2-3 weeks to get in my system. After that it should bring my pain down a few levels. So, If I can ride out the side effects, he has had really good results with it. If the side effects are too over the top, we will go another route. I also asked him about Vit.D3 and Magnesium Malate. Thanks to the info.in Fibro 101! He felt like it was a good idea to try it.
I am to increase my walking to 30 min., and continue doing my gentle exercises. He also said that for me, my goal for max. benefit from walking will be 45 min. I have 18 out of 18 tender points, and over 40 symptoms from the fibro list! Yikes! He made me feel good because he said I was"doing the work" to learn about Fibro and that he is proud of me! He is my answer to Prayer! Oh, and while I am waiting for the TRAZADONE to kick in, I"m still on TRAMADOL. Also, still taking ST. JOHN'S WORT for irritability. My rheumy also explained to me that Fibro Fog gets way worse the longer you are deprived of sleep. Thanks for letting me share!

Hi Happytobealive:

Welcome.

I sure hope you can get your poor sleeping under control. It is so necessary to have a good sleep. I have had sleep problems for quite some time. I told a Doctor it all began 43 years ago when my son was born. When I worked I had many nights with insomnia. I am on disability now but you still need a good sleep to function in some way and hope that somehow your body might fix itself.

I started with melatonin and 5-HTP for sleep. It was not perfect. I did think 5-HTP helped some with the pain. I was put back on Nortriptyline. I was on it and came off to go on Lyrica. Came off slowly Lyrica due to weight gain. Nortriptyline has been prescribed again for Neuralgia. It has not done much for pain relief but I, most nights, get a better sleep. It also stopped nerve spasms and restless legs. I get relief from pain when I go to sleep. I did stop taking the melatonin and 5-HTP when I started Nortriptyline.

I do take a muscle relaxer (Baclofen) and a glass of Magnesium Calm also at bedtime. Very tired in the morning and can't function till about 10:00.

I will ask my Doctor about Robaxin and another muscle relaxer that I read about is Skelaxin (metaxalone). I read a good review about Skelaxin. It was not available in Canada. I will check again.

Some people avoid potatoes but they are a good source of potassium. Sweet potatoes are good for cleaning out your lungs. They have anti-inflammatory qualities. If any food triggers more pain, yes you have to stop eating it.

Yes, you are making great strides. You are seeking help and keeping active.

Hope your new meds provide some relief. Do share all your meds and supplements with Doctors so they know if there are possible side effects or if a supplement hinders the workings of medications.

Take care.

Loring

Osteoarthritis in Multiple Joints, Fibromyalgia, Neuralgia, Chronic Daily Headaches, I.B., Hard of Hearing...

Thanks Loring and Angel! Since I accepted my Fm diagnosis, I guess I have been putting my nose to the grindstone a little! Lol! I tried not taking my Melatonin tonight. Last night, I took it and couldn't sleep. I kept feeling like my eyes were open while I was asleep! Then, I would have to wake up and check..it was weird. Tonight , I took my Tramadol 50mg.,Clindamyacin150mg.,St.John's Wort,Naproxen500mg.,and a pepcid ac20mg.,around 10 pm. I did my gentle stretches x8, and I am actually a little groggy! Yay! My other problem is that my big,lovable,goofy 45 lb. or so puppy accidently "plowed" into me and I injured my tailbone! He hit the back of both my knees and I fell backwards and landed on his poor skull.He has a sore head! Poor baby! I can't quite sit now. I need to lay on my back on moist heating pad for my Fibro, but have to lay on my side and can't stand the heat on my tailbone! Lol! Never a full moment in my life! Soft Hugs to all!