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Posted 3/6/2016 3:13 PM (GMT 0)
I am currently on ampitryptiline for pain and sleep - helps me get back to sleep when I do wake up and seems to quiet those tingling sensations.

Like many of us I do not want to medicate because of nasty side effects...but I am looking for some help with pain. I am seeing my GP on Wednesday...and he is quite clueless. We are taking a family trip in a couple of weeks and it requires quite a bit of driving - and driving through two mountain passes. Elevation changes kill me - like weather changes - it feels like my hands & wrists are being crushed, my knees burn and hurt - it's hard to recover. Sure wish we could just teleport !

Anyway - I have been reading. Can Tramadol be taken just for pain (not as an ongoing med) ? I have read there has been some success with low dose Naltrexone (with minimal side effects) ??

Any ideas ????
Posted 3/6/2016 9:16 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, it can help just for pain.
Posted 3/6/2016 11:44 PM (GMT 0)
I can use a very low dose of tramadol that helps tremendously with pain...i can get side effects at high doses...but low dose can really take the edge off..

You can also take an occassional tylenol with it to boost pain relief. I do this at night..
Posted 3/7/2016 7:58 PM (GMT 0)
I have just recently been told I can try Tramadol just for days when I have more pain than "normal". It does seem to help take the edge off. I can take it and function fairly well, I was even able to work with it. However, I don't know that I would want to do too much driving. I kind of feel like I do when I take cold meds. I took it yesterday as a passenger though and walked around all day without problem.

I hope you are able to enjoy your trip!
Posted 3/8/2016 12:34 AM (GMT 0)
I use tramadol for the nights that the pain is severe enough to keep me from sleeping, or when I keep waking up because of the pain. I have never used it during the day when I try to work, but I seem to not have much effect from it, except that it does calm the pain quite a bit. I am thankful for it to be sure. I would estimate that I use it 2-3 times a week. Sometimes it seems like I need it every day; other times I can go two weeks without needing it.
HEART
Posted 3/9/2016 3:41 AM (GMT 0)
As a ps..

I cannot take tylenol during the day..cause it made me feel sleepy..

So i was looking for help with pain without that tylenol side effect..

Tramadol had a stimulating effect with me..there are some generics that i could not take well..

The first one i took was the best...no longer sold in usa..

Now on brand zydus..second best i have tried..
Posted 3/9/2016 4:08 AM (GMT 0)
I use a pain pump with Fentynl in it does anyone else use a pain pump for their fibro pain. I also take Cymbalta.
Posted 3/13/2016 3:02 PM (GMT 0)
I saw my GP and he said I couldn't take Tramadol because it cannot be taken with Ampitryptiline. Last time I ran out of Ampitryptiline I had lots of tingling and my pain shot up big time. That surprised me since I am still getting lots of pain ! Anyway, it does help me sleep and get back to sleep fast when I do wake up.

So...he prescribed me Tylenol 3s and Prednisone.

The T3s I will take as needed - haven't tried them yet.

The Prednisone he said to take for a max of two days so I don't have to taper off. I figure I will take it the day before we leave (this Friday) and the day we travel...and see how it works. In the past 5 years I have been on Prednisone before - and had to taper off - for about 2-3 weeks...it helped a lot. Crossing my fingers - where we are going is supposed to be rainy too. Ugh..

My diagnosis is CVID (I inject plasma to boost my immune system and keep me from getting more pneumonias) and fibro (from a rheumy)...though my doc thinks I have something auto immune (plasma mixes up my bloodwork). The CVID can cause joint pain too but likely not to this extent.

So....not sure prednisone works for fibro ????!!!??? It helps me though.
Posted 3/14/2016 9:28 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Ratchet,

Welcome to the forum. You may want to start a new thread with your question. You would probably get more responses. Not a lot of people have a pain pump here but you would find if somebody did.

I wish you the best.

Hugs, Karen...
Posted 3/15/2016 10:42 PM (GMT 0)
I have fibromyalgia from a serious back injury. Originally had 4 small chats but a new scan revealed lumbar 2 actually ruptured and is now a large calcium deposit. At onset every muscle atrophied and I almost destroyed my sciatic nerve. I was numb from waist down and off work 2 months and then 4 hrs. Day for two months. I have been trying to figure out what happened to ne since 2008. I wa misdiagnosed with tranverse myelitis, then MS. looking through my past recoreds I see fibromyalgia diagnose and all through my records, but not one doctor addressed with me until last year when a saw a surgeon...I was shocked when he said I had to manage fibromyalgia. Anyway, lyrics is awful, I felt like I was choking. I have been on tramadol for quite some time and it helps but not always. From fronts I get a knife sharp pain at L2 where the calcium deposit is... I'm thinking I need two different medications, one for L2 and one for fibromyalgia. I'm searching for meds that don't cause drowsiness without a lot of side effects. Just started taking melatonin for sleep.
Seeing a psychologist now for anxiety, its very up setting to try to tell family and friends how much I'm hurting, but I look fine... having a difficult time.
Posted 3/20/2016 12:46 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Ratchet
Sorry you are going through such a difficult time. It's hard to know what's what when you have a few issues going on at the same time. Hope the trip goes well for you. We have to keep trying to live or lives in spite of our pain although it's not easy most of the time.

Hi Sher64.

You are right when you say you need different meds for different illnesses. Fibro often needs more than one kind of med for all the diverse symptoms we get. I'm sorry to hear that you find if difficult talking about your various painfull ailments to your family + friends. You do need support and this forum is a great blessing to many people. Sometimes we expect people to understand what life is like for us but they can't really understand. They can support us though if we let them know we need it. It's not easy to do that sometimes.

I have a lot of health issues but fibro is the very worst when it comes to pain, meds and their side effects + disruption to family life and working life. I could go on and on but the point is that fibro is here to stay so we have to keep trying new things when what we are doing isn't working

I found lyrica good for burning feet and take it at night because of the drowsy effect. I take amatriptoline for sleep problems and Cymbalta helps to reduce the pain. I also take coproxemal for pain.

Some people need muscle relaxants for severe cramping especially at night. I'm in the middle of a long flare up atm and will probably have to change meds if it doesn't end soon. It's an ongoing process that sometimes takes it's toll but things will improve for you, they always do.

Kind regards, Neenaa.

Post Edited (Neenaa) : 3/19/2016 6:54:00 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 3/22/2016 4:47 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Neenaa,
Thanks so much for kind, helpful response. I will be seeing my pain management doctor soon to talk about all the options you mentioned. It sounds like your condition is worse than mine. Your support is so welcomed. I had no idea so many wrestled with this condition. It does seem that fibro is at least being acknowledged as a real disease and not just something in our head.
Thanks again, Sher
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