What is the best treatment for Fibromyalgia?

Question

I also have high blood pressure and thyroid trouble. my sysmptoms are leg pain and daytime sleepiness. I had a sleep study done and was told that I have the Fibromyalgia. I am on meds for depression , highblood pressure and thyroid. I already take the zanaflex and ultracet and voltarin. Along with klopin wellbutrin synthroid and topral xl and a baby asprin. What else can be done? What type of dr should I go to to have this treated? Any help would be great.

Answer 1

Sounds like you are taking enough medication already. You should be seeing a rhumatologist. Are you sure you don't have CFS or something else? Have they tested for anything else?

Answer 2

Oh Hon. I was in a bad car accident. The doctor was treating Me for soft tissue damage. Then on the third visit He decided to take a blood sample. My guess is He had just gone to a Seminar on Fibromyalgia, and was trying to group everyone into that category. Might I add that He was very angry, because My Insurance Company would only let Him treat the diagnosis, not give Me Physical Therapy. The physical therapy is where He could make the most money. My C-reactive protein level showed elevated. So He tested My blood again. This time it was lower, so He told Me He thought I had Polymyalgia Rheumatic, which is a lesser form, and will correct itself over time. So this idiot stopped My physical therapy, and made Me go to a Rheumatolagist to prove that I did not have a disease, so that I could resume therapy. He also ran dozens of tests, that cost thousands of dollars, first trying to make money, and second to try and prove Me wrong. He tried to tell Me that this disease can lay dormant in Your body, and something like an accident, a death, a divorce, something traumatic, can trigger it. Those were His words. I finally dumped Him, and when I arrived at the new doctors appointment, and She had No information at all, no test reports, nothing, within the first three minutes She said the same thing. She even said what He had sad exactly. I was very confused. But I knew I did not have this. She had spoken to Him on the phone. Doctors are leary of accident victims. I finally got to see the Rheamatologist, God Bless Him. He was the Head of the Department, and after His exam, He told Me that I DID NOT have either. We figured out that My C-reative protien level was high due to a horrible sinus infection that I had, at the time of the blood tests. I was being treated for the Sinus infection by another doctor in the same office with the doctor that was treating My injuries, and My doctor knew about it. It put Me and My Family, and Friends through Hell. And meantime My body was healing incorrectly. To this day I am in terrible pain, and have to take pain medication, which is way more than I wanted to share, but I want You to know.

Fibromyalgia has dozens of symptoms. It is like a dumping ground when the doctor can't figure out what is wrong. The Rheaumatologist told Me that many People normally have an elevated C-reactive protien level, but that they do not know this, because it is not something that is normally tested.

In Physical Therapy, I met a Woman who actually had the disease Fibromyalgia. She said that the body has what is called trigger points, and this disease involves like ten or more. I did not have that, and She even told Me that I did not.

Do not take this at face value. You have a thyroid problem, but that doesn't mean You have Fibromyalgia, the same goes for high blood pressure. And Fibromyalgia makes You to have sleeplessness, not sleepiness, that would be a side effect to Your medicine. Klonopin is used to treat epilepsy, and benign tremors, do You have those?

Do You know what Fibromyalgia is, and what it will do to You?

Just make sure, don't accept this, get further testing.

The problem with an injury from an accident is that when not corrected it will cause your bones, and discs to not heal correctly, which causes scar tissue, and bone spurs. Then when x-rayed later on will appear as deterioration, which a doctor will call arthritis.

The doctor I had to see was choosen for Me, by My Insurance Company. My husbands company changed Insurance Companies, and the only Doctor on this Insurance was not accepting new patients, so We were assigned this person. I had gone to the same doctor for seven years prior. She also told Me that there was nothing in My file, that showed that I had ever had, anything, that would even suggest that I had Fibromyalgia. She also told Me that this is a catch all for several illnesses grouped together. I am back with Her now, Thank God.

There is so much on the Internet about Fibromyalgia. I did a lot of research on it, wrote My Family members to see if anyone had it, or had ever heard of it. Just make sure. please.........

Answer 3

I'm not a medical professional, but I've had fibromyalgia for over a decade, and my child has it. Both of us also have sleep disorders, and I've done a lot of research to make sure I understand why doctors prescribe what they do. I'm very protective of my child.

I have some questions about your current treatment, things for you to think about/ask your doctors. Then I'll go further into what else can be done and so on.

That's a lot of medicines, and it doesn't sound like you have had a tender-point exam or that you meet the criteria for fibromyalgia. (See http://fibrantliving.com/fibromyalgia-syndrome-an-introduction/ .)

I seriously think that you should see a rheumatologist to rule out fibromyalgia, but it sounds more like you have a sleep disorder or your other conditions are causing sleep problems that lead to daytime sleepiness.

While there is a sleep abnormality (the alpha-delta disorder) present in most fibromyalgia patients, fibromyalgia isn't diagnosed via sleep studies. Lack of good sleep can definitely lead to pain. There are some authorities who believe that the sleep disorder causes FMS, but the most recent don't support their theories.

Zanaflex is a muscle relaxant. Ultracet is a pain reliever that is often used for fibromyalgia. Voltaren is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Do you have arthritis? There is no inflammation present in fibromyalgia, so there's no reason to take an NSAID for it unless you have some other condition that calls for it.

Welbutrin is an antidepressant. Klonopin is a benzodiazepine that is used sometimes to treat restless leg syndrome, but it can also make depression worse. Requip and Sinemet CR are two of the newer treatments for RLS.

Synthroid, obviously, is for your thyroid issues. Toprol is for your blood pressure.

Rheumatologists are usually the doctors who treat FMS, in conjunction with a pain management specialist if your pain can't be adequately controlled with non-narcotic medications. Physical therapy isn't of much use to most people I've known, but some FMS patients swear by massages. (I can't take them, as they set off flares.) Acupuncture has been shown to be effective for many people, and cognitive behavioral therapy has helped many of us function better despite FMS. Stress reduction is a major part of recovery/stability for all of us, and establishing a routine that includes careful attention to diet and adequate sleep does far more than you might think.

The trigger points mentioned by someone are characteristic of chronic myofascial pain syndrome, which is a different disorder often seen with fibromyalgia. Treatment for it is different and involves trigger point therapy.

People who have fibromyalgia are diagnosed by a tender point exam. Look at the diagram at http://www.mwilliamson.com/tndr-pts.htm . The doctor has to be trained to do that exam, and you have to be positive on 11 of the 18 points in addition to meeting other criteria to have a diagnosis of fibromyalgia.

I wish you the best, and honestly hope you don't have fibromyalgia.

Answer 4

I have several friends who have fibromyalgia. They have been taking a natural product called Reliv for a couple of months and are doing a lot better. One of them stopped using their cane after taking the products, another is now symptom free. Reliv has been featured in BusinessWeek, Forbes, Fortune, and others because it is giving so many people their lives back . I would be happy to tell you more, just send me an email.

Take care and God bless,
Michael
[e-mail]

Answer 5

Be carefull with anti-depressants.
Unless you REALLY need them, try not to take them.
Get to a rhumetologist, ASAP, get MASSAGE therapy.
Get rid of the pain before you try to exercise.
Listen to YOUR body.
If you hurt,
STOP!
(I mean actual pain, not discomfort)
try to kee as active as you can, WITHOUT sending yourself into a horrid relapse so that you can't walk for a week while on a band trip to Orlando, Florida.
*raises hand sheepishly*
lol
Warm baths (NOT hot, it'll drain you, and you won't be able to get out of the tub....NOT fun.) are a lifesaver.

also, if you need to go somewhere after a shower, gradually make it cooler, till it's refreshing. Don't go all at once, it'll send your muscles into shock! lol, ALSO NOT FUN. :-D

Good luck, honey.
I'm prayin for you!
Sheena

Answer 6

I would suggest regular massage, maybe an acupuncturist, and frequent visits to a jacuzzi tub with jets. those things will help you a lot with the pain that you're having to deal with.