I have Fibromyalgia, does anyone out there have it? Do you know anything I can do to get the pain level down?

Question

I have now had Fibromyalgia for 2 yrs. I am looking for other poeple with this too. I would like to know if you have more info on how to keep the pain level down to a minimum. I am taking Pills of course right now(hydromorph) but I am looking for other things that I can try so I don't have to take this medication anymore. Does anyone know anything else that I can do for pain? I am open minded!!

Answer 1

I have Fibromyaglia (a.k.a. F.M.S. and F.M.)

for mild pain days...hot water as in a hot bath with epsome salts or sitting in a hot tub, heating pads, massages (with a someone train to F.M.S. massages) Chrioprator has helped to. Meditation,reiki. these things help for a little while.Also whatch your activity level..sometimes certain activities cause flare ups.
Temperture also plays a huge part in pain.The colder it is,whether from A/C or outside Temp. Cold will put a hurtin on ya.
Stress causes pain too.

I've had F.M.S. for 10 years, be happy you have a doctor who knows it's a REAL physical painful condition. I've gotten alot of doctors who think it's all in my head, that I'm too young to have it.

I hate taking pills, only recently has the pain flare ups got so bad that I've had to take Vicodin.
but the hot baths,massages and other stuff I've mention keeps my pain bareable

There is lots of great sites on the web for F.M.S. I recently joined a on-line F.M.S. support group. It really does help talking with others who have this horriable condition. we swap what works and what doesn't, ask questions and find simulariaties in our condition. I think the site is called immune support.com

Wishing you well,
Ember Fae

Answer 2

I've had it for two years now and I'm only 20 gettin ready to turn 21 in a few months it sucks to have the pain all the time I'm on different meds that hopefully help massaging does help but problem is getting to pay for it and acupuncture help

Answer 3

My whole body felt like one big bruise and I couldn't even touch my arms without crying almost. I was on morphine for six months. I didn't want to be on narcotics anyone so I switched to topamax, because I heard that it was prescribed for nerve pain, but it doesn't cause weight gain that neurotin does. It's also a mood stabiler. I take 200mg and it got rid of almost all of my pain. I also avoid all temperature extremes, that is I avoid heat (no saunas or really hot baths) and the cold. I try to keep the temperature in the house very even.

Answer 4

My Dad has it and he was on predinzone for about 18 months. He has now gone off drugs and is managing with light exercise (walking) to help with stiffness and massages. He still says that some days can be a struggle apparently it is the nature of the disease.

Answer 5

Believe it or not, pain is the body's way of saying hey more water here. Water gets rid of all pain, Dehydration causes illnesss. Read the book entitled you're not sick, you're thirsty. Lots of luck.

Answer 6

have them run some liver tests. have them check for HBV or HCV or other diseases that affect the liver and cause the liver to inappropriately filter toxins out of the body-these toxins end up in all of our joints and other organs. it can cause a wide variety of side effects.
please tell them not to rely on the alt and ast levels as this sometimes is not always elevated in liver disease.

good luck.

Answer 7

Massage and hot tubs.

Answer 8

you can check people with fibromyalgia in this site: http://www.fibromyalgia.md/viewforum.php?f=1&sid=be2c70061c6e04d9c1913c73f9aad612

http://www.fibromyalgiatreatment.com/

Treatments for Fibromyalgia Syndrome
Treatment of Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) is complicated by the fact that the causes of the disease are unknown. As a result, the condition itself cannot be effectively treated and remains incurable. However, the symptoms themselves can be eased, and over the course of this article I will be discussing some of the methods by which FMS can be made easier to cope with.

Pain relief
One of the most common and difficult to live with symptom of FMS is chronic pain. While it is almost impossible to make the pain go away completely, there are a number of ways in which you can soothe or moderate it. One of the most effective of these is to administer moist heat directly to the site of the pain. FMS pain is very susceptible to changes in temperature, pressure and humidity, and you can use this to your advantage. Sitting in the shower and pointing the hot water directly at the site of pain is one of the most effective non-medicinal treatments you can get. Once the main source of pain has moderated you can use the same method to address the other sources. Following this treatment twice a day for twenty minutes at a time is one of the most effective methods of reducing FMS pain flare-ups and the best thing is, you should be able to notice the difference almost immediately!

Drug treatments
While it has its flaws, the basic strategy used today to treat FMS is to prescribe drugs to relieve the most painful or frustrating symptoms. As well as dealing with the common aches and pains associated with the condition, many of the drug treatments are aimed at getting sufferers to sleep better. Most experts believe that the sleeping problems that most patients suffer from are one of the major factors that cause or exacerbate many of the other symptoms of FMS.

There are problems with using drugs to treat FMS. All drugs have some side effects, which can often be worse than the problem they are supposed to be treating. As FMS is a long-term condition, there is more chance of these side effects being experienced, and the length of the course of medication might increase their effects. There may be additional problems if a patient has to take a combination of medications at once.

Another problem with drugs is that they do not stop the pain, but only mask it. The pain itself, and its causes are not dealt with, and may continue to have other effects that the patient cannot feel. Fibromyalgia sufferers need to sit down with their doctors and discuss the problems. The aim is to find the best combination of medication to relieve as much pain as possible with the lowest number of adverse side effects.

FMS patients may, at different times, be prescribed any of the following: restful sleep medications, anxiety medications, antidepressants, narcotic medications, muscle relaxants or anti-inflammatory drugs.

Other treatments
In addition to drug treatments, which are the usual way of dealing with Fibromyalgia Syndrome, there are a number of other treatments that can be employed in order to ease the symptoms. Some of these are quite extreme, and should only be attempted once various medications have been tried and found to be ineffective. You should consult your doctor before embarking on any new form of treatment.

TENS
TENS, which stands for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation, is a system of treatment whereby electrical impulses are shot into specific nerves in order to block the passage of pain signals to the brain. It is possible that the electrical impulses also stimulate the release of endorphins, allowing the body to relieve pain naturally. When administering TENS, electrodes are placed directly onto the effected muscle, allowing the patient to treat very specific areas of pain. The electric charge can be set to run continuously, or the patient can switch the charge on and off to deal with the pain as it arises.

Magnetism
Magnets have been claimed to help in easing pain when placed directly onto a sore or inflamed muscle. The theory is that the magnetic field stimulates or interacts with the body's natural electrical impulses, to relieve pain, stimulate endorphins or block pain signals to the brain. Whether magnets work or not is a matter of scientific debate, but the treatment is relatively harmless (although people have complained of side effects including head and back aches or insomnia after extended use), so if you have tried everything else without success, you might as well give magnets a try. You never know your luck!

Injections
Local anesthetic injections can help ease the pain of specific muscles. The effects can take a day or two to be felt, but once they are the pain can be removed for several weeks at a time. There are usually no side effects to using injections to control your pain, and they are especially effective when used as the pain from FMS is improving as a result of other treatments, but a few problem areas remain.

Ultrasound
Ultrasound is usually administered by a physical therapist over a series of sessions, and often used in conjunction with deep heat. It can relieve pain and inflammation when used on the back and shoulders, as well as aiding in relaxation. It can be continued over extended periods of time as long as no side effects are felt.

Fibromyalgia symptoms: Acupuncture provides relief
What happened? People living with the chronic pain of fibromyalgia may have a new option for relief.

In a Mayo Clinic study, acupuncture significantly improved symptoms of fibromyalgia. Among 50 participants, those who received acupuncture reported improvement in fatigue and anxiety, among other symptoms. Acupuncture was well tolerated, with minimal side effects.

Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition characterized by fatigue, widespread pain in the muscles, ligaments and tendons, and multiple tender points — places on your body where slight pressure causes pain. There is no cure for fibromyalgia. Typically, treatment is a lifelong combination of medication and self-care.

Mayo's acupuncture study is one of only three randomized and controlled studies involving people with fibromyalgia. Of the other studies, results were mixed. One study found acupuncture to be helpful, while the other reported that acupuncture was ineffective for pain relief.

"The results of the study convince me there is something more than the placebo effect to acupuncture," says David Martin, M.D., Ph.D., lead author of the study and a Mayo Clinic anesthesiologist and pain specialist. "It affirms a lot of clinical impressions that this complementary medical technique is helpful for patients."

What does this mean to you? Acupuncture therapy usually involves a series of weekly or biweekly treatments with thin needles inserted to various depths at strategic points on your body. If you'd like to try it, tell your doctor. He or she may recommend a certified acupuncturist or a medical doctor who uses acupuncture as part of his or her practice.