New FM Treatment Protocol? NO OPIATES!!!!!!

Bill, I am sorry to hear that you suffer so much in silence...No one should have to live with such pain, and be silent about it. I know what you mean though...Some people in my life do not understand, and so therefore my pain is not their problem. People have asked me what it is like...I always say "imagine the worst case of the flu, that achy feeling you get all over, and then pretend you've been hit with a baseball bat"...There you go...Just my way of coping with it I guess! LOL...I take Effexor to help ease the pain, and I have tramadol, but then when the pain is at it's worst, it's the hydrocodone that takes the edge off...I tried for years to cope without meds. and it was the worst decision I ever made. I was miserable, and, to me, it's not worth it to live that way. I don't want to suffer through life. I want to enjoy it, and remember the good times. I had one family member say"oh, it just seems like you're on so many medications..." It's comments like this that piss me off! ARGH~...No, I'm not on that many, it's that you think I should take any...

There is no reason for a doctor to completely remove pain med's if you do not abuse them. Your records will confirm how you use them. I am speaking of Hydrocodone. I take up to 2 a day as a rule and most of the time it is 0 to 1 tablets ( 10-325) a day. Doctors should give you 60 at a time if you have been careful not to abuse them. The doctor can also look at other med's you take to see if you abuse them and base his or her decision on those med's as well.

Any doctor who will not give you any narcotic's is being unrealistic about how much fibromyalgia pain can hurt. I wish there was a way to simulate fibromyalgia pain in medical school so doctors could experience fibromyalgia for 24 hours. This make them realize just how much we deal with every day. It comes and goes 24 hours a day.

I was diagnosed around 1985 and this was after being on trial medications for arthritic treatment (wrong problem). Some of the side effects were horrible. Finally I was sent to a university doctor that specializes in Fibromyalgia and the medicine prescribed was Paxil. At first it was great as far as pain reduction but then the dry or wet mouth side effect was annoying too.
It did help me with the pain and still does.

My last comment is that you can not settle for poor treatment when you have fibromyalgia. It is a very taxing condition for everyone involved. My wife still does not seem to realize how much pain I am in at times and does not want to hear about it either. So I suffer in silence and go lay down when it is bad.

Bill

Tammy and Shellie: I am appauled by what I read about your doctor...I have run the gammot of doctors myself, and found there are two types 1) The doctor that will "treat " fibromyalgia, but really believes it's "all in your head" (boy wouldn't I like him to live a day in my shoes); who is more worried about drug liability than anything and 2) The doctor that truly treats it as the horrible auto-immune disease we have..no jokes...no run-around..no try "water therapy" or "get over it"-type attitudes. I have found that there are those that are truly interested in, and WANT me to feel better, but also care about health repercussions from prolonged prescription use; say monitoring liver, and kidney function every few months,etc.. They know I cannot take Motrin or Advil, and call it a day; it's like eating candy... If I wanted OTC I could stay at home for all the help that would be! The answer is to try every doctor you can until you find a doctor that truly, whole heartedly, cares about what you are going through, and is willing to do what it takes to help you to feel better! I hope that you find that someone who will truly care about YOU!

I have another opinion; get a new doctor. I know this post was written a while ago but a lot read this. I have had Fibro for decades and I try to stay off Hydrocodone as much as I can but I have it!. If it gets so bad that I can not stand it and I throw up, I go to E.R. and get a shot of demerol. That usually does it and I go home and get some sleep and relief. When I wake up pain is gone or greatly reduced. I have found that if I take a daily dose of vitamins and drink plenty of water and get up and move I do a lot better. When I do have pain I get up anyway and take a hot shower and I feel a lot better.

Take care and get another doctor,
Bill

Hello everyone!!!

About two years ago, I was giving vicodins for the pain. It took most of my pain away. At least I could get out of bed and do "normal" things without chewing someone out because of pain. I changed doctors, I was diagnose yet, so I thought the doctor didn't know what he was doing, lol. My new doctor, which has other fibromyalgia patients, told me she would not refill my vicodin. She was afraid that I might get addicted to them. Well I was taken off of them "cold turkey". She said that there is no tests that narcotic drugs don't do any good but get us addicted. I have done alot of research and found that there are some doctors that think that we shouldn't get pain relief. Get this part though. She gives me all kinds of muscle relievers. Not all are they addictive but also you have the side affects. Like not being able to get out of bed. Isn't that why we want pain killers to be able to do things. I still don't have pain killers. I take Cymbalta(60mg the max) and Naproxen(500 mg twice a day). I'm suppose to take Seroquel(50mg) every night for sleep. Well I did that for about a week. I was so dopey that I couldn't hardly move. I had appointments to go to for my insurance and I couldn't keep my head up and my eyes open. I was also told to go to the counselor for my pain. The counselor said that she don't know why I was sent to her for pain, there is nothing she can do. Well here I am 4 months later and I have pain and no pain medicine. I go to the doctor and she asks about the pain. I tell her its still there. I cry to go to sleep. I wake up with pain. I don't take Seroquel and I won't because I can't do anything. I make myself climb out of bed and move. Does it hurt? Sure it does but I don't know what else to do. I am going to a new doctor again in November. I hope I can get this doctor to listen to me(yeah right). Good luck with everyone else I hope your doctor listens to you and not what the new studies is saying. I will keep you informed. Praying for a day without pain.