Fibromyalgia Support Group

Re: Spasms during MRI...

I have to tell you that when I had my MRI (almost 2 years before my FMS diagnosis) the procedure took over 2.5 hours (It was supposed to take only 30-40 mins max). I was in excruciating pain, my muscles were spasming so much trying to lay flat that it was causing my body to jerk and they were having to re-take the images over and over. It was a terribly painful experience. I didn't notice it directly related to the sound, I just assumed it was from trying to lay flat on my back.

I have been on Zanaflex but it worked only a short time about 6 months...I take trazadone and Ambien for sleep..I have never been on cymbalta I am on Lyrica but may have to try Cymbalta because my insurance doesn't cover Lyrica..which frustrates me because it works so well with me...

That so sucks that you have to give up a medicine that works for you because your insurance won't cover it! If they won't cover Lyrica, maybe you could try neurontin instead--molecularly they're very close but for some reason people who can't tolerate Lyrica CAN tolerate neurontin. I haven't tried Neurontin yet because Cymbalta is working well for me at present.

Sleep is a problem for me. I'm trying Rozerem this weekend but it isn't working so far...I get to sleep but I'm awake again two hours later. Last night I was awake every hour or so and woke up groggy. I've been awake for 2.5 hours & just now waking up...

I have tried Neurontin and it doesn't work for me..

Cymbalta did nothing for my pain. Flexeril worked great for about a year but I developed a tolerance to it. Skelaxin and zanaflex did nothing for me. Robaxin helped a little but not enough to put up with the extra drowsiness. As far as sleep goes, melatonin helps me more than anything but gives me weird dreams so I don't take it anymore. (Dreams bother me.) I've tried elavil, valium, zanax, and so many others I can't remember. They never phased me except the ones that had the opposite effect and hyped me up. Sorry I can't be more help, but I haven't found much relief yet either. It seems like every time I do find some relief it stops working for me.

I took valium for about 10 years for neck spasms and it worked great for me with sleep. I fell asleep as soon as I hit the pillow and slept as long as I could. Then my company changed insurance carriers and I had to get a new PCP...she absolutely refuses to give me valium because she says in 10 years or so my body won't metabolize it correctly. She didn't want to give me flexeril but finally did. I really miss valium and sleep...

Hi Notenough and welcome to the group.

I also don't agree with docs who think we don't need pain meds to manage our pain.

As far as sleep I take zanaflex and percocet 10/650mg to sleep. I also take Lyrica 450mg per day and 60mg Cymbalta. The combination of all of these help me to function most days.

Good luck to you and again, welcome!

Tabby