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Welcome Juliejewels. I have had fibro for about 13 years and I have found that fibro is a very disabling disease. Believe it or not the key to your fibro being under control is good sleep. If you don't sleep everything goes whacky. No sleep means that the pain pathways (the signals in our brain that tells our body that we wre in pain) are even more malfunctioned than normal. When we sleep the pain pathways are shielded a bit more than when we don't sleep. If the doctor hasn't already put you on something to help you sleep that is probably the area that you want to address first. They usually start with a anti-depressant. This doesn't mean that your depressed it is used to help you get into a deep sleep. Anti-depressants originated as pain killers and they found that they had benefits for depression as well. Elivil is a common one for newly diagnosed fibromytes. I've just been put on Cymbalta, Trazadone and Zanaflex and that seems to work for me, for the moment. I started with Elivil 20mg, 13 years ago. I'm not a real fan of Elivil, it would either not work at the low dose or knock me out for 24 hours at a higher dose. Everybody is different and different doctors like to give different meds. The main thing to remember is that your a chemical and your putting a chemical in your body so if one doesn't work another will. As far as the pain killers. There isn't a right or wrong pain medication to take but you will read that Tyllenol 3, Vicodin (all of the short term medications) are not the best. The reason is that you have to take them all of the time, they start to not work after awhile and they have acetometophen (sp?)in them and that long term is not good for your liver. If your doctor doesn't seem to be willing to change your meds, and what you have is working, you may want to go with this for a while. I took a lot of Vicodin, everyday for many years, before I was properly diagnosed and my liver is still okay. If I can suggest anything to head off symptoms before they pile up it would be to get your rest, stop when you get tired but don't completely stop for a long period of time. As much as your body hurts you have to push on. If not, the toxins will lay in your muscles and you feel 10 times as bad in the long run. The long and short of it is that you have to try and find your balance, take care of you, and give yourself permission to take care of yourself. It all sounds so simple when you read it but it's not easy at all. I'm glad that you have joined the group. Be sure to let us know how your feeling. Janice aka frazzeledbutgoin |
