I feel that taking these meds should not be seen as a moral struggle or sign of emotional weakness, and from past experience I know that weaning myself off of these meds and trying to do without doesn't do me or my children any favor! I have had to come to terms with my genetic chemical inbalance, and the extra stress and depression that come with the fibro. I want to be able to enjoy life and function at the highest, most pain-free level that I can, so I am always proactive and assertive with my doctors, sharing with them what has worked the best for me in the past, and what has not worked.

I wish that I could say that the natural/alternative medicines, herbs, supplements and therapies have totally eliminated the need for prescription meds, but because this is a multi-faceted condition, I have to approach treatment from many angles and use everything out there that might help. Many of these alternative meds and treatments simply have not done much for me and are very expensive when insurance won't pay for them.

I think the one thing we need not do is to beat ourselves up with guilt or shame over needing or "having to take" medication to help us sleep or help with depression and anxiety or chronic fatigue. Fibro is debilitating and challenging enough to live with every single day, and we need all the energy we can get to cope with it. I am reminding myself as well. I started taking Adderall a couple of months ago to help with fatigue and low energy and lack of physical strength and mental focus. It is helping considerably, and I am better able to meet the needs of my children, yet I feel guilty about taking it and fearful that I might get addicted, even though so far it doesn't produce any high or cravings, just helps me not to have to stay in bed all day. Still....I don't admit to many "normals" that I am taking this or how many meds I have to take just to get through each day!

When it comes right down to it, it's no one's business, including doctors, to moralize or judge me when they haven't walked a day in my shoes.

That is just how I feel, and it makes me angry that fibro patients have to go to such extraordinary lengths to get medications that help them!

Leslie

Can I tell you something,,,,if you have true lyme disease, you shouldn't take antidepressants, , true anti depre... like oh God I can't think,...lyrica, shoot, someone help me out, the ones that change chemistry...anyhow most lymeis have BAD reactions to them, I tried to kill myself 3 times on 3 differnt antidepressants, before I knew I had lyme...yes they say that's a possibility...bet thats why....but lyme doesn't exist right? so that couldn't be the reson. It's much safer to take a xanax or something like that, fast acting when you need it. I found xanax even helps nerve pain, as have several others...go figure!

The weather is changing and a big storm front moving in, which equals extra pain and fatigue and maybe the start of another flare. I am grateful that I have some meds to help me cope and able to rest in bed this afternoon if needed because the ex is taking my kids today!

It's funny how your attitude can change after fibro as opposed to before....now my idea of a pleasant day is to get to rest in bed with a good book and my heating pad cranked on high, and not having to cook dinner tonight and getting to watch what I want on TV --it doesn't get any better than that -- and it's FREE!

It's good to see you back; I hadn't seen you on here in awhile.

I agree with you that it's worth it to take the time and effort to find a good doctor even though it's sorta like playing Russian Roulette.

Finding a good doc or docs is like hitting the lottery! Another thing I don't get is why it so much harder to find sympathetic doctors that really know how to treat fibro and not afraid to prescribe meds in some parts of the country, and in other places, not so hard to find them?

I am lucky to live where I do, between two large cities, and there are lots of doctors to choose from. I feel sorry for those who live in remote rural areas who have to drive hundreds of miles to doctors and pain clinics.

I have taken Zoloft in the past with no bad side effects, so now I'm going to try something similar called Paxil.

I know much more about meds now than I ever have lol. Since I have been diagnosed with Fibro I have been reading about all meds tried on us and I mostly like to go read on groups like ours because I beleive I get the best info on what works and what doesn't from other people who suffer like we do.

If I get my pain meds from the pain clinic Monday (pray for me) I will not tell anyone that I take pain meds this way people can't pass judgment on something they know absolutely nothing about.Also it wont inspire druggies to try and be my friend lol. I live in an apartment complex and beleive me if wind got around that I had prescription pain pills I would have people I don't even know trying to get to know me.

I was talking with one lady saying that I have Fibro and arthritis and she was like oh yeah they put people on antidepressants for that, hey do you get Xanax(sp?)

I was like umm, no. She doesn't understand it's people like her that make my life harder than it should ever have to be.

If you already see a pain management doc I would ask if he/she would take over managing your klonopin. In whatever case, I highly suggest foregoing the primary docs as your source for any medication management of schedule II drugs. There's a reason why they aren't specialists

Angela

Post edited by: geekGirl, at: 04/26/2008 11:28

Post edited by: geekGirl, at: 04/26/2008 11:34

drug interactions between the various anti-depressants (some people need to take more than one) as well as their potentiation of CNS depressants such as pain narcotics. They are usually, although not always, knowledgeable about which of their patients have a history of drug addiction and a high tolerance for benzos. Those people have a tendency to increase their dosages because addiction occurs rapidly, and they need more and more of it to get a therapeutic effect. Klonopin is also prescribed as an adjunct anti-seizure med and to help control tremors associated with epilepsy and other conditions, so neurologists are familiar with it as well.

My gut feeling about benzos is that most general practitioners lack the experience to prescribe them with confidence, and it is just easier to refer to a specialist and avoid the hassle. They know that the addiction potential is high, and they see a lot of patients, so they don't necessarily know who their addict patients are, the "drug seekers" and who REALLY needs the med. In the seventies, Valium was handed out by primary physicians like candy, mostly to women, as a panacea for all stress, depression, and pain, few questions asked, and little monitoring done. Now that they are aware of how serious the withdrawal symptoms are for these drugs, and the fact that in many cases there are safer, less addictive meds to try, they are reluctant to prescribe them. DEA monitoring is a big part of it of course, and they don't want that hassle, even if they don't actually "fear" the DEA. They'd rather just pawn it off on another doctor.

So bottom line, yes, a specialist such as a pain doc or psychiatrist is more likely to prescribe Klonopin without the hassle and judgment.

As for myself, I was one of those with an extremely high tolerance and quickly became addicted to both Ativan and Xanax, even though that certainly was not my intent. The drug would quit working for me and I'd need to increase the dose to get the original effect, much as some people need to increase their Lyrica or Neurontin dose over time.

I will never knowingly take another benzo again unless it is a matter of LIFE and DEATH, after the agonizing withdrawal process I had to go through to get off of them. It took MONTHS, nearly a year, before the tremors, shakes, panic attacks and insomnia subsided after quitting them. And doctors can't always tell who will be like MELeggs and who will be like me, so they err on the side of caution.

My physical dependence on Klonopin was not nearly as severe, and MOST people will be able to handle it with no problem, even on a long-term basis. In fact, I believe it is safer than many of the newer sleep meds like Ambien which claim not to produce tolerance and dependence, but in fact do if you take them for very long. That said, the singer Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mack had a severe Klonopin addiction, long after she'd quit doing all of the other drugs of abuse like cocaine,

and it took her years of treatment to finally get off of it for good.

If anyone is interested in reading about benzo addiction and withdrawal, there was a good autobiography written in the eighties called "I'm dancing as fast as I can" about a woman's struggle to kick a Valium addiction, and how horrible her first year of recovery was.

For those of you out there who are able take these drugs as directed and wean off them as needed, there is nothing to worry about, but when first prescribed benzos, I believe that EVERYONE needs to be honest with themselves and their doctors about how they are taking these meds, if they are ever drinking alcohol with them, or taking other central nervous system depressants, because these drugs can easily cause accidental overdoses if mixed with other drugs or alcohol. Benzo addiction can insidious and just creep up on you without your realizing it.

I say this for all parents of adolescents as well, Xanax is an extremely common drug of abuse for teenagers, especially girls, and many of them get it from relatives and friends medicine cabinets. They typically mix it with Corrididin cough syrup, marijuana, alcohol, XTC, and other dangerous combinations, so that is also something to be aware of.

This is a long post I know, but I feel passionately about the safe use of benzo's because I OD'd and very nearly died in the E.R. from Xanax. I am lucky to be here today.

Post edited by: hipmama42, at: 04/26/2008 13:44

I'm just at the point of wanting to lie about what meds I'm on and that I I had this major depressive/anxiety problem when my fibro was bad. I feel like an x-con writing that crap down. I want to be honest with doctors but I don't want to be judged for what happened to me. I guess this is why I love this place. These forums are a place I can be myself and be honest. I don't feel ashamed here about having fibro. -and- YES although no doctor ever had the guts to tell me- I think I had a nervous breakdown during the flareup. I'm not proud of that and if you never went through something like that- it is by far the most terrible thing I've ever experienced. It happened because doctors kept dismissing my symptoms and over months and months of trying to get help I guess I cracked or something.

That WAS 4 years ago. I want to put it behind me but not so far that I don't recognize some warning signs because I am well aware if that happens to you once it can happen again. That's why I left my last job. The stress there was getting to be too much and I am not risking falling off the edge again.

I do understand that doctors need to be careful- I really do. But don't judge me because my body is doing things I don't have control over. I didn't ask her to perscribe it for me but I wrote it down. I don't know- maybe I'm going to stop doing that. I'm sick of the looks being on these meds. Like Hipmama said I got MYSELF down to half a pill because I wanted to rely on them less. I'd love to be on a quarter pill but it didn't go so well this week when I did that for a few nights in a row. Maybe I'm going to need to be on a half pill the rest of my life. I am afraid someday I am going to be told I can't take it anymore and then how am I going to cope with withdrawal and no sleeping? Believe me I have a backup since I don't take a whole pill anymore. I guess I feel that would buy me some time if that ever happened to get off the drug without terrible withdrawal. I think the main withdrawal will be lack of sleep more than anything because I am on so little. Lets face it people are ADDICTED to antidepressants and they hand that crap out like candy. Why it that ok??? How many of us have had to withdraw from one and been sick as a dog because of it?? The body becomes reliant on those meds too. When things were bad I was on 20mgs of lexapro. I now take 5mgs. Emotionally I am doing well. When I did reduce my amounts I did feel increased hot flashes and muscle twitches and all that lovely stuff for a few weeks. People can kill themselves on those meds too but how many people out there- fibro or not are on them?

Sorry I just went off but I'm sick of that crap too. Doctors deem what is safe and want is not and alot of things they perscribe all the time people have problems with. Look at good ol' vioxx and such. Hand them out like candy then people die from them. Ok I'm done complaining....