Fibro Meds. What do you think?

Symptoms & Treatments
21

Oxycodone is an immediate release tablet that deals with pain immediately because it disolves immediately. Oxycotin is an Extended Release tablet that disolves over time in your body. Usually you take them at 12 hour intervals. The objective is to take the "sharpness" of the trigger pain away.

In my situation - I take one Oxycotin ER tablet 20MG each every 12 hours. Then I have a prescription for Oxycodone 20MG three times a day. When a major flare comes up, I take the Oxycodone. Since I already have the Oxycotin in my body, it should be reducing the intensity of the flare. They compliment each other.

22

It is horrible and many doctors do not acknowledge the electrical seizure type feeling people can get even if they miss one dose.

When you try and lower the dose and taper these electrical shocks can get horrible!! It took me almost a year to wean myself off it and i was on a low dose plus only been on it 6 months at the most. I never will use antidepressants again after that experience plus it never did anything to help with the pain or my moderate depression.

So yes it is very hard to taper off antidepressants!

I am going to add one more thing....i also discovered that fog feeling i thought i was having from fibro was really caused by my drugs once i got off most of them. I was on drugs like lyrica, gabapentin, cymbalta and other mood/nerve pain drugs as well as some to help sleep, another to help with my restless legs. Well I may not have always realized what a zombie i was but i did at times.

So if you are feeling a fog, have hard time with balance and are on more than 1 or 2 drugs, you might consider the drugs as the cause. Even now i am only only 2 drugs and i have doctors say i am too many!!

Considering at one point i was on more than 7...i think i made huge improvement and i only feel the fog when i do not sleep all night or pushed myself too hard. In other words i know the cause now.

Just something to consider

23

First of all, and I see you've heard a lot of this is, never cold turkey off your meds, especially phyciatric drugs, which Cymbalta is-an antidepressant. Always consult your doctor! They will guide you if there is going to be a problem. I have done it both ways, and trust me, you don't want to just stop taking your meds. Antidepressants can be easily and successfully weaned off of making the transfer unnoticeable. I don't know about Lyrica, but any med that you slowly ramp up has to be weaned off of. At any rate to be on the safe side, consult a doc, and also Pharmacists know a lot about meds too. I mean, you can pick their brains.

I apparently had the Cymbalya Withdrawal Syndrome when trying to get ON Cymbalta. Weird! When I took it I was nauseated for a month straight, It was awful! Same with Effexor. (similar drugs). My doctor put me on an alternate antidepressant. I'm not sure if it helps my pain bc I certain do have pain, but I know that I am also dx's with major depressive disorder, so I need them no matter. Gabapentin did nothing for me, neither did Lyrica, tramadol doesn't do anything either.

I've had several antidepressants, and I had those sexual side effects with the older generations of them, but not the newer ones. And that is even going into menopause! So Prozac & Celexa I had no desire. On Celexa I could still do it, but I just didn't care. Lexapro and Pristiq no sexual side effects for me. I am also on Oxycodone, and when I'm not on one I am fine with sexual desire. When I AM on it, it's bc I am in PAIN so, that can also be why I'm not feeling so sexy.

If for some reason you can't talk to the doctor I can tell you how I've been weaned off by doctors in the past. Just message me. It's not difficult and it's pretty logical.

Liz

24

I'm glad someone mentioned Effexor as well. I stopped taking Effexor and the expirience was as horrible. I was also on Cymbalta with no relief and many side effects and in my experience,Effexor was worse to come off than Cymbalta.(not to suggest it was at all easy.

Having Major Depression for so many years, I've been on ALL and more of the antidepressant meds mentioned. Sexual side effects come with the territory with ALL of them. Except Wellbutrin. Sometimes doctors will add Wellbutrin along with SNRI's to counteract the sexual side effect. Since Wellbutrin is the only antidepressant i'm currently taking I can not speak from my own experience(since I have other issues with sex) BUT,I can tell you that this did work for a friend of mine. She doesn't have fibro,but takes Paxil for depression and when she ran into this problem her doc added wellbutrin and she has since not had a problem.

Hope this helps

25

Hello everyone, I would like to share an article I found the nfmcpa web site. There is still more hope for pain sufferers like us.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-04/babs-npr041514.php

One day we will get rid of this unwanted pain.

26

Thank you for this. I think I'm in trouble.

Be sweet to yourself

Always~Laurel aka northwoods

27

The only med I have ever tried for fibro was a muscle relaxant, very low dose, just to take the edge off on my very worst days because it made me feel like a zombi and I would still be out of it into the next day. Then I realized that it was contributing to constipation.

Side effects are the reason I quite this one and never tried any others. Shortly after being diagnosed over 20 years ago, I went to a support group meeting. Everyone was talking about their meds and all the side effects. I figured I had enough symptoms and didn't need to add to the list. I have yet to this day to meet anyone with fibro whom I am convinced is truly satisfied with what their meds do for them and wouldn't switch in a heartbeat if they thought there was something newer and more effective.

Instead I focused on more holistic, natural things -- among them -- massage therapy, chiropractic, pool therapy, herbal and vitamin supplements. All helped some. None were cures. Most not covered by insurance so I could never afford to try everything simultaneously to see if that would help more. Like I said, not a cure, but at least no added symptoms to the mix and it helped me manage the pain.

Then lo and behold, 3+ years ago, someone shared with me the health benefits of a whole food, plant-based diet. It's effective in the prevention and fight against cancer, heart disease, diabetes and alzheimer's. The person who shared with me didn't know if it would help with fibro, but I figured it was worth exploring. I read the materials she recommended and knew I had to make a change. Even if it didn't help the fibro, I was convinced at how it could greatly reduce my risk of these other diseases, and I figured dealing with fibro was quite enough. But the great news is, it DOES help! It turns out all of my life I was underestimating how much benefit there was to eating fruits and veggies as well as how much damage and inflammation was caused by all the bad stuff plus many things that I thought, that most of the world thinks, is healthy.

What a wake up call. What results! 3+ years later I am still reading about health and nutrition so I can understand it better and continue to optimize what I choose to nourish my body with. 3+ years later I feel I have my life back! When I talk to other people who are my age and "normal" I think that my pain levels and memory are better than theirs. My sleep is greatly improved and pain is no longer my first thought or sensation when I wake up. Improved circulation, improved cholesterol & bp, puffy & swollen legs gone, energy IMPROVED, And if I didn't already say it, I lost 40 lbs. (so far) without trying! Like I said, I have my life back. I am setting goals and making plans and allowing myself to dream again!

I did have a bit of a setback last fall when I had to be on an antibiotic for an abscessed tooth. I discovered about 10 years ago that antibiotics trigger depression for me, and even though I was prepared for it and figured it had to do with an imbalance of gut flora, I was unsuccessful at preventing it with probiotics. In Feb. I came across some materials that helped me figure out more of the how and why the antibiotics trigger the depression, and yes, it was from an imbalance of gut flora. I just had not been aggressive or persistent enough with my treatment until I continued my research. And voila! Depression now gone, digestion restored, and BONUS -- fibro fog also GREATLY improved!!!!!

What makes me very sad, though, is I try to share this info, and no one really seems interested in even giving it a try. I feel like if I said I had tried a new drug that worked great, everyone would want to know what it was so they could ask their doctor about it, but ask someone to give up their favorite foods, and they would rather suffer through with the meds, side effects and their pain and suffering. I will share some resources here to get you started in case there is someone here who is willing to research and give nourishing their body a try. Improvement is not going to happen overnight! It's taken a long time to get your body in such a toxic and undernourished state, but you should start to feel improvements within a couple of months. But please note that when you start to detoxify, you will most likely feel worse for several days, but that is normal and a good sign. Be persistent. Be patient. It will come and it will be worth it.

http://www.forksoverknives.com/

http://protectivediet.com/

http://pcrm.org/

Books:

multiple titles by Dr. Neal Barnard including: Foods that Fight Pain

There are lots more resources, but I don't want to overwhelm you.

28

I am always surprised at the many people who do not eat fresh vegetables or fruit daily. Maybe it was due to my grandparents having a farm/dairy. But my mother who mom came from wealthy educated family also ate growing fresh fruit and vegetables. Only difference was my father's parents tend to put homemade Vinegar which now is known as balsamic vinegar and my mother's mom used lemon juice and small amount of mayonnaise. Vinegar mainly won out but a few vegetables like artichokes a dressing was made often.

My mother loved to garden as did my grandparents....especially the women. It was passed on to women, in our family and we were lucky enough to live in 'salad bowl' areas of Calif where a wide variety of fresh vegetables and fruit were easily available.

When i traveled other areas of the US, i was amazed how hard it was in some areas to be able to order fresh or fresh steamed vegetables. It was eye opener for me how other regions ate. In my area most families did eat fresh veggies and fruit though it may have been prepared differently.

I totally agree with Hope that eating this way improved her life as it has mine and could explain why despite having some health problems, i still so better in general than most. It has been proven again and again that supplements cannot give all health benefits in fresh fruit and vegetables. Sure same would be true in naturally grown beef, chicken and fish if we were to test in those areas. If people chose to eat some meat in their meals. Even with grains....when making bread myself and buying most fresh milled flours i could find..bread was not anything like 'white bread' in stores. Much more flavor and natural fibers. IF i eat a store bread made by large company who has more than 3 grams of fiber, i often get sick from it....but natural produced loaf of bread, i do not! Plus it has more flavor and taste!! This is even true of dairy products, butter, yogurts etc.

Having grown up non processed milk etc since my grandparents had dairy milk from store tasted strange as did butter had no flavor. Now if i drink any kind of milk than on fat again i get sick....but what would be equal to 2% fat from natural cow fed, only natural feed...i do not and yogurt and butter and even cheese tastes superior!

I get that it would be too time consuming for most to make their own yogurts, bread, jams etc but there are now many local organic farms offering what they have in season either delivered or you go to their farm. Farmer markets are also excellent source...and ask around for natural bakers. Boy you have not tasted bread if not first with made with natural flour and go on from their with natural ingredients. I wonder if celiac disease would lessen??

Also please do not think fresh veggies or fruit in your grocery store is real thing....NOT!! at least try local co op and food grown. Look online for local growth sites, or if you have money chefs who will prepare a day or full weeks dinners! Fresh meals are wonderful and taste alive!

i hope some start or give it try...it will make a huge difference in your health.

One thing...if you are going to buy fresh eggs or milk, read up about pros/ cons on pasteurized milk. What barns should look like...extremely clean and same about eggs. Want very clean coops and nesting boxes. So read up and get a big educated so you cannot get sick off fresh milk or eggs etc.

Manga mon amis!!