900 Gabapentin mixed with 100 mg tramadol plus 800 Ibuprofen 3 hrs before bed. It does not tae away all the pain, but maes it easier to tolerate as well as allow me some sleep.
Does anyone have any suggestions for clearing " brain fog" ?
If we knew the answer to help with brain fog, we possibly would be a wealthy man Dianne...
I don't mean to be flippant but I really believe it has a lot to do with our taking time-out during each of our days.. Fibro fog was explained to me as a parallel to physical stress, as if we over work our bodies/muscles, we get physical pain until we rest for a period of time.. Our brain really can only give us a sign of over used by giving us more mental stress, but most folk commonly ignore this signal.. I try to take at least two thirty minute brain brakes to either meditate, or in my case I turn off my hearing aids and use visualisation sometimes, when I can't find somewhere appropriate to meditate Dianne.. Perhaps this may help.?
Best of luck anyway Dianne, as Brain fog is now my constant daily companion..
Thank you Mike ! That is great information that I will attempt to follow. I am an activity director for an Adult day health care for Alzheimer's. I over see 65-70 people a day, it has become quite stressful. But, i do love the people I care for. Maybe taking a mental break a couple of times a day would help. Again, THANK YOU !
Dianne
MikefromsouthNZ said:
If we knew the answer to help with brain fog, we possibly would be a wealthy man Dianne...
I don't mean to be flippant but I really believe it has a lot to do with our taking time-out during each of our days.. Fibro fog was explained to me as a parallel to physical stress, as if we over work our bodies/muscles, we get physical pain until we rest for a period of time.. Our brain really can only give us a sign of over used by giving us more mental stress, but most folk commonly ignore this signal.. I try to take at least two thirty minute brain brakes to either meditate, or in my case I turn off my hearing aids and use visualisation sometimes, when I can't find somewhere appropriate to meditate Dianne.. Perhaps this may help.?
Best of luck anyway Dianne, as Brain fog is now my constant daily companion..
A supplement called D-Ribose put my daughter's fibro into remission, as long as she stays on it. You can learn more about that and other great remedies at the website of my favorite Dr, who is a naturopath AND a medical Dr. who specializes in diseases with fatigue as their base. www.endfatigue.com
I could write a chapter about all the things that have helped me, but I'll keep it short. There is a prescription cream with no smell that is INCREDIBLE! It's called diclofenac 10%. You ask your Dr. for it, and your pharmacy makes it for you. The pharmacies that are inside department stores don't usually have the ability to do that, but pharmacies that are only pharmacies do. Call and ask if your pharmacist compounds prescriptions. When you first rub it on, it slightly numbs the skin and connective tissue, so you can use the lubrication of the cream to gently rub out a knot. Then it has anti-inflammatory properties to reduce swelling and pain, and then some muscle relaxant properties to help relax the muscle.
If you can't get that cream, there is an OTC (over the counter) gel with the same chemical, but much much weaker. Still, people say it does help them some. It's called Voltaren Emulgel.
Gentle stretching before I get out of bed helps. I hope to start a yoga program for people with chronic pain. It's a video. "Gentle Yoga for arthritis" by Peggy Cappy. It helps for fibro too. I have seen a few others called "Easy Yoga" which is just the basic stretches that you adapt to your own ability. Hope to get enough ambition to do that, and to go swimming soon.
Emotionally, I went through about 20 years of dark, horrendous depression. It's pretty much gone now, but I still do get low. Vitamin D helped, so did a natural anti-depressant called Sam-e, and starting a gratefulness list, listing 1 thing a day that I was grateful for...and now most of my thoughts are of thingsI am grateful for. Things could be so much worse! No matter how bad off you are, things can always be worse. I'm not chipper 24/7, but I'll take the improvement I have.
Best wishes and blessings to all,
Sheila
I feel I have tried muscle relaxers, and prescription Ibuprofen and find I am having to take two at once of the ibuprofen.
Blondediva,
Most people, even perfectly healthy people, usually take 2 ibuprofen at once for headavhe or body aches. That's what the dosage on the bottle is. If that amount helps you, that's wonderful!! I hope your fibro never needs more than that. Most of us need more than ibuprofen.
Best wishes,
Sheila
I take 900 Gabapentin, 800 Ibuprofen, 100 mgTramadol every evening for pain. It only makes it more bearable, it never takes the all the pain away. I have tried all sorts of natural pain relievers as well as prescription, exercise as well. Everything I try works for short periods of time. I just keep praying that studies will discover what the cause of Fibromyalgia is.
Wishing you all pain relief !
Dianne
Dianne Perry said:
I take 900 Gabapentin, 800 Ibuprofen, 100 mgTramadol every evening for pain. It only makes it more bearable, it never takes the all the pain away. I have tried all sorts of natural pain relievers as well as prescription, exercise as well. Everything I try works for short periods of time. I just keep praying that studies will discover what the cause of Fibromyalgia is.
Wishing you all pain relief !
Dianne
I do have treatment with Tens but I can tell you that the home unit that I was using was way too strong and agravatted me to no end. Last year, I started with an amazing physiotherapist who started the Tens again and it was quite different. The adjustment levels were better and with heat application it was really good. My sciatica has settled down and the myofacial pain in my back and neck are now managable.
I just started taking the Gabapentin, it is a sister drug to Lyrica which I was on. The doctor said it takes longer to kick in. I've heard good things about the Gabapentin, hopefully, it will work for me. I am so tired of this chronic pain. I've tried so many drugs and nothing takes it away.
Dianne Perry said:
900 mgs of Gabapentin along with 800 mgs of Ibuprofen and 100 mgs Tramadol every night. It helps, but is no cure. It just makes the pain a little easier to tolerate.
I recently did a change to my prescriptions. Getting up in the morning was really tough so I stopped taking my elavil. I am on Risperdal, lamictal, zoloft and occasionally a low dose of ativan. One night the pain was really bad before bed and in addition to my advil pm I took an ultram pill. I wondered about this after the fact the following morinng. I found out it can be done. I do not take the Ultram every night I am wary about it being addictive but it has made it easier to fall asleep quicker. I am able to sleep through the night. Instead of being woken at 4 am I am waking at 6 - 6:30 am. As a result I am in a better mood. I am glad I made the change. I pulled a mucsle last week in my back and I was surprised how well the ultram/advil pm reduced it just enough to fall asleep. When I get this muscle back in shape I think I will take the Ultram less frequently and turn to aroma therapy and heating pad.
I will say that I thought I could do without the Tramadol/Ultram, so I attempted twice to stop taking it. I was shocked to find I could not go without it at night, the pain came on with so bad. So if you can go without taking it regular, you might be better. I realize we are all different in what works for us, but I will say that I really appreciate everyones advice, as well as letting us know possible side affects.
dozer said:
I recently did a change to my prescriptions. Getting up in the morning was really tough so I stopped taking my elavil. I am on Risperdal, lamictal, zoloft and occasionally a low dose of ativan. One night the pain was really bad before bed and in addition to my advil pm I took an ultram pill. I wondered about this after the fact the following morinng. I found out it can be done. I do not take the Ultram every night I am wary about it being addictive but it has made it easier to fall asleep quicker. I am able to sleep through the night. Instead of being woken at 4 am I am waking at 6 - 6:30 am. As a result I am in a better mood. I am glad I made the change. I pulled a mucsle last week in my back and I was surprised how well the ultram/advil pm reduced it just enough to fall asleep. When I get this muscle back in shape I think I will take the Ultram less frequently and turn to aroma therapy and heating pad.
Hi Dianne,
I think I read somewhere, but I may be wrong, one can develop a tolerence for the drug, Ultram so you need more and more to feel the same relief. I did not use it last night because the pulled muscle pain did not prevent me from falling a sleep. I did stretches and the heating pad this morning. There still is pain but I think today I am going to let it guide my activity level.
Back in 2006 when I was experiencing extreme pain in my arms and shoulders for about 7 months. A doctor put me on 50 mg of Zoloft and I was really surprised how it reduced the pain in my arms. It started to work after 3 weeks. I think because it changes and the chemistry of serotonin and endorphins in the brain. Endorphins reduce pain. I could be wrong about the endorphins but it does change the serotonin level. The pain in my arms and shoulders never came back.
Hi Dianne,
I did a sleuthing on the Zoloft. Several sources state that it works best if combined with a tricyclic antidepressant and the doses suggested for both are lower than those prescribed for depression. It is recommended Zoloft be given in the morning. It does not elevate endorphins. It elevates norepinephrine and serotonin. Low levels of these have been associated with pain. On another site, eHealthMe.co... they did a study and they reported - 1 person saying 'no affect on pain' , 3 saying 'moderate relief of pain' and 3 saying 'high relief of pain'. I hope that inforamtion can back up my experience with Zoloft (sertraline) and elavil combined. I am not a doctor so you should talk to him/her.
Thank you Dozer !
I recently purchased a half gallon of Silks Pure Coconut Milk. I am not sure if it is a coicidence but my energy level has improved. I love coconut and that is why I got but after drinking it for 4 days I was curious. It is fortified with B-12 and vitamin D. There has been a little research on B-12 deficiencies but no real conclusive evidence. It is worth a try if you like coconut.
That kind of confirms something. I buy a case of cocomut water a week. It has every vitamin and mineral in it, and rehydrates you 4x better than water. I do much better when using the coconut water. I have heard good things about coconut oil, but it didn't like me, so maybe coconut has something we need in it. I crave coconut a lot. I;m going to look for that cocomut milk.
I am going to try it ! thank you !