Hello Indycarr,

Welcome aboard. Sorry you have fibro on top of RA. This is a great group of individuals; lots of support, encouragement, humor and so on.

I don't take any prescription meds for fibro by choice; have acupuncture once a week and am taking supplements. Alfalfa, fish oil, Vit B12, Vit C and a chinese herb mix recommended by my acupuncturist.

If pain is too much to deal with, I take Tramacet or Tylenol #2, but not too often as I don't like the buzz. Hot showers/baths, yoga and keep walking plus a positive attitude and pace myself is mostly what works for me.

Ask lots of questions....lot of knowledge going around this board!

P.S. Good to "see" a fellow Ontarian!

Didn't know anyone else was from Ontario. Me too! I'm sorry you are in this boat. My father has RA and I have watched him suffer for many years (he has other major health problems as well). I'm sorry to say that I cannot help much with the fatigue/pain issues as I have not found a solution. I was diagnosed last October and have been given a few different medications to try (Cymbalta is one). The only issue I have found relief from is insomnia. I was having terrible insomnia and anxiety last year. I am in the guinea pig stage right now as far as medications go and am about to give up. I hate taking medications at all but you can get to the point where you are just desperate for relief. Most recently I was given Flexeril (muscle relaxant) but have not tried it yet. Hopefully some others with more experience may be able to offer some suggestions. I was doing acupuncture but the acupuncturist kept pushing herbs on me which I do not want to take as they are not regulated.

Welcome to the group :) I really like tramadol-tramacet and loratab helps a lot for major pain. I wish you the best in finding a good way to work through the bad days.

Here's the Canadian recommendations for fibromyaglia which I think are really good. They are research based. A good resource for you and your doc.


Also, don't discount opioids (narcotics) for pain. They work in about 30% of people.

Whoops, forgot to add the link to the Canadian recommendations:
http://www.canadianpainsociety.ca/p

I know for sure that opiods would reduce my pain because I had surgery in January and was given hydrocodone. It was like a miracle! All my aches and pains went away. I don't know if the Dr. would give them long term, and I think I would like to exhaust all other options first.

Welcome to the group!

Any pain management specialist will tell you that managing chronic pain is very challenging. But, in order to manage it effectively you must take medication on a daily basis. The object is to stay ahead of the pain before it gets out of hand. Once it does, getting it back to a comfortable/manageable level will probably require more medication than if you had simply taken it daily in the first place.

That being said, some people are able to manage fairly well with alternative methods like acupuncture. I am not one of them.

You should also be taking a sleep medication every night. Fibromyalgia interrupts the deep sleep cycle with short bursts of high intensity brain activity. Your muscles require deep sleep in order to repair themselves from the days activities. No deep sleep means higher levels of pain. This is a critical part of managing Fibromyalgia.

I don't like having to swallow a bunch of pills every day. But, it gives me a better quality of life and better pain management. I recommend that you purchase the book "Fibromyalgia for Dummies." It is available on Amazon. It is a great resource when it comes to managing this complex illness. Knowledge is power. Take care.

Hi Indycarr. I also have RA and fibro. My rheumy says probably 50% of those with RA eventually get fibro too. I'm on Cimzia injections for 3 years for my RA and it's doing a good job. I cannot take the recommended meds for fibro. I have panic disorder and when I've tried the fibro meds, they cause me to have major panic attacks. I assume they work on the same area of the brain or something like that. Anyway, for fibro I was taking tramadol (which was good to take the edge off most of the time) and flexeril which was great to take a night to relax the muscles and let me sleep. However, since I also have a spine condition that causes major pain, I take hydrocodone every day for that pain and it usually takes the edge off of the fibro too. Not always though. I think that when fibro is flaring big time, there isn't a pain med that will get rid of the pain unless it's something that dopes us up so much that we can't function. (I'm in that kind of pain today and the hydrocodone is just barely taking the edge off.)

The last two years that I worked I was so drowsy and foggy all the time that it's a wonder I didn't lose my job. I finally had to take early retirement because I just couldn't handle it anymore. But I was also dealing with the spine pain.

I know this isn't helping you but at least you know you're not alone. There are wonderful people here and some have success with various things such as diet, exercise, meds, etc. I hope you find something that works for you.

Good luck!
Jo

Thank you all for the info and support. Feeling a bit discouraged but I need info like this to make an educated decision.

Getting that from people in the same boat helps.

Thanks again.

BTW- The three primary medications used to treat Fibromyalgia are Cymbalta, Savella and Lyrica. Gabapentin can be helpful too. Fibromyalgia (FMS) is a neuromuscular issue. Only certain classes of prescribed medications are effective. Prednisone which treats inflammation is not an appropriate treatment. FMS does not cause inflammation. Prednisone depresses the immune system and should only be used in a low dose for the shortest possible time.

A key point to remember is that the longer a chronic pain cycle continues, the harder it becomes to manage or stop. When starting medication for FMS don't expect instant results. It may be as long as month before you begin to notice an improvement. Typically it takes time and a lot of tinkering to figure out what works for each FMS patient. There is no formula that works for everyone. This I'd a complex illness that requires you to be your own best advocate to get proper treatment. Take care.

My rheumy started me on cymbalta but I couldn't handle it. Even at 30mg I was dizzy, nauseas, missed 2 days of work the first week. I quickly gave up on it for quality of life reasons. Then I read absolute horror stories about it and the taper process, etc. I just can't do drugs like that. I may have to suffer if that's the only option.

Hi Indy and welcome to the group! I'm so sorry that you have been diagnosed with a double whammy of fibromyalgia and RA. I follow a natural approach to treating my fibromyalgia symptoms and work with an integrative medical doctor. These are some of the things that have helped me: 1. Dietary changes: I'm gluten, wheat, diary, sugar and yeast free 2. Body Work: weekly massages 3. Aqua therapy in a heated pool 4. Heating pads and heated blankets 5. Epsom Salt Soaks 6. Various rub on pain creams 7. Supplements and herbs per my doctor 8. Pain reliever for flare ups 9. Accommodations for work and intermittent FMLA 10. Listening to my body and pacing myself 11. A very supportive, loving and helpful family

I hope that you find relief fast!

I meant to say dairy free, not diary free! LOL