Sorry I'm not familiar with your Meds. Is it because of drug interactions why they didn't give you any?

Yes I take prescribed pain medication but I do have bad arthritis too and it doesn't do that much for the fibro type pain in my muscles.

Did you tell the doctor about the pain? Sorry if that's a silly question. If you did tell the doctor then what was their response.

You could ask for help for pain but don't ask for a specific drug.

I am sorry that you have multiple conditions to deal with. I know it complicates things more when there's more than one thing. Different medications and drug interactions to consider.
It's tough.

I hope you find answers and some relief.

Sorry. Ok...backing up.

I have bipolar disorder, for which I take Abilify, lamictal and hydroxizine (for anxiety)

I have ADD for which I take Adderall

I get migranes, very badly for which I now take topomax to prevent them, which is working, but I still get bad headaches every day.

I have narcolepsy...Adderall works for that too

I have arthritis in my lower spine and both knees, which I was taking ibuprophen for but can't now because of the Effexor for my Fibromyalgia

I also get shots in my spine because there is something seriously wrong with my middle back, aside from the fibro pain, I think it is called an annular tear?

Oh, and low thyroid, so I take synthroid.

I think that is everything...occassionally a flexeril to stop the spasms in my middle back, and eventually the shots will help with that pain...

Just frustrated and bummed because I am hurting so much and wear out so easily and there doesn't seem to be a darn thing I can do about it. A dose of tylenol works about an hour...

Sorry to vent, just trying to understand...

I did mention the pain, but we talked about long-term solutions, not short term ones, other that getting me into water exercise.

Maybe you can ask the Doctor if there is something that he can suggest that will not interact with all your other Meds that could help to give you some pain relief. It cannot hurt to ask him and talk about it more.

As a chronic migraine sufferer myself, I don't think the Topomax is working well enough if you still have headaches every day! Maybe a higher dose or different preventive?

For me it took 2 anti-epileptics to control my headaches and migraines, which my neurologist explained were inter-related. It's hard to find a combo of meds that works, though, because of drug interactions, as naturegirl said. I take a muscle relaxant, and anti-inflammatory but that's it. I cannot tolerate the first line meds -- Cymbalta/Lyrica/gabapentin -- or opioid pain meds, or lots of others!

Maybe be specific with your doctor about a symptom you want addressed and see what can be done. Do you have severe muscle pain/spasms? Ask about that first. Generalized sensitivity? Deal with that. It might help your doctor to focus treatment that way. Good luck!

I have epilepsy and some of the meds for that and migraines overlap (and for BPD etc.).... INteractions are a beyotch for so many of them, really limits options. I think that if you're having migraines still, yeah, time to tell the doc know and see if you can work out something better. As for pain meds... Getting 'em is not easy, but I agree with Naturegirl, just ask for something to help the pain and see where it goes from there:-) Good luck!!

Thank you all...gonna get in touch with doc.

I had a neurologist who is supposed to be one of the best in the country (two walls in his office were covered with degrees and awards - it was fairly impressive) who knew I had taken topomax and proranolol at different times for migraines. He put me on both at the same time. He said he did not know why, but in his experience, this combination works wonders.

It did work. I went from 20 - 25 days a month of headaches to 4 days a month.

Something to ask your doctor about? Might be worth a shot.

I also know that fibro gives me terrible headaches that are not migraines. I do not have an answer for that.

Good luck and take care!

Thanks for expanding further on your info.
That's a few medications there for sure.
I am glad you are going to talk with your doctor. I hope something can be worked out for you.
I use to be on Imitrex for migraines but over time it wasn't doing the same. I then looked into alternatives. And I now take Feverfew. It has helped to reduce the frequency of migraines and their severity.
I take it regularly with breaks in between. When I first started I took 6 capsules a day for a week according to a herbal book I was referring to. And then tapered down. I now just take 1 a day. I occasionally get headaches and bordering migraines still but not as much or as bad and I then just take over the counter stuff.
Feverfew has been used for ever over in Europe.
Maybe have a read up on it and of course make sure it's ok with your Meds and doctor.

I hope you get the help you need soon and improve.

I cannot get pain meds. There are way too many people out there that abuse them and therefore people like us that need them are out of luck. It's very frustrating! Talk to your doctor and perhaps they can suggest something.

The only sort of pain pill my doc will give me for my 24/7 pain of fibro is tramadol and it doesn't do crap! When I went to see my doc last time I was in tears telling her I just have to have something for the pain and she said I can take an extra tramadol once in a while, but not more then 2-3 times a MONTH...Oh gee that will surly help me...NOT!

I have to agree with anmilvr, because so many people abuse pain meds, it is making it harder and harder for docs to give you any pain meds for people like us that really need it! SO very sad!

IT Might be worth your while to see a sleep specialist. Xyrem is prescribed for narcolepsi and I take it, off label, for fibro. Getting good, deep, quality sleep has made all the difference in my pain levels. Now I rarely get head aches at all, used to have daily migraines.

Sometimes you need to change drs. to get better care, or at least, pain meds. It's taken me years to find the sleep specialist who prescribes my pain pills, too.

Do ask about Xyrem for narcolepsi, it's a wonderful drug with no side effects, taste, or odor. I mix mine with crystal light.

Thank you so much for all of the great input. I am checking into my options. However, I am part of a military family so I cannot
A)Change Doctors
B)See a specialist without authorization

So in some ways my hands are tied. In other ways, I get good medical care.

Waiting for Doc to answer my message. Will update when I can. Company comes tomorrow...not sure how I feel about that...I should probably be cleaning right now...lol.

They can't give me anything else. And no NSAIDS. Just tylenol. Crap. Another reason why having bipolar disorder sucks so bad.

Awww...I am so sorry sweetie. Hang in there. I hope it gets better for you. (((Hugs)))