I don't believe mps or cmp can be cured with meds. I've found relief temporary relief in muscle relaxers. So, on occasion I take soma, which is a muscle relaxer. I've used various herbal products for topical pain relief, but again, I haven't found a cure in them, only some temporary relief.
What's helped me to get it into remission...cure... is trigger point release of some sort. I've been treated by a Bonnie Pruden therapist, and by a former student of the same who incorporated myofascial release and crania sacral. For the past year and some, I've been seen by pt's who specialize in cranio sacral and myofascial release. And Monday I was seen by a Feldenkrais pt who combined her treatment with myofascial.
A lot of the work I am doing is related to postural issues. And I also treat myself for complex post traumatic stress. Those two issues are what landed me in that mess to begin with.
Most of us have found that it is the underlying issue that caused this to begin with and that is what has to be dealt with. I've come to the understanding that cpm occurs when two storms collide...physical and emotional.
Hope this helps...

Well, the good news is that you've come to the right place with that tricky question "does it ever stop?!"

It sounds like you're being very proactive with a lot of the exercise you're doing. The problem is finding the right balance of what you do every day with trying not to aggravate or reinjure the trigger points. It's this magic balance we all strive for, and it's affected by many factors, perpetuating factors, like excessive stress, working at a computer in an odd position, doing too much exercise, various illnesses, the list is fairly endless.

Finding the right combination of medication is the key to being able to cope with treatment of the trigger points, not to allow you to continue life as before the condition started.

There are many and extremely varied ways that people work on their trigger points, to soften them (reducing the swelling and trapped nerve feeling) and get rid of them, a lot depends on where they are, how long they've been there, how sensitive you are and how much money you have to fund treatments. Do the trigger points come back? Yes, if the reason they popped up in the first place doesn't get sorted out. And not usually or not much if you track down the causes and eliminate / manage them as much as possible.

Reading your medication history is interesting, as it looks very 'patchy', or rather, it doesn't look especially consistent with standard medication charts where you start at mild over the counter pain pills like paracetamol and continue until you get relief. A regular regime always works better than waiting for the pain to get worse, where you're chasing the pain and it takes twice as much to get the same result. It always takes time to find the right combination of medication for you because everyone is so different.

The chart I find the most helpful is this one: http://www.painclinic.org/aboutpain-analgesicflowchart.htm You might find tramadol and paracetamol a good combination; tramadol has muscle relaxing as well as pain relieving qualities. The side effects usually settle down after a few weeks, you have to give them time to work. I take 240mg of dihydrocodeine a day and have adjusted to the drowsyness and the constipation can be managed with a daily laxative (I take digestive enzymes and acidophilus).

Have you been to a pain management clinic? They are excellent places to go for pain pills advice. Sometimes a bit of lots of things is better than lots of just one. That website with the pain advice is an excellent virtual pain management clinic, written by a retired pain management doctor. www.painclinic.org and has lots of good information explaining what's going on as well as how to live with chronic pain.

Before you start paying a lot of money trying lots of different treatments I would urge you to read www.saveyourself.ca which is a comprehensive, evidence based review of the treatments out but suggests you also try working on your own trigger points first / as well because you are likely to get similar or better results that way! There's 'how to' guides on what to look for, how to work with trigger points, how to keep going when it feels like nothing's working. It's my 'go to' guide even more than the 'trigger point therapy guide', which is pretty good too!

The 'save yourself' site is made up of ebooks (the tutorials) on all the 'muscle' conditions and is best read on a tablet / kindle because it's continually being updated as new evidence becomes available, plus there's endless links from one section to the other. I now have it on my mobile phone and can read the different chapters as I'm on the bus, or at odd moments! You can print it out, but it's probably not worth it - apart from the 1 page 'self treatment' guide and the 'magic spots' guides (the 13 or so major areas responsible for the majority of trigger point pains and spasms).

MPS, sadly, comes in many varieties of severity, and the simplest way I can describe it is that it's only when your condition changes (for the better or worse) that you can see or rate how it was before! There are definately some people who seem to suffer more from trigger points than others. You can have trigger points but not feel pain or stiffness, or you can have a few tp's that resolve with some gentle physiotherapy or massage therapy. Or, you can have a few tp's that cause debilitating pains and spasms. Everyone has trigger points at some point, it's just 'us special people' who go on to develop chronic myofascial pain when the damn things don't go away that have problems.

So, you're the perfect patient and why the heck aren't you getting better? That's the question I ask myself often. There are no clear cut answers. The others have given you excellent advice. No medication will cure this, only make it more tolerable if you're lucky. You mentioned supplements. I take magnesium as instructed by my doctor. I've been taking it for a long time and can't say if it's helping. I'm curious if you've tried yoga? Can you try a class at the gym?

I don't get redness or swelling of the joints. I'd run that symptom past the doctor. I'm losing faith in traditional medicine too. I haven't found much improvement through doctor's advice. I suggest reading a lot.

I wish you luck!

Does the pain ever stop? Maybe, but it takes a lot of work in a lot of different areas.

What do you think the underlying factors are? What are the activities which make it worse?

As you probably realize, there is no simply cure to this condition. I cannot say that what has caused my problem is the same as what yours or what I have to manage it work for you either.

In my case, I believe that the underlying cause of my condition is poor body mechanics. As I kid I did not learn how to use my body correctly. Poor posture and mechanics laid the foundation. Other perpetuating factors are hours of sitting at a computer, muscle weakness and scar tissue from surgery.

I have had this condition now for 4+ years. At its worst I had tight muscles from my head to my toes and could hardly sit for more than 20 minutes

2 1/2 years ago on the advice of a physical therapist, I started a serious disciplined practice of yoga. Yoga helps with all of the fundamentals of good body mechanics - balance, coordination, perioception, muscle tone and flexibility. It also helps to foster body awareness - mindfulness. It is through and a mindful understanding of your body that you are able to begin to understand the origins and locations of the tension in your body.

Yoga helped me to begin to manage and understand my condition. But by no means was it the only thing that I did.

I found foam rolling a very essential part of my recovery: http://www.bodywindow.com/foam-roller-exercises-for-the-hip-muscles.html#sthash.BdyGwfni.dpbs

I made a in depth study of anatomy, particularly a study of the anatomy of the fascia: http://www.anatomytrains.com/ , http://fasciafitness.de/

I found that the practice of mindfulness meditation helpful as did a few months of pilates.

Also trigger point release: http://www.triggerpoints.net/

Deep tissue massage was helpful not only in release the muscles of also in creating an awareness of the problems areas.

I did 20 sessions of Rolfing which truly helped me to move forward, taking me over the hump.

I also work with a acupuncturist 2 times a week. I map all of the trigger points with a marker and he inserts the needles for about 20 minutes. This has been an essential part of my recovery.

But more than anything it is my constant work on posture and muscle strength through yoga .

There are other things like Feldenkreis which I have only explored briefly. http://www.feldenkrais.com/method/articles/

If you have more questions, I would be happy to answer then. As you can see there is no easy answer, and it takes a lot of effort - but it is so worth it.

Hi all,
I just wanted to say thanks for the responses and advice! If nothing else then it is nice to know I am not alone in suffering. - Although I would never wish this on anyone else, I hope you know what I mean!

A couple of months back I purchased the saveyourself.ca book on MPS and trigger points. It has been very helpful although some of the stuff in there made me question whether MPS was the correct diagnosis. I'm wary of keep getting tested for things when MPS is a reasonable 'fit' as a diagnosis, but I don't appear to have 1 of the key criteria which is referred pain via trigger points.

wbtuffin:
For me I think the things that make it worse are exercise beyond a very light limit. Gentle walking is OK but over 45 mins causes pain, more intense exercise like cycling can cause pain & stiffness for days/weeks, even with appropriate warm up/cool down and stretching. I wouldn't dream of lifting weights now but a few years back I enjoyed it.

I have a LOT of scars and scar tissue from previous surgery; one massive scar on my back which without a doubt restricts my movement as do a couple elsewhere.

I spend time at the computer but have to get up every 20 mins. The goes for any kind of sitting or driving really. 30 min max before the pain is bad that I can't concentrate.

I went to a pain management Dr and he recommended amitriptyline, stretching and yoga. Said using codeine 60mg 4x per day was fine and said there was nothing more that can be done; basically learn to live with it.

I tried tramadol and I think it is a better pain killer than codeine but it made my heart race and very anxious at times. Maybe that side effect would wear off?

Does anyone else get the feeling like they NEED to MOVE and it has to be NOW?

What I mean is for example, I'm laying in bed and my hand or arm is burning or neck is stiff (or whatever) and I just have this urge where I HAVE to move positions to get relief.

The same during the day; I'm sat down for maybe 15 mins having a conversation with someone and I get such discomfort in my outer thigh/hips (glutes??) that I simply have to wriggle about like a 5 year old who eaten too much sugar!

It literally feels like my muscles/body gets glued together if I don't move and readjust all the time.

Is this a common feature of MPS for other people?

I lost faith in traditional medicine years go, even though I have a great physiatrist/pain management doctor who is very supportive of all the alternative therapies that I do. I haven't found any pain meds that take the pain completely away, but certainly help take the edge off. I am currently incorporating three therapies in my wellness program and I am feeling significant progess. They are trigger point therapy ( not injections, but manual therapy) Graston Technique, which is breaking up the adhesions, and myofascial release. Even though I have not had any surgeries, I have lots of adhesions from muscles that have become stuck together from repetitive stress. You don't have to have had surgery to develop adhesions. The Graston Technique is the best method I have found to break these up. According to the chiropractor who is certified in Graston, neither trigger point therapy or myofascial release will take care of adhesions, but she believes that each of these modalities are helping me in different ways. That is the reason I am incorporating all three. I also am working with a psychologist who is helping me learn techniques for dealing with stress. I think most of us agree that stress aggravates our pain. At this time, exercise increases my pain, but I do stretch and I am wearing a pedometer to increase my ability to walk longer distances, because Myo pain is also in my legs as well as my upper body. It is trial and error to find what helps reduce your pain, so keep trying different modalities until you find the ones that help you.

wbt,

What kind of yoga do you enjoy?