You're in good company - there's been quite a few 'newbies' here recently. There's a lot of good information in this group, a bit of 'back-reading' of the last 10 pages or should give a good flavour of general issues and information - there are a few posts that come round on a regular basis as they are perfect for the newbie (and good rereading for the 'oldbi's' too!
-Jessies threads for new ppl
-Overall best book to buy
-100% better - My cure from MPS
I think these are all just a page back, which makes them much easier to find.

Stress (negative stress, that is) usually plays havoc with mps and is a 'usual suspect' when you get a flare up. It's worth looking at your life about what stresses are in your day to day life and work out how stressful they are; plus also begin to look at ways you can reduce the overall stresses and especially how you manage them.

Trigger point injections. It's a topic that comes up now and then so and it's probably worth doing a quick search of the group posts for all those connected to the injections. I think the general response was that they help a little in the short term but nothing much in the long term.

Personally, they don't do a whole lot for me and the steroid gives me stomach ache so I stay well away from them. If I had that sort of acute flare up I would go do self trigger point massage using my comfrey oil / weleda massage oil mixture, make sure I was nice and warm, rest a little and continue with my current medication regime. Additional options include using one or more stick on heat packs (or a standard old hot water bottle), my TENS machine and rest as much as possible. If, with all that, the flare up pain 'broke through' my standard med regime and it was sifficently high enough to make either resting or sleep impossible, only then would I consider additional medication. For flare ups I take very small doses of diazepam (good for anxiety and tight muscles but hugely addictive) and extra nortryptaline (my standard nerve pain medication. Finding a sympathetic ear can make all the difference in this situation, help bring those stress levels down.

Welcome to the group, estranged78. I have had hundreds of TrP injections over the years, and I agree with Pumpkins statement. I found trigger point therapy by a certified therapist to be more beneficial. Check out these websites for trained therapists www.namtpt.shutterpod.org and www.bonnieprudden.com. I also see a PT John Barnes trained myofascial release therapist. My insurance pays for 15 visits a year because she is a PT. For a qualified therapist look on the website www.myofascialrelease.com. There are many others not listed on this site because they have to pay to be listed, so you could also google therapists in your area.

Stress/anxiety does increase my pain too. I tend to hold all my stress in my muscles so of course they are tight. I have found some helpful CDs that calm me down. You can find them on www.drmiller.com. The ones I like are 10 Minute Stress Manager, Letting go of Stress, and Healing Journey.

thank u Pumpkin31 and katty2 for your inputs , will check out the sites u have mentioned .. so i am not the only one with stress related flare ups ..
will try m
finding a myotherapist ... will pregabalin help for pain?

I've just been reading "Healing Through Trigger Point Therapy: A Guide to Fibromyalgia, Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction by Devin J. Starlanyl, John Sharkey and Amanda Williams (30 Aug 2013)" again and it's my best written book on MPS and Fibromyalgia. There's a whole section on treatments plus a whole section on what's called 'perpetuating factors', or things that make it hurt (like stress) that helps explains all about why and how to help.

Gabapentin helps a lot of people. Others take either amytryptaline or nortryptaline instead, or tramadol (which helps relax tight muscles so is a good choice). Getting good pain relief will help you tolerate treatment so it's worth trying different doses or different meds.

I had just read that Gabapentin and anti-depressants cause memory loss. I also read that you need to take 1800 mg of Gabapentin for it to be effective.I did not see flexerill or baclofen on the list. I've taken Gabapentin, but I'm not sure if I want to continue with the possible memory loss with my job. I have MPS, FM, SM and CM.Massage, Tens, physical therapy, and steroid injections helped very little if any.

I did not have good results with trp injections, I actually hurt more afterward than before, for about 2 wks.
I do best with ultrasound therapy using a cortisone based gel and then trp massage.
Even with that I hurt more for a day or two afterward than before.
For stress relief I use tryptophan 500 mg before bed, and adrenal cortex product from my ND and guided meditation cds at bedtime using a pillow speaker. They also help if I wake up in the middle of the night (I also have CFIDS, which interrupts my sleep pattern)

Thank u all for your in puts .. OMG !! i am gonna stop this Trp injections ,
its a torture , have had continuous sessions this week , i have bad soreness , bruises all over and local pain .. I feel i am being tortured in a concentration camp ...!!! As you guys have mentioned should try some other alternatives .. will discuss it with my Algologist
But the doc says i have over 30- 40 points and Bands which has to be treated by needling them ! , what is the next best alternative ? Deep tissue massage , PT , medications ... confused and in deep pain ..

Perhaps you might consider a myofascial release therapist. I visited one every week for around seven months at the beginning of my quest. The reasoning is the following. I am older and my postural imbalance was frozen into place by my fascia hardening around my muscles. So loosening the fascia was key to my body straightening up. Also my therapist took before and after pics of the way I stood, which alerted me to bad habits I had.

In my case the trigger points always come back after they are released because my body is so used to them. You need to change the underlying structure of your body.

Just my 2cents. Oh and mediation tapes are great. You can download them on Audible. I just got a new one by Linda Hall.

Torture is not good! say 'no' to it and stop those injections!!!

30-40trigger points is good; with that sort of number you can make really good progress through trigger point therapy, self massage, lots of things that don't involve dry needling. If the injections didn't work then the needles won't either. I know it sounds a bit bonkers, but 30-40 trigger points is very manageable, is a number you can recover from when you find the best form of therapy for you.

Grab yourself a nice cup of tea and reread the posts here. Make a list of the information and recommendations and start gathering information about what you have near you, what you can start with straight away. Doing nothing and allowing your body to recover from the injections seems a good idea to me; let your pain levels come down first.

hi , thanks again for your concern and inputs.. i have done a lot of evidence based research on MPS / FM