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Suggest Ways To Manage Pain Due To Fibromyalgia
Question: I have been dealing with Fibromyalgia pain for 15 years. I was led to believe that Lyrica might help with my pain, so I took it for several years. Now, I am seeing articles that say patients report very poor results with Lyrica, so I stopped taking it. My edema resided and my mind seems more clear now. May pain does not seem any greater than when I was on it. Are there any better choices for FM pain?
Brief Answer:
many things to try
Detailed Answer:
Hello and thanks for your question.
Most rheumatologists recommend the combination of lyrican (or gabapentin) and cymbalta (duloxetine) as primary treatment for fibromyalgia pain. However, everyone is different and both gabapentin and lyrica can cause some mental fogginess and if you do not have more pain off the lyrica then I would definitely stay off of it.
Tramadol may be helpful to you but it is now also classified as an opioid. Sometimes a combination of an antiinflammatory like aleve and tylenol can be helpful too. The low dose of oxycodone you are taking is really not a problem and I would encourage you to continue it if it is working for you
Other things that may be helpful are physical therapy and regular aerobic exercise. One hour a day of aerobic exercise, like walking has been shown clearly to reduce pain in fibromyalgia patients. You could even start with 5 minutes a day and build up slowly.
Getting your sleep regulated is also very important.
Muscle relaxants can sometimes help with the fibromyalgia pain. I have had many patients with fibro that take 10 mg of flexeril 3 times a day with great relief.
Let me know if you have further questions.
Best wishes,
Dr. Robinson
many things to try
Detailed Answer:
Hello and thanks for your question.
Most rheumatologists recommend the combination of lyrican (or gabapentin) and cymbalta (duloxetine) as primary treatment for fibromyalgia pain. However, everyone is different and both gabapentin and lyrica can cause some mental fogginess and if you do not have more pain off the lyrica then I would definitely stay off of it.
Tramadol may be helpful to you but it is now also classified as an opioid. Sometimes a combination of an antiinflammatory like aleve and tylenol can be helpful too. The low dose of oxycodone you are taking is really not a problem and I would encourage you to continue it if it is working for you
Other things that may be helpful are physical therapy and regular aerobic exercise. One hour a day of aerobic exercise, like walking has been shown clearly to reduce pain in fibromyalgia patients. You could even start with 5 minutes a day and build up slowly.
Getting your sleep regulated is also very important.
Muscle relaxants can sometimes help with the fibromyalgia pain. I have had many patients with fibro that take 10 mg of flexeril 3 times a day with great relief.
Let me know if you have further questions.
Best wishes,
Dr. Robinson
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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