Stay away from the narcotics as long as possible. Lyrica is being touted as the new fibromyalgia savior, but what the drug really does is control seizures. It is an antiepileptic. They have been looking at these epilepsy drugs for years because they found that not only do they interupt the siezure patterns, patients were reporting pain relief in other areas. Nerontin was one of the early seizure drugs, and in 1990 FDA allowed them to be prescribed for neuropathy, which is pain in the lower legs that many spinal patients and diabetics have. So moving up to 2007-8 you have Lyrica which is not moving well because folks with epilepsy were putting on 20-30 pounds and didn't like this.........in fact my doc told me to steer clear, But the studies showing that it really did help with the fibro pain, so although lyrica has been around for 7 years the general public thinks it is brand new. So my doc put me on topamax, which thank heavens causes some patients to lose weight. So I have epilepsy.....but I also have fibromyalgia. I have severe degenerative disc and joint disease in my cervical and lumbar spine with resulting neuropathy in my legs and arms. The cervical spinal arthritis will trigger a migraine if I sleep crooked.

The topamax has been a miracle for me. I take 100mg at night and 100mg in the am. And that is the low end of the dosing. It also enhances my pain meds so I was able to cut back on taking those. I was grateful for the epilepsy.

Big problem though if you don't have epilepsy or migraines is whether or not insurance will pay for this treat. It is due to lose it's patent and go genericbut for the time being it is just sold as brand in America for about $400.00 a month. So to make a long answer longer, best pain control topamax and tramadol

So, if you wanted to go to a clinic for a comprehensive evaluation of, and treatment for, FM, where would you go? What are, say, the top five treatment centers for FM in the country?

I think it's time I really look into this. I was told many years ago that I probably had FM but I was in my early 30's and didn't want a "label" so I didn't pursue further evaluation. But, given how I've been feeling for the past few years, I think a thorough evaluation is a good idea.