Hi everyone. I have fibromyalgia. I've been suffering for 9 months. My doctor told me today that the 5/500 mg Lortab that I recieved for TWO months would not be refilled. He said that other people with fibro don't take narcotics to help the pain. I know this is a lie. He gave me topamax and upped my cymbalta.
Honestly, I have tried so hard not to take the pain pills even when I had them but the pain is just Soooo bad! I don't know what to do. Do I look for another doctor. Try to find alternate ways to get the medication I need? The 5/500 Lortab would barely take the edge off at times. What are people like me supposed to do?

find a new doctor....a doctor who knows the truth.

i know too many people who take pain meds for pain that the fibro causes.
your doctor is staying in his safety zone,but not considering his thinking is holding you back.

call some doctors,interview them on the phone, once you find a place, ask for a release from this current doctor.

dont waste any time
make the move to a new doctor.
do not go to a pain doctor,unless you are reffered from your primary.
pain doctors tend to beleive that "fibro is a mental disorder"

keep your head up,make the calls to find better care fori your circumstance,and move forward.

you will be okay
do not settle for less than the quality of life that you deserve
period

The only FDA approved drug to treat the pain of FM is Lyrica. Not sure why your doctor has not tried you on that medication. Don't mean to be a wet rag here, but only the most severe cases which do not respond to other treatments are treated with opiates.

One of my good buds has FM and some days could barely get out of bed, although the fatigue and sleep issues were just as troublesome of the widespread pain. I did a lot of research for her. Most FM information online state the sae thing. Opiates are rarely used. She was on opiates already for other issues but to be honest they barely made a dent in the F pain. She was seen by one of the top rheumatologists who diagnosed one of the most severe cases of FM this guy had ever seen and he's treated many cases. She was put on Lyrica immediately.

It's been a huge change for her in her pain levels. Has done nothing for the fatigue or should I say total exhaustion though. On a good note, she was able to descrease her opiate intake from 6 10mg hydrc per day to 4 ever since being on the medication.

As far as pain doctors not believing that fibromyalgia is real, not true. First of all it's not just pain doctors. It's a lot of doctors. But, at the same time, there are equal numbers of doctors and other health care professsionals who do indeed believe it is a very real physiological syndrome. The problem is that there are no definitive lab tests yet that show there is anything wrong. No imflammatory factors, no problems with cell counts. The good news, according to my oncologist, is that he told me that he's uncovered a pattern in the white blood cell counts of FM patients. He's said he's seen it time and time again. While he's not a researcher but an expert in oncology and hematology and has never done any formal studies he told me if he sees this flip flop of certain white blood cells, he always asks the patient if they are experiencing the symptoms of FM. If they say yes, he sends them to a rheumy for a complete physical exam. He's convinced beyond a doubt that FM is not a "syndrome" as it's been referred to, but a "disease". Interesting, no?

I did discuss this with my own PCP. I've known him for over a decade now and we have a great repoire. I asked him to tell me honestly if he thinks FM is real or not and what do his colleagues think. He said honestly, his thoughts are 50/50 right now on it and it's the same with most of the other doctors he is friendly with. I asked two pharmacists what they thoughts. One said to be honest they thought it was too early and needed more testing to really know for sure, but the other almost got angry when I asked. She said of course it's a real "disease" and she said it's not just a "disorder". She said the nerves are not firing correctly and this can cause moderate to severe myofacial pain all over the body. Not sure why she became very defensive. I only asked her opinion on if she thought it was a mental condition of a physical one as some doctors think it's mental. Maybe she has it or maybe someone close to her does and that's why she gets angry when people question it.

Honestly, the old treatment options were antidepressants as you are on, neurontin and possibly low dose opiates. The newer treatment really is a trial of Lyrica. Problem is try getting it paid through insurance. Most of them require preauths and the prescribing doctor has to fight for the patient. The insurance companies want to pay for neurontin as it's a lot cheaper, but it also has a lot more side effects. I'd never take it. My bud was lucky that her rheumy did fight for her tooth and nail and got her insurance to pay for it.

Her pain levels for her FM have gone from a pain level of 9 on some days to a more manageable 3-4 on most days. As stated she has more problems then just the FM though so she's dealing with broken bones and other issues as well.

I've been buds with her since we were kids and love her very much and I'll continue to help her in every way I can. Her rheumy and PCP are discounting the other symptoms of FM which as you know include exhaustion, anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances. I see my own PCP next week and plan on asking if he knows of any treatments to help, especially with the exhaustion. I read that some doctors are trying narcolepsy drugs and some are trying ADHD meds even.

I would ask your doctor why he has not tried Lyrica or even suggested it! Expensive? You bet! But it works for most people who suffer from FM pain. It also has a calming effect which can help relax the muscles which in many cases can go into spasm. Remember that FM affects the muscles mainly. Doctors generally don't prescribe opiates long term for any kind of muscular pain unless they have tried more conventional means, such as (useless) antidepressants, muscle relaxers and the like. Pain doctors are too far behind the game in my opinion to treat FM. You need to see a rheumatologist first. If they can't help then maybe try a pain doctor familiar with and who believes that FM is a very real disorder or disease. I have found if you are female, you will always have a harder time getting proper pain relief. I've seen big strapping men get percocet for sprained muscles and women get told their pain is in their head and whatever they have (slipped disks, pinched nerves, torn meniscus) shouldn't hurt all that much and take some OTC tylenol or Advil and dismiss them out of hand. I guess women are thought of as hysterical when they experience pain and men are mostly believed. Makes me so angry. I had to take my spouse to the ER one time while on vacation one year. His foot was hurting. X-Rays showed inflammation but nothing broken. He was given a script for percocets. Meanwhile a teen in the next cubicle stepped on a nail that went clear through her foot. She had the nail pulled with pliers out of her foot, stitched up and told to take tylenol. Another woman had accidently sawed off the tip of her finger while using a power tool. Again, she was told to take some OTC pain reliever and when she told them how much it hurt, they told her if it bothered her that much later on, to come back and they would give her a few codeine tabs. Lastly, a girl broke her leg playing soccor. Same deal. I've seen this happen time and time again. Every single time I have had to bring a male into the ER with any painful problem, it's been my experience that every single time they are offered opiates. They don't even have to ask. Meanwhile, even if women ask for something for pain, unless they have kidney stones or their limb is hanging off by a thread, they are told to "just take some Tylenol dear".

Good luck to you. I feel for you. You didn't mention if this doctor is your PCP or a specialist but I'd see a rheumy asap. It was also not nice for your doctor to just cut you off like that if you have been taking these for a couple of months, depending on your dose. Even if you were taking 4 per day, you will suffer some withdrawl symptoms and you will have some kind of rebound effect which means your pain will increase temporarily. Make an appt with another doctor asap. PM docs generally take a month or so to get in to see, especially if you are a new patient. Rheumys about a week. If I were you, for the time being, gather your records and sign up with Chatcp, myprimarymd, mdexam or any of the other OCSs that take records and you can speak to one of their doctors. Even if it is just to fill in while you find another local doctor.

I was diagnosed with FM 11 years ago. You didn't mention what else you are doing for your fibro besides taking medication. I may be able to help you there. I also have SLE, and at one time I was on 17 different medications. I am down to just a few. Doctors, for the most part, are shite when it comes to treating FM and you need to take matters into your own hands, although I do agree with finding one Dr. that will be able to help you out. It's just harder than hell.

I'd love to write a long post about my experiences but I have to save up my typing energy for my job lol - PM me if you'd like to chat about it.

Hi Ellemcgirl and Welcome to Drugbuyers. I'm so sorry to hear this has happened once again to a fellow fibromite. I've been round and round with docs and pain medicine as well, so I know what you're going thru.

Here is a link to a discussion thread you may find useful. It's regarding a supplement you can take that works with or without rx pain meds. Loads to read, let me know what you think.

http://www.drugbuyers.com/freeboard/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Main/41240/Number/719121#Post719121

(ooopsie! didn't mean to start you off in the middle of the thread. Just go to page one and read on.)

He gave me topamax and upped my cymbalta

I have to comment on this. Who IS this doctor? Is he a specialist? I once asked my PCP to try Topomax for severe migraines. He said no way. If I wanted to try that he would send me to a neurologist as that's no medication to mess with, without proper supervision and by a doctor who is very experienced with the medication. He said he'd rather give me opiates as they are much safer, and yes, he did give me opiates. Cymbalta and all the other antidepressants when used for pain are generally given at a lower dose than used for depression. I've been on every class of antidepressants for pain and I've found them all quite useless for pain. Apparently they help a lot of people with pain. For me, all they did was have intolerable side effects and/or didn't work at all. Doctors love to hand out antidepressants.

As I am having insurance problems because our wonderful agent outright lied to y bosses when setting up our policies, which resulted in three years of us paying about 200.00 more per month, per employee all these years, I was helping one of my bosses do some research and making some calls this week. Did you know that if you have a record of taking antidepressants or any other pyschytropic medication, other insurance companies you may sign up with in the future can raise your rates? We were both astounded. As stated, I've taken trials of them for chronic pain. One of my dependants is on one now for ANXIETY, not depression. His doctor will not prescribe benzos for various reasons. Scary thought how these insurance companies are looking at what you've been prescribed in the past, even if they don't look at why you have been prescribed the medication, and deciding you are a psyche patient and must pay more in premiums. I remember when our company changed insurance companies and my agent called my boss to ask if I have ever taken triptans such as Imitrex for my migraines. I had not because I can't. He said that was good, because that would cause the group rates to increase for everyone. I HATE these insurance companies.

I have to comment on Topomax as well. Years ago I was in PM and the doc got a wild hair up his azz and rx'd this drug. It messed with my head so much that I actually got lost driving to work. Mind you, I worked for this same company for over 10 years. The drive was only 5 minutes or less from my house. It was almost like I blacked out. I begged the doc to take me off from it. He said to bear with the side effects for a little longer, um-NO thank you. It took some doing, but finally he took me off it.

Ugh Topomax made me a MESS as well! I was hoping to stick with it as I hear it's great for weight loss but I was such a mess that all I did was sleep all the time. I had just started Tegretol as well, and the combination of the both was horrible. I started to spontaneously bleed from the Tegretol as it lowered my platelets, and when I was in the hospital the Dr. took me off the Topomax. I had heard so many good things about it - how did these people ever survive those side effects, or are we just lucky? lol

You should certainly find a new doctor because what he told you was a lie. That's what narcotic pain meds are made for - to treat pain in folk's with chronic conditions! Maybe with the next doctor you get, ask to be put on something like percocet.

Guess after reading the Topomax horror stories I now understand why my doctor refused my request. Glad he did now.

PinkDiva, her doctor didn't really lie to the poster. Opiates are not generally prescribed much for FM unless it's a severe case that doesn't respond well to other meds.
Most all FM sites have the same line in them about opiate usage as this one-
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fibromyalgia/DS00079/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs

"Doctors don't usually recommend narcotics for treating fibromyalgia because of the potential for dependence and addiction. Corticosteroids, such as prednisone, haven't been shown to be effective in treating fibromyalgia."

Of course most material on most all conditions now it seems say this because it appears that the DEA is winning the war on spreading misinformation to doctors, all other health care professionals, the media and the public about addiction rates in chronic pain patients. In reality the addiction rate in true chronic pain patients is around 1% or less. It's also been shown that opiates for chronic and debilitating pain is actually the gold standard in treatment. Bottom line is opiates work best for relieving many types of pain and are much safer than the designer drug alternatives. It's a shame that Nixon's war on drugs and creation of the DEA has hurt so many people who have chronic non malignant pain. Even cancer patients are generally undertreated for their pain. Sad state of affairs.

Topomax is one of the old off label treatments for FM. I am kind of stunned this doctor is prescribing it when Lyrica is the only FDA approved treatment for FM right now. Sure, he can write off label but why not at least try to give you the only medication specifically approved for your condition? I'd find another doctor pronto. One who knows a lot about FM. You still might need opiates to control the pain but by not allowing you the opportunity to try Lyrica, he's doing you a disservice to say the least.

yes ---yes ---yes---GET A NEW DR-----you are in charge of your own body----get a spine and GET A NEW DR ----PLEASE---

Sorry I hadn't responded to any of the posts. I've been on lyrica which didn't do anything. I am in severe pain 90% of the time. The majority of my life is a living hell. I can barely force myself to do ordinary things on any given day. So as for "doing anything else for fibro" ( I assume you mean excercise or something similar), it's impossible at this time. I have tried water therapy in the past only to be bed ridden for days.

Thanks to everyone who offered support. I truly appreciate it.

As for you SILKY9 saying for me to "get a spine", I think it is you dear who needs to get some class. You don't know me or anything I'm going through. I have enough of a spine to tell you to kiss my [censored].

ellemcgirl,

Don't worry about anything Silky9 may have said to offend you. THat person has been banned :-) for being rude and offensive.

I wish you luck. Have you looked at DLPA yet? I know it's overwhelming to read all that stuff but I and many others have had very good results in using it for chronic pain.

ellemcgirl,

My experience is that multiple medications are needed to most effectively treat fibromyalgia. Opiates alone are not usually the best solution for most people, although they may end up being one of the medications. Life style changes may be need as well. The latest (3rd)edition of the book, "From Fatigued to Fantastic," is worth reading to get up to speed on all the issues that need treatment. You can take a look here if you want:
http://www.amazon.com/Fatigued-Fantastic...17645488&sr=8-1

Doing anything else means just that - ANYTHING else besides medication. There are many other things you can do to try and help yourself, as someone else said, lifestyle adjustments. Never did I suggest this would be your answer, I'm just hoping you are trying everything within your power to help yourself. Do you have any places that offer rehab therapy specifically for Fibro patients? Have you tried supplements? Do you smoke? Do you have a healthy diet? Do you avoid things that are triggers? Do you keep a journal so you can go back and watch what things worked and what didn't? Are you part of a support group? Have you contacted your local Arthritis Foundation chapter? Have you tried meditation, yoga, hypnosis, massage, accupuncture? This is what I'm talking about. As someone who has had FM for 11 years (and I've been told by several caregivers that I have a pretty severe case), I know that you have to take the remote control and starting controlling some of this stuff yourself. I'd love to chat with you about it sometime if you would like, so please PM me if interested. If not, that's ok too. Pain pills certainly can help you get things done to help yourself, I understand that. I was just wondering what else you were doing.

I also hope you have not taken any offense to this as I have not meant any harm in the least. I'm sympathizing with you hardcore, because I've been where you are.

I have Fibro, though I've yet to receive the actual diagnosis. It's been frustrating b/c it feels like the flu, but all of the tests come back normal. My mom has been diagnosed already, and she uses Tramadol in addition to Cymbalta (60 mgs.) I have found that this combination works for me, too.

I use Tramadol too and also have been prescribed Xanax (1 mg.) for those times when I can't sleep b/c of pain. I have found the side effects of Cymbalta to pretty much suck, but the Tramadol and Xanax help with pain and sleep issues. I also am really active and only notice the pain when I stop long enough to realize I'm in pain, but during the winter it gets worse when I'm not as active.

If anyone finds a good combo, please post and let us know. I can understand the desire for opiods for Fibro b/c this really is actual pain! But at the same time I would hate to develop a tolerance to something that you would have to take all of the time to function--vicious cycle for sure. I find the Cymbalta helps stabilize my moods and reactions to pain, and the Tramadol helps lesson the pain (though you don't really get a buzz from it like with traditional pain meds... but that's okay just to have the pain lessoned it huge.)

Take care,
TB

Hi troyboy,
I have found over the years that finding a good mix of things to treat your fibro is really a trial and error game. You have to find the things that work best for you, but they might not work the best for other people. Yes, pain meds are great for relieving our pain and helping us get other things achieved, but they are also big band-aids and are temporary. And you are right about building a tolerance. I built up a huge tolerance to pain meds, and when I was having kidney failure they could not find anything strong enough to help me well enough when I really needed the pain meds. That's the downside to opiates.

Good luck to you and I'm here to talk if you need it.

K