Have battled fibro for over 24 years--I am on disability for 5 years now. I've tried countless things. Lyrica was horrible, Savella even worse, I won't even try Cymbalta now, might as well just cut my liver out. Some people have ended up with liver problems from all the meds we end up on. Everybody is different what works for one, will not work on someone else. Some claim they have cured it by this or that--there are many things that are similar to fibro and they may not have really had fibro. There are things they have researched and discovered now, but no cure, just help. There are actual brain changes, they did a great research with brain scans. The scans showed clearly that our brains have gone through changes. Compared to those without fibro, our brains, when sleeping---are not asleep! The brain shuts down on "normals"--lights go dim and go out in the brain, with fibro, our brains stay lit up even in our sleep. They figure that is why we wake up feeling exhausted no matter how much rest we get. We do not process exercise the same way either. They did blood work on people with and without fibro, before, during and after exercise, each in about the same physical condition. The "normals" labs showed the toxins build up with exercise were eliminated within 2 hours after exercise, our levels remained high even up to more than 36 hours later! Our mental processes are different. We may show up as normal with regular mental testing--however, it's in how we process things that is different. Look up "Stroop test". It takes us twice as long to do these as a normal person. We are loosing grey matter, esp in hippocampus area. I was a champion speller, I can't spell beans now, and I used to type up to 80 words a minute, I type dyslexic now--I have to proof read everything, even with spellcheck, 3-4 times, and may still miss some typos.
As with everything else, these problems can be worse for some than others, and they can vary from time to time. There is also a problem with the brains remembering of pain. Ever since I had a neurological exam , with something very much like a cattle prod used to deliver small electrical shocks, it was very painful, to the point of tears (others say they felt almost nothing), since then, I have these electric shock pains in my feet that are very painful. They are short, but very, very intense. I wish I'd never had it done. My last mammogram left me in pain for 2 weeks. I am no longer going to do any testing that involves pain---period. But that is my choice. Not recommending that for others. Diet changes have helped some, such as gluten free--others it did nothing. A few things have been noticed though--we all seem to need magnesium--and it should be magnesium malate, calcium malate, check your D3 (not just D) have your thyroids check out. B6 is usually low. Our circadian rhythms can be way off.
Some research says we do not react to weather changes--that is no longer true. What the difference is in is sudden barometric pressure changes. That will make us flare up. We are to avoid stress (Ha!--not possible!)--Look up Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN)--it has helped thousands, but not covered by insurance as it is off label use. We have a tendency to "override" our meds--0they work for a short time, then quite, some have 2 or 3 meds that they alternate. (Good luck with getting a dr to do that one!) I overrode Methadone in 3 days. For tramadol has been the only thing that I did not totally override--but do not take with benedryl like meds, they block it--and even the pharmacists may not mention that, I did not know it for years until I found a drug interaction website.
I guess this will do for now!! Check out fibro sites, I belong to patientslikeme.com -- research site for many different conditions, I just go to the fibro forum. The more you know, the better care you can get from your dr---maybe--they can be high handed knowitalls who know nothing!!
Well that's not totally true....I saw on my paperwork 'Severe Fibromyalgia" so I guess he knows but just doesn't want to talk about it.
