Chronic Pain and Fibromyalgia - alternatives to medications?

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Jen

Pain meds do not affect my fibromyalgia symptoms either!
Just purchased an antigravity lounger- wow does it feel good.
The feeling of aching/pressure of on joints & muscles is alleviated.
Has anyone else tried one?

I came down with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome about 20 years ago. They came about as the result of undiagnosed and untreated Lyme disease. Anyway, I tried just about everything to alleviate the pain. I'm really not sure what worked, but the pain began to retreat, and now I really only get pain--in my legs--in the winter. The CFS is, alas, still very much in evidence.

Have you tried a TENS unit? I purchased one for my TMJ pain, which is much more painful than is my fibro nowadays. I haven't tried it yet. It may be too strong to put on my face, so I'm going to try it out on my arm first. It only cost about $30, so if it doesn't work, or is way too strong for my face, I haven't lost much. And if it's too strong, I'd be more than happy to send it to anybody who could use it. My TMJ is hurting today, but in an area that a TENS unit can't reach: it's in front of my bottom teeth. So, I'll just have to wait until the TMJ pain shifts around to a more reachable place.

I highly recommend acupuncture. When I had Bell's palsy (which, years later, my doc and I realized was a symptom of Lyme disease, but docs 20 years ago had no idea), 3/4 of my face was paralyzed for close to a year. I went to an MD acupuncturist, and after just one session, my right eyebrow, which had been almost down in my eye, started rising up to its normal place! I was thrilled! I didn't need that many treatments. Eventually, the acupuncturist said he felt he couldn't do any more. So, my eyes still don't blink at the same time, and I can only smile with half my mouth. But compared to such complete paralysis, it's a vast improvement.

If you can find a licensed massage therapist who specializes in fibro, I would also give that a try. I've had massages for other painful conditions, and they have helped immensely. And the results have lasted for quite a few days. I've just about fallen asleep on the table. If there's a massage therapy school near you, the students often need people to practice on--under teacher supervision, of course. Call up and find out if you can get an appointment.

My doc, too, had had me change my diet radically. I tried that for quite a few months and felt no relief.

Probably the best thing I ever did was get a senior rescue dog from the animal shelter, Sadie. We took daily walks, and she moved briskly. Having to go out for walks with her 5 to 7 times a week (my husband sometimes walked her on weekends) did wonders for me, both in terms of pain and psychologically. And she was my best buddy in the world. We walked for 30 to 45 minutes each time we went out. We met neighbors I'd never met before. We explored the woods. Really, she improved my life vastly. Sadie is no longer alive, and I miss and am deeply thankful to her. Since then, I've adopted Eddie, then Joe, and then Sidney, all of whom were seniors from animal shelters or animal rescues. They don't walk so fast that you can't keep up, but they definitely move on out and get you going. They give you a reason to get out of bed. Sidney, our present dog, is a 60-pound lab/hound mix who, our vets guesstimate, is somewhere between 16 and 18 years old. She's been with us for 5 years. She's slowed down a lot due to arthritis, for which she gets medication, but she frequently gets what we call "the gallops" and just takes off. (We only do leash walks.) She was trotting vigorously this morning. She is such a joy and such a tough old girl, and a smart one at that. If you can have a dog, I would so highly recommend one. A pup would be too exhausting to deal with, I think. But a senior knows the rules of the road, as it were, and is so thankful to be adopted. You will be loved unconditionally, and that means so much.

I hate taking pain meds (I've been prescribed Tylenol + codeine and Flexeril, a muscle relaxer for the TMJ pain). They help, but they leave me feeling very befogged. That makes it difficult to work, and I really need to concentrate on my work. Florida now has legal medical marijuana, and I went to consult with one of the physician providers yesterday. As luck would have it, he's a doctor AND a dentist, so he's well aware of TMJ pain. And he now works as a hospice physician, so he's a marvelously compassionate soul. He approved me for MM and thinks it will help me immensely with pain, muscle spasms, and anxiety (from which I also suffer, along with clinical depression). It takes 6 to 8 weeks (!) to get all the paperwork approved so that one can finally purchase MM. He leans toward the sublingual application of MM. He also recommends vape-ing, which will bring on relief in a much shorter time. While sublingual drops start to work in 15 minutes, vape-ing will start to work within a minute or so. So, it just depends on how much pain you're in. I'm eager to try MM, and I hope it'll help. That might be something you'd like to think about.

Anyway, I so hope you get some relief from the fibro pain! I remember the worst of it well: if I could get from my bed to the couch and lie there all day, I felt fortunate. When I could walk down my driveway and cross the street to my rural mailbox, I really felt that I'd accomplished so much. When every square centimeter of my body didn't hurt, and when clothes against my skin didn't hurt, I felt terrific. Take good care of yourself, and please let us know how you're doing.

Hazel (@hazelblumberg)

How does one do bio feed back? Is it expensive?

Hi, Yes bio-feedback is usually expensive. And it is hard to find a legitimate provider. Lots of snake-oil out there.

Robbin

I would like to know some of the ways to manage debilitating pain from fibromyalgia. I am currently using Percocet, but find little relief. I tried the Butrans patch but it caused voracious sweats. Please discuss other ways of controlling the pain.

Hi M_Rod, welcome to Connect. You'll notice that I moved your message to the Chronic Pain group, and in particular to the discussion called "Chronic Pain and Fibromyalgia - alternatives to medications?"
Click VIEW & REPLY in the email notification and you can read through the discussion and meet other members dealing with fibromyalgia.

Here are are few more discussions in Chronic Pain group that may interest you:
- fibromyalgia pain https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/fibromyalgia-pain-28e002/
- Drug Help for Fibromyalgia and Related Disorders https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/drug-help-for-fibromyalgia-and-related-disorders/
- Mayo Clinic's Fibromyalgia Clinic https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinics-fibromyalgia-clinic/

We look forward to getting to know you. What helps distract you from the pain?

Hi sorry for all your suffering with Fibromyalgia we all know how you feel ,same with us.All the prescribed meds for me don't work and have side effects so I relief on magnesium one site I like is New look fibromyalgia research says we are more depleted in magnesium so I take 600 mg.,my labs for mag.are just right ,not showers,water aerobics in warm water ,Tramadol I take at night to relax my muscles.Hope some of this will help you.Good luck @Kdubios

Just found Epsom Salts Body Wash Dr.Teals at Wal-Mart for us who use it for pain relief