Feeling at my wits end with Chronic Pain and Fibromyalgia

I also have severe fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis plus Sjogrens syndrome. My orthopedic ordered an MRI to check for bone cancer as my mother died of it. It showed arthritis in every joint. It's even attacking my new artificial hip. He then checked me for fibromyalgia and I responded to all the trigger sites. He said it was the worse case he had ever seen! I am taking medical marijuana- CBD with a .2mg of THC. I buy them separately and sometimes don't add the THC. I buy from a reputable firm and it has really helped. Last Jan. I had Gamma surgery for a meningioma and when the helmet was removed the headache and nausea was awful. The nurse had me take 1mg of CBD (they had told me to take it with me) and it got rid of the nausea almost immediately and the headache in about 30 minutes. I have COPD (never smoked), asthma, and AFIB. My pulmonologist told me to take the CBD to relax me when I had the gamma laser surgery as he was concerned about the type of drugs they were going to give me. The CBD really helped to relax me and it helps with the pain.. If you decide to buy it make sure the firm is reputable. Rely on the CBD consultants to help you decide on the dosage. In FL you have to go the a marijuana approved Dr. and then he/she will notify the State that you have the qualifying diseases and then you pay the State for your license. I am not happy with the marijuana Dr. as he gave me a list of things that I should take. He listed vaping (never with COPD), and 20mg of THC. I take .2 mg. BIG difference. The consultant said 20mg was way too high. He told me to take more CBD and a little THC. Their motto " Start low and go slow". Also my husband has really bad neuropathy from diabetes. He has started taking .4 mg of CBD and he can now sleep without pain in his legs. I hope this helps. Good luck.

@edda Good morning. I just read your post. I empathize with you and also relate. I think a vicious cycle is occurring in my life too. I am in pain and have difficulty getting around, because I really don't know, but I do. This makes me avoid activities and even family gathering. In turn the depression comes in which stimulates our pain button and here we are. I also take percocet and get frightened. I also was an addiction counselor for 28 years and certainly know the perils of opiate and of course other drug use. At the same time I am tired of pain and the percocet helps so much, except for the foot pain. They only take the edge off the foot. I have osteoarthritis and several back issues and when that attacks me they wil do the job of relieving the pain. I take them as prescribed and so be it I think a suggestion for both of us right now is to get away from the depression. I take an antidepressant (obviously not working well), but in spite of pain I need to get back into water therapy, which is so available to me. I am also going back into grief counseling (lost my husband 18 months ago) and TRY to socialize a bit. Al sounds good, right. Now to do it. If the opiods help to down size your pain and make it a little easier to get about and you are taking them as directed I would not put all my focus on being a drug addict. Many drugs that people abuse are the same ones that keep people walking. God bless

@rwinney Hi I too have a lot of pain from 2 fractures in my back fibromyalgia my nerves are burning from back area Dr. wants to put cement in I wont do that . I have some tools that are cheap that you may consider . Hot showers ,Epsom salts bath in it in tub or just a washcloth, Vinegar works as well, Epsom salt rub by Procure it is great . Dr. Teal,s E.S. for showers . Ice when edema , Tens unit for tight muscles,my chiropractor told me about this, Light exercise. Of course I do pain meds . Brace for my back. Just some suggestions

Jen,
I complexly understand. I too have degenerative discs from my C3 through mu Ton1, and in my L4-L5 areas, with mild scoliosis in my thoracic spine. I am constantly in pain, but have a sensitivity to medications, so I can't usually find one that fits my needs long term. So, trying to maintain my career, while pursing my education, and taking care of my family is exhausting. This causes extreme mental health concerns because I don't feel well, while having to continue to show up daily at work/school/home and perform my duties. So far I have consistently been getting needle point injections in my spine for my neck pain, and trigger point injections for my back and shoulder pain. Nothing is being done for my neuropathy, or sleep disorder, because they believe psychiatric meds will improve sleep and reduce symptom. This hasn't happened yet, and I refuse to believe that I am now required to live with receiving this many shots consistently for the rest of my life to have relief, or go through the testing of new meds that I have a litany of side effects from. I am fearful of what I am doing to my kidneys with these meds. What do you do when you need to perform, but the treatment is worse than the disease and there are not a lot of current alternatives?

Jada

Yes please, I too would like to hear your cannibus journey @jmweissler. Chris, I'm really racking my brain here. Hydrocodone does not help my pain enough and I've been on an opioid for 2 years. I'm opening the door to more supplements being added, keep my body moving as best I can, find the joy in each day as best I can, am going to try PEA cream (I think). I'm dedicating to regenerating, if possible, my nerves instead of masking pain. However, it will be a long while at this rate before I drop pain pills as they give me benefit and some relief, just not enough. My IV lidocaine infusions are simply not working on my legs as I hoped. They are debilitating. Heat and a tight wrap works best. My doseage of lidocaine will be upped Monday again then only one more increase before I'm maxed out. Met with neurologist this week to discuss overall game plan. Im incredibly frustrated as my pain is relentless and persistent. I was a very active and involved woman and over the past 3 years my life has sloooowed down (via multiple diagnosis) and now is trying its best to come to a screaching halt. I heed all of the advice from everyone on this forum but at the end of the day it's about what my body allows and doesn't allow me to do. Another big component for me personally are finances. I have been on disability for 2 years and am going on Medicare soon. I need to find proper supplemental isurance to cover the possibility of future treatments that are in my neurologist's wheel house. Including IVIG and plasmapherisis. Truth is I don't know if I'm coming or going. Always lived week to week before my disability now we are really drowning. Not looking for sympathy, I only bring this up because so many of the pain treatments people suggest are out of pocket. It's tough when the pocket is empty. It's a shame that it's cheaper for me to spend $4 per month through my insurance on hydro, and put opiods in my system, verses a natural product that insurance will not cover. As far as cannibus...I DO NOT wish to go through life high however, I DO want pain relief. Ughh, frustrating.

I also have severe fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis plus Sjogrens syndrome. My orthopedic ordered an MRI to check for bone cancer as my mother died of it. It showed arthritis in every joint. It's even attacking my new artificial hip. He then checked me for fibromyalgia and I responded to all the trigger sites. He said it was the worse case he had ever seen! I am taking medical marijuana- CBD with a .2mg of THC. I buy them separately and sometimes don't add the THC. I buy from a reputable firm and it has really helped. Last Jan. I had Gamma surgery for a meningioma and when the helmet was removed the headache and nausea was awful. The nurse had me take 1mg of CBD (they had told me to take it with me) and it got rid of the nausea almost immediately and the headache in about 30 minutes. I have COPD (never smoked), asthma, and AFIB. My pulmonologist told me to take the CBD to relax me when I had the gamma laser surgery as he was concerned about the type of drugs they were going to give me. The CBD really helped to relax me and it helps with the pain.. If you decide to buy it make sure the firm is reputable. Rely on the CBD consultants to help you decide on the dosage. In FL you have to go the a marijuana approved Dr. and then he/she will notify the State that you have the qualifying diseases and then you pay the State for your license. I am not happy with the marijuana Dr. as he gave me a list of things that I should take. He listed vaping (never with COPD), and 20mg of THC. I take .2 mg. BIG difference. The consultant said 20mg was way too high. He told me to take more CBD and a little THC. Their motto " Start low and go slow". Also my husband has really bad neuropathy from diabetes. He has started taking .4 mg of CBD and he can now sleep without pain in his legs. I hope this helps. Good luck.

I second Trazodone for sleep. Don't know what I would do without it. If you decide to take it be aware that it can take some time to get the right dosage. They usually start you low, but my psych NP is really experienced and upped my dose pretty quickly. I need 300 mg to sleep. Good luck!