Thank you for taking time out of your day to respond to me. I’m 47 with very few friends. As u may know with lupus and Ra it’s hard to know dat to day how u will feel. I would have to cancel plans sometimes and others that are healthy just do not understand. Not their fault at all. Thanks John. prayers to you and a pain free day Lisa

Genesight testing also offers a test for what pain meds will work best for you based on your genes. A simple cheek swab and a 2 week wait will tell you what you need to know. If your on medicare it is free. Search genesight testing on the web then call them and ask for a list of docs near you registered to do the test. They have one test for psychotropic meds, one for mood stabilizers, one for ADHD drugs and one for opiates and analgesics. Beats the tar out of guessing and hoping. Love and blessings...

I met a young doc who made a good case for a combination of amitripiline and Lyrica to replace opioids. SHE WAS ALSO THE ONE WHO DID MY gENESIGHT SWAB AND WENT OVER THE RESULTS WITH ME.

@wsh66
Hi!
What exactly was the case used?
I took a very low dose of amitripiline for years for my Fibromyalgia. The doc said that one of the reason I had so much pain was because I was not getting enough DEEP sleep. Deep sleep is the time healing takes place. It actually worked for a long time. However Lyrica has not help me in the past.

Ronnie

Thank you! Good to know.

My doctor started me on 4 pills of Amiripline a day. They make me so sleepy. I would rather take then before going to sleep. I have RA and I take one shot a week of Methotrexate. I asked my doctor about Lyrica. She would rather I go with the Methotrexare for now. I tried the pills in the past or Metho and could not keep any food down. It must be a powerful drug.

Hang in there with the amitriptyline. I had that side effect too but it went away. I actually cut the dose back to half a pill a day for a few weeks and then went to the full 25 it doesn't make me sleepy anymore. Always take it at night.

The fact the drugs like Lyrica are so hit and miss for different people suggest to me that we need more testing like genesight testing which differentiates what drugs for depression ADHD mood stabilization and pain your body will react to well and how it will metabolize them. This hit-and-miss crapshoot system of choosing medications is just too hard on an individual's body and psyche. We need to do better.

Hi @aernst, I see that you have received some great responses and support from other members. Given your allergies and varied responses to drugs, I agree with @wsh66, that you should consider getting genetic testing to find out more about which drugs work or don't work for you and your genetic makeup. This is called drug-gene testing and is also called pharmacogenomics, or pharmacogenetics.

You can learn more about drug-gene testing here: http://mayoresearch.mayo.edu/center-for-individualized-medicine/drug-gene-testing.asp

@whs66 @dawn_giacabazi and @kdubois can tell you more about their experiences with drug-gene testing and how it helped them find drugs that worked, and just as importantly which drugs didn't work and that they could stop taking. You can read about @kdubois's story here:
> Learning to Trust Again – My Journey with Drug Intolerance – Experts by Experience https://socialmedia.mayoclinic.org/2018/05/04/learning-to-trust-again-my-journey-with-drug-intolerance-experts-by-experience/

Another great resource for you @aernst is your pharmacist. They are well informed about drug interactions. You might ask your pharmacist about which pain medications are compatible with Klonopin.

@wsh66 you are so right .