Fibromyalgia - Does anything help relieve severe pain during flares?

God Bless You! You sound exactly like me. I've had fibro for 28 years. I refused the Cybalta & Lyrica due to the horrible side effects of coming off of them. I too use Flexeril, hot bath soaks in Epsom Salts, Voltaren Gel and heat packs. Some days, its unbearable. They have tried so many meds with me at "baby doses" and I cannot tolerate them. Extra rest does help. Lowering your stress level. I also have used the creams with Lidocaine in them (over the counter) and they do help. I do not use the Voltaren Gel along with them. Massages help sometimes....not always. Personally, I do not want to get on the control substance pain meds. Praying for you. I understand and I care. It's a very misunderstood syndrome. You look fine...but you are exhausted and hurt like the dickens! Hugs and prayers for better days.

How much Flexeril do you take, how often and do you take it every day? I've read it's only meant for short-term use. Same questions with the Flexeril. What meds have you tried in "baby doses"? Thank you.

I usually take 1/2 of a 5 mg Flexeril and then wait two hours if there is no relief and take the other half. Rarely have I taken 10 mg a day. Please ask your physician about this because there are different doses for patients. I do not take it every day. I can go weeks and not take it. Most recently, I was put on Plaquenil 50 mg and it caused brain freeze headaches, so I had to stop it. I was put on Tinizidine (Muscle Relaxant for Fibro) and I felt like I was in another world and I couldn't take it....that was on a 1/2 tablet. Skelaxin (Sp?) didn't work at all. I am sorry, but, I truly don't remember what all I have tried in the past 28 years. I am hard to treat because I can't tolerate many meds.

The jury is still out on Flexeril due to it causing short term memory loss. All muscle relaxants I was told by the pharmacist can do that.

Praying for you and I understand and care.

Hello... I've been researching Infrared therapy for Fibromyalgia pain, immune support, better sleep and other ailments. Has anyone tried this type of therapy?? I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts about it.

Interesting. I use an electric blanket in my bed every night to relieve back, hip, and leg pain from my Fibromyalgia. Helps me sleep.

I will be checking into this!

Oh yes, having FM for 45 years I thought I'd tried everything. I went to one bed where I had to kind of half sit up, very uncomfortable. It did help. I went to another where I could lie down and just relax and it worked miracles. It was much too expensive for me though so I could only go a few times. Try it.

I've tried everything you tried and more. They all have bad reactions. Even my eyes going blurry. So I get 100mg of antibiotic (very old treatment) which helps and 4 - T3"s a day. God bless you.

I've tried infrared therapy and got little to no relief. It may work great for some people, it just didn't work for me. I have the opposite problem with drugs. I have to take twice what normal people take. My father was very resistant also. I've had FM for 38 years and still battle it everyday. I've tried all the usual drugs with varying degrees of unsuccessful. I waned myself off gabapentin, only to realize that it was indeed helping and went back on it. I do have a few side effects, but it's better than constant pain. I have been denied by 3 different pain clinics, ironically. Because I insisted once that I wasn't in pain. I'm hoping I will be accepted to a study near me., using a neurological stimulator. Never just give up! Keep advocating for yourself.

Hi. I feel so bad for all of you because after reading this, I realize that my fibro pain is minimal compared to others but it is still pain. A few things that help me. Some of them many of the group has tried and hasn't helped, but for me they help a lot. First of all, no one has mentioned chiropractic treatment. I have a wonderful chiropractor who understands how the spine affects everything in the body. I go for regular adjustments; however, when the fibro flares up, I will go three times a week. It's short, only in there 15 minutes total, the adjustment doesnt't hurt except for maybe a second and it makes me feel much better, but keep in mind it is a process. One must go regularly to achieve maximal benefits from it. Hot shower at night helps me plus Gabapentin, which I read some of you cannot take or doesn't help. Sometimes I beef up Gabapentin with couple Advil. It is frustrating and discouraging. And finding a physician who understands and wants to help is also difficult. I found a pain specialist in a city near me and he,, like the chiropractor understands and is quite helpful. He tried Lyrica on me and it messed up severely with my mental health after only two pills. Stopped it immediately and he put it in my medical record to never prescribe Lyrica for any reason. It caused me to become suicidal very quickly. It seemed to be odd to me, but some meds will do that. He told me that Gabapentin is the most effective, safe and widely used drug. It helps me only if I take it regularly like clockwork. If I miss a dose, my body tells me. A warm shower at night helps me sleep. Also relaxation techniques, such as meditation with soft music playing in the background, yoga because when one is in pain, the entire body tenses up and causes the pain to worsen. Relaxation helps relieve that tenseness and thus the pain. It is a horrible illness/syndrome. I am extremely blessed to have some good periods before a flare-up. Even though those good periods, I still have pain, it is not as intense and I can function better. I hope this helps. Many of you have tried some of these things, but hopefully, there would be something in this that someone could take that would help.

How much Gabapentin do you take and how often? Does it help reduce pain? I read your body can build a tolerance and the dose needs to be constantly increased. Has this happened to you? I'm afraid to try it due to side effects I've read about and that it's addictive. Thank you!