Is anyone suffering from fibromyalgia and mental health conditions?

God Bless you & your daughter. Fibromyalgia is hard to treat. I do not have mental health issues with mine, but, I know many people that do with Fibro. Pain & fatigue are wearing. Here is what helps my pain the most:
1) Stretches in the morning
2) Espsom salt bath soaks for sore muscles
3) Massages if she can stand it
4) Flexeril 5 mg (Prescription) muscle relaxant as needed
5) Voltaren Gel applied at least 4 times a day and Bed Buddy heat packs (Amazon)
6) Get off sugar & caffeine & junk food.
7) Try and keep moving as much as you can or she will get stiffer and hurt worse.
8) Try and get her into a pain clinic which could help with her pain and depression.
9) If she needs to nap, let her. Sleep is healing and restorative sleep helps greatly with Fibro. That is the #1 complaint of a fibro patient, "I don't sleep well" or "I am a light sleeper."
Praying for much relief.

In August I'll be 76, and fibromyalgia has been with me for forty of those years. I have other much more serious health concerns as well (all with their own parameters of pain), but will comment for now just on the fibromyalgia.
I'm highly sensitive to so many prescription meds, so the only pain med that my primary said I can take when I determine that I "just gotta have something" is Aleve. I have GERD and other GI issues, so I take ONE Aleve, ONLY when it's absolutely necessary. Along with a heat pad rotated to body parts and engaging in mental imagery exercises, pain dissipates to a degree so that I can manage. Cannot and will not take prescribed drugs like gabapentin, Cymbalta, etc due to having had such terrifying experiences with any such (and related) meds. Definitely MOVEMENT helps, but due to other problems, I've had to curtail use of exercise equipment. I've been on flexeril for just about 4 decades. Thankfully, I am not in 24/7 fibromyalgia pain, but do have pain from other issues that fill in to keep me company and challenge my mental and emotional health. But the fibromyalgia in and of itself is a nasty devil indeed😈. A neurologist prescribed Voltaren years ago and I did try it but it didn't really help since I would have had to literally slather it on my entire body. When I learned of its connection to creating issues with the liver in particular, I got rid of it. The idea of applying it as you do (so liberally and so often) is concerning to me. Do your primary as well as your rheumatologist agree with how you incorporate Voltaren into your routine for dealing with pain? Just a thought, not a criticism.

Right now it's 3:14 AM by the time stamped on the upper right hand corner of my computer screen, and I've been awake since just after 2 AM. Pain from polymyalgia rheumatica is what woke me, and rather than stay in bed with the waves of pain, I came downstairs, walked around to stretch, and then decided to check my Mayo Connect. I just happen to have had my attention taken by the fibromyalgia question/discussion.

What else do I include when the nasty Pain Devil persists on challenging my days and nights? A hot shower, setting the shower head to pulsating massage. Feels so good, and does "release" the pain grip. Also stretching exercises, including in the evening (as an assist within bedtime routine). And "naps" when and as needed! The imposed fatigue and overwhelming ache makes it a must-do in order to help me cope. I listen to my body. I don't over do naps, though. I literally have to force myself to emerge from that "nap" (albeit gradually, not abruptly), get up and moving (although slowly at first), and then engage in must-do activities like laundry, meal prep, sweeping and dusting --- all chores that need attending to ANYWAY, but each helps me feel more control in my life instead of allowing pain to control me. I don't engage in all of them, just tackle what I can and what most needs attention. I play favorite CDs with music from my adolescence, which invigorates my spirit and can conjure happy memories. Sometimes classical music if preferred.

While pain has indeed been with me for years in many forms, my focus is in not letting it define me, but rather I acknowledge it in its various forms and have learned to work within its impositions .

Bottom line: We each have to be willing to explore ways to cope with what life has presented to us, and as unique beings, what works for one person may not necessarily be viable options for someone else.

Wishing you and others on this site peaceful days and nights, and spans of time without
pain.😊

In August I'll be 76, and fibromyalgia has been with me for forty of those years. I have other much more serious health concerns as well (all with their own parameters of pain), but will comment for now just on the fibromyalgia.
I'm highly sensitive to so many prescription meds, so the only pain med that my primary said I can take when I determine that I "just gotta have something" is Aleve. I have GERD and other GI issues, so I take ONE Aleve, ONLY when it's absolutely necessary. Along with a heat pad rotated to body parts and engaging in mental imagery exercises, pain dissipates to a degree so that I can manage. Cannot and will not take prescribed drugs like gabapentin, Cymbalta, etc due to having had such terrifying experiences with any such (and related) meds. Definitely MOVEMENT helps, but due to other problems, I've had to curtail use of exercise equipment. I've been on flexeril for just about 4 decades. Thankfully, I am not in 24/7 fibromyalgia pain, but do have pain from other issues that fill in to keep me company and challenge my mental and emotional health. But the fibromyalgia in and of itself is a nasty devil indeed😈. A neurologist prescribed Voltaren years ago and I did try it but it didn't really help since I would have had to literally slather it on my entire body. When I learned of its connection to creating issues with the liver in particular, I got rid of it. The idea of applying it as you do (so liberally and so often) is concerning to me. Do your primary as well as your rheumatologist agree with how you incorporate Voltaren into your routine for dealing with pain? Just a thought, not a criticism.

Right now it's 3:14 AM by the time stamped on the upper right hand corner of my computer screen, and I've been awake since just after 2 AM. Pain from polymyalgia rheumatica is what woke me, and rather than stay in bed with the waves of pain, I came downstairs, walked around to stretch, and then decided to check my Mayo Connect. I just happen to have had my attention taken by the fibromyalgia question/discussion.

What else do I include when the nasty Pain Devil persists on challenging my days and nights? A hot shower, setting the shower head to pulsating massage. Feels so good, and does "release" the pain grip. Also stretching exercises, including in the evening (as an assist within bedtime routine). And "naps" when and as needed! The imposed fatigue and overwhelming ache makes it a must-do in order to help me cope. I listen to my body. I don't over do naps, though. I literally have to force myself to emerge from that "nap" (albeit gradually, not abruptly), get up and moving (although slowly at first), and then engage in must-do activities like laundry, meal prep, sweeping and dusting --- all chores that need attending to ANYWAY, but each helps me feel more control in my life instead of allowing pain to control me. I don't engage in all of them, just tackle what I can and what most needs attention. I play favorite CDs with music from my adolescence, which invigorates my spirit and can conjure happy memories. Sometimes classical music if preferred.

While pain has indeed been with me for years in many forms, my focus is in not letting it define me, but rather I acknowledge it in its various forms and have learned to work within its impositions .

Bottom line: We each have to be willing to explore ways to cope with what life has presented to us, and as unique beings, what works for one person may not necessarily be viable options for someone else.

Wishing you and others on this site peaceful days and nights, and spans of time without
pain.😊

In August I'll be 76, and fibromyalgia has been with me for forty of those years. I have other much more serious health concerns as well (all with their own parameters of pain), but will comment for now just on the fibromyalgia.
I'm highly sensitive to so many prescription meds, so the only pain med that my primary said I can take when I determine that I "just gotta have something" is Aleve. I have GERD and other GI issues, so I take ONE Aleve, ONLY when it's absolutely necessary. Along with a heat pad rotated to body parts and engaging in mental imagery exercises, pain dissipates to a degree so that I can manage. Cannot and will not take prescribed drugs like gabapentin, Cymbalta, etc due to having had such terrifying experiences with any such (and related) meds. Definitely MOVEMENT helps, but due to other problems, I've had to curtail use of exercise equipment. I've been on flexeril for just about 4 decades. Thankfully, I am not in 24/7 fibromyalgia pain, but do have pain from other issues that fill in to keep me company and challenge my mental and emotional health. But the fibromyalgia in and of itself is a nasty devil indeed😈. A neurologist prescribed Voltaren years ago and I did try it but it didn't really help since I would have had to literally slather it on my entire body. When I learned of its connection to creating issues with the liver in particular, I got rid of it. The idea of applying it as you do (so liberally and so often) is concerning to me. Do your primary as well as your rheumatologist agree with how you incorporate Voltaren into your routine for dealing with pain? Just a thought, not a criticism.

Right now it's 3:14 AM by the time stamped on the upper right hand corner of my computer screen, and I've been awake since just after 2 AM. Pain from polymyalgia rheumatica is what woke me, and rather than stay in bed with the waves of pain, I came downstairs, walked around to stretch, and then decided to check my Mayo Connect. I just happen to have had my attention taken by the fibromyalgia question/discussion.

What else do I include when the nasty Pain Devil persists on challenging my days and nights? A hot shower, setting the shower head to pulsating massage. Feels so good, and does "release" the pain grip. Also stretching exercises, including in the evening (as an assist within bedtime routine). And "naps" when and as needed! The imposed fatigue and overwhelming ache makes it a must-do in order to help me cope. I listen to my body. I don't over do naps, though. I literally have to force myself to emerge from that "nap" (albeit gradually, not abruptly), get up and moving (although slowly at first), and then engage in must-do activities like laundry, meal prep, sweeping and dusting --- all chores that need attending to ANYWAY, but each helps me feel more control in my life instead of allowing pain to control me. I don't engage in all of them, just tackle what I can and what most needs attention. I play favorite CDs with music from my adolescence, which invigorates my spirit and can conjure happy memories. Sometimes classical music if preferred.

While pain has indeed been with me for years in many forms, my focus is in not letting it define me, but rather I acknowledge it in its various forms and have learned to work within its impositions .

Bottom line: We each have to be willing to explore ways to cope with what life has presented to us, and as unique beings, what works for one person may not necessarily be viable options for someone else.

Wishing you and others on this site peaceful days and nights, and spans of time without
pain.😊

What does of Flexeril do you take and do you take it every day? I take 5mg rarely, only on nights when I need it due to pain. I read it shouldn't be taken long-term so am afraid to take it every day. I also read if you do take it long-term, it can quit working. Does it help with your pain during the day? Thanks.

10 mg dose nightly. My rheumatologist and I had a conversation about precisely what you state regarding that it can quit working. But I have no alternatives. Cannot and will not take Humira, Cymbalta, or any other such as those due to serious sensitivity to majority of drugs. I'm talking scary hallucinations, night terrors and nightmares, as well as a host of other horrid symptoms. Initially had been prescribed amitriptyline also, and that drug I had to taper the doses until I was finally able to just eliminate it. It had contributed very unfavorable side effects, especially since it is actually prescribed as an antidepressant and I was on another antidepressant that wasn't addressing my depression (I got help for tapering and getting off that also!) and the ami just exacerbated what the Effexor XR was doing to me (and yes I finally got guidance and eliminated that drug also!). But the cyclo helps with muscle pain as well as makes me sleepy so I take 10 mg only at night, never during the day or I'd spend my time sleeping and then being angry at having had my day wasted! Despite the cyclo, I still experience periods of pain, and since I also have polymalgia rheumatica, that disorder knocks the fibromyalgia right out of the park. The PMR pain is totally different and even more intense than the fibromyalgia. My life has been and continues to be complicated. For me, a good day is measured by having an overall Pain Level score of 5 (pretty bearable in my book) or at times even less.

To further address your point: Yes, within medical journals, etc., that I researched, I did learn that most doctors prescribe the cyclo for a period of weeks and then stop for a few months, to then start the cycle again. I've never even asked about that nor would consider it. It's advisable to keep in mind that cyclobenzeprine IS a muscle relaxant so great caution must be taken to not take more than what is prescribed. As one doctor told me, it can indeed affect the heart since it IS a muscle!

I hope you can find your ways of dealing with the pain(s) of fibromyalgia. When I was first diagnosed, I told the doctor "I can't accept that diagnosis since it does not have a cure, and I have three young children to raise." So for a few years I did not seek medical help and took no meds, just ached horribly, had such non restorative sleep, and lived daily with ever-present pain. I finally faced the facts and accepted guidance and medication. I'll continue taking the cyclo in addition to a few priority prescribed drugs for my other health issues.

I wishy you well.💖