Tablets

Question from a member: "I seem to take an awful lot of tablets but none seemt o really be helpin me. Is it normal to be on so many drugs? My gp makes me feel like I'm some kind of drug addict"

• A lot of ppl take a lot of drugs. You have to ask yourself, do they help? How do you benefit from taking them? I ask this as i have gradually come off the drugs i was taking and just take pain relief. I honestly think they cause more harm than good, but we are all different and only you know the answer.

   
• It is normal but it is up to you to decide what works and what doesn't. Amitriptyline works brilliant for me buy gabapentin makes no difference at all, I would've been as well taking smarties so I stopped them, no point putting poison in my system for no reason. The rest I tend to take as I need, co-codamol for general pain and if that fails to work then I have nefapam as a back up (I rarely take it) I also have diclofenac to reduce inflammation and again if this fails i then take diazepam (again not often). I have a few others as well. I think the point I'm trying to make is that you can end up with a lot of medication, some for general day to day usage but others that you don't have to take all the time but better to have on stand by for the biggies and any you feel don't work at all you'd be as well stopping. Good luck, I've had fibro 18 years (I'm 32) and its taken a long time to figure out what's best for me.

   
•  I told my gp earlier this year i wanted to cut my pills down to the minimum i could manage on. I now realise that one I cut out I do need so starting back on it and cutting out another with the gps support. Have also told her I am not going to take strong pain relief as it doesnt help and that if she can find me hydrotherapy i would rather try that as it helps. I refuse to allow them to fill me up with f
  Pills i use heat pads, hot baths and positive thinking.

   
•  I feel the same way. If I get ready sick to the point of needing a trip to the ER, Im tired of trying to explain why Im on so much medicine. Im seen by a pain care specialist that prescribes my meds. I also have problems with my stomach & get told that I need off my pain meds to help with my stomach issue. I can't explain to him or family Dr that m in pain. If anyone can explain how to get that members answer & it may help me too!

   
• water therapy is the best for FM!! I do take much fewer drugs then I did in the past when I first was diagnosed. I believe that is because I complained so much of the pain that my Gp tried to get me some relief in the beginning!

   
•  I have come to the conclusion from the amount of research i have done that we can not expect to eliminate the pain completely. I have spent the past 2 years trying everything available and they don't work for many ppl. I don't take pain relief 24/7 either as i always explain, my pain is always a 5/6 on a scale of 1-10, i often have 10 also and find if i take them 24/7 when the pain is real bad, i have no relief what so ever. Does that make sense? Its hard because as individuals only we know the answers. As for explaining pain i find the scale of 1-10 really helps, ppl seem to take notice. So i will say i have pain from head to toe everyday 24/7 in multiple areas, different pains eg aches, neuropathic, joint pain. I have areas where it never lets up like my feet, explain like that then think about the pain scale it does seem to make ppl think, at least it has with me.

   
• I take no pain or sleep medications, due to the side effects and not helping. I hurt just as well without them as I did with them.