Re: Bad flair up's

[Guest guest]

Denice,

I'm sorry that you are suffering with bad flares....they really

suck, don't they? I know when one hits me, and hits it's peak, I'm

totally out of commission for several days, never leaving my bed or

the couch. I sleep a lot, and stay very heavily medicated, because

I'm definitely not able to function at all. There is absolutely

nothing I can do but just ride it out. I know that's not a very

uplifting picture I'm painting, but it's the true facts.

Between flares, I take meds that help control the daily pain. I'm

taking Bextra, an anti-inflammatory, as well as Topamax, which helps

with the chronic pain. I just went up 100mg on the Topamax, in

hopes of getting back control of the daily pain, and am going to

talk to my doctor about upping the Bextra, or changing to a

different med. I've been on it so long, I think my body has become

very tolerant to it!

If you are seeing your family doctor to treat your fibro, I would

suggest to him that he send you to a specialist. This could be a

rhuematologist, physical medicine doctor, or a pain management

specialist. They are all more equipped to deal with chronic pain

and auto-immune disorders. In some larger towns, there are also

doctors who specialize in the treatment of just Fibromyalgia. I

wish we had one of those around here in my area!

Keep your chin up, and have faith that something or someone will

come along to help you get good treatment. Just keep pushing your

doctor for it! Take care of yourself, and keep us posted on how you

are doing!

Jen

[Guest guest]

Dear ,

Seemed like my life was one big, constant flare until recently when I

put a string of 5 good days back to back. I am retired on SSD, so when

I have a flare now, I first go and soak in a bubble bath with the water

as hot as I could stand, I lie back in and just relax until the water

starts to get cold. Then I crawl back into bed (forgot to mention that

the first thing I do is reach for the Oxycontin and Lortab bottles

before I even get in the hot bath), and spend the next couple of hours

in bed, waiting for the pain meds to kick in enough so that I can even

get as far as the couch to watch t.v. I try to do as much as possible

whenever I first get up, however, cause morning is my best time of day,

and anything that doesn't get done before noon probably will not get

done. I glance in the freezer to see what I can throw in the crock pot

for supper, as I know I will not feel like cooking by that time.

Goodness, I don't know what people ever did before crock pots and

microwaves. I am blessed in having a wonderful, understanding husband

who is also on SSD, and therefore home with me all day to help me in any

way that he can. Only thing that he refuses to do is to walk the dogs,

and his solution for that is to put the dogs out back where we have a

fenced yard. I normally would try to walk the dogs in spite of the

fibro pain, but have been batting a case of tendonitis since Jan. 2nd,

and am trying to limit my time on my feet.

As far as my doctor goes, I have gotten more help from my internal

medicine doc than any other specialist, and I have been to them all,

including 3 pain specialists. However, my internist is getting where he

does not want to rx my Lortab for the breakthrough pain of my Oxycontin,

so am going to try going back to the family practice doctor that I used

6 years ago in hopes that he will be willing to treat the breakthrough

pain with either Lortab or Tylenol #4. I am just at my wits end and do

not know what to do except see a second doctor. My internist very

grudgingly called me in 20 Lortabs earlier this week and indicated in

the instructions that they had to last me until the 18th. The

instructions are to take one or two per day. Right... that would be

between useless and worthless, as it takes 2 tablets every 4 to 6 hourx

to relieve the pain. You might want to try a rheumy doc or pain

specialist... maybe you will have better luck with them than I did. My

only advice is that if you find a good doctor, HANG ONTO HIM/HER FOR

DEAR LIFE, cause they are scarcer than hens' teeth.

gentle hugs,

Sharon

Faith...with it, miracles *CAN* and *DO* happen!

[Guest guest]

Dear Sharon,

Here in my very small community in Ohio, and the surrounding area, I

couldn't even find ONE Fibromyalgia doctor, so I'm not exactly sure

what the educational criteria actually is! I have just heard them

spoken of on another chronic pain forum. I don't know if they are

rheumatologists or physical medicine doctors who just treat only

Fibro patients, or if they are a special sub-group of doctors who

take extra training to specialize! I will have to check into that

with the moderator on the forum who told me that and get back to you.

As for NSAIDS, there are some really nasty ones out there. Right

now, I am taking Bextra, which has been so great for me, but one

time, my doctor gave me Arthrotec, and I swear, I thought I was

dying for the 2 days I was taking it. I had severe nausea,

diarrhea, headaches, and stomach cramps so bad that I was doubled

over in pain most of the time. That was a god-awful experience.

But I have been on Bextra since right after it came out, and it's

been wonderful for me. All of us are different though. I know that

there are certain medications I absolutely cannot take without

severe repercussions, such as Levaquin, the antibiotic that got me

into this Fibro mess in the first place. And now, I never, EVER

take any drug without throroughly researching it. Hindsight is

always 20/20!

How horrible that this doctor refused to deal with the mess she

created by giving you that drug! I have a PPO insurance plan, which

is very similar in nature to an HMO. I pay $10 to see my PCP, and

$30 for specialists. If my doctor had refused to see me after I had

the severe reaction to the antibiotic he gave, you better believe

I'd have been all over his ass! It just appalls me when doctors

have the audacity to " fire " patients, especially when it's something

THEY cause! There is something seriously wrong with the medical

community these days! Like you, my PCP is the person I go to for

the biggest majority of my treatment. The only other doctor I see

is my psychiatrist, and I feel the same bond with him that I do with

my family doc.

Take care, and hopefully I can get you an accurate description of

what a Fibro doctor actually is!

Jen