Re: fibromyalgia

[Guest guest]

hi!

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 1996 roughly. i was sent everywhere,

tons of different docs, until i ended up at loma linda med center. i described

my symptoms, same as yours, and they handed me literature and said this is

what you have.

i was initially started on 75mg of voltaren (anti-inflammatory) and 50 mg of

elavil. it was like a miracle. i was sleeping and the pain went away. i

did, however, gain 15 pounds. i found out later that the culprit is the elavil.

it makes you crave sweets.

i have since, slowly but surely, backed my way down to 10mg of elavil every

night. my doc also switched me this year to bextra instead of voltaren. i

take both meds at night only, and always with food...something that will stay in

my stomache for a while. i usually have whole grain toast with cheese or

peanut butter.

i take the elavil cause it works for me. my doc is trying to get me to

switch to something else, but i'm afraid that the pain will come back. right

now,

i have only had 2 severe flare-ups since i was diagnosed. both times required

2 weeks of steroids to calm down my body. you know, the ones where you start

out with 14 tiny pills then 13, 12 11 and so on until you are done. the rest

of the time i have been pain free.

the elavil does have some drawbacks. at higher doses it can make it hard to

get going in the morning and can make you drowsy during the day. it also has

affected my short term memory...if i don't write it down, it's gone. of

course, i'm not getting any younger either...so i'm sure that plays a part. the

weight gain seems to be universal for almost everyone who takes it.

i'm going back in a couple of weeks to take the step to try something newer.

we'll see how it goes. for now, i take the drugs...carefully...cause nothing

is worse than that pain.

peace, phyl

bpd 5/10/90

250/140

Never quit. There is nothing less important than the score at half-time.