pain, pain meds

[Guest guest]

Hi Joanna,

I have had fibro nearly as long as PA. I did not think I had it either for a

long time because I thought my doctors used that dx as a cop-out for my ailments

when they didn't really know. Well, I found out that if you google fibromyalgia

and print out the locations of the many tender points and have someone just put

a little pressure on those places to test for tenderness you can find out in a

hurry. I had my daughter do it for me. Now when I have pain, most of it is due

to fibro. I have never had a problem with depression though. I just turned 65

last month, and THAT should have depressed me, but even though I spend a lot of

time alone, I can still amuse myself and manage to stay busy. In the last

couple of years, I have found that when I turn the things I can't control over

to God, there is no reason to be depressed. I hope I don't sound like a moron,

but even though my later years have not turned out like I had planned, I still

don't have it too bad. God Bless

Janet in Ca

[Guest guest]

Dawn,

I am glad that I have this one problem with meds or pain killer: they make me

either so drowsy that I can't stay awake or make me sick to my stomach and give

me the runs. So all I take is Tylenol extra strength, at that only one a day or

I get the sick. When they gave me morphine in the hospital it made me so sick

they had to give me something to stop the throwing up.

Take care

Eva

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

I felt a need to chime in here.

First off, I am successfully controlling my PA by using MTX.

I have not had the need for any pain meds, and rarely take Anti-

inflammatories anymore.

That said, I agree with . I'm 47. I am well aware of the dangers

of addiction and have personally had a drug addicted person in my

life. Taking ANY drug regularly in possibly increasing dosages

scares the HELL out of me. I was never one to pop pills, and had

tons of apprehension about taking MTX quite possibly for the rest of

my life. But, my alternatives were slim to non-existant. Prior to

taking MTX, I had multiple sausage fingers & toes, swollen

elbows,knees and ankles, was in constant pain, sleeping only 3-4

hours with exhaustion, and barely able to walk.

Today, yes I'm " addicted " to MTX. I take it every week. I have had

to increase my dosage. And I expect that unless there is some medical

breakthrough, I will take it for the rest of my life.

But, I function 99% normally and have had zero side effects.

Some day I might need to deal with having taken MTX for a long time

in increasing dosages, but until then I think I made the right choice

for me.

Stay Well,