Fibromyalgia Medications Bring Much-Needed Symptom Relief
As of yet, there is no identified cause or cure for fibromyalgia. This syndrome consists of a cluster of symptoms including moderate to intense pain in trigger points on the body, depression, sleep disturbance, chronic fatigue, lowered immune system, inability to concentrate, anxiety, and peripheral neuropathy – a condition that causes aching, burning and twitches in the hands and feet. Medications for fibromyalgia do bring about symptom relief for most patients. Sometimes the only way to determine if a medication will help relieve fibromyalgia symptoms is by trial and error by the treating physician. If it works, use it! It if does not, try something else until symptom relief is obtained.
Through years of experimentation, fibromyalgia medications have been fairly standardized. Some are considered as mainstream treatments, and some are still very hotly debated. The last word usually rests with the patient unless a certain medication is contraindicated due to drug interactions and drugs that may provide temporary relief but actually harm the patient in the long run.
Fibromyalgia Medications That Work
Finding the right medication for the right patient is difficult, but there are some medications that have shown proven effectiveness in relieving and even preventing fibromyalgia flare-ups. Gabapentin (Neurontin) is a medication that interrupts pain signals to the brain. It is not a painkiller; rather, it is pain response preventative. Amitriptyline (Elavil) is an old-style tricyclic antidepressant that, in doses of 50-100 milligrams at night helps to restore deep REM sleep as well as interrupting the signals of chronic pain to the brain.
The antidepressant class of SSRI drugs (Serotonin Selective Re-uptake Inhibitors) like Wellbutrin, Effexor, Zoloft, Prozac, Cymbalta and others are very effective medications for fibromyalgia because they relieve the depression that almost always accompanies this syndrome. In conjunction with clonazepam (Klonopin), a mild anti-anxiety drug, the debilitating emotional symptoms of fibromyalgia are relieved by these medications.
For acute flare-ups of intense trigger point pain, a physician may prescribe a short-term course of narcotic painkillers to completely interrupt the "pain panic" that often accompanies this symptom. However, the use of long-term narcotics is not an effective medication regimen for fibromyalgia. These drugs are highly addictive, and in the long run, they create more problems than they solve. Instead, tramadol (Ultram) has become a specific medication for the treatment of fibromyalgia. This drug works like a narcotic in its painkilling properties. It is not, however, of the narcotic class. It works on the brain to relieve pain from trigger point flare-ups, but with none of the addiction problems of the opiate narcotics. Tramadol, combined with gabapentin, Klonopin, amitriptyline, and a sleep medication like Ambien CR or Lunesta, work together as very effective medications for the treatment of fibromyalgia.