Living with fibromyalgia is hard. It’s an invisible illness that can have a wide variety of debilitating symptoms and often leaves patients feeling alone and misunderstood by their friends and family. But the most difficult part of this chronic condition is finding an effective treatment. Many pain medications have unpleasant side effects or are ineffective in keeping symptoms under control, while other treatments like massage therapy can be expensive. On top of all that, many patients distrust the idea of antidepressants as a treatment for pain.
In order to diagnose fibromyalgia, your doctor will need to rule out other conditions that could be causing your symptoms. If you don’t see a doctor, you may go undiagnosed for years, thinking the pain and fatigue you feel is normal for everyone—it’s not. After a diagnosis has been made and all other conditions are ruled out, it’s time to discuss treatment options with your doctor.
While there is no one approach to treating fibromyalgia that works for everyone, there are a few strategies worth looking into:
Medication
The most common treatment for fibromyalgia is a treatment that relieves symptoms and allows sufferers to stay active and productive. Many people have been led to believe that the single most effective treatment is exercise, but this simply isn’t true. In fact, exercise can be a waste of time in some cases because it may actually increase pain levels.
A better way to address the condition is through medication, specifically those designed to reduce or eliminate inflammation. While many doctors will prescribe anti-inflammatory medications in their approach to treating fibromyalgia, they often overlook an important detail: Many of these drugs are highly addictive. This isn’t usually a problem for patients who don’t have other conditions that require them to avoid certain medications. However, if you’re also dealing with diabetes or hypertension, you need to take care when picking your medication. You also need to ensure that you are buying your drugs from reputable stores like Healthylineoutlet.
For prescription medications, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved three different drugs to treat fibromyalgia: Cymbalta (duloxetine), Lyrica (pregabalin), and Savella (milnacipran). These drugs fall into different categories of medications used to treat FM: antidepressants, anticonvulsants, and SNRIs.
Getting enough sleep
The most effective treatment for fibromyalgia is a multi-faceted approach. When patients first seek treatment, they should be encouraged to stay physically active and maintain a healthy diet. Many specialists also recommend meditation, yoga, and other relaxation techniques. However, the single most important step in treating fibromyalgia is to get enough sleep. Even if you’re able to manage pain with lifestyle changes and meditation, your body needs rest to repair the damage from everyday wear and tear.
Experts recommend that adults sleep 7 or 8 hours per night, but many people don’t get enough sleep because they have difficulty sleeping through the night. Some people with fibromyalgia may find that they wake up frequently in pain and therefore can’t fall back asleep without taking painkillers. Others might have trouble sleeping because they feel anxious about their condition and wake up in the middle of the night worrying about it. Either way, if you’ve tried everything you can think of to get a full night’s rest but are still having trouble, it might be time to talk to your doctor about using a sleep aid like Ambien or trazodone.
Physical therapy
A physical therapist can teach you how to exercise without exacerbating your symptoms. There are also therapies like yoga that can help build strength and flexibility while calming your mind at the same time.
Massage therapy
Massage therapy has been shown to reduce stress hormones, improve sleep quality, and alleviate pain in people with fibromyalgia. A massage therapist can ease your muscles by using a kneading and stroking technique that helps relieve tension. Massage is especially helpful if you have trouble falling asleep because it improves the quality of your sleep.
Massage therapy has been shown to lower stress hormones and relieve muscle tension. It has also shown benefits in treating anxiety and depression associated with fibromyalgia.
Conclusion
The first step to finding an effective treatment for fibromyalgia is learning what works best for you and your unique symptoms. Remember that there is no one cure for fibromyalgia—you’ll have to experiment until you find what brings you relief and reduce your symptoms.