Question:
For those having Fibromyalgia, what do you use for pain control after WLS?
I have Fibromyalgia and I take Flexeril's and Ibuprophen 800mg...generally as needed tho they were prescribed 3 x's a day which was ridiculous, I may take 6-8 pills the entire month. I really slacked up on even that amount the last 4 months. However the the pain is bad, it takes that 800 mgs to knock it out somedays with the Flexeril combo. Since Ibuprophen is already harsh on the stomach and the pouch is reduced to a smaller size..I am assuming I can no longer take that med. What has worked for you all? I am researching now prior to getting the surgery date? I did try Celebrex...a baby aspirin might have done more :-) and Naprosyn had little effect also...so what else is out there for FMS? Terry — TerryS (posted on September 2, 2003)
September 2, 2003
Hi Terry, The week before surgery was he!! from the pain because I had to
quit my Bextra (anti-inflammotory). I heard from parts of my body I hadn't
heard from for 3-4 years. Everything hurt! However, I woke up from
surgery, and other than the pain from surgery, I had zero fibro symptoms
and continued that way for 4 weeks. It was amazing. At that point things
flared up again and I got the "pain all over" feeling which is my
indication things are worse. My surgeon gave me the okay to go back on the
Bextra but I toughed it out about 3 more weeks hoping it would settle down
on it's own. I finally gave in. I got some relief fairly quickly and
stayed on the meds for about 2 months. At that point I got off it again
and did okay. Not pain free but an acceptable level. Since there is
increased concern of developing ulcers in the pouch I did not want to stay
on them if I did not have to. About a month and a half later I went back
on because I was going on vacation and I wanted to be sure I could do
whatever I wanted. I took them for a month and then quit again. I'm doing
okay without them, but not pain free. I've learned to live with a certain
degree of pain over the years. Rarely has the fibro controlled me,
thankgoodness.
<p>I have always used anti-inflammatories for my fibro. The doctors
all say it should not work but hey it does help. Before surgery, without
it, I could not move too well. Lots of pain, just limiting me even more
than my weight. Since ibuprofen works for you I would ask about some of
the other meds. Celebrex didn't do much for me either. The ones that
worked the best over the years were Arthrotec, Vioxx, Mobic, Daypro,
Bextra. Some are definitely harder on your stomach. I'm wondering if
since you do not use the meds often if you will even need them. If you get
the same result as I have, you could end up medication free related tp the
fibro. I wonder for the few days if something like Ultram would not work.
It is a pain med, geared towards arthritis pain. Since you would be using
it a short time it would not be a problem of addiction or something.
Besides I do not believe it has any addictive properties. It's not like a
lot of pain meds that knock you on your butt. I have found it very helpful
in the past. I also would think that coated ibuprofen, such as Advil,
would help protect your pouch some. When I take any Bextra I break it in
half and place the pieces in my chewed up food right before I swallow.
This is what the surgeon asked me to do. I did not have any pouch problems
when I did take it. I figure I will stay off it as much as I can so that
when I really need it I can use it. I hope you are lucky enough to see
your symptoms improve as much as mine have. I had lived on
anti-inflammatories since 1995.
— zoedogcbr
September 2, 2003
Terry,
3 times a day does sound like a lot. I take one (flexeril) at night right
before I go to bed. Did this before my surgery and I still do it after my
surgery. I just chew it (the pill) with my liquid minerals that I take at
bedtime also. I do not recommend the off and on again taking of the
flexeril. If you take it regularly you should not have any problems. If
you do have flare-ups, I tried the other meds too and flexeril seems to be
the only one that did some damage to ease the pain. I have heard of
several herbal remedies...you might want to try to check those out. Good
luck.
— jenniemminor
September 2, 2003
Wow Chris, thanks for the response. I am gonna check on some of those meds.
I took myself off because I was trying to get my body ready for this
surgery. however trust me..my fibro controls me many days. I am disabled as
a result. My stomach is very irritated, so I thought I better let it heal
while I could....trust me I want an Ibroprophen bad..especially today.
I have my pre-ops Friday and I am trying to stay off as much as possible
this week... I find myself getting in a tub of hot water to help with the
pain sometimes 3-4 times a day when I am not taking the meds... it is a
short-lived relief..but some relief nonetheless..thanks a heap for your
response :-)
— TerryS
September 2, 2003
Jennie,
The Flexeril works but the anti inflammatory removes my pain. When I draw
up between my shoulder blades, its pretty intense pain...and the Flex
helps..but the pain wins. I am open, I wrote down Chris' med what is the
name of the herbal ones you have heard of...? I am gonna check it all out.
— TerryS
September 2, 2003
A friend of mine, who is 9 months post-op, has fibromyalgia. In addition
to flexerill,or alone, she uses Lidoderm patches, which are lidocaine patch
5%. The patches are applied to pressure points and remain there for up to
12 hours.
— David F.
September 2, 2003
jennie.right now i'm not taking anything for my fibro.i will have wls on
sept 25th.but i did find a real neat mattress pad at Costco and it is
really helping alot it is called novaform elite mattress topper it is made
out of some space age stuff it molds to your body.seems to be helping me,
the cost was about 120.00 for a queen size..good luck.i know how you
feel.lori
— love2babrat
September 2, 2003
Hi, I am no doctor, please check with your doctor about any
anit-inflammatories. I have read on here that they are very damaging to
our pouches. I am going to see a rheumatologist on the 10th in hopes of
finally finding out if after so many years I have fibro. Seems a couple of
months after my surgery I had a huge flare up and could hardly move the
pain and stiffness was so intense for weeks! It has settled down some, yet
is still very bad in my back and hips. I just force myself to move around
and walk and am very tired all the time. The person at the
rheumatologist's office told me that any time your body goes thru stress or
trauma you can have a flare up. Great is what I thought. Seems I am
always going thru that. LOL. Advil is not good for the pouch or ibupofren
or bextra or celebrex or vioxx or any of those. Hopefully there is
something else out there that can be used. Unless your surgeon says you
can use one of those sparingly and you can get by that way. Sometimes
ulcers can happen right when you think everything is fine. Just please be
careful. And best of luck with your surgery!!~Lise
— Lise W.
September 2, 2003
Having been unfortunate to develop a marginal ulcer that wasnt detected
until very serious, I would be very careful of taking any anti
inflammatories. I also have fibro and have learned that regular deep tissue
massage by someone who has knowledge of fibro, helps me to keep the pain at
a tolerable level.. I will also tell you that after each of my surgeries,
and I had open RNY followed by a revision at 4 months, and a second
revision at 14 months post op, that my fibro flared each time, and my sed
rate increased to about 100 .. but within a couple weeks went back to the
same level that it had been.
I have an appt with my rheumatologist coming up soon. She had wanted me
to take ultracet routinely for the fibro pain, but at the time, the wls
surgeon said no due to my liver function being too elevated.. Now, I am
going to see if she will still allow me to try this and am asking her to
start me on skelaxin as well.. less sedating than flexaril.
I wish you luck with pain control.. but I would stay away from all the
anti inflammatories and the cox 2 inhibitors like Bextra, Celebrex, Vioxx,
Mobic,etc..
Peachy hugs,
Gina.. 33 months post op.. down 218 pounds
— Gina Landers
September 2, 2003
What everyone posts about taking anti-inflammatories after WLS and the risk
of ulcers is absolutely correct. However, some times in life choices have
to be made. My surgeon ideally did not want me on any either but he said
if it made the difference between me moving and not then he wanted me to
take them. He had me make sure it went into chewed food so that the pouch
would be protected as much as possible. His decision to let me go back on
allowed me to get moving and get weight off and now be able to tolerate
most of the time without any meds. So sometimes one does have to take a
risk in order to support the overall goal. There is liquid vioxx available
now but I have never used it so I cannot speak to it's effectiveness.
<p>I would never go back on these meds without my surgeons blessing
and he did not give it lightly. When I said something in support group
people freaked as they had all been told no. So I was afraid I
misunderstood the surgeon and called him. He called me and said that
ideally no but he does realize that with his fibro patients and some others
that exceptions do need to be made. I had heard him correctly. You just
need to be as careful as you possibly can. Sitting around doing nothing is
no good either.
<p>There are many many drugs on the market that cause all kinds of
side effects and serious problems for anyone but sometimes we must take
them anyway. We just do it with the understanding of what the risk is. My
friend has a terrible disease that requires prednisone for long periods of
times when it flares up. Well prednisone is bad enough but horrible when
you are diabetic, but she literally has no choice. It is the only thing
that will bring the disease back under control. We all need to make
choices in life. When my fibro is causing a lot of pain and really
limiting me I am willing to take the risk and get it settled down and then
get back off the meds. So far that is working for me since surgery. I
spent 7-1/2 years on some kind of anti-inflammatory before surgery and I
suspect that and the Prilosec (supressed the acid pump) I lived on has
caused the tons of gastric polyps I had. I am hoping when we scope my old
stomach in a few years that I no longer have any polyps, and that they
truly were from those meds, because then I won't have to be checked again
ever or for many many years.
— zoedogcbr
September 3, 2003
My Fibro has not been bad at all since surgery. When it does flare up, its
USUALLY mild. I'm off all RX's and just use Tylenol when it acts up. Sorry
I'm not much help but just know I feel for ya. I hope you find something
that works for you soon. ~Sidney~ Open RNY 10-23-02 down 115
— Siddy I.
September 3, 2003
I use Celebrex as needed along with Lortab. I continually use the
Duragesic patch. I also have the Lidoderm patches that are used for 12
hours at a time for topical relief. For the days I am to exhausted to get
up I have Provigil which my insurance doesn't pay for and costs $7+ a pill
so I use it sparingly.
— Dianne C.
September 3, 2003
Dianne C - try having to live on Provigil to function. Fortunatley it is
covered for me. I have a very rare daytime sleep disorder that I use the
Provigil for along with some Ritalin to boost the effect during the day.
You should be able to get Provigil for around $5 a pill, but would have to
buy a 30-day supply. I know I've been it for about $150 for 30 days, on
the internet. The script would just have to be faxed to the company. It's
a good drug but expensive.
— zoedogcbr
September 4, 2003
I use Tylenol 3 (tylenol with codeine) like I've used since 1993.
Anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) don't work for fibro, as it is NOT an
inflammatory process. If you get relief from NSAIDs, you most likely have
something else going on like osteoarthritis, on top of the fibro. RNYers
can't take NSAIDs post-op anyway. There are many pain relievers out there
that you can try...I just have a conservative doc who won't let me try
anything different. Hugs, Joy
— [Deactivated Member]
September 5, 2003
I take Ultram. This is what my Rheumatologist started me on at the time of
diagnosis. It works great without being addictive. I also take low dose
Elavil for sleep(which my Rheumatologist advised also).
— Laura F.
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