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Fibromyalgia Treatment:

     

BASICS OF FIBROMYALGIA TREATMENT

Once a fibromyalgia diagnosis has been made your doctor will focus on which symptoms are most significant and whether you have any related conditions (depression, irritable bowel syndrome, etc.) that need to be treated at the same time. Some medical conditions may require additional care from specialists trained to treat these specific conditions. Your fibromyalgia doctor will examine you and your surroundings both physical and emotional to find both opportunities for improvement (such as stressor and trigger reduction) and challenges to treatment (such as daily life responsibilities and financial resource limitations). Your physician will then begin both prescription and nondrug treatment to reduce the impact of fibromyalgia on your life.

 

NONDRUG TREATMENT FOR FIBROMYALGIA

There are three main components to nondrug treatment of fibromyalgia. The first component is education. You need to learn as much as you can to understand the syndrome and what the possibilities are for treatment. Secondly, a type of psychotherapy called cognitive-behavioral therapy, can help to change how you see your condition. The mind is very powerful and altering how you see your pain and what control you have over it can have real benefits. This type of fibromyalgia therapy also tends to be or fairly short duration often lasting less than six months. In some ways it is more of an educational process to learn how to modify how you see yourself. There are homework exercises not just therapy sessions which helps to speed along the process. The third component is aerobic exercise which is very helpful in reducing fibromyalgia pain and also decreasing symptoms of the depression that often goes along with this syndrome. In addition to these three areas there is more evidence to support the importance of diet in the treatment of fibromyalgia syndrome and its related conditions. Many patients also can benefit from massage, acupuncture and biofeedback therapy.

 

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS FOR FIBROMYALGIA

   

Pharmacological treatment of fibromyalgia syndrome must be tailored to a specific patient and will take in to account and additional related conditions. Because so little is known about what really causes fibromyalgia, you may need to try different medications and combinations of medications before you hit on the best treatment for your fibromyalgia. A wide range of medications are used to treat fibromyalgia. Some of them include: antidepressants, anticonvulsants, sleep aids, pain medications and muscle relaxants. Some of the medications commonly used such as NSAIDs (ibuprofen) and SSRIs (fluoxitine) often do not help very much except as part of combination therapy. On the other hand tramadol rather than NSAIDs or strong narcotics may be better for pain and SNRIs rather than SRIs may be better choices. In addition to the SNRIs which are expensive, the older tricyclic antidepressants still have a place in many fibromyalgia treatment plans. While many drugs have been used for years to treat fibromyalgia, three newer prescription drugs have officially been approved by the FDA to treat this condition. They all work by modulation abnormal pain response and perception. These newer drugs are pregabalin (Lyrica), duloxetine (Cymbalta) and milnacipran (Savella) which was just approved in 2009.

   

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