Fibromyalgia Health Center

There is no cure for fibromyalgia. Treatment consists of managing the symptoms through medication and improving general health. Alternative medicine may also be helpful for some patients. Fibromyalgia treatment often requires a team approach, with your doctor, a physical therapist, possibly other health professionals, and most importantly, yourself, all playing an active role. It can be hard to assemble this team, and you may struggle to find the right professionals to treat you. When you do, however, the combined expertise of these various professionals can help you improve your quality of life.

The FDA has approved Lyrica (pregabalin) for the treatment of fibromyalgia. Lyrica has been used in the past to help alleviate the painful conditions that patients with diabetes and shingles may experience. The reason Lyrica works is not fully known.

Following are some of the most commonly used categories of drugs for fibromyalgia:

Analgesics

Analgesics are painkillers. They range from over-the-counter acetaminophen (Tylenol) to prescription medicines, such as tramadol (Ultram), and even stronger narcotic preparations.

For a subset of people with fibromyalgia, narcotic medications are prescribed for severe muscle pain. However, there is no solid evidence showing that narcotics actually work to treat the chronic pain of fibromyalgia, and most doctors hesitate to prescribe them for long-term use because of the potential that the person taking them will become physically or psychologically dependent on them.

Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs)

As their name implies, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, including aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), and naproxen sodium (Anaprox, Aleve), are used to treat inflammation. Although inflammation is not a symptom of fibromyalgia, NSAIDs also relieve pain. The drugs work by inhibiting substances in the body called prostaglandins, which play a role in pain and inflammation.

These medications, some of which are available without a prescription, may help ease the muscle aches of fibromyalgia. They may also relieve menstrual cramps and the headaches often associated with fibromyalgia. However, they should be used under your physician’s supervision, especially since recent data associates long term use of NSAIDs with an increased risk of strokes and heart attacks.

Antidepressant medications.

• Antidepressants correct brain and spinal cord chemical imbalances to stop pain and restore normal sleeping patterns. Doses of antidepressants for fibromyalgia are usually much smaller than what is taken for depression.
• Benzodiazepines help some people with fibromyalgia by relaxing tense, painful muscles and stabilizing the erratic brain waves that can interfere with deep sleep.
• Benzodiazepines also can relieve the symptoms of restless legs syndrome, which is common among people with fibromyalgia. Restless legs syndrome is characterized by unpleasant sensations in the legs as well as twitching, particularly at night.
• Because of the potential for addiction, doctors usually prescribe benzodiazepines for people only who have not responded to other therapies. Benzodiazepines include clonazepam (Klonopin) and diazepam (Valium).

People with fibromyalgia also maybenefit from a combination of physical and occupational therapy, from learning pain-management and coping techniques, and from properly balancing rest and activity.

Many people with fibromyalgia also report varying degrees of success with complementary and alternative therapies, including massage, movement therapies (such as Pilates and the Feldenkrais method), chiropractic treatments, acupuncture, and various herbs and dietary supplements for different fibromyalgia symptoms.