Diagnosed last August, new to group

[RobertTS]

Hi everyone.
I live in Ireland
I was diagnosed by a rheumotologist last August, and this week my GP decided to put me on Amitriptyline.
However, I'm reluctant to start taking it, and not just because of the potential side effects; also, some of the primary effects seem counterproductive to overcoming fibro symptoms. E.g.; drowsiness surely doesn't help with fatigue and attentiveness.

Which drugs have people had better experiences with: tricylcics, or SNRIs?

 

[sunkacola]

Hi @RobertTS , and welcome to the forum.

You will find that people have a lot of different experiences with various drugs that are prescribed for fibromyalgia, and I doubt that you will hear more people saying that either of those things helped them more than the other. Unfortunately, there's nothing that helps everyone and the only way to find out what helps you is to experiment, and that means experimenting on yourself which is not always a very comforting thought when it comes to drugs.

I personally have not felt that either of those classes of medications helped with the pain of fibromyalgia, and this is something you may hear from others. The one thing that those kinds of anti-depressants can do is help a person deal more effectively with the stress in their lives, and since stress exacerbates the pain of fibromyalgia, if something helps you to reduce stress or helps you deal with it, it may help to reduce the symptoms of fibromyalgia.

There are other things you can experiment with besides drugs, though. I wrote a post about this with many suggestions, and it might be helpful for you to read it and consider trying out some of those things.

Any questions, feel free to ask. We are here to help one another.

My advice for managing fibromyalgia (especially for newcomers)

I am not a doctor or anything, just a person who has lived with fibromyalgia for several years now and has done a lot of research and trial and error experimentation. What follows is just basics. There are a lot of variations. You will find your own versions of everything I say, as this is not a...

www.fibromyalgiaforums.org

 

[JayCS]

I was diagnosed by a rheumotologist last August, and this week my GP decided to put me on Amitriptyline.
However, I'm reluctant to start taking it, and not just because of the potential side effects; also, some of the primary effects seem counterproductive to overcoming fibro symptoms. E.g.; drowsiness surely doesn't help with fatigue and attentiveness.
Which drugs have people had better experiences with: tricylcics, or SNRIs?

Hi Robert -
Admittedly, I'm one of those that did have almost exactly that problem: too zombified, only slight effect on sleep, but not restorative, and nothing else. Plus 8 side effects, some of which others wouldn't get (e.g. I'm seizure prone). I prefer brain with pain to no brain with no pain, but I'm easily zombified, by 2ml of CBD oil and 5% of a 2mg melatonin pill, too.

However, as sunkacola says others have completely different main and side effects, so you may not have much drowsiness, or if you do it's the right kind to get you to sleep better, but might not last till the daytime, in which case better sleep would help with fatigue and attentiveness, whilst the drowsiness remains at night. This you could experiment with, most importantly try taking it around 6pm.

My pain docs had differing opinions on dosage, one thought 5mg, then 10mg straight, then 25mg straight, another gave me the 2ml drops available here, so I could vary myself. Neither worked, altho varying myself is for me always better.

Like sunkacola said, there's no easy answer to which is the better med, or whether meds are good at all.

Generally, pregabalin/Lyrica, duloxetine/Cymbalta (found to be more effective for us than milnacipran/Savella), plus amitriptyline (and nortriptyline), belong to those people might want to try, if they believe meds might help. I've written a post on a meta-review here about how they roughly seem to compare for certain fibro symptom profiles. Gabapentin/Neurontin if there is a neuropathic pain too, altho there's almost no studies for fibro.

If you are generally skeptical about meds, sunkacola's advice post is a good place to start, and then stick around, and learn all the 100s of alternatives there - which also have to be trialled tho, as said.

 

[RobertTS]

Thanks JayCS.

I'll check out that thread where you compare the different meds.

Thankfully, pain isn't really a factor in my fibromyalgia: maybe a diminished threshold, sure, plus a lower tolerance towards cold, but aching pains? No.
Fatigue and brain fog are the main ones for me.

Thank you for reaching out.

 

[JayCS]

I'll check out that thread where you compare the different meds.

Medication for Fibromyalgia pointing to:

New to this forum

Hi Everyone, I'm new to this forum and been having trouble working out how to post, so hopefully I've found it. Hi Sunkacola I've been looking at some of your posts and found them very helpful, thanks. I am age 68 and diagnosed in 2003 I seem to have got by, up until about 5 years ago when...

www.fibromyalgiaforums.org

Thankfully, pain isn't really a factor in my fibromyalgia: maybe a diminished threshold, sure, plus a lower tolerance towards cold, but aching pains? No. Fatigue and brain fog are the main ones for me.

Hmm, that sure doesn't make it likely that (conventional) meds is what you should be trying at all.
For fatigue/energy I could give you many of suggestions for supps, but only LD N really gives me more of a handle on it, not sure if that was the fibro part of my exhaustibility tho.

 

[BlueBells]

Thanks JayCS.

I'll check out that thread where you compare the different meds.

Thankfully, pain isn't really a factor in my fibromyalgia: maybe a diminished threshold, sure, plus a lower tolerance towards cold, but aching pains? No.
Fatigue and brain fog are the main ones for me.

Thank you for reaching out.

Hi @RobertTS

Welcome to the forums

I'm very similar, and with all the talk that fibro is all about pain made me hesitant in coming to the forums, but indeed, we are all a bit different.

I have found that simply being able to talk with people that honestly understand, that is, ' been there, done that, doing that' is very supportive. It makes one feel less alone, less 'abnormal' , less of the 'it's imagination' stuff.

So pleased you found the forums

 

[RobertTS]

Thank you for the warm welcome, BlueBells

Glad I found this community.

 

[RobertTS]

Thanks for that very informative thread, Jay.

I'm going to stick with Amitriptyline and see how it goes. If anything, I believe it will help with the ongoing depression which preceded my fibromyalgia.

I lead a healthy lifestyle, responsible balanced diet, but I'm curious to see what other effects can be achieved by supplements, as you suggest.

 

[JayCS]

If anything, I believe it will help with the ongoing depression which preceded my fibromyalgia.

Yep, possible, in that case slightly higher doses like used for depression might be OK, if the side effects are OK.
If not, next suggestion for fibro with depression would be duloxetine/Cymbalta tho.

 

[sunkacola]

Regarding duloxetine/Cymbalta, many people have had very strong and highly unpleasant side effects from this drug. I couldn't take the side effects, myself, which included feeling like a zombie and raised extremely itchy sores on my scalp, face, neck, and upper back, among other things.

Of course, this doesn't mean you would have the same side effects, just saying this because I have heard more people saying they quit that drug due to side effects than any other drug that is commonly prescribed. Any drug can, of course, have negative side effects for any one and the only way to find out is to try it.

 

[RobertTS]

A valid point, sunkacola: inevitably some people will suffer side effects with any given medication.

 

[MissNeverWell]

Hi everyone.
I live in Ireland
I was diagnosed by a rheumotologist last August, and this week my GP decided to put me on Amitriptyline.
However, I'm reluctant to start taking it, and not just because of the potential side effects; also, some of the primary effects seem counterproductive to overcoming fibro symptoms. E.g.; drowsiness surely doesn't help with fatigue and attentiveness.

Which drugs have people had better experiences with: tricylcics, or SNRIs?

Welcome, Robert! I can appreciate your feelings and concerns about antidepressants; I'm also inclined to think that way. Personally, I've stayed away from them because chemicals and I don't mix; nor does pharmaceutical intervention align with my personality and philosophical orientation. As has already been stated, people's experiences with medication will vary greatly. My suggestion to you is to listen to your gut instinct. From what you say, I get a sense that the idea of amitriptyline or other antidepressants do not sit well with you. This aversion will no doubt influence the effectiveness of the treatment even if, from a pharmaceutical standpoint, it would be considered effective.