Professor Says Chiropractic Care “Insufficient” In Treating Fibromyalgia

According to an article I recently read on the Arthritis Research Campaign website, a recent study revealed that there is no evidence to suggest chiropractic care is effective in treating Fibromyalgia. Professor Edzard Ernst of the Peninsula Medical School at the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, who was in charge of the study said:

“Many patients use chiropractic as a treatment of fibromyalgia and many chiropractors seem to be convinced that it is effective for that condition. The aim of the study was to conduct a systematic review of randomised clinical trials testing the effectiveness of chiropractic care for fibromyalgia.”

In his study, Professor Ernst used three research articles on the effect chiropractic care has on Fibromyalgia. He found these through online databases. Ernst reports that:

“The three studies were judged to have “poor” methodological quality and they generated no evidence to suggest that chiropractic care is effective for fibromyalgia. Currently, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that chiropractic is an effective treatment for fibromyalgia.”

I have personally found that I feel worse after seeing a chiropractor. I have tried going different times over the years and I would try each time to go for months or at least a year. I would not see any improvement and my body would hurt worse and my back would go out more during these times. I have heard other people say that they have had improvement with their Fibromyalgia since going to the chiropractor.

If you have tried chiropractic care for your Fibromyalgia, has it worked or did you feel worse?

Will Acetaminophen Drugs Be Restricted by the FDA?

 

This week an advisory committee voted to ban prescription pain medications Vicodin and Percocet, and to lower the amounts of Acetaminophen in products that we can currently purchase over the counter (Tylenol, several cold medicines, aspirin and Nyquil).  The advisory committee wants restrictions placed on Acetaminophen-containing products to help prevent a possible severe side effect of the drug – liver toxicity and possible deaths due to overdoses.  While the FDA doesn’t have to follow the advisory committee’s suggestions, they typically do.

According  to the news released from WebMD:

Billions of doses of acetaminophen are used safely every year. But acetaminophen-related overdoses cause 56,000 emergency room visits, 26,000 hospitalizations, and 458 deaths annually, according to studies done between 1990 and 1998.

For chronic pain patients, Fibromyalgia patients, and ME/CFS patients who frequently suffer from pain, this news is causing some major concern because the advisory committee wants common prescription Acetaminophen containing drugs banned.  Some of these include Vicodin, Percocet, Darvocet, & Tylenol with codeine to name just a few that contain both Acetaminophen and hydrocodone.   The advisory committee voted 20 to 17 that prescription medications that combine acetaminophen with other medications should be eliminated.

The combination prescription products, which have rapidly increased in use in the last five years, are clearly the biggest cause of the acetaminophen overdose, said Marie Griffin, MD, professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University. But she worried that people will simply turn to plain narcotics, if the combinations are eliminated. “We need a broader answer to chronic pain, because these drugs are being used extensively in the older population,” Griffin said during the meeting. “And I am not sure that practitioners feel like they have many other choices.”

Richard DeNisco, MD, MPH, medical officer at the National Institute of Drug Abuse and a panel member, said that so much acetaminophen is going out to people in hydrocodone/acetaminophen mixes that he is uncertain why there is not more liver damage.  Prohibiting these combined products “would rock the system,” he said, but the two products should be prescribed separately, if necessary.

I have taken certain medications, particularly those for Interstitial Cystitis, where I had to have a blood test to check my liver twice a year but all of the years I’ve been on the Acetaminophen containing pain pills none of the doctors have had my liver checked once.  In my opinion, I think instead of these drugs being banned, because many of us do need them, physicians should be held more responsible for making sure they are prescribing the medications properly and testing their patients’ liver functions.   While there are now a couple of drugs FDA approved for Fibromyalgia, it is much cheaper to get drugs like Vicodin and Percocet than it is to get Cymbalta or Lyrica. 

I also think that the FDA should put stronger warning labels on the drugs but it will be a major upset to ban them all completely.  What will chronic pain patients do without these?  Over the counter pain medications do not work and if they lower the amount of Acetaminophen in OCT drugs, pain patients will probably take several pills at once just to try and get a little relief.

The advisory committee is recommending to the FDA that the daily dosage for adults of acetaminophen should be no more than 650 mg.  Currently two tablets of OCT medications contains approximately 1,000 mg. of acetaminophen. 

What do you think is going to happen?  Do you think the acetaminophen/hydrocodone  drugs will be banned?  What will be used to replace them or will they just be prescribed separately?

Gingko May Help Nerve Pain

Ginko is an herb Fibro patients can take to help with brain fog but there has now been another use possibly found for gingko:  nerve pain and pain that is felt with normal touch, also known as allodynia.  Allodynia is what Fibromyalgia patients experience when they feel immense pain from just a normal touch on their bodies.  I know there are times where my husband will just lay his hand on my back or go to put his arm around me and I jump from the terrible pain.

Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum says that lipoic acid is also used to help treat nerve pain and he has a product he recommends that includes both lipoic acid and gingko.  It is called Remember and you can purchase it through his website at this link.  If you suffer from both brain fog and nerve pain, he says this supplement may be particularly helpful to you.

I have read Dr. Teitelbaum’s book, From Fatigued to Fantastic, and he probably has the most informative and helpful book I’ve ever read on ME/CFS & Fibromyalgia.  I have never tried any of his products, however, but I have followed some of his protocols using supplements he recommends.  If you have ever tried the Remember product, please leave me a comment.  I am always looking for something new to try to see if I will benefit.  I have both the fibro fog and nerve pain.

Addiction Drug May Help Fibromyalgia Pain

A cheap drug that has been around for 30 years, known as naltrexone, may be the latest answer to Fibromyalgia pain sufferers. Researchers at Stanford University have reported that a small study using naltrexone, typically a prescription used to treat drug addiction, reduced Fibromyalgia pain by as much as 30% more than a placebo.

These results were based on a study that was done on 10 female participants for a total of 14 weeks. All of the participants were given naltrexone part of the time and a placebo part of the time but they didn’t know which they were getting when.

Study author, Dr. Sean Mackey, said of the research:

“Patients’ reactions were really quite profound. Some people decided to come off other medications. Some people went back to work really improving their quality of life.”

If larger studies are done on naltrexone, and it is eventually approved for the treatment of Fibromyalgia, the cost would only run patients around $40 a month – considerably cheaper than the few other FDA approved Fibromyalgia drugs.

Personally, with the study only including 10 female participants, I feel this “news” might be a little premature and a larger study should have been done or the results shouldn’t have been made public until a larger study was done. With only 10 study participants, I think it’s way too early to get excited.

Source

ME/CFS & Fibromyalgia: How the Medications Can Become Overwhelming

If you have ever read the popular book by Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, From Fatigued to Fantastic, you will see all of the medications, vitamins and supplements that he recommends CFS & Fibromyalgia patients to take.� Due to the complex and many problems that ME/CFS & Fibromyalgia cause is why it requires so many supplements and medications to treat these.

Dr. Teitelbaum doesn’t recommend starting all of the medications at one time but to start a few, see if there are any reactions to the supplements, then add more gradually.� I tried to follow the protocol, but it became extremely expensive and so hard to keep up with them all.� I also went to the Fibro & Fatigue Centers for almost two years and there I encountered the same problem.� Too many medications, too much money and too overwhelming to keep up with them all.� I would use the pill boxes that the center sells that are not only divided into days but there are divided with about five or six slots per day.

Certain medications had to be taken at a certain time, others had to be taken on an empty stomach, others had to be taken either with a meal or right after a meal…I just couldn’t get it together no matter how hard I tried – and I am a very organized person.� So if it is overwhelming for someone like me who thrives on organization and is very good at it, I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult it is for someone who isn’t so organized.

I am not putting down Dr. Teitelbaum’s book at all.� From Fatigued to Fantastic is my single most favorite book out there on ME/CFS & Fibromyalgia.� It’s not his fault that these illnesses are so complex and require so many medications.� I wonder if anyone is able to keep up with all of the medications, financially and otherwise.

NFA Fibromyalgia Medication Survey

The National Fibromyalgia Association is asking all Fibromyalgia patients to complete a quick online survey on medications.� To complete the survey, click the link below.� Thanks!

Fibromyalgia Medication Survey

Are You Faithful With Taking Your Medications?

Not only is having illnesses like CFS and Fibromyalgia overwhelming, all of the medications a patient may be required to take can also be extremely overwhelming.� I feel as though we as patients are caught in a tough situation when it comes to taking medications and remaining faithful with taking them.�

We want to get better – no doubt.� But trying to keep up with all of the prescription and non-prescription drugs can be extremely expensive and then patients are unable to keep up with the constant financial burden.

Are you faithful in taking your medications?� Have you been able to keep up with the enormous amounts of pills recommended to treat ME/CFS?� When I was going to the Fibro & Fatigue Centers (before it got to be too expensive) it became very hard trying to keep track of when to take certain meds and under what circumstances.� There were some drugs I had to take in the morning, but then I had to take some on an empty stomach while others I had to take with food.� I couldn’t keep up with it all.

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