Posted by BarbaraCat on May 28, 2002, at 17:51:19
In reply to Re: Fibromyalgia, opiates, li, etc. » BarbaraCat, posted by Chloe on May 28, 2002, at 9:05:17
>Sometimes I wonder if I have it. I have some terrible joint pain (Not muscle, I though FM was in the joints, am I wrong...?), esp. my left wrist and thumb (too much typing???), hips and feet, though I do have bunions, genenic and from some ballet...I find neurontin helps with this alot, esp. with sleep. I used to lie in bed and ache. And trying to get off Neurontin has been futile. I get very grouchy, and they my body hurts all over, even with very gradual tapers. So it's a keeper. Have you ever tried N?
>
I'm going to ask my primary care doc this Friday about adding Neurontin. I've heard from a number of people that it helps fibro pain. As far as the pain, no it's not usually in the joints, but feels like the achiness you get with a bad case of flu. Aching all over is a good description. Pain and stiffness are there all the time, manageable with exercise, but during a flareup it's impossible to do anything because of the extreme fatigue. I'm in bed for 2-3 weeks feeling pretty awful. If your Mom has it, it might be worth exploring further. On the other hand, there's not much you can do about it so you probably don't need the aggravation of sleuthing it out.>I think the li helps keeps the "distorted thinking" in line. It is known to be useful in this way.
Distored thinking, huh? I'd like to find out more about this. My depressions can be like something out of a Steven King novel.
>As I recall you just go a BP2 diagnosis as well?
Yes, just recently in fact thanks to what I've learned from this board. I wasn't responding to ADs and every pdoc I went to said 'Oh, just double the dose', which made me worse - panic attacks, frenzied thinking. When I read here that this kind of response is typical of BP2, I started digging back in my memory banks about any hypomanic episodes and sure enough, there were plenty and some full blown mania as well. Fun, but so disruptive.
As I've gotten older, however, I don't get the standard hypomania symptoms (although I have definitely had a few not so long ago). It's more like my depressions are extremely agitated. I get severe insomnia and the moods are black wailing despair. I hear about others despression symptoms, lack of feeling, dull, and I think that mine are so different. They're so nightmarish that I have to think there's some psychotic overtones. So, my pdoc started me on lithium since even if I wasn't BP2, lithium at least was an AD augmentor. That was back in February and immediately I felt an inner peace and smoothness.
I recently ran out of lithium for almost 2 weeks and plunged into a full bore hypomanic state. Started it up again and I'm fine. So all in all, I pronounce myself at the very least BP2. I'm also taking Remeron and it's the first AD that doesn't make me feel more crazy.
Barbara
So, I started taking
poster:BarbaraCat
thread:107313
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020525/msgs/107885.html