drugs

Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) affects as many as 6 to 10 million men, women and children in the United States alone, yet it is not a disease entity that is easily understood, classified or treated. Part of that may be because of the shroud of confusion regarding the illness.

Fibromyalgia is recognized as enough of a legitimate medical problem that the Social Security Administration sees fit to classify it in cases of disability within the language of their regulation 99-2p.

Note: people who meet that criteria were originally intended to be ones suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), but as the regulation’s wording implies, it was extended to cover Fibromyalgia, too. (*See 2 through 8 at the end of the regulation for more information. If you intend to file for SSA or SSI disability, print out a copy of the regulation and study it. You must meet the exact qualifications to be classed as having a disability.)

To meet the statutory requirements for disability…
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Prescription drugs can be a godsend when you really need them. They can save your life, relieve your suffering and so much more. But… are drugs really magic pills? Do any such remedies exist?

When you’re talking about Fibromyalgia, those are loaded questions because when drugs fail, you end up becoming the victim.

I recently published an article with almost this same exact title. Fibromyalgia and the issue of drug failure are truly very timely health topics. Let me explain.

The reason that this topic holds such merit is multi-faceted. Let’s look at this with “you” as the case in point. If you have a milder case of Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS), your body may accept one of the newer drugs to manage it (e.g. Lyrica, Cymbalta or Savella) and wa-la… you get some relief from symptoms.

Unless you dig deeper, you may not think too much about the fact that:

1) You’re actually putting something into your body that it perceives as a toxic substance;

(Speaking here of the bio-electrical, bio-chemical and homeostatic functions, the body reacts to drugs that instigate big change in a big way. Some of results can be negative and unhealthy. Essentially, drugs are an insult to your body.)

2) You may be causing long term damage to your body;

This is true because you’re physically adding un-natural, man-made chemical compounds to your system. There can be mighty consequences. For examples of this, check out the book Prozac Backlash in the Amazon section of the Health Matters Store.

Ask yourself… at what point can my body react to the insults that I’m constantly heaving it? What day, what hour is the turning point in my life that ill-health really gets a longterm foothold?

-or that-

3) Your living with Fibromyalgia as an illness may not resolve itself at all. Period.

Hint: Realize that your Fibromyalgia symptoms are only being masked by drugs. None of the three mentioned claim to cure Fibromyalgia.

You also may not have thought about the fact that you’re only one side effect or dangerous drug interaction away from a serious problem. Now I ask… When do you know that your cells, tissues and organs have had enough un-natural intrusion and they begin to cross-react with a drug that’s “been working” for awhile? What do you do about new symptoms that suddenly appear after you begin taking a new prescription drug? How do you know what to do when a symptom you’re taking a specific drug for comes back and you’re still on the drug? What if a worse symptom or a complication develops? Why should you stop and start drug after drug if you’re only going to end up worn out, exhausted and sicker than ever?

I encourage you to listen to today’s podcast because it offers you more info on this vital topic of whether or not to take prescription drugs for Fibromyalgia. Also, consider this a special invitation to get a copy of the article I wrote for your files. Print it out. Make notes on it. Then take it with you to your next doctor visit. Get your personal physician’s reaction and, by all means, talk freely about any potential drug problems.

(Audio is 8 min 50 secs)

You need all of the good information and ammunition that you can get in your personal battle with Fibromyalgia. There are natural, easier, simpler ways of dealing with an illness like Fibromyalgia than simply taking prescription drugs. It’s time that we all discussed many of them in detail.

Thank you for joining me today,
Cinda Crawford, your host of the Health Matters Show

*Please leave your comments below if you:

1) take one or more drugs for Fibromyalgia,
2) if you’re having trouble or success with them and
3) if you’re having success using any alternative health approaches.

Your bit of wisdom here may help others who could benefit from your experience.

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A few days ago the Fibromyalgia Network News put out a news bulletin about opiod (drug) use and the growing problem of pain management, as reported in the Journal of Pain. The majority of people with Fibromyalgia and a good number of people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome face the issue of pain control often, if not everyday.

Check out FMS Network’s website for a good recap of this issue on pain management.

“New clinical guidelines for the use of chronic opioid (drug) therapy in chronic non-cancer pain patients, developed by consensus of the American Pain Society and the American Academy of Pain Medicine, may ease both patient and physician concerns.” By using the term non-cancer pain patients, that includes people who suffer with some of the worst symptoms of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

In the beginning years of pain management, only people with cancer pain were treated with opiods. Now opiod drug use…
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Recently AdAge not only ran a disparaging article about big pharma (the big drug corporations) for their billions of dollars of sales and success programs with Fibromyalgia drugs. They also criticized their expensive ad programs that promote sales. And they even made cracks about doubting the validity of the illness.

That went too far. Surely they wouldn’t have done that if they’d spent a month, a week or even a day in our shoes! They’d be asking for something to help them, too.

Where are these ’healing’ drugs?
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Pain is a very personal issue, however it it a popular subject talked about all over the world.
People with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome pain know first hand how pain affects their lives, but do not always think about it on a deeper level. If we do, we might learn more about how to control pain and conquer it on our own.

Why is this important? Because you and I want to be in control of our lives and health. So that’s why I’m recommending that you look at Young Living Essential Oils for your closer-to-nature and more natural healing methods.

Soon, I’ll write more and tell you about why Young Living Essential Oils are “the” best. Today I simply want you to find something that helps you find relief. So my suggestion is to go to my Young Living website and check out:

1. Wintergreen #3658
2. Deep Relief Roll-on #3534, and
3. Pan Away #3390

Note: by pushing “Click to Continue” below, you can read more about the scientific aspects of why these oils work. Plus, I’ll include more data in today’s audio podcast of the Health Matters Show. Stick around!

(Audio 13 min 15 secs)
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Have you heard about the drugs to relieve Fibromyalgia pain that are not the everyday pain drugs that have been around a long time?

Fortunately, there are now a few targeted drugs on the market that specifically treat Fibromyalgia. (Hint: There’s a possibility that doctors will be using these drugs as “off label” remedies for other pain conditions soon, too. We’ll have to wait and see.)

Examples of these “targeted” drugs to treat Fibro are…

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Many people with a chronic pain condition or an active case of Fibromyalgia will tell you that they don’t get consistent relief from their pain symptoms unless they find some prescription medication that works. These drugs can be true pain drugs. Unfortunately, they often cause unpleasant side effects such as constipation, nausea, vomiting, slowed breathing and sleepiness.

If this sounds like you, these resulting symptoms are inconvenient and cause your life to be more complicated. Why? Because you have to figure out how to combat the secondary side effects. But, even more than the fact that you’re adding more and more drugs to treat the side effects of the drugs you’re already taking… there’s a more alarming problem. The real bug-a-boo is that…

You could be putting yourself in immediate or long term danger!

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If you buy RX drugs to help you manage Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or other health problems, high costs are realities that you must deal with every time you go to the store.

While some people are lucky enough to have adequate medical coverage and can still afford deductibles and co-pays, many people are not that fortunate and have to make tough decisions about how to pay for their prescription drugs. And that can be a sobering experience if you pay full price, 100% dollars out of pocket for name brand drugs such as Cymbalta or Lyrica.

Here is a list of resources that may help you figure out how you can afford your prescriptions:

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Recently the FDA recommended banning the use of Darvocet (Darvon) now saying this prescription drug is too “risky.” That’s annoying, but funny in a weird way. This drug has been around a long time helping people with chronic pain conditions like Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and more. The drug’s side effects are known and a prescribing doctor usually can advise a patient how to get around them. Plus, the generic form of the drug is inexpensive.

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Matthew Perrone of the Associated Press recently authored an article concerning the drugmakers Pfizer and Lilly and their drugs designed to treat Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS).

Apparently, millions of dollars not only went into research, but a huge promotion campaign in newspapers, magazines, television, the Internet, etc.

“Plus key components of the industry-funded buzz over the pain-and-fatigue ailment filbromyalgia are grants- more than $6 million donated by drugmakers Eli Lilly and Pfizer in the first three quarters of 2008- to nonprofit groups for medical conferences and educational campaigns, an Associated Press Analysis found.”

What does all this mean?

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MedicineNet lists a total of 8 reasons for night sweats. Today we’re discussing reason 5, Medications, and 6, Hypoglycemia.

There probably is not one person with Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome who hasn’t taken some type of medicine and hasn’t had a reaction that made them feel poorly -or- caused an overt side effect because it interacted with another medicine.

(Seek out these other blog posts for additional data on this important subject: post #1 and post #2.)

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Recently, Joe and Teresa Graedon of the People’s Pharmacy wrote, Beware of unexpected drug side effects. They talked about antihistamines to anti-depressants, such as Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft.

They also mentioned that to help the FDA, Food and Drug Administration, discover unanticipated reactions to prescription medications (such as side effects), you should report them to MedWatch at www.fda.gov/medwatch/.

I recently wrote about the dangers of drug side effects on the Health Matters Show blog. Now, this subject is coming up again.

The drug side effect problem concerns me because I know many people who fall ill to their medicines. (I even have a girlfriend who passed out flat on the floor hitting the back of her head. She believed it was caused from taking Lyrica!)

I know this topic interests you, too. I invite you to post your concerns and share your experiences about RX drugs.

Have you ever suffered with a tough drug side effect?

If so, what did you do?

Thanks,
Cinda Crawford, host of the Health Matters Show

PS- You many contact Joe and Teresa Graedon at peoplespharmacy@gmail.com)
You mail contact me at info@healthmattersshow.com.

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Today I’ve been researching just what our neighbors to the north are doing and they’re doing a lot! Not only do they have a well-developed support network, but they’re promoting research, too.

In http://www.fm-cfs.ca/Trillium-Cover.pdf they demonstrate some astounding information. When I think of it in terms of what I’ve learned in my study of ELT, it makes complete sense.

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