What herbal treatment works for Fibromyalgia?

[Samsmom]

I'm looking for an alternative treatment for fibromyalgia. I've been taking Lyrica for a couple of years now and it has worked really good. However, my co-pay has gone from $35 to $92 for #60 tablets in this time period. So it's gonna have to go.

I also have osteoarthritis and insomnia, but no take no RX meds except for the Lyrica and Lidoderm pain patches prn. I take Melatonin for sleep with fair results and naproxen sodium for OA pain.

I did some research on the internet and found that St. John's Wort, Valerian, Ginseng, and L-arginine were suggested treatments for fibromyalgia, but everyone gets different results and different side effects.

Any thoughts, suggestions, or ideas anyone? Thank you so much.

 

[Heliobas Disciple]

I'm looking for an alternative treatment for fibromyalgia. I've been taking Lyrica for a couple of years now and it has worked really good. However, my co-pay has gone from $35 to $92 for #60 tablets in this time period. So it's gonna have to go.

I also have osteoarthritis and insomnia, but no take no RX meds except for the Lyrica and Lidoderm pain patches prn. I take Melatonin for sleep with fair results and naproxen sodium for OA pain.

I did some research on the internet and found that St. John's Wort, Valerian, Ginseng, and L-arginine were suggested treatments for fibromyalgia, but everyone gets different results and different side effects.

Any thoughts, suggestions, or ideas anyone? Thank you so much.

I'm not a doctor, didn't stay in a Holiday Inn, etc and I'm sorry that I have no knowledge of herbs for you, I was interested if your thread would have some - but after reading your post I thought I'd remind you that certain drugs that have been taken for years need to be weaned off of slowly - not stopped cold turkey. I don't know if Lyrica is one - you might want to ask your doctor or pharmacist. If you do need to go off slowly, your doctor may have samples they can give you to tide you over if you can't afford the prescription anymore.

quick google search:

https://www.google.com/#q=side+effects+of+stopping+lyrica

HD

 

[Samsmom]

Thank you, HD. I'll check out the google link.

I didn't think about tapering off the Lyrica. That's a good idea. I think I have just enough pills to get to the end of the month, so I might start taking one every other day and see how that goes.

I also don't know if I can try a herbal supplement while I'm still on Lyrica or not. I go back to the doctor next month. If I can tell him that I've found an alternative to Lyrica by then, that would be great.

 

[summerthyme]

There doesn't seem to be a lot of proven herbal remedies for fibro. I've found that curcumin seems to help (with 10 mgs piperine daily. DO NOT take piperine with the Lyrica until you research it; piperine can slow the excretion of some Rx meds). Virginia skullcap for sleep. St Johnswort MAY be useful... it can be helpful for some types of nerve pain. I don't *think* there are any reasons to avoid St Johnswort with Lyrica- it shouldn't be taken with MAO inhibitors, though.

I found Rhodiola (rose root) to be amazingly effective for chronic fatigue, though. It's an adaptogen, which is also the classification for ginseng. There are several different "ginsengs' though... TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) classifies them as "hot" or "cool" and uses them for very different problems. I'd probably start by trying Panax Ginseng, and maybe go to the Eleuthero species if Panax doesn't help. Adaptogens work by giving your body what IT needs... for some, ginseng can be calming and "cooling", for others, it can be "warming" and energy producing.

I've found it absolutely fascinating to read through the thread on DE here, and realizing that DE is working as an adaptogen! I have no explanation, but taking DE has wiped out probably 90% of my fibro pain and has completely eliminated my chronic fatigue. And that, despite the fact that I'm doing a LOT more of the farming chores, with hubby laid up...

Summerthyme

 

[Samsmom]

Thank you, Summerthyme, for that info. I forgot about that DE thread. I read thru part of it and it was very interesting. I might try that, given the good results that you have had with it. How did you take it and how often?

 

[summerthyme]

I started at 1/4 tsp a day (yes, I'm very conservative when it comes to new remedies!) and worked up to (over a week's time) to 3/4 tsp. That's what I've been taking since, although I take a week off every 6 weeks or so. It's been amazing... I'm getting by on HALF the sleep I used to need, and I feel good!

Summerthyme

 

[Farmwoman59]

Samsmom, have you tried contacting the company that makes Lyrica and asking about help with paying for it? My husband, who has diabetes, was recently put on a brand new drug that required insurance approval because of the expense. After approval our co-pay would still have been astronomical. Our pharmacist gave a most welcome suggestion - go to the website of the drug where we were able to print out a card that gave hubs the drug for $10/90 day supply, saving us between $250-300 a month!

Never hurts to ask!

 

[Samsmom]

Samsmom, have you tried contacting the company that makes Lyrica and asking about help with paying for it? My husband, who has diabetes, was recently put on a brand new drug that required insurance approval because of the expense. After approval our co-pay would still have been astronomical. Our pharmacist gave a most welcome suggestion - go to the website of the drug where we were able to print out a card that gave hubs the drug for $10/90 day supply, saving us between $250-300 a month!

Never hurts to ask!

Thank you, Farmwoman! I thought about doing that, but have decided to just get off the med completely. It is a fairly new drug and I don't know what the long-term side effects are. Also, it doesn't seem like it's working as well as it did when I first started taking it. My doc wants me to add another 25 mg in the morning in addition to the 75 mg I take at night. If I can find a natural remedy, I'd rather go that route.

 

[Samsmom]

I started at 1/4 tsp a day (yes, I'm very conservative when it comes to new remedies!) and worked up to (over a week's time) to 3/4 tsp. That's what I've been taking since, although I take a week off every 6 weeks or so. It's been amazing... I'm getting by on HALF the sleep I used to need, and I feel good!

Summerthyme

I just placed an order for food grade DE from Amazon. I'll start taking it with my daily protein shake as soon as it comes in. Yes, I agree with the 1/4 tsp to begin with and go from there. Thank you again!

 

[summerthyme]

Just realize that it DOES cause significant side effects for some people in the beginning. I had at least a week where I felt crappy... "flulike" symptoms and *extreme* fatigue. I quickly realized that it was acting very much like a Herxheimer reaction (they used to call it a "healing crisis") and kept taking it. But hubby tried it and quit after 3 days... between his hip issues and the reaction to the DE, he couldn't cope with the dairy chores. Now that the cows are (almost!! we're still milking three of them until Monday) gone, he says he wants to start taking it again. His only comment on it's effects on me came when I had a bad stomach bug... the second day, he said "as soon as you can, start taking the DE again. It's made you 10 years younger"!

So, it's not all in my head!

Summerthyme

 

[packyderms_wife]

Thank you, HD. I'll check out the google link.

I didn't think about tapering off the Lyrica. That's a good idea. I think I have just enough pills to get to the end of the month, so I might start taking one every other day and see how that goes.

I also don't know if I can try a herbal supplement while I'm still on Lyrica or not. I go back to the doctor next month. If I can tell him that I've found an alternative to Lyrica by then, that would be great.

talk to your pharmacist about the costs of your pills. Last week on doctor fuz (OZ) he did a blurb about perscription drugs and how they can get picked up for either FREE or at cost. Apparently the phamacutecal companies have programs you can enroll in to get the meds you need for FREE most of the time, the biggest one given away is insulin. Apparently pretty much all pharmacists know about this but for obvious reasons don't tell patients what their options are... the obvious reason is the pharmacy doesn't make any money if you get your meds for FREE. There was a section on his website last week, don't know if it's still there or not, where you could see if your perscription med was one of those that was FREE

 

[Samsmom]

I rarely get the flu (I take cod liver oil daily) but I do have chronic fatigue that I believe is mainly due to being in almost constant pain even with the Lyrica.

I hope I don't get the flu-like symptoms when I start taking the DE, but thanks for that heads up. Some of the herbal treatments have side effects also.

We had to downsize our farm this year also because of health issues. We used to milk goats but didn't this year. My DH had a heart blockage with a resulting heart attack and 4 stents placed in one artery. The dye used in the angioplasty shut down his kidneys and he is now on peritoneal dialysis every night.

I hope your hubby gets his hip replaced soon. I could barely walk due to OA in my hips and knees and worn out cartilage. I got my left hip replaced in March and both knees replaced in June. The right hip was replaced in 2011. Now I'm dealing with OA in the lumbar spine with stenosis causing pain in the right hip and thigh.

I don't know if the DE will help with the pain from OA or not but it won't hurt to try it.

Thanks again.

 

[Conrad Nimikos]

..I was taking Lyicra for Fibro 2 years ago. I was paying $35 for 30 pills. Told my doc I couldn't afford it because of the co-pays on other prescriptions were adding up. He prescribed Gabapentin 600 mg. Doc said the copy right on Gabapentin ran out so they changed one molecule in the formula and it is now called Lyrica with a new copy write. Works exactly the same and co-pay was only $5.

 

[Samsmom]

Thanks, CN. I took gabapentin, max dose, before taking Lyrica. I didn't get complete relief from the pain on gabapentin either. I may never be completely rid of the pain. I dunno.

 

[Conrad Nimikos]

...Besides fibro I was diagnosed with TMJ, temporal mandibular joint. Caused by your teeth. For decades, since the 1970's, I had both but no dentist would pull all my teeth. In Jan of this year my wife found a dentist and I had all my teeth pulled. Now, 9 months later I can say my fibro hasn't bothered me for several months. Now all I have are the normal pains of getting old. It is nice, better than nice, to not have that pain.

 

[Samsmom]

CN, I do believe we are kindred spirits. I have TMJ also, have had it for years. When it flares up, I don't know what causes it to, it feels like I have water in my inner ears. Very annoying. My jaw has locked up on me a few times. I went to a specialist and he said I also had a cross-bite, which means I don't bite down in the same place every time. I had a mandibular splint made for the TMJ and within a couple of weeks I had the thing ground to a pulp from grinding my teeth at night.

I didn't know that having your teeth removed could cure TMJ and fibro also. Are you still taking gabapentin for fibro?

 

[Conrad Nimikos]

I was taking it. In the 70's I had a shoulder pain no one could diagnose. Had it for years and everyone thought it was psychosomatic. Went to a new dentist and he started asking me questions. Said the muscle in my cheek was twitching. Said I had TMJ. Went to specialists, etc. After several "balancing" treatments it was better but at the same time a specialist said I had Fibro.

One specialist told me the nerves to your body all pass through one spot in your neck. When the pain from your TMJ gets very bad it also goes through that spot and the pain gets "referred" to any place in your body. So have shoulder pain. Get teeth adjusted. Now pain is in leg. So I started hunting for a dentist who would pull all my teeth. Took more than 30 years to find one. Now, 9 months later the Fibre and TMJ pain is gone.

Do some research and perhaps what I did may work for you. Good luck!