No Meds.. So Far So Good

[NiteRunner81]

Well, its been a year and a half since we started trying for baby number two so I took a leap and went off all my fibromyalgia meds.. its day 6 and I'm doing pretty good... I'm having to find a few supplements to alleviate some pain but I'm doing good so far..

Wulfi -- what state do you live in. There is one supplement/ethno that I'm taking that may benefit you..

[THEWULFMAN]

Ohio.

I wish you the best. Your plan is tempting compared to well...

I've been dealing with a massive amount of stress, because of this right here.

Spoiler: show

Methotrexate. A medication I'm so terrified to take I haven't taken any of it yet, despite having it for a month (I've had heart palpitations when I talk about it). It's the latest idea my doctor came up with, medication wise. It's a form of chemotherapy.

The word alone sends shivers down my spine. My mom had spinal cancer, twice. The first time she took all the radiation and chemo in the world, and it didn't help her. She went into stage 3 and then made plans for her passing, giving her cats away and all that fun stuff. She didn't go into remission and beat it until she got pregnant with me. The theory being the introduction of stem cells during pregnancy in the body helped her fight it off. I'm getting off track. She now pays daily for all the chemo and radiation she took. The batch of chemo she took was a bad one, everyone who took it suffered the same way ~18 years later. Most of her teeth have fallen out or chipped, she has horrible pain in her spine, and her veins are scared and thin.

Like I said, the word chemotherapy scares me.

The way Methotrexate works is it counter-acts the folic acid in your cells, causing them to die. Equally killing cancerous and healthy cells. If you take folic acid supplements you can nullify that part of what Methotrexate does, which is what I'd do since I don't have cancer.

I finally agreed to it and when we got it we made the mistake of reading the information on it. Which was about the length of Britanntic Encyclopedia.

It can screw over my bone marrow.
I can't take NSAIDS (like my Ibuprofen which is the only OTC pain reliever that works).
And I literally can not touch anyone for 48 hours after taking it, and no one can wash my laundry.

Those are the main ones I'm worried about. My plan was to talk with my doctor again to go over the latter two issues. But my mom got sick we'll reschedule and see him again.


So yeah, fun times. I wish you and your family the best.

[11_Panama_]

I took Methotrexate for a few years awhile back. This was when I was first diagnosed with RA. 4 pills once a week. I didn't see any improvements so I told my Dr. that I did not want to take them anymore. He took me off them and gave me Meloxicam ( I could be wrong, this was so long ago). my RA has improved ten folds. At this point, I'm about 90-95% better than I was years ago, when I started experimenting with different meds. Wulfi, stop being hard headed and take your meds. That's the only way your going to know if it works or not. It's a hit or miss process. You might have to experiment with different combinations of meds, and make sure to tell the Dr. what works, and what doesn't. Also, do not let the Dr. talk you into, or out of medications that work. Wulf, I too was afraid of these drugs that the Dr. was prescribing, I'm a firm believer that the mind heals the body, and that these drugs are more of "evil" than "good". But when the pain got to be too much to bear... I took what I was prescribed, and it took years to find the right "combination" of medicines that worked. As I stated, I'm a good 90-95% better now than I was years ago. I went from not being able to walk, to tie my shoes and put my own clothes on, to being the fastest Dad in the neighborhood... yeah, I raced the kids and some Dad's in my neighborhood. I'm the King of my "hood".

[NiteRunner81]

Kratom... loot it up, get a $20 bag (or bottle) of it.

I know what Methotrexate is. My grandmother was on a course of it to try and get her Schleroderma under control.

I'm ANGRY hearing that your doctor has recommended that instead of putting you on a course of Tramadol or Neurontin (Neurontin is the drug they tweaked to make Lyrica.. its FAR cheaper.)

If I had a way to send you the remainder of my prescription I would. I have a 3/4 bottle full of Neurontin and a full bottle of Tramadol. This is GROSS negligence and a chicken poo tactic to avoid dealing with the primary symptom. And on top of it, the drug they've pushed could kill you...

[THEWULFMAN]

I've had Neurontin, it did nothing for me. My mom takes it now. I'm still on the maximum dose of Lyrica and Sulfasalazine. I don't know if we've (my doctor and I) talked about Tramadol before. For some reason my search history says I have, even though I have no recollection of it. I thought it might have been the one I got sick from, but I checked and that was Cymbalta... so no idea why I've looked up Tramadol before. My doctor is really a good guy, I doubt he "forget" to bring up Tramadol, if he didn't it's probably because the laws here in Ohio are so strict.

By the way Nite, whatever you do, do NOT move to Ohio. No one with medical issues should live here, pain care for adults is in scare supply and is only getting worse.


I'll look into Kratom, thanks. Do you think it helps you?

[NiteRunner81]

I don't intend on moving out of Oregon till its retirement time. Hubby and I have been offered an easy way to get Italian citizenship and we may retire there. We already have a place we could live as well.