Fibromyalgia can be an incredibly stressful disease to try and deal with, which is why so many doctors have recommended a variety of drugs and remedies to try and reduce the pain and stress that comes with the disorder. That being said, questions still come up as to whether or not certain drugs actually work for this particular disease.
Individuals with fibromyalgia (sometimes abbreviated as FMS) and chronic fatigue syndrome (sometimes abbreviated as ME/CFS) can have many symptoms that show up during their lifetime, including pain, and it frequently takes a mix of a few prescriptions to bring about a noticeable improvement.
Since every prescription conveys its own particular risks, and those risks can become worse when used in conjunction with different medications, it pays to know your drugs well. In this article, we’re going to take a look at some of the narcotics that are used to relieve pain that is related to fibromyalgia, and we’re going to give you some important information that you should remember, no matter what medications you are taking.
What Drugs Are Usually Used?
Narcotic medications, otherwise called opioids or opiates, are generally recommended to people who are dealing with constant pain as a result of their fibromyalgia. This is because they often have some of the best results and it makes it easy for doctors to be able to watch and see any differences in pain management that may occur during the patient’s treatment plan.
Why do narcotics normally get recommended for people who are fighting the pain and stress that often come from fibromyalgia? Mainly because of how they are structured and what they do to the person’s body and the nerve systems.
Narcotics work by imitating opioid peptides, which are produced naturally in your body. Opioid peptides normally help your body reduce and deal with pain, but when you are suffering from fibromyalgia, that doesn’t actually happen anymore. By imitating how those are supposed to work, narcotics can actually make a lot of positive changes in the body.
Like many other medications, narcotics will work with receptors in your brain and spinal cord in order to reduce the amount of pain that you are feeling. In short, narcotics will do everything that they can in order to try and make your pain receptors work correctly, since many times, fibromyalgia is connected to those same pain receptors being too active or too sensitive to work correctly.
There are a number of different narcotics that are used on a regular basis to treat the pain that is associated with fibromyalgia. Here is a list of some of the most frequently used narcotics.
- Codeine
- Fentanyl
- Hydrocodone
- Hydromorphone
- Morphine
- Oxycodone
- Oxymorphone
- Tramadol
There are also a few narcotics that are combinations of two different medications that are also used in order to treat fibromyalgia. These include Percocet (which is a combination of acetaminophen and oxycodone), Ultracet (which is a combination of acetaminophen and tramadol) and Vicodin (which is a combination of acetaminophen and hydrocodone).
You want to make sure that you understand the risks of all of the parts of these medications if you take them, as well, and your doctor or pharmacist can give you that information when you ask.
Narcotics have been tested and tried quite a bit in the world of fibromyalgia, which is why more and more doctors are starting to recommend them for their patients. They’ve always been part of many treatment plans, but they’re starting to get more prominence as testing continues and information becomes more readily available for those who are dealing with the symptoms of fibromyalgia.
Important Information to Remember
So, comes the question. Are they safe? Are narcotics actually a reliable way for you to deal with your fibromyalgia pain? Well, first off, you want to make sure that you are always taking them under the direction of a doctor. Never, ever try to medicate yourself without the supervision of a doctor.
There are a lot of risks that are associated with trying to self medicate, including the risk of addiction and other issues. Not to mention that the only way that you can get these medications, other than a prescription, is through illegal means, which obviously shouldn’t be the way that you are going about things either.
There are a lot of different things that come up as concerns while taking narcotics, however, and one of them is that, with the nature of how they are, our bodies will start to get used to the medications. When that occurs, they become less effective and we don’t get the same results that we may have gotten when we first started taking the narcotic in question.
This is where some people start to be concerned about the possibility of addiction – which is why you need a doctor to be watching out for you and how you are taking your medications. They will be able to help you adjust or switch medications, and they can give you advice as to how to proceed if the medications that you’re taking aren’t doing what they used to. With doctor supervision, you will be in safe hands.
So yes, narcotics do actually work quite well, and yes, if you are taking them under the supervision of a doctor, you will find that they are incredibly safe to use. Your doctor will be able to help you keep track of your side effects, help you discover any issues that may come up as a result of taking the medications in question, and answer questions that you may have.
That way, you can be sure that you’re getting the care and treatment that you need and you don’t have to worry about not being able to control what is going on. Talk to your doctor about any issues that you may be having with your fibromyalgia, and keep the doors to communication open to ensure that your condition can be taken care of in a safe manner.
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