Dear Jolene... I feel your pain. I too suffer this curse for almost 15 years with severe fatigue and debilitating pain I do not wish to Anyone else. I take Tramadole (a prescription med.) three times a day. It helps more than tjust aking the edge off.  I can actually function. You may want to give it a try. Hope you find some relief.... Best of luck !

Joelene, I have had it over 30 years.  Everything they give me for pain causes me to be so tired and it really doesn't do much for the pain, I would rather go without than be so tired all the time.  I keep praying they will come up with a miracle.

I hope this helps - I have been prescribed 10mg of Citalopram Hydrobromide (Celexa) and 60mg of Amitriptyline HCL (Elavil). They are both anti-depressant medications and they have given me back my life.  I still have pain and tingling and such but it is manageable.  I am able to hike with my dog and laugh again with my children.  My sister-in-law is an RN nurse practicing in pain management and she has also seen success with Amitriptyline.   Good Luck!

I've been suffering for nearly 40 years since a viral meningistus attack. The ME has been with me since then, only coupling up with Fibro pain for the last 8 years. I now have cerebella atrophy and am on all the pain killers possible but nothing completely kills the pain. Lately I've started taking codeine at night with paracetamol, both on prescription. It lowers the pain enough for me to sleep. Most of the pain is in the legs when attacks come and I've recently started wearing support stockings which also ease the pain during the day. Keep up your fluids as we tend to be low on that. Take the advice of Ali Hill below and get the amino acid and high vit B12 supplements if you can't get the B12 injections from your doctor. Don't go on an extremely low salt diet as this is something we are also short on. No fat diets are also bad. Keep a small level of good fats going, Virgin Coconut oil, butter, little bit of fat on meat. Don't cook with the coconut oil, put it on toast, it's not strong flavoured. Lemon and honey in warm water in the morning for the liver, I find this works for me.

As the article suggests the non drug therapies such as essential oils can help with fibromyalgia. Oil such juniper berry, lavender, roman chamomile, marjoram are a few that I've recommended for my patients with Fibrmyalgia, i'm a physical therapist and they get some relief from using these oils along with PT treatment... Hope it helps.

I've live with fibro. for 30 years now. I've fought hard to stay off of narcotics because so many get addicted to them. What has helped me the most is exercising/swimming in a warm water pool. Also physical therapy during a bad flare.

My Husband has recently found out hes got this awful illness and I hate seeing him in such pain but I'm glad to say I signed a petition to get a Patch put on NHS. The patch is called ACTI PATCH you can buy it at your big Boots  it is pricey but worth every penny it last up to 720 hours and costs £16.00, if you purchase one try get the one with the belt as the patch its self comes on it's own for same price. Since my Husband has worn his and only takes it off to bath I can honestly say it WORKS and I'm pleased to see him smile instead of looking in so much pain, like he tells me the pain is there but NOT as bad and most of all it's chemical free so ya not damaging your organs and your not putting chemicals in your body. Good Luck if you try it.xx

We are individuals, and because this condition is still considered a "syndrome", meaning more than one way to get this condition,  still means, there is no one way to 'attack' fibro pain. Saying this, does not mean don't try anything that could help.  It's clear from this article, that they want you to not use opioids or other analgesics for pain, but for SOME this is the only relief they get.  It's a new "deal" now to pull everyone off of opioids, and in some areas, (like Montana) they will not even bother prescribing them for fibro.

Personally, having spent years involved in the "fibro fight" since 1986, I can tell you that opinions (and findings) come and go.  Very few people btw, get any relief from Lyrica (which I believe is the aim of this article is intending when discussing peripheral pain, otherwise known as neuropathy.  The statistics on this drug are not well liked by users:  less than 20% find any relief from this drug, because it just doesn't cut the pain, leaves people groggy, and unable to function.  The older method of SSRIs, and SNRIs are also a problem for many, because of something called "serotonin syndrome" that doctors know little about, but is life threatening.

There are many non allopathic methods suggested here (amino acids, Acti Patch, not in the US, essential oils, acupuncture, et al), so I am adding in my voice:  cannabis.  Yep, the dreaded word.  As with anything suggested here, what works for one, may not be the answer for you.

There are blends of cannabis strains (called hybrids), that can relieve pain without getting stoned (HIGH CBD, low THC) but you need enough THC in the plant so you get pain relief.  No one is advocating getting stoned. No one is also advocating smoking it either.  Cannabis can't kill you.  A factor not found in Opioid treatment (remember I said something about serotonin syndrome?  This is part of the problem with over dumping the system with serotonin leaving the person with severely high temperature, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and systematic shut down).  

As someone who managed NOT to die from serotonin syndrome, what I can say is that I am only left with cannabis as a treatment specifically to deal with pain.

I would highly suggest before attempting anything alternative, to find a good practitioner, naturalpathic, homeopathic, nutritionist, herbalist, or complimentary medicine doctor of any kind that is best able to suggest YOUR course of action based on YOUR body, and your fibro.

I've had Fibro for 30 years and I've been on several drugs for it. Despite what others have said about Gabepentin I was taking 3600 mg per day and finding relief. I am now only on 1800. I also found a nice muscle relaxer called Zanaflex or Baclofen that work for me. Fibro is definitely a trial and error disease. Although I also have on board Rheumatoid arthritis so some days are suicidal days. I am on so many meds that I can open up my own pharmacy. Keep trying I know you will find relief soon, I hope. If you need to talk further let me know, I find that just venting to someone does a world of good.