Saturday, March 31, 2012

Zoloft for Fibromyalgia Pain?

Fibromyalgia Trigger Points

As I posted Tuesday, I've been titrating off Zoloft and replacing it with Amitriptylene so I'm able to take the Fibromyalgia drug Savella.  According to drug interaction information, Savella should not be taken with an SSRI so this change, as inconvenient as it is, was necessary.

Late last year, while conducting yet another of my countless experiments with regards to curing this dismal disease, I also weaned myself off Zoloft (as well as all other medications) in order to follow the Alpha Nutrition Diet for Aching and fatigue (original post).  I noticed when I was completely off Zoloft, that some of my symptoms, which had been absent for some time, returned.  I started again to feel as though I had the flu.  I felt feverish, sweaty and my entire body ached as one does when afflicted with a high fever.  I attributed it, simply, as another phase of the ever changing disease, however, I did make a mental note that the symptoms had appeared almost exactly to the day that I stopped taking Zoloft.

I hadn't read anywhere that Zoloft was being used as a treatment for Fibromyalgia or ME/CFS so I didn't put much stock in the idea that the timing was significant.  The flu-like symptoms did go away, though I can't remember the relationship with when I began taking Zoloft again.

Last night my two year old daughter had one of her infamous sleepless nights which, of course, meant I got very little sleep as well.  Anyone who has Fibromyalgia or ME/CFS knows that lack of sleep is a killer.  Last night, as I lay next to my daughter in her small bed, afraid to move a muscle or even breathe too deeply for fear she would awake, I felt my leg muscles begin to throb and ache, then, the pain slowly spread throughout my entire body all the way to my finger tips.  In what seemed like minutes from when my body started aching, I felt sweat begin to form on my upper lip and the fever-like chills began.  I thought,  "Oh shit!  It's back!".  I'd been fortunate to be rid of these flu-like symptoms for some time and it hardly seemed coincidental that I had taken my last Zoloft two nights before.

I've discovered through reading others' experiences, that treatments for both ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia vary greatly from patient to patient.  One of the strangest and most baffling things about these diseases is the drastically different ways they effect each sufferer and therefore, the methods of treatment that are used.  Zoloft!  Who knew?  If my experiment with Savella doesn't pan out, I'll be going back on Zoloft for sure!  If I can't be completely cured, at least I know some of my symptoms can be relieved.

2 comments:

Christie said...

I just discovered your blog. I have been living wth CFS/ME since 2005. For the last few years my symptoms had been much better, but recently I've been struggling with a lot of pain. The diagram at the beginning of this post makes sense of this for me as I have pain in most of the places highlighted - looks like I have fibro. Could you post where this diagram came from, so that I can refer to it when I next see my doctor?
I've found reading your blog interesting. I changed from a vegetarian to a vegan diet when I first developed CFS - I do believe that it has helped, up to a certain point. I wish you well and hope that these new drugs help you.

Perdida said...

Hi Christie (great name you have!),
Thanks so much for your comment. Here's the link for the photo I used in my post:
http://uvahealth.com/services/Inflammatory%20and%20Infectious%20Diseases/conditions-and-treatments/11862

There are similar trigger point charts on WebMD (http://www.webmd.com/fibromyalgia/ss/slideshow-fibromyalgia-overview) and other medical websites.

The whole "trigger point" aspect of Fibromyalgia seems to be extremely subjective. I was seeing a Rheumatologist who claimed, on my first visit, I didn't have any trigger points, therefore I didn't have Fibromyalgia. During a later appointment, however, since she couldn't come up with another diagnosis for me, she decided I did have Fibromyalgia (she was a HORRIBLE Dr. who I don't see anymore). When I saw Dr. Podell in Summit , NJ (touted as a leader in the field of ME/CFS & Fibromyalgia), he claimed I did have the trigger points and added ME/CFS to my diagnosis of Fibromyalgia. It seems that whether or not you have trigger points depends largely on how the specific Dr. attempts to activate them. I don't know about you but this doesn't seem very scientific to me.

Anyway, thanks again for your comment. Glad to hear you've been feeling better! I hope you continue to feel better and better.
-Kristy