One of the most common questions that come up in relation to fibromyalgia is about the sorts of medications that you can take in order to find relief from the pain that is often associated with the disease.
As you likely know, the pain can become unbearable at times, and in order to continue with your daily tasks of living, you may find that you’re having difficulty figuring out what medications to take.
Your doctor or other medical specialist will, of course, prescribe you medications, but what if that isn’t quite enough to take care of the pain? What other alternatives do you have?
Does Ibuprofen Work?
Ibuprofen is a medication that is commonly used for people who are dealing with random pain. Usually, people use it for headaches, but there are a lot of other purposes that it can be used for as well.
That being said, there are a number of people out there who have tried to use it for their fibromyalgia pain, just to see if they would be able to find some relief in between the other forms of treatment that they’re working with in order to try and make life a bit more comfortable for everyone in the long run.
Of course, this comes with mixed reviews. There are some people that claim that ibuprofen does wonders for them and what they’re trying to do and take care of when it comes to their fibromyalgia pain management.
There are other people that say that it doesn’t work at all, however, and they feel as if it’s a waste of time for them to even try taking it. Others, of course, may have a sensitivity to it, so they wouldn’t want to take it in the first place anyhow. As with any sort of treatment, some people are responsive, and some people are not.
Why Might Ibuprofen and Other NSAIDs Not Work for Fibromyalgia Pain?
This begs the question – why doesn’t this necessarily work for everyone? What makes ibuprofen ineffective for some people, while at the same time making it more effective for other people who find a lot of relief while using the product?
The general consensus in the health community is that it’s not really an effective medication to use when you’re trying to manage your pain. Why? Here are a few of the main reasons that the medical community doesn’t really think much of what ibuprofen and other NSAIDs have to offer to fibromyalgia patients.
First off, NSAIDs have been developed to reduce pain – that’s absolutely true, and there are millions of people that utilize them on a regular basis in order to deal with their pain. But, if you’ve ever taken a look at the studies related to ibuprofen and other NSAIDs, you’ll realize that many of the studies claim that the medications are most effective for those who are dealing with inflammation, either of the joints or of other areas of the body.
Even though there is definitely a bit of inflammation that is associated with fibromyalgia, that doesn’t mean that the entire disorder revolves around it. Because of that, there are going to be areas that are in pain that aren’t going to find as much relief.
Of course, it doesn’t only help with inflammation – ibuprofen can definitely help with a wide variety of disorders and diseases. But, the likelihood of the pain going away is going to decrease significantly if it’s not related to inflammation in the first place.
Another reason that ibuprofen and other NSAIDs don’t do the best job when people take it for fibromyalgia pain is because of the potency of the product. You know that, like many over the counter pain medications, there really isn’t a lot of “bite” behind them.
Sure, if you take more than one you’re going to see a significant difference in the amount of pain you feel, but what if you’re dealing with the constant, tearing pain that is so often associated with fibromyalgia?
What is a small dose of ibuprofen going to do against something that is keeping you up through the night and well into the morning? That’s where a lot of doctors bring up their concerns about the medication – it’s just not strong enough to handle what fibromyalgia sufferers are going to need in order to get through their most painful moments.
So, What’s the Verdict?
That all being said, there are plenty of other things that need to be considered as well. If you have other disorders that flare up alongside of your fibromyalgia (arthritis is incredibly common), then you may find some relief because there is inflammation going on. As we mentioned above, every person is different.
If someone you know doesn’t find relief from fibro pain with ibuprofen, and other people that you associated with do, it’s just based on their particular case. Everyone is different, so it’s important to keep that in mind when you’re making comparisons.
As you can see, there is a lot of debate as to whether or not ibuprofen and other NSAIDs may be of use to those who are looking for relief from their fibromyalgia pain. Since there still needs to be some research in this area, there’s not really a definitive answer that goes along with this question.
As with many things that you may do when trying to figure out your fibromyalgia issues, there are considerations that you have to make, and you will want to do a lot of research related to the treatment before you make the decision to make changes to how you’re dealing with your pain.
As with every other type of treatment that you may try, you also want to make sure that you talk to your doctor about all of the different options that you have in terms of treatment. They may give you some considerations that you may have never thought about before, or they can give you advice about how you can move forward with your own personal treatment plan in the future.
Further reading:
http://www.cfidsselfhelp.org/library/living-with-fibromyalgia-what-helps-me
http://chronicfatigue.about.com/od/whatisfibromyalgia/f/fibro_nsaids.htm
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