"I'm on a new drug, one that won't make me itch..."

So I saw my N.P. last Thursday and she has taken a fairly new tack. She used to favor alternative therapies, but after being reviewed by the state authorities, I think she's gotten gun-shy and is following the mainstream protocols. She wanted me to try one of the three "new" drugs now FDA-approved for fibromyalgia. All of them, from what I can tell, are not much different from what I've tried through the years. They are all called anti-depressants "but not prescribed to me for depression" (I've heard this before!). The older drugs were called SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors). The new one I'm on, Sabella, is an SNRI (Serotonin and Norepinephrin Reuptake Inhibitor. This is based on the theory that FMS is caused by a chemical imbalance in the Central Nervous System, or brain. She said it increases dopamine in the brain. I am skeptical that it will help, but I'll give it a month. I have to titrate to the therapeutic level, and if I go off again I must titrate carefully back down or face trouble. Sounds suspiciously like steroids... I am still on the Valcyte, nine months and counting. Three months to go... When I started this blog I was very hopeful about the hypercoagulation theory and had hoped to reduce fibrin build-up in my blood vessels. I have been taking lumbrokinase to that end. I have concluded that that was a dead end, at least for me. My ISAC panel was actually within normal range, though somewhat high on one indicator (fibrinogen), and the other indicator showed live viruses, which led me to being tested for HHV-6 and EBV.  Somehow I get the impression that my knowledge of what is the cutting edge for research is starting to outdistance my previously-creative provider. <<Sigh>> 

I am still convinced that there is a legitimate reason for my pain. That reason is muscle fatigue. A physiatrist explained it to me and it seems to fit my situation. He told me, after nerve conduction tests showed my nervous system in perfectly good shape, that I had metabolic myopathy. Even though I was supposedly treated sufficiently for hypothyroidism, he said my slow-retracting reflexes pointed to a continued state of hypothyroidism (or perhaps some other metabolic dysfunction?), and that my muscles were not getting enough energy. When this happens, the muscles cannot relax, because it takes more energy to relax as well as to flex them. With continually-fatigued muscles tightening, binding, tensing, niggling, pulling, or spasming, it's no wonder my body sends me pain signals. The muscles are literally torn up by starvation and overuse, requiring oodles of sleep and rest to restore and repair. Which explains why I have to get an average of 8-9 good hours of sleep at night to function at all during the day. 

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