Fibro in Columbus ohio
Hello all,
My hubby has fibro and is 400+lbs. We went to 4 rheumatologist before a diagnosis of fibro. One would say RA, then we would go to an RA specialist and they would say Fibro. Go to a Fibro specialist and they say RA... We are now at a Arthritis center that deals with both. But they don't really seem to be doing anything. And have "Suggested" that he sees a psychiatrist because they aren't comfortable mixing or going on high doses of cymbalta, lyrica etc. because they affect the brain. His psychiatrist has him on Nortriptlyline, and tramadol for pain (2x/day), Skelexton for a muscle relaxer, and trazadone for sleep. He gained 40 lbs in 2 months on the lyricL. Cymbalta made him anxious. Its been a big mess. He hasn't worked for 2 years, and is now on Social Security disability. The only time he is semi-active is when he takes a bunch of the tramadol. Then of course after 2 weeks, he has none left and is miserable.
Does anyone live in the Columbus area who can recommend a good doctor. We went to a neurologist, and she basically said theres nothing she can do. Our rheumatologist is useless, I guess i'll look into a pain specialist next...
Any thoughts anyone?? I saw posts about patches. Never heard of those, what are the results on that? I'm basically looking for anything. I miss my husband :(
Thanks for any help,
Kim
Oh fibro is such an evil disease! I think you are on the right track with a pain specialist, they can deal with all types of pain. I got my best treatment with a pain specialist. I use a fentanyl patch but was also using morphine before that, I believe you have to have been on fairly heavy duty pain meds before using that patch. There are other kinds of patches too so it's hard to know what might help him. I hope you are able to find the right doc that will work with him and give him back some life, but he will probably never be the same as before. Living with constant pain is a difficult life.
My heart goes out to you and your husband. Living with constant pain is something no one can imagine. My 17 yr. old daughter was suffered for years with chronic pain and fatigue. We had been to every doctor you can imagine and tried every traditional medical treatment. We were given at least 5 different diagnosis. My once active, athletic, honor student couldn't even get off the couch! She was so heavily medicated that she could not even complete a sentence or a thought. She missed 70 days of school her jr. year in high school.
One evening I had to take her to the ER because the pain was intolerable. I was desperate to help my daughter.
I went to the internet and typed in fibro pain. After hours of reading blogs, etc. on the subject I kept seeing this treatment mentioned that I had never heard of nor had any of our drs. recommended. It is called Calmare Therapy. Long story short we found a place in Rutherford NJ that had the Calmare Therapy and went for 10 treatments. It was like a miracle! She has been pain free now for over 1 yr. Dr. Cooney literally gave my daughter her life back. If you want to find out more about it just go to calmarette.com. It will give you locations and all the info you need.
I cannot recommend it highly enough. We have sent 3 others to a Calmare Therapy treatment center and all of them were helped. PLEASE take a minute to look into it and give it a try. We too had exhausted our options with traditional medical treatment. Good luck.
Hello Fibro in Columbus, Ohio,
My name is Dawn and I live in Powell, Ohio. I too suffer from what your husband has. I know his pain and his frustration. Its the worst disease to have, because doctors don't understand the disease nor do they know how to treat it. Often times a doctor who doesn't have the knowledge will keep giving you medications one after the other hoping something will work. Well it doesn't work that way.
I did a great deal of searching to find my doctor and I would like to share his information with you. His name is Charles Lapp. He is in Charlotte NC. I know it sounds like a long ways a way but he is the best. Its only 6.5 hours away by car. We have flown there but I don't tolerate flying because I have to use a wheel chair to get around if its any distance and I have an orthostatic intolerance. I don;t drive but my husband will be driving me down there on my next appointment. And you could possibly drive that far if you can make your husband as comfortable and pain free as possible. Please Google Charles Lapp MD Hunter Hopkins Center. I started seeing Dr. Lapp about 3 years ago and he knows how to treat Fibromyalgia and he has the UTMOST compassion.
Just to share a bit about myself...I have severe Fibro/Chronic fatigue and I am very much over weight. I had the lap band with no success so looking to have some other sort of revision surgery.Feel free to email me back.
Good luck and I wish you both the best.
Dawn
