I find Cymbalta about as useful as tic tacs, although my doctor hasn't taken me off it yet for reasons unknown.  He has started me on gabbapentin, which I have found much more useful.  It's a general neurologic pain blocker.  For me, it also knocks me right out at night, which is great because I was getting less than two hours of sleep per night for months on end after they took me off the amitriptyline.  I turned into a sleep deprived zombie.  Now I get almost six hours sleep, which is way better and I can live on that.  I also moved some furniture the other day and I ended up in less pain the day after than I should have been.  I can also live with that.

Can tell you all that after several months, noticed Cymbalta less effective bafter a while at 60 mgs, and was having wild dreams and sweats at night, so was dropped back to 30 mg, and told to take in mornings. Frankly, no relief at that dosage, so have quit Cymbalta. Looking for something else for my pain.

the Mermaid

It's not too surprising that your fibro flares when your spine is flaring also because any stress in the body can and usually does trigger a fibro flare. Any stress even nervous stress can set off the fibro, it's an evil disease.

I was just telling hubby the same thing the other day, my mind has great plans but my body doesn't co-operate. Takes me 3 days to do something that should only take an hour for other people!

I don't have a tens unit, what I have is a spinal stimulator. It is actually attached to my spine surgically and they can set the adjustments to cover certain areas but they can't do the whole body. It did permanently get rid of my lower back pain, I don't even have to use it for that anymore. It sends an electronic signal that interfers with how the brain receives the pain signals so you don't feel the pain. You can read about it at raceagainstpain,com but sounds like you are like me and need whole body pain relief.

I have thorasic pain too from a spinal fracture that didn't heal because I didn't realize I had fractured it and like you no one would touch it because of the location. So fortunately I was able to take a month and pretty much stay in bed in one position to let it heal as best it could.

The only way I have any pain relief is my meds and like I said before I'm blessed with some very caring docs so am able to so far manage things. I walk that thin line between being able to get around some but not taking so much that I end up at 80 with resistance to all the pain meds and nothing else I can take. Nobody told me how fun life is as we age. lol Glad I could help and feel free to contact me here anytime, I'm usually on everyday.

I do hope you are able to find someone to help you. I truly know what pain feels like on a daily basis I have a spinal fracture that didn't heal correctly between my shoulder blades so is constantly pinched, I have discs that are compressed all up and down my spine, I have lower back pain from who knows what, I have severe arthritis in my hands and feet to where my toes actually turn sideways, I had a broken leg that hurts where the pins and screws are, I have a shoulder that is partially frozen AND last but hardly least the fibro to blend them all together with. I literally wouldn't be able to get out of bed without my pain meds and like I say I still have pain but I don't want to get to the point where there are no pain meds that work for me because I've maxed out on what they can give me so I just live at a certain level of pain. 

Is the majority of your pain in the back or is it wide spread? I have a spinal stimulator that did wonders for me but it will only work in a specific area of the spine. If the back is the main problem I can give you the name of the place I got that thru. If it is body wide tho it won't help. I really hope you are able to find someone you can work with who can bring you some relief. Good luck to you!

Sorry you had such a difficult time. Sounds like you were dealing with someone who wasn't very ethical to begin with. You should always be free to go to the ER, he may have thought you were trying to get more pain meds. I have to sign a contract with my doc that I won't get pain meds from anyone but him, however that doesn't appy to emergency treatment unless I was going in every week or something with pain and trying to get more drugs. My state has very specific rules dealing with narcotic pain treatment.

Now as for your just stopping your pain meds without medical help and supervision that was just plain stupidity, you are very lucky you didn't die. You should just never, ever just quit cold turkey and as a pain patient you must have known that! Both drugs you were on are very strong narcotics, I know because I use them myself. I was switched to a different drug at one time and I thought I was going to die because it was evidently a much lower dose drug. i went thru a week of horrid with drawls between change back to my normal dose. Something I would never have done if I had known it was a lower dose drug. What you should have done was go back to the ER and tell them what you had done and they could have helped you and given you a plan to lower the dose slowly and with less painful results. So should this situation happen again I would suggest you reach out to the ER or even a primary care doc should be able to help you or refer you to help .

I have to say not all pain management docs are that way but they are very strict and do not play games when it comes to drug seekers or people who don't follow their strict protocol. I have a wonderful doc and over the years we have worked very well together and while i still have some pain it is tolerable for the most part.

I guess this is a good way to bring up the subject of making sure you find a doc who is professional and empathetic to you. Someone who specializes in fibro or arthritis type treatment is vital. We have to be our own advocates and keep pushing until we get quality care that we deserve. We also have to be responsible and reliable patients. Medical care always works best when we have mutual respect and objectives.