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Suggest Treatment For Fibromyalgia

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Posted on Mon, 3 Mar 2014
Question: Hi there, My father died of pkd aged 23 , my brother of ms aged 45'im worried for my son he is in chronic pain all over his body,he has been diagnosed with fibro,after 5 years!! But I fear it could be more ,he doesn't eat and is very thin and depressed but because he smokes pot for the pain,doctors just have him down as a drug user! Can you help me help my son.His legs shake,he sweats all night and hardly sleeps and now occasionally he is bed wetting. 2 yrs ago he tried all sorts of prescribed drugs from the doctors but they all made him I'll. He has just tried amytriptyline but I just told him to come off them because he has cut himself with a knife.my sons life is hell,chronic pain and no sleep.can you help me.
doctor
Answered by Dr. Srikanth Reddy (3 hours later)
Brief Answer: He needs some intensive treatment Detailed Answer: Hello, Thanks for choosing health care magic for posting your query. I have gone through your question in detail and I can understand what you are going through. I am sorry to hear about your brother and father who have died due to medical illnesses. However , your sons symptoms do match fibromyalgia and a diagnosis of fibromyalgia is generally made by exclusion after years of different therapy. Fibromyalgia is not a fatal illness and so please dont panic. And more so Amitriptyline is a very good drug for fibromyalgia and symptoms improve a lot with even a low dose as 25 mg. Please dont let him stop this medication as amitriptyline will never make him cut himself. Its probably a comorbid depression that needs to be treated as well. Infact it seems that along with fibromyalgia it seems your son has some personality disorder as well, probably borderline disorder. Such patients are very sensitive to rejection with suicidal tendencies and mood swings as well. Along with the amitriptyline and some strong SSRI antidepressant like fluoxetine or escitalopram he will also require dialectical behaviour therapy. This therapy over a few sessions will teach your son how to handle a stress/impulse and how to channelize it properly. Its taken up by a psyhologist/psychiatrist and I would request you to speak to a psychiatrist about all these issues so that he can guide you and provide you with a prescription. I am not sure if his condition can be managed with just home based treatment. He will need support of medications. Hope I am able to answer your concerns. If you have any further query, I would be glad to help you. If not, you may close the discussion and if possible you may rate the answer for me, so that I get a good feedback. In future if you wish to contact me directly, you can use the below mentioned link: bit.ly/dr-srikanth-reddy Wish you good health, Kind regards Dr. Srikanth Reddy M.D.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad
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Follow up: Dr. Srikanth Reddy (6 hours later)
Thank you,however after doing some research I have discovered pkd and ms are both autosommunal diseases . My son has not been checked for this,he has only ever has 1 MRI scan on his lower spine which showed a slipped disc,he hasn't been tested for anything else like ms etc. It just seems ironic that my sons illness shows similar signs to ms and that autosommunal diseases run in the family. Do you think I need to ask his doctor to check for these Many thanks
doctor
Answered by Dr. Srikanth Reddy (21 hours later)
Brief Answer: The tests are not very specific Detailed Answer: Hello Thanks for the follow up question. The genetic screening tests for MS are not very sensitive or specific. Hence they have not become popular as their positive or negative result do not convey much meaning. personally I wont recommend these tests to you. Instead its would be better to get an MRi scan of the brain done which will show the changes of MS if any. Further you can also get an USG abdomen done to identify cysts if any. You may discuss with your doctor about there investigations. Regards Dr. Srikanth Reddy MD
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E
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Dr. Srikanth Reddy

Psychiatrist

Practicing since :2007

Answered : 2770 Questions

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Suggest Treatment For Fibromyalgia

Brief Answer: He needs some intensive treatment Detailed Answer: Hello, Thanks for choosing health care magic for posting your query. I have gone through your question in detail and I can understand what you are going through. I am sorry to hear about your brother and father who have died due to medical illnesses. However , your sons symptoms do match fibromyalgia and a diagnosis of fibromyalgia is generally made by exclusion after years of different therapy. Fibromyalgia is not a fatal illness and so please dont panic. And more so Amitriptyline is a very good drug for fibromyalgia and symptoms improve a lot with even a low dose as 25 mg. Please dont let him stop this medication as amitriptyline will never make him cut himself. Its probably a comorbid depression that needs to be treated as well. Infact it seems that along with fibromyalgia it seems your son has some personality disorder as well, probably borderline disorder. Such patients are very sensitive to rejection with suicidal tendencies and mood swings as well. Along with the amitriptyline and some strong SSRI antidepressant like fluoxetine or escitalopram he will also require dialectical behaviour therapy. This therapy over a few sessions will teach your son how to handle a stress/impulse and how to channelize it properly. Its taken up by a psyhologist/psychiatrist and I would request you to speak to a psychiatrist about all these issues so that he can guide you and provide you with a prescription. I am not sure if his condition can be managed with just home based treatment. He will need support of medications. Hope I am able to answer your concerns. If you have any further query, I would be glad to help you. If not, you may close the discussion and if possible you may rate the answer for me, so that I get a good feedback. In future if you wish to contact me directly, you can use the below mentioned link: bit.ly/dr-srikanth-reddy Wish you good health, Kind regards Dr. Srikanth Reddy M.D.