Posts tagged ‘Pain Relievers’

Jane Thompson asked:




Fibromyalgia is a condition that can make you feel like you’ve run a triathlon everyday but you didn’t train for it. Tiredness and pain co-exists with other parts of your body. Certain points feel fatigued and tender – even slight pressure can cause pain and you might even have trouble sleeping. But you don’t have to suffer in silence. There is a host of fibromyalgia pain medication that can provide relief from symptoms.

Fibromyalgia medications

The main purpose of fibromyalgia medication is to relieve pain, which is the distinguishing characteristic of this condition and the rest target specific symptoms such as muscle spasm and sleeplessness.

Some of the most common fibromyalgia medications that are prescribed are analgesics – both narcotic and non-narcotic. Non-narcotic are the only kind that are available over the counter with acetaminophens being the most commonly taken. Narcotic analgesics are only available on prescription, as there is the risk of becoming addicted to them so they need to be monitored. Pain relievers such as these reduce pain and ease joint and muscle stiffness.

Other fibromyalgia medications may also include NSAIDs or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. These include ibuprofen, naproxen sodium and aspirin. They are usually taken with other medications. Newer fibromyalgia medications such as norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors and serotonin may also be prescribed to help stop pain, depression and fatigue.

For patients who have trouble sleeping, anti-depressants may be taken to help the body relax. Drugs that contain amitriptyline, doxepin and nortriptyline are commonly used.

While they do not directly target pain, anti-depressants are considered the most useful drugs for the treatment of fibromyalgia. However, there are a number of side effects that can arise from taking anti-depressants, so you should tell your doctor if you start experiencing anything abnormal.

Sometimes, short-term fibromyalgia medication may also be used by patients to treat severe or intermittent symptoms. Muscle relaxants, for example, are used to reduce incidence of spasms and minimize muscle pain. Drugs containing cyclobenzaprine are commonly taken. Anticonvulsants like pregabalin may also help some patients by decreasing pain and improving sleep.

To bring about restful sleep, sleeping pills may be used in conjunction with a prescribed fibromyalgia medication. They are quite an effective treatment, although they are only recommended for short-term use. Prescription pills like zolpidem may work initially, but the body may develop a resistance. Patients who have been using them for a while may no longer feel their effect and may even develop sleeping problems later on.

To a small group of people suffering severe joint and muscle pain, doctors might prescribe narcotic drugs. These come in stronger dosage and have been known to help a few, but there is no evidence that narcotic fibromyalgia medication can actually target chronic pain. Most doctors would avoid prescribing them to patients for long-term treatments because of the high possibility of developing chemical dependence.

For information on treating Fibromyalgia naturally, either alongside or without medication keep reading and sign up for the free newsletter below.

Fibromyalgia is a condition with a host of symptoms and there is no single cure for it yet. However, research has led to the improvement of diagnosis and treatment over the years and has even resulted to a good choice of fibromyalgia medications and supplemental drugs that can treat pain and other symptoms. There are a number of studies and research underway that are looking at new fibromyalgia pain medications which will hopefully provide safe and effective relief.

Buy Tramadol, Fioricet, Carisoprodol, Flexeril

Posted by usahealthstore on September 2, 2010 at 10:29 pm under Muscle Relaxant.
Tags: , ,
Comments Off.

Tension Headache Medications

Simple treatments like pain-relieving medicine cause most tension-type headaches (TTH) to go away. However, you may need a combination of therapies if you have chronic TTH. The following medications are commonly used for treatment of tension-type headaches:

Pain-Relievers 

These usually help to relieve mild to moderate headaches when they occur. 
  • Mild analgesics – Analgesics or “pain-relievers” can be bought over-the-counter (OTC) or with a prescription. Examples of OTC analgesics are acetaminophen (Tylenol) and NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) such as aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and naproxen (Naprosyn, Naprelan). 
  • Mixed analgesics – These medicines are pain-relievers that contain more than one active ingredient. For example, Excedrin contains acetaminophen, aspirin and caffeine, and Fiorinal contains butalbital and aspirin. You may take these if mild analgesics are not strong enough to relieve your headache pain or if you headache is more severe. Some

Preventive medications
Certain medications taken at regular intervals may reduce the frequency and severity of attacks. Your doctor may prescribe these if you have frequent headaches or have tension headaches that aren’t relieved by acute medication and nondrug therapy such as stress management. Your doctor also may recommend preventive medication if your headache pain becomes disabling or causes you to overuse acute medication, or if you can’t take acute medication because of other medical conditions.

Doctors may prescribe antidepressants to prevent tension headache, especially the chronic form. These drugs aren’t painkillers. Rather, they work to stabilize the levels of brain chemicals such as serotonin, which may be involved in the development of a headache. You don’t have to have depression in order to use these drugs.

Preventive medications may include:

  • Tricyclic antidepressants. Tricyclic antidepressants, including amitriptyline and nortriptyline (Pamelor), are the most commonly used medications to prevent tension headache. They’re effective against both the episodic and chronic forms. Side effects of these medications may include weight gain, drowsiness and dry mouth.
  • Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Antidepressants such as paroxetine (Paxil), venlafaxine (Effexor) and fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem) produce fewer side effects than do the tricyclic antidepressants but generally aren’t considered effective for tension headaches.
  • Other medications. Other medications that may prevent tension headache include anticonvulsants, such as topiramate (Topamax) and gabapentin (Neurontin), and muscle relaxants, such as tizanidine (Zanaflex).

Preventive medications may require several weeks or more to build up in your nervous system before they take effect. So don’t get frustrated if you haven’t seen improvements shortly after you begin taking the drug — it may take a couple of months or longer. Also be aware that overusing caffeine or painkillers for acute relief may reduce the effect of a preventive drug.

To obtain the greatest benefit from preventive medication, keep your use of acute pain relievers to a minimum. Your doctor will monitor your treatment to see how the preventive medication is working. If your headaches are under control, your dose of medication may be reduced gradually over time.

Preventive, or “prophylactic,” medicines are taken every day to prevent headaches from starting. They are used to treat chronic headaches that occur more than twice a week and/or are extremely painful. They are also prescribed when other headache medicines or remedies do not work or cannot be used. More commonly-used medicines include:

  • Tricyclic anti-depressants (TCAs) – These medicines were originally used to treat depression and related disorders. However, headache experts have learned that TCAs can also help prevent and relieve chronic TTH. A TCA such as amitriptyline (Elavil) is often the first medicine of choice for preventing chronic TTH. TCAs are often begun at lower doses and are slowly increased. In addition to relieving pain, TCAs may improve sleep and decrease depression in people who have it. Other TCAs given for chronic TTH include nortriptyline (Pamelor), desipramine (Norpramin), doxepin (Sinequan) and clomipramine (Anafranil).
  • Anti-convulsants – These medicines were originally used to treat seizures (convulsions or epilepsy). Now, certain anti-convulsants are also used to help prevent chronic TTH. Your health care provider may give you an anti-convulsant if TCAs failed to relieve your headaches. Examples include valproic acid (Depakote), gabapentin (Neurontin) and topiramate (Topamax).

Other Medicines

  • Muscle relaxants – These medicines are also called “anti-spasmodics.” They given to relax tight muscles. They may be given alone, but medical research shows that they are more effective when given together with a medicine such as a TCA. Examples of muscle relaxants are tizanidine (Zanaflex) and metaxalone (Skelaxin). More research needs to be done on the effectiveness of muscle relaxants as a treatment for TTH.

Posted by usahealthstore on November 16, 2009 at 6:37 am under Tension Headache.
Tags: , , , , , ,
Comments Off.