Side Effect Solutions

Fibromyalgia prompts doctors to prescribe medications from a variety of drug classes, because none of the medications used for fibromyalgia were actually developed for the condition or even approved by the FDA for treating it.

Nevertheless, the medications listed in this chart have shown effectiveness in randomized clinical trials of people with fibromyalgia. These include the antidepressant medications, such as amitriptyline (Endep), duloxetine (Cymbalta), fluoxetine (Prozac) and paroxetine (Paxil); muscle relaxants, such as cylobenzaprine (Cycloflex, Flexeril) and certain analgesics, including tramadol (Ultram). The combination of 20 mg Prozac taken in the morning and 25 mg amitryptyline taken at night also has shown effectiveness in easing symptoms throughout the day and helping to ensure sleep at night.

Recent studies using anti-seizure medications, such as gabapentin (Neurontin) and the drug pregabalin (Lyrica), demonstrated promising results in helping to ease pain, promote sleep and relieve fatigue.

You’ll find some other drugs used for fibromyalgia in the charts on analgesics and NSAIDs. For many people with this painful condition, an NSAID or analgesic, such as over-the-counter acetaminophen, provides sufficient pain relief; others take an NSAID or analgesic along with one or more of the medications listed here.

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