Monday November 23, 2009
NEWSBRIEF: If you take Ultram ER for round-the-clock fibromyalgia pain treatment, you'll soon have a generic option of the same drug.
Par Pharmaceuticals says the FDA has approved its extended-release tramadol product, in both 100 mg and 200 mg dosages. The company says it plans to start shipping the drug right away.
If you're interested in switching to the new generic drug, which will likely be much less expensive, you'll need to talk to your doctor. Tramadol is not specifically approved for fibromyalgia pain but it is sometimes prescribed off-label for fibromyalgia.
Also See: Ultram Drug Profile
Learn more or join the conversation!
NEWSLETTER | FORUM | BIO | TWITTER | FACEBOOK
Saturday November 21, 2009
Q: I am excited to find out that a retrovirus has been discovered to be the cause of fibromyalgia, which I have. My one concern is if you get the virus through blood and body fluids, will it be considered an STD? Is it sexually transmitted most of the time? I guess there will be a lot of people claiming to have these diseases through blood transfusions, but there can't be that many people who had transfusions. Will there be a stigma to having any of the diseases that result from XMRV?
A: First, I want to point out that right now, the most we can say is that XMRV may play a role in fibromyalgia -- we don't yet know that it's involved for sure, or that it's part of the cause. (The chronic fatigue syndrome research is a lot better, and even it is only a first step.)
Our minds do go to "STD" when we hear about transmission through bodily fluids, but that doesn't mean sex is the only or even most common method of transmission. This is pure speculation on my part, but it could be that it's not easily transmitted through semen and is more likely passed through blood, or saliva, or breastmilk -- which could mean transfusions, mother-to-child, etc. would be more common. At this point, we just don't know.
The question is one that's cropping up a lot -- our first retrovirus association is HIV, which came to public attention as an STD (and one linked to a much-maligned minority group to boot), and then we learned later about other means of transmission. The only other known human retrovirus is HTLV, which causes leukemia and some other diseases. HTLV can be transmitted sexually or through the blood, but it doesn't carry the same stigma as HIV.
Also, when researchers have tried to identify populations at risk for FMS & ME/CFS, they haven't identified a high prevalence in prostitutes, IV drug users, and others at high risk for HIV. (There could be several reasons for that, including under-diagnosis, but at this point we don't know of any link to those groups.)
If the XMRV link is confirmed, I'm certain that some people will wonder about infidelity when their significant other is diagnosed with it (as if we needed to add more strain to our relationships.) However, I don't see the general public associating these conditions with STDs in general, because it's coming to light in such a different way than HIV/AIDS. Maybe I'm overly optimistic, but I think XMRV could help lessen the stigma we already face.
Learn more or join the conversation!
NEWSLETTER | FORUM | BIO | TWITTER | FACEBOOK
Wednesday November 18, 2009
I've wanted to be a lot of things in my life, and chief among them was always "independent." I had achieved that, and had really proved it to myself when I got divorced 10 years ago -- I was able to move into my own place, quickly pay my way out from under a mountain of debt, and put my life back together largely on my own. After I re-married, I was proud of knowing that I was a capable person and would be able to fend for myself if need be. Fibromyalgia changed that for me, and that's been hard to accept.
First, I lost my ability to take care of myself, my children and my home. I simply couldn't do all of it, even on the best of days, and on some days I could hardly get myself in and out of the bathtub. Then I lost my financial independence, when I had to leave my job as a TV news producer. I've been fortunate enough to work from home and keep us from losing everything we've worked for, but if I were on my own tomorrow, I'd be in big trouble.
I'm also lucky to be confident in my marriage, so I don't fear losing my husbands support -- emotional or financial. But that doesn't mean I'm OK with being utterly dependent on him.
Chronic illness is a big blow to everything about your life and who you are, and it hits your pride especially hard. You have to face the fact that you can't do what you used to do, you can't be who you used to be, you can't overcome everything by just pushing harder. I've been coming to terms with this for 3.5 years now, and while I've made some strides it's still a struggle.
The first thing I had to do was to accept that this is now my reality: I'm sick, I might be sick forever, and I have limitations. Then, I had to start measuring things by my own yardstick, not someone else's. My house doesn't need to be clean enough for my mother -- it needs to be clean enough for me. Then, I had to shorten my yardstick (is there such as thing as a half-yardstick?) My former standards were destroying my life, so I had to lower them.
Does any of this get me closer to independence? Not really. What it has done, though, is to give me a new perspective on my accomplishments. When I get my house clean, by my revised standards, I feel more capable. When I can actually host a successful party, I feel really proud -- even though it takes me 3 weeks to prepare and 3 days of near-continuous sleep to recover. I still have goals, and I can still reach them. It feels good. Now I can say, "Look what I did, even though I'm sick!"
How has your loss of independence impacted you? What has helped you deal with that? Where are you in the process? Leave your comments below!
Learn more or join the conversation!
NEWSLETTER | FORUM | BIO | TWITTER | FACEBOOK
Photo © Stockbyte/Getty Images
Tuesday November 17, 2009
NEWSBRIEF: Could the answer to the risk of opiate addiction be another drug? The U.S. Department of Defense is willing to spend $1.2 million to find out -- it awarded a grant in that amount to a team of neuroscientists who plan to conduct an animal study to see if a drug called vigabatrin can cut the risk of opiate addiction while not diminishing pain relief.
The DOD is concerned about pain management because of the growing problem of under-treatment of pain from war-related injuries, both in active-duty personnel and veterans. In addition, opiate addiction is a growing problem both in the military and the U.S. population.
Because of the risk of addiction, doctors frequently prescribe only low doses of opiate drugs such as hydrocodone, oxycodone and morphine. Some doctors refuse to prescribe opiates at all, in spite of evidence showing they're the best at managing pain. Fibromyalgia patients frequently report being denied opiates.
Vigabatrin is an anti-seizure drug that's been shown to raise levels of the brain chemical GABA. This could be of special interest as a fibromyalgia treatment because some doctors believe people with the condition have low GABA levels. However, this isn't proven and current research does not support GABA for treating fibromyalgia.
This study will look specifically at vigabatrin and morphine. Researchers say previous data show vigabatrin can reduce the likelihood of abuse while not reducing the pain-killing effect. Learn more: U.S. Department of Defense Awards $1.2 Million to Study the Use of Vigabatrin to Reduce the Addictive Liability of Opiates
Learn more or join the conversation!
NEWSLETTER | FORUM | BIO | TWITTER | FACEBOOK
