Fibromyalgia geriatric .. any success stories or advice? (pain, ankle, constant pain)
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Can someone out there tell me how you manage the pain?What things did you try? Did you find out you did not have fibro and it was something else treatable?
My 85 year old friend is in constant pain. It will be in her shoulders, her arms, knees, ankles, head and neck. back.. you name it. The worst of her daily pain will centralize in any part of her body the disease decides to attack at that time. Currently she takes morphine pills, gabapentin, and lyrica. She supplements it with Tylenol X-S.
She has suffered this for years and doctors mistake her irritability for a flawed personality. Even her family does not want to take care of her anymore because of her complaining and her tendency to refuse trying "something different" to help her.
All she wants is someone to listen to her and react kindly and soothingly toward her then help her find some relief. Once one learns what she actually needs and treats her as such she becomes calmer and can a actually joke around a bit.
She has taken CBD oil and says it costs too much (which it does) and told me it seemed to help for a couple days of taking it but then it kinda wore off she said. She also told me she has heard that some CBD oil on the market has been diluted too much and that makes her less likely to reconsider it as a treatment. I am trying to find out if her senior's health insurance will cover the oil for her.
We cannot forget that this lady has tried everything she could get her hands on to alleve her pain over the years. She is now even entertaining a fentanyl patch.
She has physio once a week now and the therapist visits her in her senior's apt. She does a bit of exercise but she hurts afterward and it just exacerbates her pain. Sitting completely still helps.
I see her every mealtime in the seniors home we both live in for the past 4 years. She is the same age as my mother. However her pain has gotten so bad she cannot come down for meals anymore and they are delivered to her by kitchen staff. I cannot go to her aid because the landlord's policy will not program my smart card to allow me access to her floor (20 story building).
It is very alarming to watch her become so frail and be continually tortured by her pain.
Hot tubs help quite a bit (if she has access to one with a lift). A large therapeutic heating pad (one prescribed by a Dr.) can also help. Perhaps a TENS, if she has someone who can help to place and remove the pads.
Go back 30 or 40 yr, and the term Fibromyalgia was used to describe a condition seen usually in older women who developed painful stiffness in the neck & shoulders, and was often associated with Giant Cell Arteritis, and could be treated with steroids, like prednisone.
Somewhere along the line, the term came to be used to describe people who have an abnormal pain response. Normally a pain stimulus elicits a message to the brain, which receives it and responds appropriately, including a message back to the pain receptor to turn it off....That fails in those with FM and, like feedback from a microphone too close to the speaker, the pain message gets louder and louder.
The chemicals in the nervous system involved with pain messages are the same ones involved with anxiety, depression and sleep regulation...so, people with FM often show problems with those things too. It would be easy just to say the pain is making them goofy, but it's more complicated than that.
At any rate, most pts with FM need to be on some combination of analgesics, tranquillizers, antidepressants &/or other neuroleptics (like Neurontin, Lyrica, even Dilantin can be tried). It's all trial and error. There's no magic formula that can be followed. ...It's a particularly bad problem in the elderly because so many of the drugs used have magnified side effects in the older age group.
A little sympathy & understanding can go a long way. These pts have probably been told "it's all in your head" more than they deserve.
Can someone out there tell me how you manage the pain?What things did you try? Did you find out you did not have fibro and it was something else treatable?
My 85 year old friend is in constant pain. It will be in her shoulders, her arms, knees, ankles, head and neck. back.. you name it. The worst of her daily pain will centralize in any part of her body the disease decides to attack at that time. Currently she takes morphine pills, gabapentin, and lyrica. She supplements it with Tylenol X-S.
She has suffered this for years and doctors mistake her irritability for a flawed personality. Even her family does not want to take care of her anymore because of her complaining and her tendency to refuse trying "something different" to help her.
All she wants is someone to listen to her and react kindly and soothingly toward her then help her find some relief. Once one learns what she actually needs and treats her as such she becomes calmer and can a actually joke around a bit.
She has taken CBD oil and says it costs too much (which it does) and told me it seemed to help for a couple days of taking it but then it kinda wore off she said. She also told me she has heard that some CBD oil on the market has been diluted too much and that makes her less likely to reconsider it as a treatment. I am trying to find out if her senior's health insurance will cover the oil for her.
We cannot forget that this lady has tried everything she could get her hands on to alleve her pain over the years. She is now even entertaining a fentanyl patch.
She has physio once a week now and the therapist visits her in her senior's apt. She does a bit of exercise but she hurts afterward and it just exacerbates her pain. Sitting completely still helps.
I see her every mealtime in the seniors home we both live in for the past 4 years. She is the same age as my mother. However her pain has gotten so bad she cannot come down for meals anymore and they are delivered to her by kitchen staff. I cannot go to her aid because the landlord's policy will not program my smart card to allow me access to her floor (20 story building).
It is very alarming to watch her become so frail and be continually tortured by her pain.
Can someone out there tell me how you manage the pain?What things did you try? Did you find out you did not have fibro and it was something else treatable?
My 85 year old friend is in constant pain. It will be in her shoulders, her arms, knees, ankles, head and neck. back.. you name it. The worst of her daily pain will centralize in any part of her body the disease decides to attack at that time. Currently she takes morphine pills, gabapentin, and lyrica. She supplements it with Tylenol X-S.
She has suffered this for years and doctors mistake her irritability for a flawed personality. Even her family does not want to take care of her anymore because of her complaining and her tendency to refuse trying "something different" to help her.
All she wants is someone to listen to her and react kindly and soothingly toward her then help her find some relief. Once one learns what she actually needs and treats her as such she becomes calmer and can a actually joke around a bit.
She has taken CBD oil and says it costs too much (which it does) and told me it seemed to help for a couple days of taking it but then it kinda wore off she said. She also told me she has heard that some CBD oil on the market has been diluted too much and that makes her less likely to reconsider it as a treatment. I am trying to find out if her senior's health insurance will cover the oil for her.
We cannot forget that this lady has tried everything she could get her hands on to alleve her pain over the years. She is now even entertaining a fentanyl patch.
She has physio once a week now and the therapist visits her in her senior's apt. She does a bit of exercise but she hurts afterward and it just exacerbates her pain. Sitting completely still helps.
I see her every mealtime in the seniors home we both live in for the past 4 years. She is the same age as my mother. However her pain has gotten so bad she cannot come down for meals anymore and they are delivered to her by kitchen staff. I cannot go to her aid because the landlord's policy will not program my smart card to allow me access to her floor (20 story building).
It is very alarming to watch her become so frail and be continually tortured by her pain.
Does your 85 yr old friend want to try CBD patches? I'm 67 and though I do not suffer from Fibromyalgia I do live with chronic pain and need a 10-level spinal fusion which will NEVER happen as I have severe Osteoporosis from 28 yrs of weightloss surgery. My sciatica was so awful and constant I could not stand at my kitchen sink and wash out a few dishes without being in excruciating pain. My life the past year was one of going from the bed to the sofa, maybe a weekly trip to the grocery store and back to the bed or sofa. I kept seeing ads for CBD pain patches and didn't believe they would ever work for nerve pain but I also am a RN and know if I don't USE it I'm gonna LOSE it, so I tried the CBD patches. They are waterproof and stay on well. I am still shocked & awed to say that work VERY WELL for me and I now get them in a 5-pack every month for $64. It is worth every cent to have my life back. After my first 24 hours wearing the patch I went out and, using a chair for the lower parts, washed my pick up truck that I had not washed in a year. It took me 2 days, or about 6 hrs, but I DID it and I have not looked back since. My son even came to me and asked WHAT had happened to me? I can garden again, and I am working at being able to walk my usual 10,000 steps a day again soon. Right now I don't push it but in 1000 step increments but I am a believer in CBD now. The ones I use last 96 hours but I wear them 7-8 days til my back starts hurting more than not again. I cannot say IF they would work for your friend or not but I will never be without them.
Fibromyalgia is poorly understood. I had it once and this woman is not exaggerating. The only way to remain pain free is to stay perfectly still because if you use your muscles, you'll pay for it later.
I think it has something to do with amino acids/malabsorption of protein. I cured mine by taking an amino acid but I just got lucky. My fibro dr recommended 20 minutes of aerobic exercise every single day. He was a specialist. The best way for me to get the exercise was in a heated PT swimming pool. It did cure the fibro but years later I got it back again.
Probably this woman doesn't have daily access to PT but if she did, the 20 minute easy aerobic routine does work and that's what was recommended by a Boston specialist.
While I had the fibro, it was extremely limiting as far as what I could do. I can understand why this woman can't even go for her lunch. If she could get easy PT EVERY SINGLE DAY, she might get rid of it entirely though. Simple stretching, moving, even doing the exercises lying down. It only took me a few weeks before it worked.
Otherwise, all I can think of is Arnica gel. It comes in a tube and if I have muscle pain, I rub some in. I feel sorry for this woman because she is being misunderstood and she is suffering so much. Fibro is NOT depression or anything like that. As I said, I think it has something to do with amino acids but you won't find a dr who has figured out that angle. I wish her good luck.
That's an article that may shed some light. I just googled amino acids fibromyalgia and was surprised that many do think there's an amino acid deficiency. Oh well, it doesn't really help to know that because in my case, I just got lucky. I had my amino acid levels tested and they were fine, so apparently I just lack the ability to convert them to whatever is needed to rebuild the muscle.
Anyway, the article does make some suggestions of other things she could try.
Fibromyalgia is poorly understood. I had it once and this woman is not exaggerating. The only way to remain pain free is to stay perfectly still because if you use your muscles, you'll pay for it later.
I think it has something to do with amino acids/malabsorption of protein. I cured mine by taking an amino acid but I just got lucky. My fibro dr recommended 20 minutes of aerobic exercise every single day. He was a specialist. The best way for me to get the exercise was in a heated PT swimming pool. It did cure the fibro but years later I got it back again.
Probably this woman doesn't have daily access to PT but if she did, the 20 minute easy aerobic routine does work and that's what was recommended by a Boston specialist.
While I had the fibro, it was extremely limiting as far as what I could do. I can understand why this woman can't even go for her lunch. If she could get easy PT EVERY SINGLE DAY, she might get rid of it entirely though. Simple stretching, moving, even doing the exercises lying down. It only took me a few weeks before it worked.
Otherwise, all I can think of is Arnica gel. It comes in a tube and if I have muscle pain, I rub some in. I feel sorry for this woman because she is being misunderstood and she is suffering so much. Fibro is NOT depression or anything like that. As I said, I think it has something to do with amino acids but you won't find a dr who has figured out that angle. I wish her good luck.
melanie
Thanks for the suggestion to try TENS. I had not looked into it. I just now googled it and found that you can rent them somewhere so she can try it out before she invests in one.
thanks kitty61
Fibromyalgia is poorly understood. I had it once and this woman is not exaggerating. The only way to remain pain free is to stay perfectly still because if you use your muscles, you'll pay for it later.
I think it has something to do with amino acids/malabsorption of protein. I cured mine by taking an amino acid but I just got lucky. My fibro dr recommended 20 minutes of aerobic exercise every single day. He was a specialist. The best way for me to get the exercise was in a heated PT swimming pool. It did cure the fibro but years later I got it back again.
Probably this woman doesn't have daily access to PT but if she did, the 20 minute easy aerobic routine does work and that's what was recommended by a Boston specialist.
While I had the fibro, it was extremely limiting as far as what I could do. I can understand why this woman can't even go for her lunch. If she could get easy PT EVERY SINGLE DAY, she might get rid of it entirely though. Simple stretching, moving, even doing the exercises lying down. It only took me a few weeks before it worked.
Otherwise, all I can think of is Arnica gel. It comes in a tube and if I have muscle pain, I rub some in. I feel sorry for this woman because she is being misunderstood and she is suffering so much. Fibro is NOT depression or anything like that. As I said, I think it has something to do with amino acids but you won't find a dr who has figured out that angle. I wish her good luck.
Hi "in new england"
I had thought of the hot tub but she is pretty hard to pursuade to go anywhere. However I will show her your post and let her think about it a bit. Maybe she will try it after she reads your message.
Thanks very much
kitty61
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