And for the rest of you that keep taking yourself off of your medications....I beg you PLEASE DO NOT DO IT WITHOUT YOUR MD's ORDERS!!!! None of these medications are to mess around with et I understand that you do not like the side effects etc but it takes weeks to be weaned off properly, et these meds effect many diff. organs esp. your brain. You all have enough issues with fibro you do not need anymore:( God bless, many hugs to you all et love sent to all of you:)

I dont think that the meds themselves make the fibro worse over time. I think using the meds to completely block the 'stop or you are going to hurt" causes people to have more pain and difficulties because they do more than they should. You still have to know your limits....that crooked gray line that moves every time you blink. If the meds are used in the correct manner and are prescribed by someone who is familiar with fibro and not someone taking suggestions from multiple sources, I think they make fibro better. In my experience, fibro only gets worse as time goes on. Its like aging, not much you can do to stop that. You may can slow it down (meditating is very important for this - self awareness) but nothing is going to stop it.

Another factor I'm wondering is, does medication allow us to do more than we should be doing? Pain is there to tell you something. Maybe it prevents us from listening to the message, hence more pain.

I seldom take pain med. when it wears off, i'm in pain again of course. I just never had it hurt worse.

I totally agree with you Julie. I hate it not to feel in control of myself and because I work in a Finance dept, I can't take medicine and still have a clear mind and brain