Widespread pain is the main symptom that fibromyalgia patients suffer with the syndrome. In fact, the way to diagnose the syndrome is by two tests. The first is whether the patient experiences pain in all four quadrants of the body. If that is the case, the second is whether the patient has eleven of the eighteen tender points that fibromyalgia sufferers have in their bodies. During the course of the syndrome, the pain experienced in the different quadrants can be quite mild to severe, seeming to ebb and flow without apparent cause. Fibromyalgia pain medication is designed to treat this pain at the different levels experienced by the fibromyalgia patients.
Mild Pain
The best medication for fibromyalgia at a mild pain level is over the counter pain medication. Even though over the counter medications are not specifically made as fibromyalgia pain medication, most will still treat the pain experienced from the syndrome. Ibuprofen will combat the pain, but the anti-inflammatory effect of this type of pain medication does not do anything extra to help with the symptoms, since the syndrome does not cause inflammation like arthritis sufferers experience. Over the counter medication is a good choice in mild fibromyalgia pain medication since it is less expensive than the other prescription medications, and it usually effectively treats mild pain.
Moderate Pain
Fibromyalgia pain medication for moderate fibromyalgia pain sufferers is usually injections of anesthesia into the muscles that are the most deeply affected by pain. Brain mapping is often used to pinpoint the worst areas, so that the treatment can be as effective as possible. Although the injection itself is painful, the anesthetic does produce a more effective relief from moderate pain than over the counter medications do, and also a more lasting effect, since they do not have to be given every few hours, but rather weeks. The down side is that the injections are more expensive than over the counter medication and are not always covered by insurance.
Severe Pain
Analgesics are the main fibromyalgia pain medications on the market today. This type of pain medication is usually used as a last resort when other treatments have not worked. The reason is that they are narcotics, which always have the possibility for addiction which raises a whole other set of problems. They are also usually prescribed in addition to acetaminophen, so in addition to the high cost of the analgesic, there is the additional cost of acetaminophen as well.