My Daily Medication Intake
To combat the pain and issues from my Fibromyalgia, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Costochondritis, and Sjögren’s syndrome, I take the following medications daily.
Gabapentin – this really helps with general joint pain, the best way I can describe this is that your hands and feet (mostly) are getting squeezed in a vise. Gabapentin and compression gloves and socks help greatly with this.
Humira – This is a weekly injection that helps to slow down and combat the issues caused by my Rheumatoid Arthritis. This is not a cure as there isn’t a cure for RA.
Seroquel -This is for sleep and without it, I just don’t sleep well. With it, I can get 6-8 hours and without it, sadly I can only seem to get 1-2 hours.
Propranolol Hydrochloride – this is actually for something unrelated to my autoimmune disorders. I take this for Premature ventricular contractions (PVC), which seems to really disturb my sleep at times before I was prescribed this medication.
Tramadol – This is for pain caused by my costochondritis, which is the worst pain I have ever experienced in my life. I have had pains that come and go that are worse, but this is always there and never goes away. It just gets worse, but never less.
Omeprazole – This is for my acid reflux, which is a symptom of some of my autoimmune disorders.
Aspirin (81mg) – Well, I’m over 50, and every cardiologist in the world wants you to take this to reduce your risk of heart attacks. I don’t need that shit, so I take a little yellow pill.
Pilocarpine – This really helps me with the super dry mouth and eyes caused by the Sjögren’s. Prior to being prescribed Pilocarpine, it would be like I was chewing flour all day long and the dry eyes were really rough.
For days when the costochondritis pain is too much, I have been prescribed Hydrocodone as well. Most days, I don’t need it, but when it really ramps up, it is the only thing keeping me from going nuts from the intense pain all day long. You have no idea how much of your body connects to your upper torso.
I also have been prescribed Prednisone for my fibro flare-ups which do help me keep the flare-ups to a dull roar. But, I’m really still trying to figure that all out, when to take it, and how to make it the most effective it can be.
For those that don’t understand what a flare-up is, all autoimmune diseases seem to have random periods where the symptoms just seem to get worse. This can last for a day or two or longer. They are often totally random, but some outside elements like weather and stress can also trigger a flare. For fibro flare-ups, prednisone does help to some extent, as I stated earlier.
Most of the meds are to combat pain or a specific symptom. There are no medications for things like fatigue and brain fog which you just need to learn to combat on your own.
