Lyrica (pregabalin) is a very controversial medication in some areas. For example, it’s used for many people who have fibromyalgia (More positive Lyrica news for fibromyalgia ), but it seems to have caused serious side effects in some of the people who have taken it. It’s controversial because many people feel that it does more harm than good. That being said, it’s also helping an awful lot of people. Its labeled use allows doctors to prescribe it for neuropathic pain (nerve pain), which is very difficult to treat, most often caused as a complication of diabetes or shingles (post …read more

I haven’t seen this but I don’t watch a lot of TV, so that’s not surprising. According to the Pharma Marketing Blog, Pfizer has come up with a new way to try to sell more Lyrica. An ad comparing fibromyalgia with being battered.
I really don’t know what to think about this. Read the blog entry, Battered Woman Imagery in Pfizer’s New Fibromyalgia Ad, and tell us what you think? Is this a good approach? Or just another way to try and sell the Lyrica that is targeted for the fibro market?
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As the debate among people who live with fibromyalgia, as well as the medical community, continues as to whether fibromyalgia is a true disease and whether Lyrica (pregabalin) is helpful (or harmful) therapy, another story has been published about its benefits in treatment regardless of depression or anxiety.
It’s difficult enough to find treatments for diseases that are undeniably present, it must be incredibly difficult to find treatments for diseases and disorders that don’t have that benefit. Another illness that falls into this category is chronic fatigue syndrome, or CFS.
If you want to read the article, you can find it here: …read more

 
This week, we speak with a retired surgeon from the mid-west USA.
 
Can you tell me about when you first started experiencing the pain and what kind of pain it was? What were you told?
I started having arm pain around five years before I had to retire. At first I thought it was just a pulled tendon or a bruise. It felt like my elbow and hand were being crushed, or sometimes like a fire breathing rat was gnawing on my bones. Sometimes it feels like I’m being crucified. It would …read more

Each Monday, I’ll be featuring someone who is living with or has lived with pain. I hope that their stories will help others find hope and, maybe, learn from each other. If you have a story to share, please email me and we can talk about it.
Our first guest is GT from Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Can you tell me about when you first started experiencing the pain and what kind of pain it was?
I started to have excruciating neck and head pain a few years ago after an attack of ADEM. Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is a neurological disorder characterized …read more