Tramadol is also what I take. I try to keep off of it as much as possible because it makes me sleepy. The trick is not to let the pain get too bad before acting. I am an RN in the ICU. I tell my patients to let me know when their pain reaches about a 4 on a scale of 1-10. If you wait until the pain is at 6 or 7 it will take twice as much medication and twice as long to get the pain under control. Acting early will keep you on an even keel and keep you from getting to that unbearable level of pain that no one wants.

I am not a doctor or a medically trained person. I used to have terrible migraines. I read about biofeedback. Here is what I practice....I clear my mind and concentrate on the area of my body where I have pain. Say it is my feet. I focus on my toes and ask them to relax. Then the arch of my foot, then my ankles. I do the same slowly with my fingers and hands or knees. I know it truly helped me. Laugh, scoff, but think about this....how do you open your hand to pick something up, or close your fingers around what you want to hold? How do you stand up, take a step. You hardly think about it, but your brain, your mind, controls and performs all those actions based on your silent, mental command. Let me tell you that I have had terrible pain and I have looked for anything that might help. What does a massage do? It focuses on a specific spot and it can hurt while it is manipulated. You might react to the increased pain. You might take a deep breath and think....if I could just relax, it wouldn't hurt so much. Just a thought.

I'm glad to hear about your remission didn't know about that. took methotrexate about a year and had to stop due to internal fungal infection. Went to my reumotoligist today said my pain was osteo arthritus and the fibro was in control, and RA in remission. I am taking celebrex for flair ups and Voltaren gel and biofreeze. I try not to take tram Adil as it keeps me from sleeping. Kinda hypers me up. I do take clonzapam at nite it helps me sleep and has greatly helped my fibro. Also doing tumeric and cherry tablets. Adding ginger to tea and coffee.

I have very severe RA. I only use pot for pain.