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Fibromyalgia and pregnancy
Last year, after a bout of “flu” I was left with, among other things, aching limbs, extreme fatigue and depression. After a very long nine months of not knowing what was wrong with me, I have now been diagnosed as having fibromyalgia. I am taking anti-inflammatories and Prozac - which are not helping much. We are hoping I can find the energy to try for another baby soon (I am 33) but it’s hard to find out anything about my condition or what I can take through pregnancy and breastfeeding.
Fibromyalgia, as you have found, is a poorly understood condition which does not respond well to conventional treatment and so many sufferers turn in desperation to complementary treatments. It is the second-most common muscular complaint after osteoarthritis, affects more women than men (some 80% of sufferers are female) and, typically, develops out of the blue in the late forties.
Dr George Lewis, a GP who set up the Centre for the Study of Complementary Medicine in Southampton says there is though a very real risk you may still not have the right diagnosis for your condition. The symptoms you describe suggest you may be suffering from ME or a post-viral Chronic Fatigue, and so he recommends further tests to make sure you know exactly what you are dealing with. If, as your own doctor suspects, it turns out to be fibromyalgia, you should be encouraged by the results of several randomised and controlled clinical trials which show just how effective complementary medicine, especially homeopathy, can be. The most frequently prescribed homeopathic remedy for fibromyalgia is Rhus tox which in controlled clinical trials has performed well compared with a placebo remedy.
There is, says Dr Lewis, strong evidence that acupuncture will help with your muscular pain, whether your condition is fibromyalgia or ME. He also suggests you ask for an assessment of the levels of magnesium in your red blood cells. These are often very low in both ME and Chronic Fatigue and can easily be supplemented, by intra-muscular injection under medical supervision if necessary.
If you are getting some benefits from the Prozac, then Dr Lewis suggests you keep taking it for a limited period of 3-4 months. There is no hard evidence that it can help with fibromyalgia but some, as yet unproven suggestion that it may help with chronic fatigue. Obviously, it would be sensible to postpone your next pregnancy until you are no longer taking this antidepressant.
*The Centre for the Study of Complementary medicine is on 01703-334752.