When it comes to fibromyalgia, I probably am willing to try any procedure atleast once to see if there’s a chance it will help. Last week, I saw an article pop up on one of the fibromyalgia support pages I belong to on Facebook and I instantly found myself digging in.
Patients with fibromyalgia resistant to more routine therapies have a new pain relief treatment available, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2013 annual meeting. Intravenous (IV) lidocaine infusion provided significant pain relief to fibromyalgia patients, although the pain relief was much less for African-Americans and smokers.
Fibromyalgia is one of the most common chronic pain conditions. The disorder affects an estimated 10 million people in the United States and an estimated three to six percent of the world population. Women account for 80 to 90 percent of those with the condition. Fibromyalgia is a central nervous system disorder characterized by widespread pain throughout the body as well as a heightened, painful response to pressure. Additional symptoms include fatigue, sleep disorders and joint stiffness.
“Fibromyalgia is a truly debilitating disease that can have a severe impact on quality of life,” said Billy K. Huh, M.D., Ph.D., professor and medical director of the Department of Pain Medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, and adjunct professor of the Department of Anesthesiology at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C.
The study was a retrospective review of 55 fibromyalgia patients whose pain did not respond to more conservative treatments. Statistics were collected for sex, race, body weight, pain duration, pain relief duration after lidocaine infusion, and scores on the brief pain inventory scale, visual analog scale and pain interference scale before and after the infusion.
IV Lidocaine provides Significant Pain Relief to Fibromyalgia Patients.
Um….excuse me….WHERE CAN I SIGN UP???
Maybe I’m a looney tune, maybe I’m desperate but in reality, it makes sense. Allowing lidocaine to follow through your body would reach muscles, bone, etc. With the fluctuations that are fibromyalgia, the simplicity of lidocaine seems like it would make sense.
Have you heard of this treatment for fibromyalgia? What are your thoughts? I’m really hoping to bring this information to my primary care and pain management to hopefully create a new game plan. Right now, what we are doing just isn’t working so if we need to try something completely new and off the wall, well, wouldn’t you?
