Drugs for Fibromyalgia & ME/CFS - The Cart Before the Horse?

[Guest guest]

several links here - go to url to access them.

 

Drugs for Fibromyalgia & ME/CFS - The Cart Before the Horse?

http://chronicfatigue.about.com/b/2008/02/11/drugs-for-fibromyalgia-mecfs-the-cart-before-the-horse.htm

Monday February 11, 2008

 

We don't know what causes fibromyalgia (FMS) or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS or ME/CFS.)We don't know why some people get them while others in the same situation do not.We don't have reliable diagnostic tests and some experts admit that a lot of us are probably diagnosed with one condition when we actually have the other (or both.) So does it seem a little odd that the FDA and pharmaceutical companies are working to approve drugs for these conditions? Don't get me wrong - I'm all for finding something that helps - but have you seen the potential side-effects list for Lyrica (already approved for FMS)? Cymbalta and milnacipran (awaiting approval for FMS)? Ampligen (awaiting approval for CFS)? Some of them frightening (increased risk of suicide for the first three) or oddly similar to the conditions they're supposed to treat (Ampligen can cause flu-like symptoms and fatigue. Hmm.) Consider this - Cymbalta (duloxetine) and milnacipran both boost serotonin levels in the brain, and it's generally believed that Lyrica (pregabalin) does as well (no one knows for sure.) If you're misdiagnosed with FMS and you really have CFS, you might already have high serotonin levels. That means the "treatment" would put you at risk of serotonin syndrome, which can cause things like hallucinations, rapid heart beat and even death. While doctors can't test you for FMS, they can check your serotonin level with a simple blood test - but I've never seen or heard of a recommendation that they do test it before prescribing these drugs. What do you think - are we putting the cart before the horse? Should the focus instead be on diagnostic tests? Are some doctors happy to give us drugs since they're helpless to do much else? Is it worth the risk to get some relief? Is drug-company research helping us better understand these conditions?

[Guest guest]

-

> What do you think - are we putting the cart before the horse? Should

the

> focus instead be on diagnostic tests? Are some doctors happy to give

us drugs

> since they're helpless to do much else? Is it worth the risk to get

some relief?

> Is drug-company research helping us better understand these

conditions?

 

 

I think you have hit the nail on the head with your statement

about doctors prescribing " whatever " just to do something. Diagnostic

testing might be a step in the right direction. As for drug company

research; from the reading I've done, their first concern is to find

another drug to sell as opposed to helping understand conditions.

Just my 2 cents worth.