I know I haven’t been posting much lately, but I have been incredibly busy. One of the reasons I’ve been so busy is because the drug I’m taking for the fibromyalgia has been so incredibly effective (milnacipran, look it up). And incredible isn’t an understatement. It’s a wonder drug….honestly, it is. I have so much more energy, and so much less pain. Before I started on this clinical trial, I pretty much went to work and went home and vegged. I had no energy for anything else and even just going grocery shopping over the weekend could mean that I didn’t make it through the whole work week the next week.

So, I was at my regular appointment with my study coordinator today, and she mentioned that they are still looking for participants for the clinical trial. I would have mentioned this here before, but I was erroneously under the assumption that the trial had closed to new participants…but it turned out that was just the double-blind portion of the trial. The current trial is a 3 year open label trial. You get study medications for free and they pay you for each study visit you make. There are study centers across the country, so you don’t have to live in a particular geographical region. So, if you have fibromyalgia and are interested in participating in this study, go to http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct/show/NCT00314249?order=14 to get more information.

Seriously, folks, we’re talking serious wonder drug.

A couple of caveat’s….be aware that you will have to wash off of all pain meds (except over the counter) and all antidepressants for two weeks prior to starting the trial. That’s one of the main reasons they are having trouble finding participants. Not many people want to go off of their drugs, which I understand entirely. You have to decide if the possibility of future improvement is worth the month or so of increased pain and fatigue until the new drug kicks in. If you’re able to do it, though, I do highly recommend trying to qualify for the trial. The more people they can get for the trial, the sooner it gets approved by the FDA and the sooner the medication becomes widely available to folks with FMS throughout the country.

If you don’t have FMS but know someone with it, forward the link to them

That is all. You may continue with your daily web-browsing.