Antibiotics/Fibromyalgia

ohmeowzer RN, RN · Jan 10, 2008

i can't give medical advice but i have fibromyalgia and i have never heard of it caused by anitboics.. i would check w/ my PCP.. good luck

dld, ASN, RN · Jan 13, 2008

Medications that have been associated with bringing on fibromyalgia are steroids. Illnesses, trauma, infections and stressful events have also been associated with the start of fibromyalgia. I don't think you will ever be able to pin FM soley on vanco. I have FM, and I associated it with the birth of my son. The good news is that with medical and lifestyle management, you can get your FM under control.

ohmeowzer RN, RN · Jan 14, 2008

Medications that have been associated with bringing on fibromyalgia are steroids. Illnesses, trauma, infections and stressful events have also been associated with the start of fibromyalgia. I don't think you will ever be able to pin FM soley on vanco. I have FM, and I associated it with the birth of my son. The good news is that with medical and lifestyle management, you can get your FM under control.

wow that's interesting.. i was very ill as a child from being bitten by a tick.. i was bed ridden for 6 mos.. i wonder if this brought on my fibromyalgia... thank you for the post... any other information anyone has would be interesting

zumalong · Jan 16, 2008

Who knows??? I have been on so many abx that it makes my head spin (and my finances aren't too happy either). I have also been on prenisone off and on for 20 years. I know have fibromyalgia, severe arthritis, and ? rheumatoid arthritis. As we see more of these MRSA infections, I am sure people will develop more autoimmune diseases.

anangelsmommy, ADN, BSN, RN · Feb 1, 2008

I contracted an e. coli infection from a pain injection for my sciatica. After completing a few months on IV antibiotics and changing to oral Levaquin i started having HORRIBLE pain all over. changed atb twice with no avail. i now am dx with fibromyalgia also. I am taking lyrica and a muscle relaxant at night and feeling better. I have days where i dont want to get off the couch and a few where i have slept the day away- not sure if that is a build up of meds plus the fact i dont sleep- my son passed away just about the time this all started also and they say that traumatic events, infection etc can trigger it. I have seen rheumatologist, joint surgeon, pain doc and infectious disease. They all have a different theory as to what has caused my all over body pain. My mom has told me tho that a friend had it and was told it was caused by the atb and is now cured. I am taking all kinds of holistic remedies and acidopholus in hopes it will help and now that i am off the atb all together (after 9mnths!) i am also hoping to get a script for antifungal to see if that helps further.

hope this helps,

jp

dld, ASN, RN · Feb 2, 2008

Hi everyone, this is interesting, I have never heard of FM caused by antibiotics. I have gone to many cme seminars on FM, and I think is more likely the infection is causing the problem than the antibiotics, but I guess it would warrant further research. There is good info on NFA's website. Prednisone is contraindicated in FM because it upsets the h-p axis in the brain, and will make the fibro worse, but if it is needed for other reasons, you just have to weigh the benefits of taking it.

This is the same reason that stressful events can bring on FM., even good stressful events. Now they are still trying to pinpoint the causes of FM. The body shows differences in quality of sleep in a sleep test, decreased serotonin, norephinephrine, and increased substance P in the cerebral spinal fluid. Maybe they will also find microbes are also involved. There is really alot of new research on the horizon of course, and a potential of new drugs for treatment. For me mild exercise and really working at pacing my activities has helped tremendously, along with really listening to my body. When I start to hurt more, get forgetful, and can't sleep, I know I better take the day off. This is the one of the hardest things. It is a delicate balance.

ryerye · Feb 2, 2008

in my opinion... excess antibiotics can cause superinfection, and with a totally clueless etiology of how your fm had arised, yours could be a rare case of superinfection that had attacked your muscles thereby causing fm...

anangelsmommy, ADN, BSN, RN · Feb 3, 2008

in my opinion... excess antibiotics can cause superinfection, and with a totally clueless etiology of how your fm had arised, yours could be a rare case of superinfection that had attacked your muscles thereby causing fm...

it was unclear who you were responding too? if it was me (e. coli infection) it is very clear how and what i am infected with. i had a pain injection for back pain and i contracted e. coli in my sacroiliac joint that spread and of course i have bone pain throughout my hip / low back and thigh area. then i started getting the overall pains a few months after being treated with antibiotics....the thing that is confusing is that i started finally feeling better after 1 1/2 years (they didnt find my infection for over 9 months) and i started taking way less pain meds and that is when i started feeling these horrific pains. it was right when i started taking levaquin and after reading on the internet of similar reactions, the dr switched my antibiotics. so could levaquin have triggered the pain? could i have had the pain a while and not felt it due to the pain meds? or could the combination of infection and the sudden death of my child triggered it?

i know that i have had constant muscle pain my whole life, i welcomed it in fact because i was a body builder for years and it meant i had done a great work out. but this went beyond the norm. could it be that suddenly i was just feeling things differently- that seems to be one theory and of course the sleep issue also makes a lot of sense. i couldnt sleep one hour after my son died. i had to take sleeping pills to go to sleep but hated the thought of doing that so i just watched tv all night and then drank coffee to be awake enough to function.

i have taken huge steps to improve my sleep- muscle relaxant and melatonin, 5htp and sometimes if i know i cannot sleep or need more, i take a sleeping pill.

i also have been feeling better and suddenly realized that the best days i have now are when i exercise. i do seem to need more days off, i have a day every week or so where i nap- which i never used to - or just cannot move off the couch all day.

i hope this improves as i am unsure how this will effect me in my clinical next year.

jp

ryerye · Feb 3, 2008

it was unclear who you were responding too? if it was me (e. coli infection) it is very clear how and what i am infected with. i had a pain injection for back pain and i contracted e. coli in my sacroiliac joint that spread and of course i have bone pain throughout my hip / low back and thigh area. then i started getting the overall pains a few months after being treated with antibiotics....the thing that is confusing is that i started finally feeling better after 1 1/2 years (they didnt find my infection for over 9 months) and i started taking way less pain meds and that is when i started feeling these horrific pains. it was right when i started taking levaquin and after reading on the internet of similar reactions, the dr switched my antibiotics. so could levaquin have triggered the pain? could i have had the pain a while and not felt it due to the pain meds? or could the combination of infection and the sudden death of my child triggered it?
feeling pain when there is no infection to support the findings could be attributable to a conversion disorder... in psychiatric nursing, any form of chronic stress where a person cannot handle well may be displaced physically, producing symptoms that lack medical evidences... it's all about your stress level... work on your stress to drive that symptoms away... conversion disorder can be resolved once the precipitating factors have been worked out...

i know that i have had constant muscle pain my whole life, i welcomed it in fact because i was a body builder for years and it meant i had done a great work out. but this went beyond the norm. could it be that suddenly i was just feeling things differently- that seems to be one theory and of course the sleep issue also makes a lot of sense. i couldnt sleep one hour after my son died. i had to take sleeping pills to go to sleep but hated the thought of doing that so i just watched tv all night and then drank coffee to be awake enough to function.
i have taken huge steps to improve my sleep- muscle relaxant and melatonin, 5htp and sometimes if i know i cannot sleep or need more, i take a sleeping pill.
i also have been feeling better and suddenly realized that the best days i have now are when i exercise. i do seem to need more days off, i have a day every week or so where i nap- which i never used to - or just cannot move off the couch all day.
i hope this improves as i am unsure how this will effect me in my clinical next year.
jp

hope your situation gets better...

mizfradd, CNA · Feb 3, 2008

wow that's interesting.. i was very ill as a child from being bitten by a tick.. i was bed ridden for 6 mos.. i wonder if this brought on my fibromyalgia... thank you for the post... any other information anyone has would be interesting

Perhaps this info. may help since antibody titers have been proven to circulate up and down in active lyme for at least 20 years.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/LymeCryme/index.html

which is located at: http://www.lymecryme.com

steelcityrn, RN · Feb 3, 2008

I just had a patient who was on iv atb tx and developed what they dx as myalgia, that seems very close to being F.M. Her atb tx was changed, but she continues to have joint pain, musle aches and stiffness.