Drugs to treat fibromyalgia just as likely to harm as help, review finds - ScienceDaily

Among fibromyalgia patients taking either of two commonly prescribed drugs to reduce pain, 22 percent report substantial improvement while 21 percent had to quit the regimen due to unpleasant side effects, according to a new review in The Cochrane Library. People with fibromyalgia suffer from chronic widespread pain, sleep problems and fatigue. The illness affects more than 5 million Americans, 80 percent of whom are women. The cause of fibromyalgia is unknown and currently there is no cure. Using a Quality of Life (QOL) scale for fibromyalgia, the studies reviewed reported QOL ratings lower than 15 on a scale of 0 to 100 even among patients on medications. The two medications often prescribed to treat fibromalgia are duloxetine, known by the brand name Cymbalta or milnacipran, commonly known as Savella. "A frank discussion between the physician and patient about the potential benefits and harms of both drugs should occur," noted the reviewers, led by Winfried Häuser, M.D. of Technische Universität München. The authors reviewed 10 high-quality studies comprising more than 6,000 adults who received either duloxetine, milnacipran, or a placebo for up to six months. A substantial majority of study participants were middle-aged, white women. "This is a very important study," says Fred Wolfe, M.D. of the National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases. "There's an enormous amount of advertising suggesting that these drugs really help, wher...
Source: Psychology of Pain - Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Source Type: blogs