Question
I am a 44 yr old female and after a minor auto acc 12/27/05, I started to have severe pain in neck. Over the course of 4 more months, I then proceeded to have pain in feet, legs, knees, hips, elbows, shoulders & hands. It has been a year now and I have had several test and most were test of elimination. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, sleep study test diagnosed sleep depreviation, chronic fatigue, Major depression and chronic pain in all area's of my body. I also have sm herniated disc with syatic nerve. I have been taking 2 percacets everyday for 1 yr now. If I don't take the drug, I can barely get out of bed as every bone in my body is stiff and hurts. Although a blood test for Arthritis was negative, I was just recently diagnosed with arthritis in both of my feet. Do you think that it is possible that I have Arthritis in other parts of my body along with fibromyalgia?

Answer
Hi Leah,
I found your question in our question pool and thought I may be able to help you.
First off I want to say that after taking the Percocets for a year, you are undoubtedly physically dependant on them and the pain you are experiencing if you don't take it is a symptom of withdraw from the drug.
Depression it self can cause physical pain and being in constant physical pain can cause depression. It is a vicious cycle. The more pain you are in, the more it can make you depressed and the more depressed you are the worse the pain gets. Talk to your doctor about your depression. I had a severe problem with depression that was caused in large part by my constant pain. Wellbutrin is an antidepressant that helped me a great deal. I believe that there is another antidepressant on the market now that is specifically for depression with pain. Talk to your doctor about possibly trying one of these medicines, they may help you. The Wellbutrin also helps with chronic fatigue.
If you are not sure that the doctors have found the true cause of your symptoms please don't hesitate to go to another doctor for another opinion. I believe that there is still more that can be done to make you more comfortable and to help you start living a more satisfying life.
I hope this helps. If you have any questions or need additional information please don't hesitate to ask.
Thanks
Tracy