Many fibromyalgia sufferers living in lockdown are finding it hard to access their normal painkilling medications or doctor appointments and support. Here Louise, a 31-year old mum of one from Maidstone in Kent tells how Celafen helped her manage her fibromyalgia pain when she couldn’t get access to prescription painkillers.

 

 

Louise says

“Since using Celafen regularly over lockdown I have been able to lower my doses of powerfull painkillers, which is amazing as it worries me taking so much opiate based painkillers. Celafen has no negative side effects so I can use it as often as I like which has also reduced my anxiety.

I was first diagnosed with Fibromyalgia on the 14th June 2019, by my GP. This was after many years of invasive tests, examinations, hospital trips, painful days and horrific nights.

I’ve been told that the cause of my Fibromyalgia is likely to be because of childbirth. I had a very traumatic labour with my daughter that caused me significant psychological stress and trauma, which was sadly most likely the cause of the onset of my condition.

My first symptoms started soon after having our daughter. The chronic back pain was the worst symptom, along with heavy fatigue, brain fog, forgetfullness, insomnia and all over muscle pains. But as it was so soon after giving birth everyone assumed it was due to that. I did speak with midwives, GP's and my family about my symptoms but it was all put down to my horrific birth experience and the fact that I was psychologically trying to erase it from my body’s memory.

This saddens me because having a child is a special experience that should want to be remembered. However due to the onset of my Fibromyalgia as a result of giving birth, I feel that it has left a traumatizing impact on me that has affected future decisions on having more children.

I also wonder now that if there had been more awareness about Fibromyalgia and that it hadn’t been such a taboo subject, that my symptoms may have been taken more seriously.

I might also have avoided many years of invasive unnecessary tests that all proved negative. I feel like I've lost many years of my life to pointless tests, examinations and continued pain because Fibromyalgia has only recently been confirmed as a true medical condition.

The day I was first diagnosed, 14th June 2019, came after I could not take any more pain.

I entered my GP’s office expecting to be offered the same sort of advice I had been given many times before about relying on pain killers and making sure that I was getting enough sleep and exercise.

 

 

Instead my GP said the word Fibromyalgia, something which I had not heard mentioned before. I was then given the 18-point tender check, these are the main points of where Fibromyalgia suffers feel pain. I had 13 of these points, some more considerably painful than others. Along with my medical history and the results of all the tests that I had previously undergone over four years I was finally diagnosed with Fibromyalgia.

I cried when they told me. Not because of the diagnoses itself but because I finally had one and because someone had listened to me.

Over time my Fibromyalgia has got worse. More points are becoming painful, areas of my body are feeling more pain and I can go from a day where I can walk around a park, do a shift at work, to barely being able to move from my home. I feel the stiffness setting in before I have managed to lift my legs from my bed, and my symptoms decide how my days are going to be from one to the next.

My worst flare up occurred around May 2019, my body felt like I'd been completely taken over by pain, I could barely breath, walking was agony and as the day wore on my body became harder to handle, look after. It got to the point where I thought I maybe I had an infection I was that bad. In the end my husband took me to hospital where they gave me an IV drip for fluids and the strongest pain relief I could have because I couldn't manage it alone.

 

 

My illness has taken a huge toll on my mental health. Just trying to adjust to the daily pain and regular symptoms of Fibromyalgia is a constant struggle and there have been times when I questioned how much I wanted to continue with it all.

My Fibromyalgia has negatively affected my work as I’ve had to take a lot of time off so I’ve lost jobs and had written warnings from employers. As a result, I’ve had to take lower paid part time work that is more bearable and even then I have to be very careful about mentioning the word fibromyalgia as people are still very dismissive of it.

My family, partner and my daughter have been very supportive throughout the whole journey. My husband has been particularly patient with my condition and understands when I wince if he touches my skin during a flare up, or when I'm crying in the shower because of the amount of pain I am suffering. I am very lucky to have such an understanding partner.

Since my diagnosis I’ve tried so many medications I’ve lost count. I’ve been on cocktails of drugs and painkillers, all of which I sadly suffered considerable side effects from complete change of behaviour, to severe diarrhoea and not being able to sleep for more than two hours at a time. Recently I am on new painkiller. I have found it's helping when my pain levels get too much to handle, but because of how addictive the pain killer is I get anxious about taking it, even though it’s the only thing that can bring my pain levels down low enough to be able to function more or less normally.

I have also tried physiotherapy but have found that this can actually restrict my movement for many days afterwards, so I carry out light exercise such as walking and yoga. I find that if I manage these activities carefully then I have a reasonable balance for a little while.

To try and reduce my reliance on painkillers I have tried a few alternatives but have found these not to be helpful with my pain.

It was only when I came across Celafen in August 2019 on a discussion blog, that I have actually found pain relief in the form of a cream.

I was sceptical at first, I have tried so many creams and potions that I was fairly certain it wouldn’t work.

I applied the Celafen cream first thing in the morning when my body stiffness and pain is at its strongest and before bed so that the pain was manageable throughout the night. I would also use it during the day when my flare ups occurred.

Surprisingly I noticed a change in around 3-4 days. It started off as a gentle easing at first until I got the hang of how much I needed to use and when. I could feel it working within 10-15 minutes and it would last me a good few hours. If I needed more I would just top it up slightly.

It differed from the other creams that I had previously tried because it worked much quicker, starting in as little as 10 minutes. The medicated cream I was prescribed would start working after around half an hour and when you are in agony with Fibromyalgia pain the minutes that can pass by can be crucial in helping.

Currently my whole family and I are in lockdown. Due to the stress, my pain and stiffness is definitely heightened. I’m worried mostly because of my Costochondritis (a secondary symptom of my fibromyalgia)  and the fact that the virus affects the respiratory system. I will almost certainly need to be hospitalised if I were to catch it, so I’m very scared at the moment.

I had a scheduled GP appointment next week as my pain medication is running low due to my Fibromyalgia flaring up, understandably this is now a telephone consultation however I’m worried about being able to receive more pain relief and morphine due to the difficulty in the dispensing of prescriptions during the lockdown.

However, I have upped my use of Celafen cream while in isolation to try and make the painkillers I have left go a little further and this is making a big difference getting through the day. I am so grateful that even in these difficult times I’ve still got access to something that can help ease my pain alongside my medications. I ordered more in the post this week and it arrived quickly and without any fuss. I feel like it’s one of the essential things helping to get me through all this.

I would without a doubt recommend Celafen to other Fibromyalgia sufferers in a similar position. It’s not a miracle and not everything works for everyone, but it has massively helped me and if I had not given it a go, I would be struggling beyond belief at the moment.”