Pros and Cons of Treating Fibromyalgia with Depression Medications

By Kristi Patrice Carter

Depression is often associated with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. A major question of its role closely resembles the “chicken or the egg” question that all of us have considered at one point or another – Does depression facilitate Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or does Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome trigger depression? We do not know the answer to this, but one thing is for sure: Most sufferers of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome also suffer from some level of depression.

How to treat depression in these cases? The jury is still out. There are pros and cons to every treatment of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome related depression, except for personal professional counseling.

Of the pros, medicinal approaches, if prescribed appropriately, can relieve symptoms over a period of time and can lead to permanent solutions. The appropriate dosage for the patient can relieve symptoms of anxiety, nervousness, sadness and even listlessness. Ordinarily, although some results are immediate, the full benefit of the drug can take anywhere from one to six weeks to take affect. This is because most psychotropic drugs require a gradual dosage to allow for a buildup of the drug in the body.

Depression or anxiety related drugs cannot only remove the feelings of depression, they also lessen the impact of stress and in turn, treat Fibromyalgia. Many of the symptoms of stress or depression closely mirror the symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Fibromyalgia. There are also many medical professionals who believe that stress and depression are the major culprits in causing and exacerbating both Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia. 

Individuals who take depression medicine for Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia generally report that the feelings of fatigue, muscle pain, despondency and anxiety dissipate over the time of the dosage getting up to levels in a body to be effective. Since many of the same symptoms for depression mirror Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia, the relieving of symptoms for both happen simultaneously. There are, however, downsides.

Depending on the amount of dosage and the type of medicine, patients often report feeling lethargic or even more depressed in episodic increments. Some depression medicine has been linked to suicidal episodes and occasionally, the symptoms that the medicine is supposed to treat are made worse by the medication. With major depression medicines, weight gain is also a problem, requiring that the patient greatly modify both their exercise and eating habits. 

Another negative side effect is that it takes a long time to wean oneself off of depression medicine. This can be a problem as often patients have to try two or three or more medicines to find the medicine that helps them. Having to try varying dosages and medicines is common, but with each switch, the patient has to be weaned off of the medicine over the course of several weeks.

Treating Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia with depression medicine can be a very effective tool. There are many positives, including addressing the symptoms of both diseases plus battling depression. There are, however, many drawbacks that have to be carefully managed and tracked by your medical professional.