Other therapies

Tricyclics, an older class of antidepressants that includes Elavil, Tofranil and Sinequan, are the most common form of drug therapy for fibromyalgia. They can relax the muscles, and promote the secretion of endorphins, hormones that help fight pain and boost mood. “But only about a third of people who take tricyclics have a significant response,” says Dr. Daniel J. Wallace, a rheumatologist in the UCLA School of Medicine. These drugs also have unpleasant side effects, such as grogginess, dry mouth, weight gain and blurred vision.

However, another fibromyalgia medication that’s currently being tested relieves pain and elevates mood in the same way as the tricyclics but without their toxic side effects. Milnacipran, which isn’t as far along in its development as pregabalin, enhances levels of two key brain chemicals, norepinephrine and serotonin, that play a role in pain transmission.