I had a new experience

this week.  It was liberating!  I went several hours without thinking about pain because I had no pain!  OMG!  It has been years since I have felt like this.  I feel in control of my fibro now instead of it controlling my life like it has.  I did something today that I haven't done in probably 10 years or more.  I danced....and danced.  Tuesday afternoon I took my last vicodin.  I was tired of the side effects and it just wasn't doing the job anymore.  I didn't want a higher dosage.  I talked to my rheumatologist who told me about an alternative pain medication.  I started it Wednesday morning.  The miracle drug?  Buprenorphine.  This drug was developed to treat opiate addiction.  It attaches to the same receptors in the brain as the opiates do, but it doesn't give any high.  It was found that it also helped with people who have intractable chronic pain.  My dr said that quite a few patients have had good luck with it.  So, I figured, why not.  I love it.  I'm not chained to my watch alarm because I was taking the vicodin every 4 hours.  I'm currently taking the buprenorphine every 12 hrs.  I went to a wedding today and I'm currently achy from the dancing, but it was totally worth it just to be able to dance. 

This is one of my favorite pictures that I took while I was in Maui.