Rethinking this new drug strategy

So it's only day one of the new drug regime and I'm having second thoughts.

I had a very good sleep last night. In fact, I went to bed last night dog tired, which is not unusual after having made a trip into Ottawa. Of course, my pain was at a higher level due to the fact that I had left home yesterday without having taken my pain med (I forgot!) so the trip was especially taxing. My hips were burning big-time by the time I got home. Since I was going to be starting the new prescription that evening, I chose not to take the other pain med when I got home. I didn't want to have too much of a mixture in my system (OK, so I'm a tad paranoid about over-medicating myself!).

Anyway, I woke at 5:30am this morning feeling super groggy. Went back to bed until 7:30am -- that is simply unheard of in my land! I don't feel especially sleepy today but I don't feel especially perky either. I don't really know what I feel. In any event, my right hip is just as sore as it usually is. My understanding from the doctor was that this new pain med was to control my pain.

Now that I have the name of this new pain med, I was able to look up information about it on the web this morning. It is beneficial as an adjunct treatment for fibromyalgia pain -- that might explain why both the rheumatologist and the pharmacist suggested that if this new med works well, I might eventually be able to reduce or stop the Lyrica. My family doctor said that he doesn't think stopping Lyrica will be an option, but I might at some point want to reduce the bedtime dose since the new medication enhances sleep.

This is all well and good. But the purpose of these latest medical appointments was not to find help to reduce my fibro pain (that has been fairly well controlled by the Lyrica right from the time I started using it last June). I was referred to the rheumatologist about my hip pain, not about the already confirmed fibromyalgia. The reason the rheumatologist could not help me was because he had nothing to offer with respect to my hip pain -- the bursitis. He knew that the fibromyalgia was already being managed, at least as well as it could be.

So the burning question remains: Will this new pain med do anything to address the ever-present burning pain in my hips? I'll let you know.