most common are the beta-blockers, usually used as treatment for high blood pressure, which inhibit the action of signaling chemicals used by the fight-or-flight nerves. Some beta-blocker medications, including atenolol and metoprolol, primarily work on the heart, whereas others block fight-or-flight nerves in both the heart and in muscles; those are the ones we use in fibromyalgia. Pindolol and propranolol can both reduce fibromyalgia pain (Wood 2005; Light 2009). Linda, my patient with Lyme disease and fibromyalgia, had a significant abatement in pain once she started pindolol. Beta-blockers
...more
