A randomized, controlled trial of amitriptyline and naproxen in the treatment of patients with fibromyalgia
PainSci summary of Goldenberg 1986?This page is one of thousands in the PainScience.com bibliography. It is not a general article: it is focused on a single scientific paper, and it may provide only just enough context for the summary to make sense. Links to other papers and more general information are provided at the bottom of the page, as often as possible. ★★★☆☆?3-star ratings are for typical studies with no more (or less) than the usual common problems. Ratings are a highly subjective opinion, and subject to revision at any time. If you think this paper has been incorrectly rated, please let me know.
The earliest controlled study of amitriptyline for fibromyalgia I’ve found so far, and contradicting two more recent ones. From the abstract: “Amitriptyline was associated with significant improvement in all outcome parameters, including patient and physician global assessments, patient pain, sleep difficulties, fatigue on awakening, and tender point score.”
original abstract†Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
Sixty-two patients with fibromyalgia were randomly assigned to receive 25 mg of amitriptyline at night, 500 mg of naproxen twice daily, both amitriptyline and naproxen, or placebo in a 6-week, double-blind trial. Amitriptyline was associated with significant improvement in all outcome parameters, including patient and physician global assessments, patient pain, sleep difficulties, fatigue on awakening, and tender point score. Patients taking the combined naproxen-amitriptyline regimen experienced minor, but not significant, improvement in pain when compared with patients who took amitriptyline alone. Amitriptyline, or amitriptyline and naproxen, is an effective therapeutic regimen for patients with fibromyalgia.
related content
One article on PainScience.com cites Goldenberg 1986 as a source:
- PS Battle of the Experts — A guide for patients caught between conflicting diagnoses and prescriptions
This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:
- A Bayesian model-averaged meta-analysis of the power pose effect with informed and default priors: the case of felt power. Gronau 2017 Comprehensive Results in Social Psychology.
- The neck and headaches. Bogduk 2014 Neurol Clin.
- Agreement of self-reported items and clinically assessed nerve root involvement (or sciatica) in a primary care setting. Konstantinou 2012 Eur Spine J.
- Effect of NSAIDs on Recovery From Acute Skeletal Muscle Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Morelli 2017 Am J Sports Med.
- Association of Spinal Manipulative Therapy With Clinical Benefit and Harm for Acute Low Back Pain: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Paige 2017 JAMA.