I would be disappointed too... or worse downright mad! 
For your sleep issue, you may have better luck with your GP given your circumstances. Good quality sleep is so important to managing pain levels - especially if you have fibro. There are medications out there that are cheap that can help with fibro pain as well as sleep (amitriptyline or nortriptyline). There is also the first FDA approved drug to treat fibro names Lyrica. Other people have success with Cymbalta but that can interfere with sleep at first.
You may need to suck it up and get a second opinion somewhere else. Either that or make a phone call to your present rheumy and ask about trying one of the medications I mentioned earlier to help with sleep/fibro. If she won't write you a script for that medication at the appropriate dosage, and your GP won't either, then I'm afraid you have next to no choice but to travel 3 hours to another doctor! You can post in the Find a Doctor section to hopefully get a personal recommendation for someone in the area/state.
I am also very surprised at not prescribing a different NSAID. Ibuprofen/Advil is actually the least recommended one to treat lupus joint pain... You can try Aleve... or ask for a different one at the same time you ask for a fibro drug. You will want to take it at prescription strength daily for at least 3 weeks to know if it will help you or not... which is not the dosage listed on the OTC packages of course.
Good luck - hang in there. There is effective treatment, and you deserve it!
For your sleep issue, you may have better luck with your GP given your circumstances. Good quality sleep is so important to managing pain levels - especially if you have fibro. There are medications out there that are cheap that can help with fibro pain as well as sleep (amitriptyline or nortriptyline). There is also the first FDA approved drug to treat fibro names Lyrica. Other people have success with Cymbalta but that can interfere with sleep at first.
You may need to suck it up and get a second opinion somewhere else. Either that or make a phone call to your present rheumy and ask about trying one of the medications I mentioned earlier to help with sleep/fibro. If she won't write you a script for that medication at the appropriate dosage, and your GP won't either, then I'm afraid you have next to no choice but to travel 3 hours to another doctor! You can post in the Find a Doctor section to hopefully get a personal recommendation for someone in the area/state.
I am also very surprised at not prescribing a different NSAID. Ibuprofen/Advil is actually the least recommended one to treat lupus joint pain... You can try Aleve... or ask for a different one at the same time you ask for a fibro drug. You will want to take it at prescription strength daily for at least 3 weeks to know if it will help you or not... which is not the dosage listed on the OTC packages of course.
Good luck - hang in there. There is effective treatment, and you deserve it!
