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Its certainly understandable being dismayed at the prospect of being on prescriptions drugs but then again many FM and CFS patients do find them very helpful. Its particularly important to get your sleep under control. Studies have shown that poor sleep in itself rapidly increases pain sensitivity. Some FM and CFS patients actually have an undiagnosed sleep disorder thats causing their pain and fatigue.   Dr. Teitelbaum in his Fatigued to Fantastic book advocates taking small amounts of as many as six different sleep medications to get a good 8 hours of sleep. He and other doctors believe sleep is the most important symptom to treat. Its also important to practice good sleep hygiene; going to bed at the same time, having a restful environment, etc. Some people have found that meditating before going to sleep results in deeper sleep. If you can get sleep under control you may be able to cut back on some of the pain meds.   Check out the Health Central Fibro site at   http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/fibromyalgia.html   I have a section on my CFS website on sleep hygiene   http://phoenix-cfs.org/TrtSleepHygiene.htm   Good luck with everything!