How are YOU treated for chronic pain?

[jena1225]

For anyone experiencing chronic pain, what have you been Prescribed to control?

(I already take Vicodin during the day so I can work from home-Percoset at night) to help relieve the pain.

But to illiminate the Nerve ending pain that is attacking my lower back, legs, hips, etc.. I have been given Prednisone, Zanaflex, and Soma IF I might need.

It has only been a few days, but no relief as of yet. I know it may take time, but I just wanted to get an idea of what some of you are treating your pain with and is it working?

Thank you all!

[Linda C]

I have tried a couple of things for the pain but nothing really stops it. The stronger stuff just makes me out of it. So I have been taking Aleve and Tylenol. When joint pain is acting up ,I apply ice packs.
I do take one paxil pill a day. I don't know if that helps pain or not.
I am not real active person.
I just switched to Beataseron and I haven't noticed any increase in the pain. Infact it my be less, I haven't done an ice pack for awhile.
I hope my spelling is close enough to figure out what I said.
Blessings,Linda

[cricket52]

Hi Linda:

Chronic pain can sure wear one down. Sorry you are having trouble controlling the pain.

For spasticity I take Baclofen. I manage my own dosages, depending on the pain levels.

For neuropathic pain I am currently on Lyrica, waiting for gov't approval to get funding for Neurontin. The Lyrica makes me dizzy.

For the normal aches and pains (like sore hips in the morning or sore muscles) I will occasionally take Ibuprofen.

Narcotics are not a good choice for me, they don't work on spastic or neuropathic pain and are addicting.

Good pain management is important to your quality of life. I was lucky enough to find a neuro who understood that. Other people on the board have had some success with pain management specialists.

Best wishes.

[thatislife]

Hi. I havn't been diagnosed with MS but I hope you don't mind me posting here. I have neuropathic pain from a brain operation and my doctor just prescribed Lamictal because I also have seizures. He said it worked really well for both. I don't know if you can take it just for pain though. I also can't tell you if it works!

[jena1225]

Oh yeah, I am also on Lyrica. I cannot imagine anything I am NOT currently on that could be given to me by anyone else. . I know I have to give the Prednisone and the restarting of the Zanaflex time to work.

My nuero has done everything to help me and is still is. He is a blessing to me :) There is no way I would be able to do anything without the Opiates, even being on the other things. They are the only things that let me get my kids clothes together, do even the smallest of things. Addicted/dependant, so be it. My quality of life even with them could be better :(

Sorry, I am just very down right now, as having this pain has turned my life upside down it seems

[kelly in MD]

Sorry to hear of your chronic pain. You must be worn completely thin. I admire your strength and hug your hubby! I love my good one too. :)

My pain issues are not as horribly painful, but since they are neropathic, very hard to treat. Cymbalta has worked wonders for me. I realize an AD and it's uses for pain are new but it has even taken away a lot of the numbness ans burning in my hands that I've had for almost 10 years now. It may be worth a shot.

I do understand what you mean about the addiction factor. I was terribly addicted to Ambien for years because it was the only way I could sleep. Fortunataly, the Cymbalta has helped the nighttime pain so much that most nights now, I can sleep with just Baclofen (for spasticity) and no longer need the Ambien. That's a major milestone for me, but I still say, if I need it, I'll take it. I must sleep in order to work. Same with you, you can't live in constant pain. My nuero did mention Lyrica to me too but my new combo (too many to mention!) seems to be working for now.

Take care and I hope you find more relief very soon,

Kelly

[jena1225]

Yes, I hear Nuerapathy is very hard to treat :( I do hope your combo works for you as well. It can be so draininng trying to find the right combo when so many meds are involved.

It is a "wait and see" game again at this point, so I will do just that. I just hope I don't have to wait too long, as I have a family for crying out loud!! lol and no money left!

I told my Nuero straight "Sorry Doc, I just cannot afford to have this, so..." I just laughed!

[Virginia]

Jena, Cymbalta also worked wonders for my neuropathic pain. It also worked very fast - within just a few days. It also helped with spasticity.

Virginia

[kelly in MD]

Exactly Virgina. I read that it can help within 1-2 weeks but it started literally within 2-3 days for me. It's been about 2 months now and it still amazes me.

Kelly

[curiousforever]

99% of chronic pain patients don't become addicted. They might become dependent physically - but not addicted.

[Jakaloke]

For neuropathic pain I am currently on Lyrica, waiting for gov't approval to get funding for Neurontin. The Lyrica makes me dizzy.

For the normal aches and pains (like sore hips in the morning or sore muscles) I will occasionally take Ibuprofen.

Narcotics are not a good choice for me, they don't work on spastic or neuropathic pain and are addicting.

Good pain management is important to your quality of life. I was lucky enough to find a neuro who understood that. Other people on the board have had some success with pain management specialists.

Best wishes.

In BC it's reversed. Neurontin is covered, Lyrica isn't. I take Neurontin, Tylenol, Oxycontin, and occasionally Percosets.

Opiates do work for neuropathic pain, and aren't usually addictive for chronic pain because you quickly build up a tolerance to the euphoric effects, so there's no incentive for abuse unless you get carried away with dosages, at which point your doc will likely cut you off. Physical dependence is usually pretty easy for your doctor to manage.

Scott

[Annie123]

Scott is correct, so read his post again.

I'm on methadone (opiate-based narcotic) until the attack remits, however long that may be -- so far it has been almost a year. It is the only med that works for me.

I'm addicted, but not high -- starting this drug made me high for about a week, but my family and I were warned about this temporary phase; the temporary nausea upon starting was worse than having the high, so I used compazine suppositories that first week.

My doctor will help me taper off the methadone when it's time so I don't go into withdrawl which happened to me accidentally once on vacation. John Lennon's "Cold Turkey" got me through the withdrawl symptoms which lasted three not-very-fun days.

Pain can be so dibilitating. I wish you much luck.

[frame]

i take 600mg of nuerontin 3x a day
percocet, vicodin, soma, valium
not all at once, but when needed.
i also smoke. people around me always seem to give me free medical MJ :)

thats about it i think. the worst is when i have to give myself a copaxone shot right in the pain band around my stomach.

oh, if you want a quick/fun remedy that works for about 30 seconds, try whippits :) im not advocating them... well yes i am. laughing gas helps a lot.

[elizabeth]

I take methadone daily. That's the simple part. I have an Rx for 80 mg daily, though I can vary the dosage from 40-80 as I see fit depending on how much pain there is. There is NEVER an absence of pain; nor, after 17 years of pain management by various narcotic and non-narcotic means, would I really care to skip the meds, since I do have a certain physiological dependency now. When I miss taking it, I know -- the most obvious symptom being a very unhappy gut, though no shakes, agitation, etc. of the classic withdrawal.

The rest gets more complex -- I see a pain management specialist about 6 times a year for various things -- ranging from epidurals, facet injections, trigger point injections, RF abalation of nerve roots, etc. depending on what parts of my body are being treated for what types of pain from which problem. I have a couple different things going on -- post-surgical chronic pain problems, fibromyalgia, un-addressed (to date) disc problems in my c-spine, the MS, and a host of "fun" things like that.

I have to say I am REALLY, REALLY LUCKY. Not to have the pain, that would be somewhat insane, though it has taught me any number of very valuable life lessons that no one with chronic pain wants to hear about :p ...

The luck is that I have an awesome pain specialist who deals with each thing as it arises and has the patience of a saint, not to mention that he might be the one doctor I have met in the pain field who actually LISTENS carefully. It's a real blessing because it has saved me a lot of pain and at least one very unnecessary surgery. I thank G-d every day for him - really -- and hope that he will stay in his extremely frustrating (due to hospital politics and insurance BS) job for the good he does. So far the rewards outweigh the detriments for him.

He wrote a wonderful book called "A Life Larger Than Pain" (by Dr. Ervin Hinds M.D.) if anyone is interested - it's worth looking for at libraries, etc. He's AWESOME... Maybe because he's dealt with pain himself?

SO, for me it's drugs + pain management doctor... but I still have pain. It's just that NOW the pain is bearable, whereas before it was not (seriously, I was suicidal from unrelenting, unbearable pain before I started pain management, so this is a HUGE improvement). I actually need to set a new appointment on Monday, since I tweaked something Friday afternoon late (isn't that always how it goes?) which was probably the end of a disc really. The cycle begins anew. :eek:

[dizzyintx]

I'm sorry that you are in such pain. It can be horribly draining on a person both physically and mentally.

I take max amounts of lyrica, dialitin, zanaflex, and baclofen. I have morphine for breakthrough pain. Still it's not enough. I am in horrible pain. I was supposed to get a baclofen/morphine pump placed in my spine Tuesday, but I got bronchitis and it had to be cancelled umtil Jan 3rd.

It really hurts when people with a chronic illness talk about addiction and chronic pain. I only wish opiates helped enough with central pain.

[jena1225]

Thank you for all your responses

Before this major chronic pin episode started a few weeks ago I was on Valium, Betaseron, Baclofen, Lyrica, Vicodin, Prozac. Then this started, so they added percocet, switched me from Baclofen to Zanaflez, and added Prednisone and Soma (if I need it?)

I know what you mean about the percocet making you feel high the first couple days then not after that. At first I was only able to take it at night because of the woozy feeling, but now I can take it whenever. I still try to only take the vicodin in the day though.

At first I was very concerned at being addicted, but decided that I "depend" on these drugs to help improve my quality of like.

Being married with 2 small children, owning a business, whatever works - I don't have the time to mess around with Aspirin

I just hope this passes!

[Jakaloke]

At first I was very concerned at being addicted, but decided that I "depend" on these drugs to help improve my quality of like.

There is a difference between addiction and physical dependence. Addiction is the self-destructive chasing of the dragon - taking a drug to get high, and needing more and more of it to attain the high. It's the physical dependence combined with a psychological dependence that can overwhelm the user. The physical dependence alone that happens with therapeutic dosages is quite easy to withdraw from with the help of your doctor. Your mind isn't working against you telling you that you need the the drug.

Scott

[Barb]

Jena

since neuropathy is actually one of the worse type of pains that I have, and I have tried many things like Neurotin - up to 1800 mgs a day without luck - I was put on anti-depressants for the nerve pain.

Currently for my chronic pain I take the following

Neuropathy - Effexor XR (i think that's it) 75 mgs once a day

Bone and joint pain - when sever - like over the top and can't bring it down through conventional methods - Darvocet

Reason being - one of those little pills will knock me for a loop for about 24 hours. I do like sleeping - but I don't like drug induced sleep anymore than I like the sleep from CFS.

Migraines - Topamax - 50 mgs twice a day

If joint pain gets to bothersome - but not over the top - I may take a naproxson - 100 mgs - once a day.

I am not one that can take a lot of meds like ibuprofin or asprin because of having IBS. So I do have to limit intakes of those - but I can take those occationally when needed.

Sometimes it is just a matter of finding the right drug that works for you. I took nortriptyline - 75 mgs a day for 18 months before it became ineffective for my pain - so we switched meds after cleansing the body of the nortriptyline. Talk about 4 months of a lot of pain in the legs.

[Kira]

MS contin (time-release morphine), oxycodone IR for breakthrough, and a bunch of ibuprofen, too. I guess the need for ibuprofen means that I need to keep going up with the MS contin dose... I am still at a low dose because I just started seeing the pain management doc.

Heat works a little for my myopathy pain... but you guys can't get overheated with the MS so I guess that's a no-no. I have heat sensitivity, too, but I can still do heating pads, etc if I am going to be laying around anyway. Cold doesn't work for me at all... much worse spasms.

I don't have MS. I have a metabolic disorder (mito, we think). I had MS-like symptoms when this was first starting, now I have severe muscle symptoms that are from muscle tissue dying (rhabdomyolysis) that are more predominant than the neuro stuff (but the neuro stuff is still there). I have some cardiac stuff and anemia, too. Blegh. Sick of my body sometimes.

Anyway I used to read here a lot back in the day, before we figured out the metabolic stuff and I was in "limboland." But that was a long time ago so people probably don't remember me. Whatever.

[mark53]

Jena, i take VICOPROFEN, NAPROSYN and OTC pain meds, but my many types of pain never-ever go away, if i'm awake i hurt ! :(

[BBS1951]

I guess I am lucky. The only time (so far) that I get severe enough pain to warrant something besides advil, is when I do not rest enough. I discoveresd this the first year of my vacation. I noticed that on vacation the pain was less and less as each day went by. By mid-vacation I had no intractable pain, just nuisance pain.

So, I guess you can say my treatment is to be sure I rest alot every day.