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Article: Drugs or non-drug alternatives: how should we treat chronic primary pain in the UK?

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Hi Members,

Here's an excerpt with a quote from Des Quinn, Chair of Fibromyalgia Action UK (FMAUK) and from Pain Concern board of trustees chairman Dr Marin Dunbar.

The UK’s NICE recently condemned the use of many drugs for chronic primary pain due to their limited benefit and potential to cause very real harm. Instead, the regulator recommended pharmacological interventions such as acupuncture, psychological therapy and exercise programmes. Allie Nawrat analyses the NICE guidance and considers its impact on the care of people suffering with chronic primary pain.

It continues:

"The reaction within the community has been quite negative, as well as confused,” notes Des Quinn, chair of Fibromyalgia Action UK (FMA UK). Fibromyalgia is a type of chronic primary pain, which causes widespread pain across the entire body.

Quinn explains there are concerns that although “the guidance doesn’t necessarily say that they’re going to take medication away, it is quite hard to read the guidance without thinking that medication is not going to be as easy to get as it was before”. This is especially troubling given that fibromyalgia patients were already reporting difficulty in accessing some drugs to FMA UK.

This worry is applicable to wider chronic primary pain conditions as it is mentioned in a statement by Pain Concern board of trustees chairman Dr Marin Dunbar: “We are aware of the anxiety that the recommendations are likely to raise amongst people living with chronic pain who rely on these medicines to cope"

Read more here: pharmaceutical-technology.c...

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Emma :)

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Midori profile image
Midori

I approve that alternatives are going to be brought in. I usually make do with Ibuprofen, but I have a small number of CoDydramol which I use strictly for emergencies, when my knee is playing Old Nick with me. I get about 10 a month, and it's enough.