NSAIDs for muscular pain for asthmatics

[Polzovatel]

Hi, what do you take for muscular pain? My GP suggested ibuprofen but I told him that my asthma consultant said no take any aspirin based medications so the GP could not think of anything part from paracetamol

[Hidden]

hi there its nice to meet you paracetamol are good but check with your doctor first, i now you have to be careful hope this helps i know its not much but as i'm no doctor its all i can say take care Alan

[Katt-37]

Co-codamol. You can buy it from the chemist but can only take it 3 days.

Don't know how bad you allergy is, there is voltarol gel that you can apply to the affected area but it does have similiar medicine to ibrupofen.

[Michowls]

Hi I can't take nsad drugs either. I take paracetamol or co codamol but the latter they don't like precribing. But I found hot water bottle or heat pads are good too

[Karjade]

I take one cocodamol twice a day 8/500 which is prescribed by my doctor. He said I can take up to eight a day but I never would! I am in pain but like you I am unsure what to take. I take the lowest dose cocodamol but I do use Biofreeze gel as well which I get from Boots or Amazon which helps a bit and heat.

[pucageorgie]

Was your consultant being over-cautious or do you actually react negatively to ibuprofen? Doctors and pharmacists always warn me against taking it, but I've never reacted to ibuprofen so I take it if I need to. It's a very individual thing with asthmatics.

[Hidden]

I was prescribed co codamol for whiplash because Ibuprofen was off the list for me. It's a combination of codeine and paracetamol. It worked, but it has the downside of sometimes causing constipation as a side effect. As I'm rather prone to getting the latter I ended up on lactulose as well.

As others have already said, heat pads can help. Do you know what is causing the muscle pain: injury, rheumatism, arthritis ...?

[Offcut]

Ibuprofen has always been a big no no for me. it does hit my breathing badly. I am also on Warfarin so any aspirin or anti-inflams are no good for me either.

I have and do use Paracetamol but have now moved up to Tramadol from Co-Codamol 500/30 with no affects to my breathing.

Be Well

[Asthma-girl]

I have been prescribed Co-Codamol 30/500 and Tramadol.

[Wintersbite]

Hi all i have from a very young age only been able to use paracetamol based pain relief I was once put on ibrufine and it didn't help me with the pain but caused my asthma to spike which didn't really help me as I was visiting family in Morocco at the time and couldn't get my hands on a nebuliser but due to my other health issues getting worse I'm now on morphine 20ml as and when needed due to spinal damage what I find is talk to your dr and find a paracetamol based painkiller that will help you with your level of pain and manage it the best way you know how.

I hope this helps you finds what you are looking for

[Polzovatel]

Thank you very much for all your replies, I've got a shoulder pain for over 6 months- went to gp once , he suggested painkillers, just thought that ibuprofen is anti inflammatory as well, never really had any reaction to aspirin but prefer not to take it especially now - my asthma is not controllable since June 2014, feeling constantly short of breath. Also had an endoscopy 2 months ago - they thought shortness of breath could be due to reflux, well it's not but I also acquired swallowing difficulties and gastroenterologist wouldn't admit that he damaged something during endoscopy with biopsies and ph study

[Hidden]

I get shoulder problems every now and then (have done for years) and recently discovered why when my Pilates teacher recommended that I see a physiotherapist about it. It's known that I have hypermobility syndrome, and it turns out that my right shoulder joint is very, very unstable. The suspicion is that my repeated bouts of shoulder pain are probably the result of that joint slipping (which could happen at any time, even during the night), which in turn aggravates all the surrounding tissue. I was given some exercises to strengthen the joint, which have helped enormously. Have you thought of seeing a physio? I also found that filling a hot water bottle with a small amount of hot water (so the bottle remains pliable) covering it and then placing it under my shoulder when I go to bed helps.

[Polzovatel]

No, haven't been to physio yet , just fed up with all other doctors ! The main issue is that I cannot sleep much -keep turning whole night to avoid bending that arm!

[Hidden]

You have my profound sympathies. If you can find a good physio I recommend you go and see her/him.

I tend to go to sleep on my back and usually use one, rather soft, pillow which I can scrunch to support my neck. But of course that doesn't help when shifting position during the night, and certainly I got woken by the pain in my shoulder and upper arm before I got given the exercises to help with it.

[elanaoali]

Alot of people are advised to not take ibuprofen based pain killers if they suffer from asthma. I am able to take it and a stronger thing medicine called melfamic acid for period pain.

Have you tried heat for your muscular pain? Heat can be very beneficial to sore muscles.

[Hidden]

The thing to remember about persistent muscle/joint pain is that painkillers (or anti inflammatory medications for that matter) will only treat the symptoms, they will not necessarily eradicate the underlying cause. As someone who has done a lot of ballet (and who has issues relating to hypermobility) I am all too well aware that muscle or joint injury cannot be treated by painkillers alone. The real risk is that they can lull you into thinking things are better because they take the edge off the pain, so you think you can you can continue as normal whereas in fact doing that will only perpetuate (and at worse aggravate) the underlying problem. If I have a persistent joint/muscle problem (and I have had four this year), and I don't know what is going on (true with two of the four incidents) I will book for a physio appointment to try to find out the cause. Painkillers (paracetamol) were only used as a last resort. That was also true of the whiplash incident I referred to in a previous posting, where in addition to co-codamol I also had physiotherapy, advice about daily activties, and daily exercises to help me recover from it.

Apols for the fact that this post is not very asthma related, but hopefully it will be of help to asthmatics who are struggling with muscle/joint pain, and who face the issue of what to do about pain relief.

[Polzovatel in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for your reply but I am struggling to find exercise that I can do during asthma flare ups- that could be one of the issues - tried a bit of yoga, didn't enjoyed too much and was just tired after work when feeling breathless most of the time. Also after all asthma appointments, taking time off work for them, I just don't feel like going to doctors for other things. In our Gp practice , I will need to go 3-4 times over a few months to get a referral to a physio, then wait for a few months and take more time off work as they do Nhs apps at the most incovenient times during the day.. What type of physio did you do?

[Hidden]

Exercises for shoulder pain are unlikely to involve aerobic exercise, and if you explain your concerns to a decent physio they will probably try to come up with a solution that you can do without causing problems. Certainly at least one of the exercises I was given could have been done sitting down.

I will confess that I didn't get physio through the GP. Where I live we have a sports injury and physio clinic in our nearest town, so you have to pay, but I would rather do than get a GP appointment and wait for when there is a slot (which, as you have pointed out, will probably be more than a month off) to see the physio attached to the local practice. Having said that, given how long you've been suffering with this (and lack of sleep, or disturbed sleep, will be causing some stress which won't be helping your asthma), I really think it would be a good idea to see someone.

[Hidden]

One other thought, do you have an occupational health unit where you work? If so, make an appointment to talk to someone there. Also, does your work consist of long periods at the computer? If so, take a look at your desk/computer set up. You will be surprised at how much tension in the neck, shoulder and back (which can lead to all sorts of problems) can be caused by poor posture whilst working with a computer.

[robo17]

Hi, I think the fact it an anti-inflammatory is why you cannot take it, i was told by my doctor not to take anything other than paracetamol, although prednisolone is an anti-inflammatory.

Good luck