Pain relief (tramadol v naxprofen)

[somegirlcalledjo]

I haven't posted on here for a while - been hectic with work and things and for a bit the pain was better. My doctor recommended taking back to back pill (combined) and that has helped up until now. But for the last few weeks the pain has returned and been pretty bad, over the counter painkillers even when combined with hot water bottles don't really cut it anymore. So am going to make an appointment with my GP to get something a little stronger. Can anyone comment on tramdol v naxprofen? Those seem to be the drugs most talked about on here for pain relief. I am due to have my first hospital app with the endo specialist next week so just need something to get me through until then - been struggling a lot over the past few weeks!

[Impatient]

Naproxen or Diclofenac (Volatrol) are the next stage up from the over the counter meds.

Yes Voltarol is available over the counter too but at a lower dose than prescription strength.

So start off with one those level pain killers - always use the lowest strength you need to, to get the job done. This level of drug is not normally addictive and once the pain is passed or eased off its easy to stop them or mix with paracetamol or ibuprofen if you need to top up and they are running out before the next dose is due and you feel the pain increasing.

Keeping on top of pain relief is the best thing to do, don't let the drugs run out and pain return before taking another dose, keep them topped up to prevent pain taking hold of you.

There is also co-codamol which is paracetamol and codeine, which should not be mixed with paracetamol as it already contains it - but can be mixed with nurafen for example.

This is assuming you are okay to take any or all of these drugs and that does need checking between you and your GP or the pharmacist.

If you find that level of pain killer is not enough then next up the scale are the opiate or narcotic based pain killers which include Tramadol. These can be addictive when taken over a period of time. If taken every now and then then they shouldn't be a problem - but there is a risk of addiction and use of the drugs must be done carefully and only use them when you absolutely hve to - again they can be mixed with taking lower level pain killers if you don't need drugs that are quite so strong.

Diclofenac has side effects that recently caused a warning sent to GPs to try and switch their patients on diclofenac over to Naproxen - so of the two, these days you are more likely to be given Naproxen as the next step.

The Naproxen patient advice leaflet is on a pdf on the following link if you want to read through before seeing your GP

medicines.org.uk/emc/medici...

Hope you find something to work for you and improve you quality of life pain wise. It is so draining being in pain all the time.

[somegirlcalledjo in reply to Impatient]

Thanks impatient, useful to know. will try and push for one of the first ones

[KM1986]

I find my gp's advice of "layering" your pain killers is best. So paracetamol/ibuprofen first. I also take Mefenamic acid which is normally pretty good, although can't be taken at the same time as ibuprofen. After that I find any sort of codeine - co-codomol or dyhydracodine as a one off, effective along with tramadol. My problem with tramadol is that I don't find it very effective at getting rid of the pain, but because of the effect it has on your brain, it stops you caring about the pain - I know how weird that sounds! Codeine on the other hand is an excellent pain killer, but gives me stomach cramps if I take more than one dose. You will eventually find a mix (always check which pills you can combine) that will work for you. Good luck xx