Pain Clinic

[Purple7265]

Hi all. Just an update. Been to the pain clinic and was offered an I.V. lidocaine infusion. Had it done last Friday, and was hoping, praying that something would happen to take the chronic pain away. Sadly, no such joy. Has anyone else had this done and if so what we're your thoughts.Gentle hugs x

[auntysue]

Morning. What exactly is that ? I'm waiting for an appointment at pain clinic atm. Sorry to hear it didn't work 😢

[trudym in reply to auntysue]

Lidocaine is used as a local anaesthetic

[catherine19611 in reply to trudym]

it is lignocaine infusion

[catherine19611 in reply to auntysue]

it is a cocktail of very powerful pain drugs, i had it done in 2016 it left me only being able to do 10 minutes a day of normal daily activity, i dont recommend this to anybody

[Mille21]

Hi I had it done a few years ago but same for me it didn't make any difference I'm supposed to be having another one soon and doc thinks it might work better as I'm on more morphine now so watch this space xx

[catherine19611 in reply to Mille21]

i had in done in 2016 it left me only being able to 10 minutes a day of normal daily activity, it did nothing for the pain at all

[Vanillablacktea in reply to catherine19611]

hi. Was the infusion just lidocaine or other drugs as well? Thanks

[Purple7265]

Fingers crossed for you mille x

[calliejx]

I had one done just lidocaine and another with lidocaine and, oh my brain fog, I can't remember. I felt great during it even gave me the giggles but sadly no reprieve from my pain. X

[Purple7265 in reply to calliejx]

Oh dear callie. At least you had a good giggle. 😀Pity no pain relief x

[calliejx in reply to Purple7265]

Off my tits on the NHS! I asked if I could go back the next week lol!! X got to laugh haven't we x

[emoor528]

hi. I’m going for ketamine injections next week so hopefully they will help me. I will update after my 3 sessions Monday Wednesday and Friday.

[Purple7265 in reply to emoor528]

That will be interesting to hear if they help. Good luck emoor. Fingers crossed for you.

[Maud-ie]

Sceptically waiting for an appointment at Pain Management Clinic. Apparently a lot of the time groups of people just talk about their pain? Asked GP for something stronger/more effective than Co-codamol and apparently GPs not authorised to prescribe anything else? I have fibromyalgia and Ankylosing Spondylitis plus chronic tendonitis in ankles. Waiting for hip replacement. Not too optimistic tbh!

[LunaBess in reply to Maud-ie]

Hi, how did the pain clinic appointment go if you don’t mind me asking. I too am waiting for an appointment. Hope your feeling ok, take care

[Maud-ie in reply to LunaBess]

AHH. Well..... before my Pain Management Clinic the nurse practitioner at my GP surgery suggested I try Butrans pain patches ignoring all the, effectively, lies the GP had given me. These patches (Buprenorphine) are worn 24/7 and replaced weekly. They are a total godsend! Pain Management not so great - a slightly hippy dippy woman suggested a TENS machine and gave me an NHS authorised voucher for 10 percent discount on one! Not too sure how medically qualified hippy dippy lady was. Getting a hip replacement next month which should improve matters but Rheumatology told me not to expect miracles as too much damage done throughout spine.

[catherine19611]

i had it done in 2016, it left me only being able to do about 10 minutes a day of normal daily activity, it did nothing at all for the pain. i managed to get that up to 2 1/2 hours a day by 2020, when the covid vaccine came out, i asked my gp if i should have the vaccine as at that time all of the symptoms listed from covid were the same as fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue which i have, he said it should be fine as i have the flu jab and am ok with that. that caused me to only be able to do about 20 minutes a day of normal daily activity, it is now 2023, and i can still only do 20 -30 minutes a day of normal daily activity. 7 years. after the reaction to the lignocaine infusion i asked the consultant what i could do about it, his response was, "I dont know, i will send you to the pain management team course, ask them". they are a group of physio's, psycholgists and nurses, i went to the trial day which i couldnt get through, i needed to lie down after 1/2 hour, which was not allowed, i told them what he had said and they said "we dont know you will have to ask the consultant"

I would NOT recommend this to anybody, i haven come across anybody yet who it has worked for.

[emoor528 in reply to catherine19611]

hi what was it you had tried but didn’t work?

[catherine19611 in reply to emoor528]

the lignocaine infusion did not work, it just left me unable to do everyday activities

[Hidden]

Hi Purple 7265, I had this done 2 years ago for diabetic nerve damage mainly in my feet, sadly it did not work for me and I was taken off the programme. I was told that they only offer it once and if no results you don't get given another chance because it is extremely expensive and only offered in certain areas of the country because it is quite a new treatment. Scottish Highlands have a specific clinic set up for this which was partially public funded. I was told it wasn't for chronic pain and that it should just help to numb/block some of the pain signals and that I would be able to stand a bit longer etc. Since it didn't do anything for me having spoken with the pain clinic I now use lidocaine patches and tramadol for my fibromyalgia and diabetes/stroke pain but still get very little relief. Lidocaine is just a local anesthetic and doesn't do a lot for me. After the infusion I felt a little relief in my feet but these treatments are supposed to work for at least 2 months, for me it was about 2 weeks. I found that I was sorely disappointed as I had got my hopes up and cried my eyes out when told they weren't continuing. I think I had convinced myself it was a 'miracle cure' .Afterwards, the pain clinic didn't offer me anything else apart from 'talking therapy' and my doctor won't let me have tramadol on repeat so I have to ask for it all the time. (I am in Scotland). So I try to manage on my own everyday suffering with all over pain and continuing my stroke recovery. Having spoken to many consultants now I really don't have much faith in finding something that will help me. You could ask about the patches but it's a maximum of 3 to be worn in a 12 hour period then you need a break of 12 hours. Again they are expensive and I was told not all GP surgeries will prescribe, but it's worth asking about them to see if they help 🙂

[Purple7265 in reply to Hidden]

Sorry you've had such an awful journey with pain etc. I think we all just hope for a miracle pill, cure and when it doesn't happen, you just feel like crying and screaming.

[Dukes-]

hi purple sorry it hear the infusion did not work for you especially when you were hoping it would help with the pain. I had the same last year and it didn’t help me at all so now on morphine patches which help but they are very weak very quickly. The day I was giving the infusion I felt release while it was happening, but soon after I was worse, I hope this helps your question. Xx

[Purple7265 in reply to Dukes-]

Yes Duke, that's how I felt. When the liquid was going through my body I felt a warm feeling in my back and I thought...Happy days, somethings happening. But no luck where pain concerned.

[Dukes- in reply to Purple7265]

Surely they must know this!!! as I’ve not heard one person say that they’ve had more than a week free from pain and apparently these injections, cost a fortune. ( good luck with the keep trying to get some pain relief purple X

[1whitestar]

I've never had this done. Did it help before , does it also help with arthritis and fibromyalgia.

[Purple7265 in reply to 1whitestar]

Docs say it helps some folk. If it helps you, you're one of the lucky ones.

[angib53]

hi I tried 3 times but didn’t do anything I was like you just hoping it would make a difference, hugs 🫂

Sorry twice I had x

[Dash01]

Hi

Hope you don’t mind me writing to you, I was referred to ‘Pain management’ back feb I’ve heard nothing. I’ve tried to ring the occy health department who I was referred to but I can’t seem to get through. How long did you wait for your appointment?

Glad your getting somewhere, sending hugs x

[Purple7265]

I think it's over a year since my doc referred me to pain clinic. I'm still waiting to be seen by OC. Hope you don't have to wait too long x