currently have stage b ckd (egfr 37) and had a recent bad fall headbutted my tv after a 2 week drinking binge which thankfully stopped .
Anyway my back went with really bad lower back pain, recently nerve pain spreading down left leg. which suggest sciatica which i had before .
been given tramadol which helps.
My question is (as i know it works for sciatic nerve pain) could i take occasional ibuprofen when i got really bad, no more than 1 x 200mg every other day or so ?
Someone may mention ask your nephrologist but he's almost impossible to get hold of .
thanks
Dan
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Danoco
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Whilst short term use may be ok and there are reports of recovery post-use, I'd say you are taking a risk. See link below. Have you ever tried natural, drugless sciatica treatments?
I hear ya! I have a left sciatica like a boulder in my butt that means sitting is so painful. I also acquired a right sciatica going down to my calf which had me screaming. A lot. I just had an epidural steroid shot procedure and it helped the left, but nada on the right. Anyways. I get it. I had to learn to not take any, any nsaids at all. My kidney function drops if i do, and really i get more relief with heat or a 4% lidocaine patch. Just a little sthg to take the edge off. Im on opioids for it, no nsaids, but i hope you get some help. Bob and Brad on you tube are terrific for the stenosis and sciatic pain might want to check em out.
thank you . I a l4 l5 disc removed years and until then the back and left leg nerve pain was unbarable. Its not quite as bad now but fear ive I've damaged the disc fusing after this latest impact injury.
at first First i I thought the pain was kidney pain after the two week binge (im I'm an alcoholic and this was my first lapse for 8 months) but with this nerve pain down leg can maybe discount that
Danoco, There is a lot going on here. First, I hope you are in a program to help with the drinking. You are so concerned about taking pain meds, but.... you know that the alcohol is worse for your body than pain meds. I hope you get the support you need as it is not the drinking, it is the reasons why you drink. And it is hard. I know, I had alcoholic parents.
Stay away from ibuprofen as much as you can. Even short term. The issue is you really are at risk of liver damage with Tylenol and other pain meds, more so with the alcohol. This really is a discussion for the doctor. And honest and open one. There are non-drug treatment like TENS that might help. Google it and you will see everyone is selling them. Stay away from opioids, as you know addiction is already an issue for you. (Not being mean, just honest)
I found out I had CKD 3A almost 2 years ago- the cause? Ibuprofen! I too have sciatic pain and neck pain. Suddenly pain management is a concern for me. I made some fairly dramatic lifestyle changes: lost weight, started doing yoga 3x a week, started seeing an acupuncturist and started eating anti inflammatory diet (at the same time as my new low protein CKD diet). The change is remarkable, I now have had less pain and fewer episodes of my neck or back going out, I even sleep better. I think the yoga did the most good, I could tell I was stronger so I got a trainer to create an exercise plan for me specifically for my spine problems, which I do 2x per week. I also have a strict regimen of ice, heat, stretching, more ice and foam roller. Instead of 2 months of sciatic pain, it’s down to 4 days or so…keep in mind that I worked up to this, a year ago I couldn’t even do what I can now. My MRI a couple weeks ago did not look good and I may still be on track for cervical and lumbar fusion, but the docs say I should be in constant pain -and I’m not! I also use a lumbar belt and a foam neck brace to stabilize when I feel something coming on. Recently I was hit by sciatic pain and like you wondered if I could just take a little ibuprofen, but I remember all the meat I’ve given up, all the hours of home cooking to avoid sodium and processed foods, all the work it took getting back to Stage 2 CKD and I know there is no going back. This is the new reality and if I’ve been pain free for a while, then I know I can do it again. Look at every non-medication pain treatment and see what works for you. I tried it all, essential oils, massage, TENS, etc, and I think it ALL works on some level, but it may just be my determination to make it work. You can do this Without ibuprofen!
First, congratulations on the 8 months of sobriety if I understand what you said correctly. So, you lapsed but it's rare that addicts get much longevity without several relapses first. Hoping you can get back on track soon if you're not there already. Unfortunately, pain meds are a big no-no for kidney patients and so is alcohol. Maybe you can try some of the suggestions posted earlier like steroid injections.
Best of luck in dealing with the pain as well as your addiction. Careful with those opioids. You have enough now to deal with.
ABSOLUTELY NO NSAIDS they destroy kidney nephrons EVERY TIME you take them. Like bumper cars from the old state fairs NSAIDS rip through your kidneys destroying you nephrons like a hot knife through butter. I get it I’ve had over 20 orthopedic surgeries and o am in pain EVERY day. I am in a wheelchair now but only pain meds I take is Tylenol.
Boy looks like an eight year old wrote my first reply…lol. Sorry about the spelling errors and extra, extraneous, randomly placed single letters or characters…lol!
I hope I didn’t sound like a know-it-all but I have dealt with being CKD stage 4 since 1996 and osteoarthritis since 1998. I say that only to mention that I went through the years of the late 1990s and early 2000 when Vioxx and Celebrex were the new “miracle meds” for arthritis (both highly concentrated and high dose NSAIDS) and then the years of lawsuits of the Big-Pharma companies who made both meds because they were killing people with both heart related and kidney related illnesses. Therefore, one of the most harmful things you can do as a CKD patient is to take NSAIDS for pain. I miss them as they do a much better job on bone and muscle pain than Acetaminophen but they are tremendously harmful to the kidneys. As such they must be avoided because we only have so many nephrons in our kidneys (about 1M per kidney) and once they are damaged there is currently no way to get them back (nephrons are the specialized kidney cells designed to be capable of filtering blood and cleaning the toxins from the body). So my apologies if I seemed harsh or like I’m a Mr. Know-It-All as that was certainly not my intention. Instead I wanted to emphasize that NSAIDS are dangerous and can cause de a quick worsening of kidney function as well as AKI. Hope I didn’t offend anyone especially the OP, if I did my apologies.
Danoco sounds like a good plan to address with your doc and PT! As always my best of luck to all in their CKD journey. Also good luck to Danoco on the pain issue and managing it with CKD!
It really sucks and if you are anything like me (hopefully not wouldn’t wish that on anyone…lol!) NSAIDS become like the holy grail of medicine. I know how well they work and how much they’d help (I’m my case my osteoarthritis pain that never goes away and allows me about 3 hours of sleep nightly) or in your case your self induced (sorry couldn’t resist) uh head pain. If it makes you feel better I was feeling my oats today and fell not smacking my head but nonetheless I’ve figured out the hard way over the last couple of years, ANY FALL no matter what you hit where sucks if only because of the fear it induces (at least for me). Anyway best of luck !
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