Any answers

[PIRATE185]

Hi come july I have an appointment at the Pain Clinic ,on my last visit I was put on 200 mg of Pregabalin however with side effects I stopped taking this I was also given a Tense machine this helps when my legs are heavy and tired. At present I am taking my Cocodamal 30x500mg pills in order to help with my leg pain. As for this time I have no icea what will be advised ? has anyone been in this situation ?

[teadrinker]

Oh yes, I have been through the revolving doors of the pain clinic many a time, frequently complaining that the drugs don't work!

When pregabalin didn't work for me I was tried on gabapentin. (And then some others). There are lots of drugs still left in the medicine chest.

Don't despair if they don't seem to be helping. I found it was a combination of things that helped me, not all of them medicinal. The problem is that the time between trying a drug and having a follow up appointment can be quite long, whereas the time between realising a drug isn't helpful and having a follow up appointment feels like forever.

keep it up with the TENS.

[PIRATE185 in reply to teadrinker]

Thanks for that teadrinker.

[thenunn]

Hi like teadrinker,i havent one thing that helps but a few that do..the best for me is tens machine,a home medics deep massager with heat,gabepentin + cocodomal are my meds but i dont think they are that effective,relaxing music,lots of tlc and oh yes getting stuck into life lol,obviously some days dont work and im down but the latter is my best medicine along with knowing there are others far worse off,other than that i find aromatherapy in the sense of incense sticks and body oils help me. Ill try anything especially if its not a drug best wishes jan

[Calceolaria in reply to thenunn]

Hi Nunn. Your deep massager with heat. Is that a king of chair back thing ?

[thenunn in reply to Calceolaria]

Hi no its like this one

.argos.co.uk/static/Product/...

[Bananas5]

As you say - no cocktail of medicines and therapies wirk for the same 2 people.#This is where the pain clinic comes in. They do have a vast jbowledge of those most popular bit also advice on self management.

It can only ever be trial and sadly error.

David was on the same treatment of morphine + 7 other drugs, pinal injections, acupuncture and pacing himself. Gradual increase in all the drugs kept pain at a managable level and that is the best anyone can hope for.

It will never go away completely.

Sometimes it can take many months to get the right balance and your GP should always be there to advise as well as pain clinic.

Positive mind does help bit not always easy when you are crawling up the wall wih a flair up.

Oh and don't forget the nagging wife who tells you off when you are doing too much!

Good luck - you sound a positive person.

Pat x

[Priegi]

Hello pirate185. Have you a diagnosis ? I have spinal stenosis ,on pregabalin 200mg twice a day , I had no problem going on this drug at 25mg a month until I reached the 200mg,I do feel very sleepy all the time,I missed 3 doses( my fault) and I was in an awful state and my husband had to stay home from work,he was so worried about me. I am going to see my doc about getting of it at 25mg a month. I think I will have to pester my doc until I get some decent pain relieve.i cannot go on like this it is awful .

[Calceolaria in reply to Priegi]

Hi. I'm just wondering why stenosis is causing you pain. Is there pressure on your spinal cord or is there nerve compression ? Stenosis in itself is not necessarily painful.

[Priegi in reply to Calceolaria]

Yes I have spinal stenosis,spurs,extreme nerve pain that is so painful I can hardly walk,every footstep can be agony. Pirate185 was talking about going on pregabalin ,I was trying to explain how I am afraid of it after the terrible side affects I have felt with the drug ,not my diagnosis. Sorry

[Hidden]

Cant speak for pregabelin, gabapentin has side effects too. But I think if you can stick with a low dose to start with and slowly increase it I have found that it is good for nerve pain. Everyone has different needs I suppose. At the moment take 200mg 3 or 4 times a day 300mg at night with 20 mg amitryptiline . Find that when I dont life is pretty miserable. If you can bring pain under control life is a lot better especially if you have some sleep.

[zimbabwemac]

Unfortunately, I am not allowed to use a Tens machine on my knees, because they are both newly replaced joints. I have recently been switched from Zormorph 120 mgs to OxyContin 20 mgsx 2 , OxyNorm 5 mg (x5), 2100 gabapentin, 4000 paracetamol, 1000 naproxen, as well as citralapram 30 mgs and a pravastatin. I am also on something else for my RLS. Unfortunately, none of these drugs appear to remove the pain and so I am lucky to get 1 hours sleep at night, with perhaps another couple during the day. I think the chronic pain has as much to do with the fact that I have been on morphine for five years as the two knee replacements, spinal fusion and weber c fractures of my right ankle. From what I have read, it would appear that I should not be too optimistic about the outcome of my visit to the Pain Clinic in August, which is a shame, as it is about the only thing I have been holding out for. Has anyone else got any fantastic advice on how to magical remove the pain? Have been this way for just over 9 years now, with it steadily getting worse, a bit like the trains.

[dogbreeder]

Hi I don't know what your condition is but pregabalin can cause a whole hoist of bad reactions spot boils sickness etc can work for some but also put weight on I told, so ask your self what you can put up with i.e. If told tramadol this is as bad a pregabalin but some people get some relief from it if the condition is going to resolve then why not ask for the strongest pain meds to get you through, even if the condition is permanent like mine try these as you might find, with hope, that morphine mst, oxcodin, tampentadol, ketamine ar lidocain may be an answer to your prayers good luck take as much info with you as you can XX

[PIRATE185]

Thanks to all that replied to my question, once again it would seem we all need to ask for help be it for advice on medication or just help in general. However at the end of the day it would seem we all need our pills in order to help with our pain.