Lidocaine patches

[IAM83]

Has anyone been on Lidocaine patches before? The doc is sending me back to pain clinic to try them. I have been in severe pain for 21 years and have tried lots of different pain killers. I have Spondylolisthesis L4/L5 & L5/S1, Lumber spinal stenosis & osteo arthritis of spine,

[Hidden]

Dear IAM23,

I recently started using lidocaine patches at night and they have made a huge difference to me. I get severe leg and buttock pain at night when Im still, and was waking 6 times a night. Now by pacing the patches one over each hip joint and one at the base of my spine, I sometimes get up only twice and rarely more than 4 times, and the pain is far less severe. Before Lidocaine when I woke in the morning it often took 1-5 hours for the pain to settle. Now I wake up close to pain free in my hips and legs. No side effects to report. Wishing

you well, Bowbells

[IAM83 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for info Bowbells, The most painfull parts of my legs are both thigh muscles and my calf muscle along with the shooting pains in both legs & stabbing pains in buttocks. My doc says she is not allowed to prescribe them until the pain clinic ok's them. Waiting list is about 6 weeks. At the moment i am on pregabalin, tramadol for pain

[Hidden]

PS By the way, my GP is able to prescribe these for me so Im not sure why you are having to go to pain clinic for them. If s/he says it is cost, point out that £7 a night is not much compared to many meds. I don't see why you should jump through hoops so that so done can bring them from someone else's budget!!

[Hidden]

It looks like you will just have to play ball and go to the clinic. Im in Scotland so things may be easier here. You should know that my pain is from double whiplash, no bone damage or arthritis. Pretty much all my nerves are facilitated (ie. let in strong pain stimuli when they should block them). This means multiple muscle spasm, abnormal nerve signalling from L5-S2 and therefore leg and buttock pain and dropped arches. You may not get the relief I do but you may! It's certainly worth a try. I have not been able to cut down my other "heavy" meds though. A procedure Ive had several times with fantastic results each time is Pulsed Radio Frequency. These are, to the best of my knowledge, injections into facet joints and trigger points of electricity (no drugs). Im waiting for more - they last about 9 months for me, then I may may, hopefully, as in the past, reduce my meds. Some pain clinics do these procedures. With painful legs it's very important to wear good supportive trainers/.trekking shoes (Google off road trainers, Salomon and Haglofs work for me), ideally with custom made orthotics. Some NHS Trusts have orthotist who can do this, at any rate is is well worth a consult. I understand the serious damage to your spine but nerves from the lower spine feed the legs and feet. As my Yoga teacher says: "If the feet aren't right, nothing else will be." Good luck.

[Calceolaria in reply to Hidden]

Hi Bowbells, just came across your post on lidocaine. Are you cutting yours up to place in several spots or are you using a separate patch for each area ?

Thanks, Mary.

[Hidden]

Hi There, I use a separate patch for each area. All the best, Bowbells

[Calceolaria]

Sorry to ask again - are they 5%?

[Hidden in reply to Calceolaria]

They are 5%

[Calceolaria in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Bowbells.

[neurosupport]

I use two 5% patches, over my breast (following mastectomy and reconstruction I have severe nerve damage, and a lot of pain in the area). My pain consultant tried me on loads of different types of pain relief but nothing worked Until now. I have been using these patches at night as when I lie on my back the nerve pain is excruciating, the implant is sitting on the nerves and is very tight and hard. I am having my implant replaced but it will be a few months waiting time.

I put two patches on the boob, at night and keep on for the stated 12 hours, take them off and leave off for a further 12 hours. I was advised not to put the patch on the same place each time as this can effect the skin over prolonged use, so I tend to put them slightly over a bit, or lengthways or up and down, and keep an eye on the skin for any irritations, so far none and I have been using them for about 1o months.

My GP would not prescribe them as they are not prescribed for this area, but when I challenged it and my pain consultant advised that the patches were treatments for nerve and neuropathic pain, my GP agreed and now I get the prescription each month for a box of them. (here in Wales we do not pay for our prescriptions so it is great when you need to get these patches as they are really expensive).

I would go back to your GP and ask him to prescribe them, as they need to look at the quality of life you have when having pain management treatments or medications.

I would be lost without my patches, and if I run out of them I find that nothing helps, so always have a stock of them.

hope this helps

xx

[Hidden]

Hi there, I would argue for people suffering as much as we are £7 a night (the cost of 3 patches a night) is not much. Bowbells xx