Lidocaine infusion

[Slardy]

Hi peeps, I'm new to this forum. Well I'm off to Durham University Hospital on Thursday 24/04/14 for some lidocaine infusion treatment, I have looked on web and youtube, hmmm not looking forward to it, but hey, if it stops the pain for a while! Has anyone experienced it? I've been told by the pain management Doctor I can't take any other pain cures because my liver is goosed, so what else is there? I guess there is no other option lol. Happy days

[dora21]

Hello Slardy,

Hope your pain is manageable today?

I had a lidocaine infusion on 07/03/14 but unfortunately for me it had no effect on my chronic pain... What chronic pain are you suffering from? I had a terrible car accident just over a year ago, the driver of the other car had fallen asleep at the wheel & hit me head on, I have no memory at all of before, during or after the accident, I have been left with a TBI & chronic neuropathic pain down the whole of the left side of my body partly due to a lesion in my spinothalamic tract. I now can't walk very far without some kind of aid because of the severe pain I'm constantly in, especially my left leg. Please don't worry about having the infusion, you are monitored throughout the procedure & looked after very well. For me the infusion was a trial and I was told that it might not work for my pain, doctor is now deciding if we have another go using a different drug next time. I went to see a private pain doctor last week & he mentioned something called deep brain stimulation that might benefit me & help reduce my pain so I can have some quality of life once more, I am prepared to try anything now as life is just pants... Go in to the procedure on Thursday with an open mind, what doesn't work for one person doesn't mean it won't work for you. I know a lady who swears by the lidocaine infusion now, as it's the only thing that has worked for her chronic arthritis, I think she has the infusion once every 2 months! I'm sorry if I haven't been of help to you, I hope with all my heart the infusion works for you and you get the relief you need. Please let me know how it goes, I'll be thinking of you on Thursday.

Dora21

[Slardy in reply to dora21]

Thank you dora21. I have had pain in my lower back for many years, maybe because I am quite tall but the chronic pain in my back and hips and legs started during the triple anti-viral therapy I was given for hep C, a 48 week course of treatment but was taken off of after 33 weeks because the side effects made me so ill, I have been given so many pills to try to stem the pain but none have worked (gabapentin, amitriptyline, pregabalin and tramadol). I so have my fingers crossed for these infusions. I hope all works out for you and thank you for your input. It's good sometimes just to say what I'm thinking, not on my own anymore. Good luck. Neil

[ladycaz]

Hi Slardy.

I have chronic widespread nerve pain and a form of arthritis [still investigating which type].

I had 3 lots of Lidocaine Infusion done earlier this year. Last one in March. Unfortunately for me it didn't work. I would get have maybe 2/3 days relief and then I would be back to where I was before the infusion. I have also tried Pregabalin and Gabapentin [which I had a side effect of shortness of breath and had to stop it]. I am waiting to go back to pain clinic to see what nest step is.

Good luck to you for Thursday. Even though it doesn't work for all Pain Clinic said they have good results for some. I hope you are one of the lucky ones.

Caz

[ReliefSeeker]

Hi Slardy, I am also new here (in fact I joined today to learn about the experiences others have had with the Lidocaine Infusion specifically). I had my first one a week ago. I don't know the "amount" of medicine they put in my IV bag, but I thought I would share my experience here for you or anyone else curious how it was. My experience may not be typical. That is what I'm here to find out and to decide if I want to try again.

During the process (an hour), I went through an odd range of mental "stuff". First, I became really talkative like a drunk person (really unusual for me), then a few minutes of euphoria, then panic, then teary-eyed, then more panic. I felt so weird in my head (like drugged) that I nearly asked them to stop halfway through the bag because I didn't like what was happening in my "brain". I recently had a heart catheterization and a stent put in one of the heart arteries after 5 mini heart attacks within 5 days, so I was terrified I would start to have chest tightness again and maybe wouldn't "feel it" to use a Nitro tablet (sounds crazy but I was FEELING crazy, lol)...I didn't know if the lidocaine would mess with my heart, etc. Anyway, I felt so dizzy, etc for quite a while, and had to sit there for about 20 minutes even after the bag was empty. I think I would have fallen if I had tried to get up...I was really woozy. I determined right then and there I would never try this again because of how loopy I felt. (As I type this, however, it has been one week, and I am re-thinking my initial reaction because it seems that it has helped).

Immediately after the procedure I felt almost zero pain! It was the first time I had felt "normal" in six YEARS so that may be why I was a bit teary-eyed and euphoric at times. I was asked to keep a pain journal to help determine if the procedure helped and to what degree. So far, it has only been one week since I had this done. I can tell you that I felt pretty great until about 4 hours after and the pain was returning quickly. After that, though, it seems the medicine was circulating and the pain was hanging between 0-2 on a scale of 0-10. Over the past few days, I deliberately did some extra physical activity to "test" the effectiveness. So far, I have not experienced any pain over a "4" and I am so hopeful this will be a realistic and lasting.

As I mentioned earlier, I don't know if I will be willing to try this again. If the pain relief stays to a manageable level (like it has over the past few days) then I might reconsider my original refusal to ever go through the "head spin crazy drugged feeling" again in order to feel the relief.

Good luck to you and I hope you find the experience to be beneficial for a very long time.

[Janepepper]

I have a lidocaine infusion booked for 18th August. I'm petrified but would gladly eat my right arm if I could get some relief. My pain consultant has said that if it doesn't work she'll try a ketamine infusion. I always thought ketamine was used to put horses to sleep! I am terrified at the thought of all that stuff in my body, but I can't live with the pain so I better go for it!