Pain meds make drowsy but no deep sleep

[jaybrody]

I have a cocktail of medication for my neuropathic pain. Gabapentin, Tramadol, oramorph, diazepam and lidocaine patches. Looking at most of them, the effect it takes the edge of pain but most of them make me very drowsy. Even though I sleep I don't get into REM sleep order the deep sleep which is meant to recharge the brain.This only causes me to be more fatigued next day as my body was not relaxed. I am in caught in state of drowsiness but alert of my surroundings. Spoke doctor about it and he believes the oramorph is the issue but he is not authorized to stop it as this was prescribed by pain clinic. Has anyone had same issue of floating but not really in deep sleep to dream

[Suzyhayes]

Not surprised you feel drowsy if you are taking a cocktail of poisonous drugs. I have suffered from neuropathy in my hands for five years and have tried all the medications and treatments but nothing really works so now I don't take any meds but I feel much more healthy and alive. These drugs do long term damage to the body so if you can get off them I would advise you to do so and try to find activities to divert you from the pain. Good luck

[oldman1952]

Hi jaybrody, yes I can agree with Suzyhayes that you are on a fair whack of medication as many of us are. Have you and your pain team discussed other medications like Duloxetine? It has a good reputation for increasing your pain threshold because it is also an SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibiter so helps reduce depression. You might say that I don't have depression but someone who is on so much analgesia is without doubt depressed. Yes what Suzyhayes said is very true but think of it this way, you have a completely different DNA structure to her as do I. That makes us totally different, moods, pain threshold, feelings, religion, sexual orientation, habits, likes and dislikes, so just remember that what works for you will not work for me. That is why I asked you if your pain team and yourself had discussed duloxetine. All drugs are poisonous but we are mot robots so need these analgesics to go about our day to day life and have a good quality of life. Best regards Oldman1952.

[Matrix]

Well I'm not surprised your floaty that's a lot of stuff I'm surprised you can stand up .I never sleep so I'm not the best person to advise on that .I wish you well and hope you feel better soon .x

[Amkoffee]

I've been a chronic pain patient for 13 years and I am on opiates. I resent everybody's comments about it being poisonous. I know what it will do to my liver and I don't like it. But my choices are unbelievable amounts of pain or the chance it might hurt my liver. I don't know how long you've been on this regimen of pain medicine but I will tell you that over time this will pass. Really you're only on 2 opiates which is the standard type of treatment. One is a long-lasting opiate and the other is for breakthrough pain. You should be able to control the Tramadol which is your breakthrough medicine and take as much or as little of that as you want. The lidocaine patch has no narcotic in it whatsoever, the diazepam I think he's using that as a muscle relaxer many doctors do that, that should relax you and calm you down so I would certainly want to take that around bedtime for sure. And lastly I think you need to accept the fact that you are a chronic pain patient. And because you are your life is now different than it ever was before. There are a multitude of other things that can be used including opiates or instead of opiates. People have to make their own personal choice. I don't know what other things your doctor and you have tried in the past. But there is the obvious epidural injections, tens units and stimulators to name a few. I would suggest that you look up a few websites that are for chronic pain patients. There you will gain support for other chronic pain patients but not only the support that I think you need but also knowledge about all of the different options available to the chronic pain patient to help control pain. I belong to a lovely one that is available across the world it has a lot of people from the UK in it and the website is. I think rather than hear a bunch of people criticize you for taking the opiates you need positive reinforcement for having gone this far dealing with the daily pain that you do deal with.

Mychronicpainteam.com

[jaybrody]

Thank you Amkoffe chronic pain is in a world of its. My chronic pain is post thoractomy syndrome with neuropathic pain. My pain doctors say it most severe pain anyone can ever experience. No amount of opiate help, it just about take the edge of the pain. Not taking medication is not an alternative because that pain in its raw state, death would be preferable but opiates obviously have side effects. My mental side is pretty good under circumstances because waiting for a spinal cord stimulator. One of assessment to qualify is a psychological assessment and psychologist was very impressed with frame of mind. He thought with amount of pain I go through I would be depressed but I tend to think I am positive. When ask questions I am asking from people who relate with pain and get ideas. Will definitely take on board anything that makes me more sane with this pain

[BigBadBack]

It's true about opiates getting a bad rap. It pissed me off that the government is cracking down on the only thing that provides relief from chronic pain. I was able to work 6 more years (25 total) thanks to pain meds. Now, chronic back, knee, ankle, and feet pain run my life. I hurt all of the time. I did get a spinal cord stimulator implanted for the back pain and it reminds me of how opiates work. It fools your brain into not feeling the actual pain in it's raw form. It masks the pain and sends it a message that is like an internal vibration. It knocks the pain down 50% in my back and sometimes helps my knee and feet pain. But I cannot stand longer than 5 minutes without a pain coming through that almost makes me want to cry from the intensity and heaviness of the pain from my back and hips. But when I went to my pain management doctor, he said he was referring me to a SCS surgeon/specialist. I had to start seeing him before I could see him again. I was lucky and just slowly used up the rest of my Opana ER 30mg and the Oxymorphone IR for breakthrough pain. I didn't get in to see the SCS doctor for months, but eventually went and ran through the process. Had it implanted, only got 50% relief so I called the pain management doctor and his staff was requiring me to get all the records for the time away. I had all the records sent, but then they neededall my office notes. I asked for that to be sent and it was a battle. I gave up and have been opiate free for 1 year 5 months. I feel all the pain and then the ultra sensitivity from the neuropathy drives me nuts all day long. So it is nice having something to take the edge off with!!! You are lucky! Most if my doctors are scared to write a rx for narcotics. I ended up making my own tincture of valerian root. It is worth the process and wait time. I have found it to be stronger and lessen pensive than buying it already made. It has the ability to knock me out in minutes of consuming 2 mL of my tincture. It is the best and deepest sleep without having to take Ambien or Belsomra (waking up in the morning is like a hangover on those pills). Their is a warning to be cautious if you take any benzodiazepams with valerian. I have been using it sporadically for the last year and works every night! No interactions for me.

[bonpenguin]

Have you ever been prescribed or tried Trazodone? I take 100mg per night and it saves me.

[BigBadBack in reply to bonpenguin]

I have Trazadone but never used it. Does it make you feel bad on the morning?