Dihydrocodeine

[kacs99]

Hello everyone.i have suffered with chronic back pain on and off for years.in the last 5 years the pain slowly progressed to hips,legs,joints etc.i had blood tests,X-ray,mri,and seen a rheumatologist and spinal specialist which nothing showed up out of the ordinary bar my bloods showing inflammation and a few discs slightly touching nerves.i have recently been diagnosed with fibromyalgia.i was taking codeine for about a year which were working for me but came off them 5 weeks ago due to being worried about dependence.i have now been advised by the pain clinic and gp to start on slow releasing dihydrocodeine.i was just wondering if anyone has had any similar experience with this medicine.

[etheral]

Much stronger and more effecatios than codeine. But like all narcotics, tolerance will eventually render it ineffective and then the withdrawal symptoms are inevitable.

[kacs99 in reply to etheral]

Yes this is what worries me.ive been battling with the decision for a while as the pain stops me from doing everyday things and I have a ten year old and 5 year old who is autistic so is challenging and nigh on impossible if wasn’t for my partner!I don’t like the idea at all of being reliant on pain medication but feel I have to come to terms with the idea as the alternative dosnt seem possible.

[cj75s2017]

Hi,

Sorry to hear you are in such pain. Discs touching nerves are probably the root cause. They are not meant to do that and when they do, blam, pain. Maybe you should try gabapentin,?

It's a specific nerve pain killer. Although like all pain killers it doesn't quite put the pain away but it does keep it at a level that allows you movement and some ability to do chores etc, although resting when ever the pain gets too much.

I have L5 S1 nerve damage and terrible Sciatica down my right hip, leg and foot. Doctors tried numerous drugs but nothing really wored until gabapentin. It slowly builds up in your body over about 2 weeks. I am on 2700 mgs per day which is 4 and a 1/2 tablets taken over the day. I say it works, but I still need to top up with naproxin. Not often but when the pain starts to get bad, the mixture of naproxin and gabapentin seems to work.

It may help with you. See what your doctor or pain clinic doctor thinks. Anything is worth trying when your in pain.

Hope you get some relief.

[rosewine]

I was on that for some years until my doctor retired and the new one who had just been on a two week drug dependency course asked me to come off it. I found it suited me and didn't have any nasty sure effects. Came off it quite easily by replacing one tablet with cocodamal which I have been on since which I don't find so effective as I have more peaks of pain. I also take a low dose of Pregablin which helps the nerve pain as like you I have the same problem with the spine. At the time of starting these meds I wasn't aware they could be addictive. Difficult decision to make it is according to how much pain you are in. At the time my pain was so intense it had taken over my life so was desperate for help and would have accepted anything. Good luck with whatever you decide.x

[kacs99]

Thank you everyone for your advice.a lot of you have mentioned pregablin so it’s something to speak to my gp about.ive been taking the dihydrocodeine slow release for 2 days now and although the pain is still there it’s not so apparent and am managing to do things more comfortably.i would imagine it takes a while for it to get into my system fully?x