chronic backpain

[purdy6595]

ive got chronic back pain im on 25g of fetanyl patches and they dont seem to be working can i take paramol with the patches .ive had the pain fir a long time ive been on lots of different medication . ive seen a chiropractor ,physio,mri, massage ,accupuncture nothingworks im now at a liss pain management and gp arent helpful xx

[Madlegs1]

Purely on a point of information.Paracetamol will potentiate opiates. That is- to increase the effect. This means you are effectively increasing the fentanyl.

That brings the danger of tolerance and increases dependency.

You should talk to your pain team.

Fentanyl is not really good for long term use- for many reasons.

There are alternatives- both with medications and programmes in coping with chronic pain.

Good luck.

[purdy6595 in reply to Madlegs1]

ive tried on 3 occassiobs to speak to pain team and alsways get told they will be in touch i had an mri in october and i still havent had the results yet . parcetamol dont do anything for me .the day i change my patch is the worst .im in horrendous pajn having a hot bath doesnt seem to help at all nor a hot water bottle

[cyberbarn in reply to purdy6595]

Paracetamol is best taking all the time rather than just when the pain is bad. I have been taking paracetamol four times a day for some time now, and thought it wasn't doing anything much, until I stopped taking it. For the first few days there was no difference but by the end of the first week of not taking it the pain became unbearable, so I have started taking it again. Apologies if you already know this.

[Tjwa]

Go back to see your GP and ask for a breakthrough pain medication to take when the pain gets to much.

I'm on 25 fentanyl patches too. The day I change them can be quite bad too.

But I'm now on other meds too which have made it a lot easier.

Are you on a anti inflammatory med? Or any nerve pain meds? If not I would speak to your GP about these too. As they might help too . While you wait.

I've at last seeing a pain consultant. Its took years . So I know the feeling.

Dont give up.

[purdy6595 in reply to Tjwa]

i cant take anti inflamatorys im allergic to them

[Madlegs1]

To Purdy and Twja.Fentanyl patches are notorious for not lasting the 3 days.

I got over it by cutting them into thirds (tricky enough on the 25s ) and attaching one each day. This means you are rolling over a third of a patch each day. It gets over the problem of half life deterioration with the larger dose patch.

Drs don't like this, because it isn't covered by Medical protocol, but when I explained the process to a top anesthetist, he had to agree ( privately- never publicly 😝)

This may help a little bit.

Mind yourselves.

[Ilmoran]

Have you tried a Tens machine? I used one for a while with a prescripted drug cocktail, Dihydrocodeine, and Gabapentin.

if you have very sensitive skin the Tens might not work as it can irritate the skin.

[purdy6595 in reply to Ilmoran]

hi ive tried tens machines they dont work for me

[Robto]

Hello purdy6595,

I was on Fentanyl 75g( I think, memory not so good nowadays) patches, but like you I wasn't getting the pain relief I expected.

I ended up changing them every two days. The medical profession thought I was getting addicted to them and couldn't/wouldn't believe that they just weren't working for me.

Eventually they put me on a mixture of Morphine sulfate and Morphine tablets. Which were working well for me.

Then the professionals decided (after the US said it was making everyone addicted) that we all had to stop taking them, and when we stopped it altogether we would be pain free! ( joke right, NO!!)

Well now I've stopped altogether, and now in even more pain than I ever been.

I'm now on concoction of 1800mg of Gabapentin, 8 Co-drydamol and 70mg of Amitriptyline a day, but still in considerable pain.

But doesn't mean that concoction or parts of will be beneficial to you others.

So I would talk to your GP or pain clinic and ask if you can try some other types of pain relief.

Good luck. Take care, keep safe, stay strong.

And keep fighting. X

[purdy6595 in reply to Robto]

this is the 7th christmas ive been really vad with my back explained this to the dr she said i cant do anything until you have seen pain management .as i said to her ive no folliwup appt so what am i supposed to do . ive bought some paramol which are paracetamol and dhydrocodeine together ive been taking them with my fentanyl patches not really helping but i will try anything ,ive tried gabentin ,pregablin, oramorph,amitrypiline .im running iut if things to try . i sit with a heat pad on my back in the car and at home,i have 2 massagers . i will try anything to rid the pain

[Robto in reply to purdy6595]

I feel your pain. As I said the Fentanyl patches didn't work for me, so perhaps it's the same for you. I know in these times it's hard to get hold of Doctor never mind the pain clinic which will probably be impossible.

When the pain clinic changed me from Fentanyl to Morphine capsules, they under estimated the amount I needed. This was on a Friday, they said phone us if you have a problem and of course they weren't open over the weekend, phoned on a Monday to be told the Consultant was away, so I had to persuade my GP to increase my dosage which to their credit I did.

Because of these times and hospitals not able to do normal appointments you can persuade your GP to help you. They must know how much pain you're in and how its affecting your way of life. Fingers crossed in the hope you will get some results. X

[purdy6595 in reply to Robto]

im going to phone the gp tomorrow . shes already arranged physio for me which makes it worse and fir me to see an orthepedic consultant .as i need a full new right knee replacement .ive already had the left one done .but gp reckons gaving that done will help .butwith the corona virus having another strain im scared to have my knee done as i dont want to catch that also . i had 1 session of physio then we went into lockdown in march . .all i get from gp is we cant give you anything stronger until you have seen pain management .the gp said i will write to them .i told her not to hold her breath on hearing from them for about 6 months xx

[Gregger]

I had a spinal cord stimulator put in in August of 2020 and I’d recommend talking to your doctor and see if it maybe a good option?

[purdy6595]

thankyou i may see what my pain consultant says aboutthe idea xx.my fentanyl patches gave ceased working niew x