Pain Medication question:

Hi Diane, I take Tramadol(Ultram) in addition to Lyrica and also took it with Neurontin before I switched over to Lyrica. Works well for me.

Jerimy

Hi,

I am still having neuropathic pain taking 900mg of Neurotin 4xs a day. Maybe I should ask about taking Tramadol. How much do you take? How much Neurotin do you take?

Thanks,
Pam K

I take 1800 mg of neurontin (gabapentin) a day for the pain in my feet & hands. But my neuro thinks i should be taking 3600 mg a day for the amount of damage I have (but he also says I should never be walking either.) I take a half of Lortab as needed, which is at nite about 3 times a month. I guess I just am so used to the pain after 4 1/2 years & hate feeling all groggy during the day. I have never tried any of the others pain meds, maybe I should…
Pam

For about the first 2 years after getting CIDP I took 50mg Tramadol 2x a day. Now I only take as needed which averages out to about twice a week or so now.

Jerimy

Diane.

I have never taken Lortab, from reading about it on drugs.com Lortab seems like a moderate pain reliever, Ultram/Tramadol is a narcotic-like pain reliever and would be a step up I believe if the Lortab isn’t working for you. I have been taking Tramadol for 3 years and it works well for me.

Also no I don’t take Neurontin anymore, it stopped working for me so I now take Lyrica.

Jerimy

I’ve been taking the Lyrica for about two months now, had to keep the dosage a little low because of the dizziness {just like one of those “webbles wobble but they don’t fall down” dolls, lol.} but it seems to help. I’m also on the Fentanyl patch but I’ve got some wicked arthritis going on to. The Ultram didn’t seem to work for me.

jerimy
how much of pregabalin(Lyrica) you take? My hubby’s on 300mg 3 times a day , tramadol 150mg twice a day, Oxycontin 20 mg twice a day, 40 mg of amitriptyline twice a day and he’s still in terrible pain, I was wandering if he could go up with the pregabalin even though the book says only600 mg a day -he’s on 900mg already
thanks a lot

I was under the impression that drugs like oxycotin and tramadol didn’t do much for nerve pain and that they wanted to lean more toward things like the Lyrica. It seems like that’s alot of narcotics to be on. Where does your quality of life go when your so full of mind altering drugs? Sometimes having CIDP just sucks! {Sorry, must be the ‘roids talking.}
Is there really a big difference in what pain meds work better or does it come down to things working different on each person?

Hi there,

I am on 200mg of Lyrica, 3 times per day. Tramadol was 50mg 2 times per day but is now as needed only. I also take Naproxen/Naprosyn 500mg 2 times per day.

Jerimy

[quote=dandana]jerimy
how much of pregabalin(Lyrica) you take? My hubby’s on 300mg 3 times a day , tramadol 150mg twice a day, Oxycontin 20 mg twice a day, 40 mg of amitriptyline twice a day and he’s still in terrible pain, I was wandering if he could go up with the pregabalin even though the book says only600 mg a day -he’s on 900mg already
thanks a lot[/quote]

hi herself- sounds like you are on the pain medication rollercoaster. You will need to find the right combination of medications which give you the most pain relief with the fewest side effects and best quality of life. Tall order, eh?

Find a good pain management doctor who works in an interdisciplinary setting and doesn’t just throw pills at you. You might try alternate medications, anodyne light therapy (anodynetherapy.com), massage, reflexology, salves such as tiger balm (tigerbalm.com), other OTC or compounded salves or linaments, as well as pain medications from NSAIDS to ultram to opioids (short and long acting). Antidepressants work well. There are many good books on peripheral neuropathy and pain management available- check out amazon.com.

You are not alone!
supersij

Supersij,
Thanks for the book and pain mangement suggestions, sometimes it’s flustrating. Part of my problem is learning to slow down and the sterriod IV treatments don’t help. The patch helps alot as being a steady dose rather than the pain pills where they wear off before it’s time for another. I have hydros for break through but try to not take them unless it’s a real bad day. I seem not to use as much pain meds after starting the patch.
Herself

I have been on opiate pain management for years. If you are a pain patient (as opposed to someone using recreationally) then your response to opiates will be very different– pain receptors have priority, and gobble up the opiate first. This is why actual pain patients have a LOW risk of addiction and related problems– it doesn’t feel like “mind-altering drugs” at all, and I’ve never had the least craving for the medicine, other than wanting some when the pain is bad. I don’t feel high at all, and in the beginning even asked my doctor what the big deal was– where was the supposedly incredible high that made it so addictive, because I didn’t understand what anyone meant!

That said, I believe most neuropathy patients aren’t helped by opiates, and many do get relief from neurontin/Lyrica. I get no relief whatsoever from those or many, many other medications, but opiates work a (relative) miracle. I do have to take higher doses as the years go by, but I’m working with a great pain management doctor/physiatrist, who assures me that IF I were ever to decide I wanted to be off the medication, it could be accomplished (without discomfort on my part) in two weeks tops. I’d love to be off it, IF there were a compelling reason to (AND I wouldn’t be left so pain-addled that my life would be a living hell.) In the meantime, I’m profoundly grateful that I finally found SOMETHING that works, and have doctors who aren’t frightened by the media’s smear campaign. In the meantime, I’ll do my best to educate people that there is a huge difference for pain patients (Dr. House isn’t an addict jonesing for his next fix, and it’s unreasonable that all his educated doctor friends think so, even if it makes for “better” television!) (PS, for House fans– ketamine also helped me, although it is not part of my current regimen. When I was on it, it helped reduce the amount of opiate I needed for good pain control– and also rarely made me feel anything but pain relief.)

Like Cat, I also use an opiate for pain management, although for a different reason.

I know that much of the literature on GBS says that opiates usually aren’t effective for neurological pain, but I also know what is working for me.

I had a mild case of GBS that has left me with residuals, one of which is back and shoulder pain. The pain is mostly manageble with a combination of Klonopin and Effexor, but sometimes the back and shoulder pain kicks up enough that those don’t give me relief. When this happens, I have Dilaudid to handle the pain. I only take 2 mg at a time, no closer than 2 hrs apart, but this does relieve it for me. The pain usually only lasts for a day at most, and is bad enough to require Dilaudid perhaps twice a week.

I decided against Neurontin and other “traditional” pain meds, because the side effects of those are much more severe than for the Dilaudid taken intermittently as I do. Also, because I don’t take it continuously, there is virtually no risk of addiction.

My experience has been similar to Cat’s, in that I don’t get a “high” from the drug, so there is no temptation to abuse it either.

Best wishes for finding the right combination for you.

Suzanne