pain meds

[Guest guest]

Hello all,

I need some opinions from you please, if you don't mind. Thursday night I go

see my FNP to discuss changing my pain meds, and my thyroid condition, and my

latest lab work The Darvocet I take just isn't cutting the mustard anymore. I

have had bad reactions to Vicodin in the past and am hesitant to ask for that.

What else do any of you recommend that you take, that helps the pain and also

allows you to function? I have percocet, but if I don't take that with a Zanax,

it makes me wired, and it isn't a good wired. So I take that at night but then I

get kinda spacy from the Zanax so thats why I wait until evening time to take

it. I almost feel as though I am suffering from Vertigo when I take Percocet, so

I do try not to take it unless I really have to. Any other suggestions would

help.

I have already tried Ultram, Ultracet, Tyco #3, Belladonna for SOD spasms and a

few others in that class. I do not need to be medicated at all times so a patch

isn't what I need. Just something to help ease the pain enough so that I can do

my breathing and try to get through the pain that way in addition to meds.

It's stupid as far as pain goes. I haven't felt some of this since I had my GB.

The lower back ache that almost feels like kidney pain and pressure, the intense

nausea, the extreme diareha (sp) and the pain where the GB used to be. My other

concern is that before I had my GB out and before all my hospital stays with the

pancreas and SOD started I just felt that if someone would " crack " my back

everything would be good. And thats the way I have felt for the last month.

Anyone else ever get that feeling with their back before a big attack or even on

a daily basis?

Thank you all,

Sandy in Ca

[Guest guest]

Sandy,

One analgesic that would be next up on the ladder that could be

suggested would be oxycodone. It's stronger than Vicodan or Percocet,

but contains no tylenol like the Percocet does than could damage your

liver with frequent use. You would need to try a small dose to start,

(5 mgs. is the smallest), and see if it causes any unusual side

effects. Percocet is actually oxycodone with tylenol added to it, but

it might just be the combination of the two together that gives you

such a wired feeling, or perhaps not. The only way to find out is to

give it a trial.

You apparently aren't looking for a long term medication like the

Duragesic Patch, (48-72 hrs.) or Oxycontin, (24 hrs.). Is this correct?

Methadone has also been successful for many. I believe that's what

Kimber uses, and it is very inexpensive, so that's a plus. Morphine

is used by many people also, but I believe that's contraindicated for

people with SOD as it causes spasms of the sphincter, so it doesn't

seem like that would be advisable for you.

Something else that you might want to look into is Neurontin. It

isn't a narcotic, the medication was first developed for seizure

control, but since then physicians have found that it's very effective

for many pain conditions. In truth, there have been rare instances of

pancreatitis from people who have taken this medication, just as there

have been from use of Zantac and many other medications that some of

us have had prescribed, even though we have CP. I was aware of this

when it, (Neurontin), was first prescribed for me, but I was willing

to try it anyway, and see whether it had any ill effects on me. It

never has, and I've been taking it for almost two years now. It has

had a significant effect on managing my pain, whatsoever, and I'm

still taking it and plan to continue taking it as long as I can. The

only negative initial side effect it had on me was extreme drowsiness.

It was slowly introduced, and then very gradually increased, and

after about one month my system had finally adjusted to it well enough

that the drowsiness went away. Some people have had the same success

with it that I have, and others didn't, so it's very much an

individual thing. I just thought I'd mention it though, because it is

an option and I personally love the fact that it's not a narcotic and

not habit forming.

In regards to that back that just aches to be cracked - I've always

had great success with my chiropractic adjustments, but I don't have

SOD, and after reading Suzi's post, it doesn't sound like that would

be something worth trying for you. I did use to get that feeling like

you describe in my back before an attack, but I also get it a lot even

when there's no attack in the future, so I believe my back problem is

much different than yours. It would probably be best to not be too

experimental with this, especially if you do feel that an attack may

be headed your way.

I hope this helps even a little, and I hope everything goes well with

your appointment this week. Please let us know what the results are.

With love, hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

SC State & SE Regional Representative

Pancreatitis Association, International

Note: All comments or advice are personal opinion only, and should

not be substituted for professional medical consultation.

[Guest guest]

Hi Sandy,

Sorry to hear that you are having problems. I don't know that I can

help with any advice on pain meds. I have SOD too and I went to my

GP this week because I have been having back pain more than usual.

I told him that I didn't require constant pain meds; just something

to help throught those awful SOD spasms. He gave me Percocet as

well. I have had the script filled but have not taken any as of

yet. With those of us who have SOD the pain meds are difficult to

prescribe due to opiods causing the sphincter to spasm. I did ask

my GP if there was something that might allow me to go to work

and " function " . He said probably not...due to the fact that my pain

is moderate to severe and nothing non-narcotic would relieve that

type of pain. So I guess I will save those Percocets for when I

know that I am going to miss a day of work because of the pain.

I am not generally in constant pain or distress due to CP....yet. I

do have frequent back, side and shoulder pain but I can deal with

that a lot better than the SOD attacks (which are daily for me). So

like you, I don't need a patch or meds for daily use.

I hope all goes well and your thyroid is OK. Let me know what your

decision on the pain meds will be.

Take care.

Zoie

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