Pain medication

[Proofman]

This is kind of a weird question, but had anyone here ever taken the pain killer Lyrica? If so, how did it work for you? I have pretty bad back problems (two ruptured discs and one bulging) and I went to the doc Monday and he prescribed it and said it was a new nerve pain medication. I picked up my prescription at lunch yesterday and took one. It F&^$%* me up, and not in a good way. I’m still feeling it over 24 hours later. It made me REALLY depressed and loopy. It scared swmbo. I’m supposed to take one tablet once a day for a week then go up to 2 times a day.

I left a message for my doc and I expect the Nurse call me tomorrow.

I know it is a weird question, but this is a fairly large platform.

 

[user 4295]

I have no experience with the drug, but here is just some info on Lyrica that may be helpful.

 

[the_bird]

If it's making you depressed, then man... that would scare me, too. I wouldn't take any more until you talk to him.

 

[Kayos]

Don't take anymore. Your doc will get you something else and can call it in right away. It is a seizure med that can also help in some types of pain. Usually nerve pain. Deaden the nerves and the seizures stop (in theory). It can affect mood because it is working on nerves in the brain as well. I suggest Soma and Hydrocodone or maybe some Neurontin. Your doc should be able to get you some good stuff knowing your med history. Hope you feel better. You having surgery, or just trying pain management? You may want to explore a pain specialist if you have this chronically. Also, Facet injections seem to be working really well on patients with your symptoms.

 

[Proofman]

Kayos, I'm not taking it anymore. I also have had a prescription for Hydrocodone several years, and, of course, it works pretty good. But I don't want to take it regularly because fo the potential for addiction. I'm going to see a specialist again in a couple of months. I've been before a few years ago but at that time I was having mostly severe lower back pain with occasional sciatic pain down the leg (With severe episodes that kept me 100% in bed for 4-7 days and out of commission for 2 weeks). He told me there is nothing he can do unless the nerve pain down my leg was chronic. He gave me physical therapy and Steroid injections (didn’t work). Now it is 99% nerve pain down the leg and it is all the time (sometimes I can tune it out like background noise, but not always, by far).

The specialist I'm going to see is a surgeon. If he can’t do anything I’m going to see someone else (pain specialist).

This has been going on for 10 years and for 6 of them I had no health insurance, so I lived with it. Because of this, my wife believes, and I do too, I have developed somewhat of a tolerance to pain. She believes I’m being punished, not intentionally, by doctors because I don’t complain enough about it.

I was hopeful that lyrica was something I could take routinely to help reduce the degree of every day pain. I know some drugs take time to ‘get used to’ but this was much.

What are Facet injections?

BTW, are you a Doc?

Thanks for the suggestions and comments.

 

[Cheesefood]

Mmmm...vicodine...

I'm lucky enough to have a doctor that will call in scripts for me without an appointment. I have a history of back problems and I throw my back out a couple times per year.

Last time I had an appointment with him he told me that he threw his back out for the first time ever and FINALLY understood what's so bad about it. He's now quite sympathetic to the cause. I don't abuse the vicodine and I usually only need half a bottle to get me through an episode. The second half is saved for later necessity (and sometimes for a little partying.)

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

When I broke my hand I got a prescription for something or other, but I decided to just use beer instead. It was cheaper, more effective, and more fun... not to mention widely available!!! Chicks dig guys with casts.

 

[knarfks]

To be perfectly honest, there is a problem with addiction to hydrocodone and other pain meds, but the deal is if you can't live without them anyway it isn't that big of a deal. It is a physical addiction, it only becomes psychological if you let it. You can be weened off of the hydrocodone if need be. If you have an addictive personality it may be a problem to be on opiod drugs such as hydrocodone. If you don't, then use what helps you live the best life you can. Like someone else commented on ask about neurontin, it does wonders for some of the patients I see in the hospital. (I'm a nurse)

As for the alcohol for pain relief comment, liver failure vs physical addiction to a med that can be weened. Not much of a choice for me, I have seen people in liver failure, yellow isn't my color.

 

[Kayos]

Kayos, I'm not taking it anymore. I also have had a prescription for Hydrocodone several years, and, of course, it works pretty good. But I don't want to take it regularly because fo the potential for addiction. I'm going to see a specialist again in a couple of months. I've been before a few years ago but at that time I was having mostly severe lower back pain with occasional sciatic pain down the leg (With severe episodes that kept me 100% in bed for 4-7 days and out of commission for 2 weeks). He told me there is nothing he can do unless the nerve pain down my leg was chronic. He gave me physical therapy and Steroid injections (didn’t work). Now it is 99% nerve pain down the leg and it is all the time (sometimes I can tune it out like background noise, but not always, by far).

The specialist I'm going to see is a surgeon. If he can’t do anything I’m going to see someone else (pain specialist).

This has been going on for 10 years and for 6 of them I had no health insurance, so I lived with it. Because of this, my wife believes, and I do too, I have developed somewhat of a tolerance to pain. She believes I’m being punished, not intentionally, by doctors because I don’t complain enough about it.

I was hopeful that lyrica was something I could take routinely to help reduce the degree of every day pain. I know some drugs take time to ‘get used to’ but this was much.

What are Facet injections?

BTW, are you a Doc?

Thanks for the suggestions and comments.

Sound lie you are doing all the right stuff. Terrible new that you are figuring out....pain is just not curable. You can mask it for a while, but then you have to deal with that. See the surgeon, see if they can help. Then go to the pain specialist and see what they can offer. Facet injections are like steroid injections in the back between the facet's while they do a C-arm floroscopy. It's like a shot while getting an x-ray so they know for sure they hit just the right spot where the pain comes from. The problem is, like a chiropractor, it is a temp fix and you have to gt them every 3 months or so. They are magnificent if you are healing or going to get surgery to put a permanent fix in place. If you are always in pain, you need to get a handle on it. Be it surgery or pain control with a specialist. If it comes and goes, you can get away with pain meds. I would't worry abput getting addicted if that is the case, just get off the meds as your pain subsides. If you are aorried about it, use NSAIDS instead of narcotics and physical addiction is not a problem. They are not as potent, of course.
Sorry I don't have better news, but if there were any miracle drugs beside prayer, you would hear about them on the news and some stocks would go up pretty quick.

I am a paramedic/firefighter that worked in the hospital for years before that. I also teach at the college pre-hospital medicine and am just a dork for medical stuff. I believe that the more I know, the better I can do my job. Let me know if I can help further.

 

[Proofman]

My doc called in a script for neurontin for me. I will give that a try. I took some oxycodone ( I mistakenly said hydrocodone in my earlier post) tonight. Even with that I can feel the nerve 'annoying me' and when I get up it hits me sometimes still. I dont have an addictive personality, although some say I'm addicted to Diet Dr. Pepper ( i call it my 'crack'). It is something else I just didn't want to complicate my life with.

Dont get me wrong, I still function. There are some things I can't do and I had to give up and a miss several days a year from work. But I get by. It is like a have a midget following me around all the time badgering me. a lot of times I can tune him out, btu sometimes hes really loud and abusive. It is getting old.

Thanks for the comments/advice.

 

[Kayos]

Wow...he already has you in Oxy. That's pretty much as hard core as it gets. Let me know what the surgeon says.

Oh...and go midget bowling right away.

 

[TxBrew]

Might want to inquire about Tramadol. It's opiate based but supposedly non-addictive though I have been told withdraws can be worse than even Oxy withdraws.

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

I hear good things about Damitol. With Damitol, you don't really feel any different, things just bother you a lot less...

 

[Proofman]

I have been on neurontin for 24 hours and no side effects so far other than that slight pain killer tingle. It a couple of weeks I will know if it helps with my pain.

 

[Kayos]

That's good to hear. Hope that stuff is the ticket for you. As for the opiode derivitive, they all are addicitve. They are narcotics. Especially if they have withdrawal symptoms. That makes it addictive.