Best pain med? Need advice!?!
Question: I posted a question yesterday specifically discussing my issue. I go tomorrow to speak with my doctor & to essentially BEG for medication.
Here's the summary:
I am in terrible joint pain (numerous joints NOT muscle)
I am having HORRIBLE head aches each day.
I have "trigger finger" both middle fingers
All cause me very bad DAILY pain (like a 7-9 on a 1-10 scale)
They are looking into the cause & I am waiting to see a specialist (believing its a form of Arthritis or RA, as well as "trigger finger" & "tension/stress head aches")
In the meanwhile, I am looking for some relief.
Ive tried Vicodin (with very little relief..had to be over 10mg)
Ive tried dilaudid (works when over 4mg)
I take Motrin 800 (every 8 hours religiously)
I take SOMA 250 mg (no help)
I take Tramadol 50mg (no help)
No tylenol works
Its been over 3 months in this pain. I am careful trying to take ONLY one pill per day at the worst pain level.
Can anyone suggest what I can ask the doc for? I need relief!
Answers: I posted a question yesterday specifically discussing my issue. I go tomorrow to speak with my doctor & to essentially BEG for medication.
Here's the summary:
I am in terrible joint pain (numerous joints NOT muscle)
I am having HORRIBLE head aches each day.
I have "trigger finger" both middle fingers
All cause me very bad DAILY pain (like a 7-9 on a 1-10 scale)
They are looking into the cause & I am waiting to see a specialist (believing its a form of Arthritis or RA, as well as "trigger finger" & "tension/stress head aches")
In the meanwhile, I am looking for some relief.
Ive tried Vicodin (with very little relief..had to be over 10mg)
Ive tried dilaudid (works when over 4mg)
I take Motrin 800 (every 8 hours religiously)
I take SOMA 250 mg (no help)
I take Tramadol 50mg (no help)
No tylenol works
Its been over 3 months in this pain. I am careful trying to take ONLY one pill per day at the worst pain level.
Can anyone suggest what I can ask the doc for? I need relief!
I think you should have a bone scan done, and a hormone level check. With the above medicines you are currently taking, in time you will have problems everywhere. There are to many side effects with them all. One of them could even be causing your head aches, unless you had them from the start. You seem awfully young to be having arthritis. If you have a low female hormone level, which can be obtained by a Pap Smear, that will cause you a lot of these problems. You don't take any birth control pills do you? If you do have them changed to another brand. Why don't you get on a Web Site like Medline plus or Web MD. They have a section for drugs and supplements, diseases, an encyclopedia. A search box to just type in your condition and see if anything comes up. I had a trigger finger once and it eventually went away on its own. Try applying ice or moist heat on the joints and see which one helps. Use either twenty minutes on, twenty off. Try to stay away from steroids, especially if you are going to be on them for quite a while. Your weight will double. They will make you feel better, so if you try them, use them for a short period. Hot baths will also help with your pain. Rub your Joints with Aspercreme Cream or Mineral Ice. Good luck to you young lady.
When you wake up in the morning do you seem to have more pain? Sounds like RA. Try this to see if this helps any, when you wake up in the morning you can use a heating pad anything that has heat should help with some relief if RA. Where you feel pain in the joints place the heating pad on there for about 20 min. I just had a though have you ever been put on steriods to help control the pain since this is an anti iflammatory process? Ask your dr. to give you some steriods next time to see if that gives you relief from the pain. I am so sorry this is happening to you, I hope they find out why all te pain, hang in there and always get a second opinion dr. are only human they dont know everything even though they think they do...
The thing that sticks out here, is that you mention that you try to take only 1 pill a day and at the height of your pain. If you are having constant daily pain, trying to fight the pain at it's worth is NOT the way. You need to get ahead of the pain- take the medse before the pain can start. Virtually no pain medication will stop a severe pain.
Taking the medication as prescribed will help you stay ahead of the pain.
Good luck.
I've been in pain management for a spine injury for several years. Take all the info you wrote here with you to the doctor. It's hard to communicate your pain when you only have a few minutes and you ae nervous anyway. You really should start a daily journal of the pain like you did above but include what the pain is keeping you from doing. How it is impacting your normal life/
Here are few links I use for chronic pain issues
http://www.uclahealth.org/body.cfm?id=47...
http://health.discovery.com/centers/pain...
http://www.painclinic.org/
Here are links to great sites that should really help you also
http://www.uclahealth.org/symptomnav_lar...
http://health.discovery.com/search/sitei...
The problem with being so conservative with your pain meds is that once your pain is at a 9 or 10 it's very difficult to get it under control. Try not letting it get so bad before taking a Vicodin. I'm assuming they're prescribed "as needed". If the doctor did not prescribe "as needed" and he/she recommended every 4-6 hours, maybe you should give that a shot.
Nothing can keep you from becoming physically dependent on a narcotic but when you suffer from chronic pain you don't usually get the actual addiction, the mental side of it. Beating the physical addiction is only a matter of slowly weaning off the drug and that's IF you take it long enough to become physically dependent.
When they're finished with tests and you have a complete diagnosis you should ask for a referral to a pain management clinic. Finding a good pain doc can be a lifesaver. A "good" pain specialist will not just write a script, he'll have you see a therapist who specializes in chronic pain and recommend some alternative treatments like massage, meditation or bio-feedback. I large part of dealing with chronic pain is mental. A time may come when you have to accept that your life will never be what you thought it would and you need help with that, everyone does.
Everybody will tell you to approach doctor but pl see what suits you.
I think you have RA.
Pl do RA & ESR tests. If ESR is high it is RA.
If you are in cold country use all warm things.
If you have cough/cold body hot water bath will help.
Massage and exercise in front of morning sun is good thing, pl try.
Pl try simple acupressure given below for immediate H/A relief.
If it fails you will have to go for Acupuncture.
There is hardly any medicine for H/A OR MIGRAINE. Not only these but for RA, OA, Back ache, Ear ache/ringing, Stomach ache and almost all painful diseases. Hence they become chronic.
Acidity, WORRY, sadness, excessive wind, cold , heat, sour food and sinusitis, constipation, intestinal inflammation; drug side effects, stress, bad smell, TV & COMPUTER SOMETIMES, Blockage in the flow of Vital Energy, BODY CONSTITUTION etc are their causes.
None of them can be treated with medicine.
Our 100% success in treating migraine &H/A confirms it.
Acupuncture is the best treatment.
I can treat it with naturopathy and YOG, but how can you manage pl see.
Pain killers don't treat the pain but we loose the sense of pain for some time; in that duration our body itself treats sometime and credit goes to meds.
The useless drugs have tremendous power of side effects like liver/kidney failures, ulcer, inflammation of intestines and lot more.
Avoid late sleeping if possible; worry, tension, spicy foods, sour fruits, stale bakery foods, SMOKING and alcohole.
Sweet foods, COCOANUT WATER,sweet fruits like dates, milk, rice, SPROUTS, SALADS and good sleep will help if cough is not there.
But you try one herbal remedy- two drops of drumstick leaves' juice in opposite nostril if one side pains and both nostrils if full H/A will give you rescue. Betel leaf helps but it is very strong.
If it is acute pl search a painful point (with round tipped pen/jimmy) 3-6 mm behind your thumb nail and press it, H/A will disappear within 30 seconds.
For forehead/eye pain the points are in front of nails on the finger tips or 3-7 mm below.
It may disappear naturally too.
Source(s):
SHREE SWASTHYAYOG TREATMENT, TRAINING & RESEARCH INSTITUTE
R.H. 19, Jhulelal Society, Sector 2/E, Airoli, Navi Mumbai, INDIA.