Pain Meds other than Opiods

momall25ofu

My husband and I are both concerned about opiod addiction.  He called and asked for something this week because his neck and shoulder are hurting more and more, as well as a killer headache.  They gave him oxycontin, which he's not wanting to take.   

 

Thus the question:  ARE THERE GOOD PAIN MEDS OTHER THAN OPIODS?  

 

I figured everyone on here has hands-on experience with pain and which medicines are good, instead of the opinion of a doctor who has not experienced this kind of pain.  

bugsyboy

This is What My Doctor Said

I had the same concerns and did everything I could to get off the pain meds as fast as I could.  Between the Fentanyl patch, oxy and who knows what else, I figured I was setting myself up to be an addict for sure.  There were times waiting a full six hours between doses was killing me.  Magic Mouthwash and pain meds got me through. 

I still had tongue and mouth sores when I went in to see my Primary Care Physician and expressed my addiction concerns.  She laughed and told me that I'd just been to the gates of Hell and would need all the help I could get to make my way back.  She said I shouldn't worry about addiction.  That taking the pain meds would help me heal faster, as well as reduce the pain.  And that if I did become addicted, she'd get me un-addicted.  It was more important to take the pain meds while my body healed itself.  She took all my addiction worries away.  I'm happy to say my body healed and I never became addicted.  That was almost four years ago.

I know this doesn't answer your question, but I had the same concerns and things turned out fine.

Best of luck.

Bugsy

momall25ofu

bugsyboy said:

This is What My Doctor Said

I had the same concerns and did everything I could to get off the pain meds as fast as I could.  Between the Fentanyl patch, oxy and who knows what else, I figured I was setting myself up to be an addict for sure.  There were times waiting a full six hours between doses was killing me.  Magic Mouthwash and pain meds got me through. 

I still had tongue and mouth sores when I went in to see my Primary Care Physician and expressed my addiction concerns.  She laughed and told me that I'd just been to the gates of Hell and would need all the help I could get to make my way back.  She said I shouldn't worry about addiction.  That taking the pain meds would help me heal faster, as well as reduce the pain.  And that if I did become addicted, she'd get me un-addicted.  It was more important to take the pain meds while my body healed itself.  She took all my addiction worries away.  I'm happy to say my body healed and I never became addicted.  That was almost four years ago.

I know this doesn't answer your question, but I had the same concerns and things turned out fine.

Best of luck.

Bugsy

Thank YOU ...

... Bugsy, that helps tremendously.  We were both really concerned.  We have a great PCP, and I know she'll help him get off of the pain meds if he DOES get addicted, so we'll quit worrying and just go forward.  

Have a great day!

tommyodavey

Addiction

I tend to agree with Bugsy about not getting addicted.  There really isn't much better pain management than opiates but it all depends on the persons brain.  With me, being a recovering alcoholic for over 30 years I was very concerned about getting addicted to another substance after battling for years against my drinking.  It took years for me to get addicted to them so I wouldn't worry about yourself.  (a nasty back and neck injury) The vast majority of patients who don't have the addict minded brain disorder seem to have no problem getting off them.  If you happen to get physically dependent on them your doctor will taper you down nice and slow to avoid too much discomfort.  Only you know how your brain will react.  

IMO, don't suffer for something that has a 90% chance of not happening.  The majority here had to taper but got off them alright in the end.  A little discomfort compared to stopping very bad pain is worth the risk.  I am the odd man out here saying I had a problem.  In my 7 years of logging in I haven't read of another like me.

Take them and find relief.  You need and deserve it. 

mehrdad357

I go with Advil or Tylenol

What about people like me who have bad side effects to Opiods. They make my stomach upset (The least) or make me vomit.

I have to take these anti upset stomach that prvevent upset stomach, but make me feel strange in other ways.

Long time ago I decided except unbearable pain (Such as toothache, before I got cancer), I just take 400 to 600 mg. of

Ibuprofen in form of Advil, sometimes tylenol. My doc says all these newer non narcotic pills have not been around long enough

(He is talking in terms of decades) and may have worst side effects than tylenol.

You see pain meds. have not really improved in the last 40 or so years.

If my pain is really bad I can tolerate codeine only

Mehrdad

johnsonbl

gabapentin...

Is a non-narcotic.  Not exactly sure it's method of action but is some sort of nerve desensitizer.  It has to be slowly titrated up and then you have to slowly wean off of it.  I was on it for the duration of my radiation and a couple weeks post.  I really didn't notice it doing much...but then again, maybe if I hadn't had it I would have been much more uncomfortable.

I tended to find that ibuprofen and tylenol worked the best.

Others on here will recommend mary jane and derivatives...  If you happen to live where they are available.

If it's shoulder and headache that are bothering him then my guess is that more PT and exercise of his neck, back and shoulder would probably be the best bet...

 

Good luck!

SuzJ

Tylenol..

honestly, until the 2 weeks after it was all done (the 3 hell weeks) I didn't touch anything except Tylenol.

In hell weeks, I did Tramadol, one or two oxy, with lidocaine mouthwash, before meals, so I could eat.

Roar

I stopped them a week after my last treatment

i was concerned about the addiction - truth is when the treatment was over in my heart I was done with the pain meds. I remember attempting to go back to work and saw that would be impossibl. Took me about a month to taper down. 

momall25ofu

Thank you SO MUCH for all the

Thank you SO MUCH for all the comments. I posted this before the surgery.  The pain at that point was pre-surgery.  His surgery was so extreme ... tylenol, advil, and ibuprofen wouldn't touch it.  He was bound and determined to have the surgery first.  Felt it was best to cut out the beast and then do follow-up radiation.  To each his own.   Had a lot of problems with pain out-of-control in the hospital, they couldn't get it under control because he could not swallow the first two days.  Now opiods are helping.   I will ask about the Tramadol.  He still faces the radiation, but we'll get through it.  Thank you, friends!