Narcotic bowel syndrome

[carey]

narcotic bowel syndrome

i am convinced now that all the issues i have been having are due to my pain meds. i have been taking vicodin, percocet, and dilaudid, every day for the last year. not all at the same time of course. but lately my belly has been extending, i have horrible gas, the pain is worse than ever, and when i eat it gets worse. i have also lost 10 pounds in the last week. even though im on 60mgs pred and remicade. when i go to the hospitol the ct scan shows that there is no inflamation, and my blood tests are normal. my question here is, what non-narcotic pain meds can i ask my doc for? i want to get off the pain meds (currently on the perks) im just scared of the withdrawel process. and just in case im wrong i really dont want to be in pain without some kind of back up plan.

 

[Crohn's 35]

Wow you are gonna have major withdrawl, I would be lowering the dosage very slow and getting off them. Tramadol is a good medication and non additive , so it says. With 60mg of Pred and all that pain control medication, something is definitely wrong. The gas could be created because most meds can cause your bowels to slow down and therefore when you eat it is creating gas. When was the last time you had a scope. CT scans dont always show inflammation. A small bowel follow thru is best to detect narrowing. Something isnt right here, doesnt make sense. that is alot of pain meds and Pred. Mind you Prednisone has a tendency to "hide" inflammation. I am assuming you are seeing a Gi specialist? Sorry I am not much help, but just seems strange is all.

 

[carey]

my last colonoscopy was over a year ago. i am getting kind of sick of these hospitols just doing the same exam and telling me im ok, when i know im not. they just do the ct scan say im fine and give me more pills. i'll ask about doing another colonoscopy or the barium test.

 

[mpartridgeferrari]

Sounds like you really need to be scoped to find out what is really going on. As far as the non narcotic pain meds it is hard to get relief from anything else but the narcotic based. I am currently on 80mg of oxycontin a day and have taken everything under the sun to try to get relief. As far as the Tramadol goes that stuff is still very addictive and you do have withdrawal when you come off of it. Unfortunately I have never found anything non narcotic that actually helps the severe pain that comes with crohns. Good luck but really get that stuff looked at. Sounds deeper than medication problems.

 

[carey]

went back to a different hospitol last night to get a second opinion. explained everything to the doc, he said it looks like most of my pain is centered around my left kidney even though i dont have a kidney infection, he doesnt think its from the pain meds. he also advised me to get another scope. gonna call my gi doc tomarrow to schedule one. thanks guys for all your support and advice in this.

 

[BigBoss]

I know this is super old thread, but i am just curious, if you get this by chance, what was the outcome of your scope? Has anyone else had similar issues. I have had a resection, which removed all the diseased tissue, but i still have pain. I as well am taking 80mg (2x10mg 4xday)of percocet a day, and dr wants me to wean down to 40mg (1x 10mg 4xday)... super scared, and i know the pain is not in my head. He says he thinks i have an addiction problem. I really dont know what to say to that. I very well may, but i also know that i definitely experience pain everyday. Still have chromic diarrhea, and am afraid to eat. Its hard to want to wean down on meds when they bring me such relief. I hate how i feel right now, i hate this disease.