Recommended Painkillers

[mum16]

Hi All
I am new to the Forum and the whole Crohn's Disease world. My daughter got diagnosed a year ago after emergency surgery where 50 cm of the ileum and 15 cm of the colon was removed. She is now on Pentasa and Imuran, and doing very well, other than the occasional dizzy-spell or nausea. The Loose bowl is always present, but she has learned to deal with it.

My question goes to painkillers for "normal stuff" like period pain, headaches, sore muscles etc.
She has severe period cramps, Paracetamol is not sufficient, ibuprofen not recommended, codeine not legal where we live, so what else is there, which wouldn't be harmful?

 

[DustyKat]

Hi mum16 and :welcome:

I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter...:hug:

My daughter was also diagnosed via emergency surgery and has had about the same amount of bowel removed as your daughter. Fab to hear she is doing well!

The loose stools, I would imagine she is suffering with diarrhoea due to the bile salts not being reabsorbed. You can get medication prescribed to deal with this, Questran or in my daughters case she uses psyllium, a natural product that can be bought in the supermarket, with great effect.

Is your daughter on B12 injections?

Has she had blood levels done for B12, Folate, Iron Stores and Vitamin D?

Does she take any supplements?

The area of bowel she has had removed will make her prone to certain deficiencies. Have a read through this list and see what you think.

I'm not sure what you would go to since codeine isn't available. I mean it rules out a whole range of drugs that could be used before moving up to the more heavy duty ones used to treat moderate to severe pain. Unfortunately that may be the only choice you have, but if only used in short bursts that shouldn't be an issue. The type of thing I am thinking of might be something like Tramadol or Endone???

Good luck hun and welcome aboard!

Dusty. xxx

 

[mum16]

Hi Dusty
Thanks for the reply, I was beginning to think I had done something wrong, with so many views and no comments

I will definitely try Psyllium, at least to start out with, enough chemicals as it is...
Yes she has had all her levels checked, in the beginning she was on B12 supplement, but no it has been stoppped, her levels are fine. Only supplement she is taking now is Iron, Folate.
She is getting full checkup on blodwoorks and stool every 2 month, but so far all fine. End of May she will be having a Colonoscopy, to check after the 1 year of the operation.

Thanks for the advice on the painkillers, I think I might "forget" some codeine in a jacket-pocket next time i travel...:sign0144:


For us all, the worst is that we do not know how bad a re-lapse would be, and with no experience in this scenario, we (my husband and I) tend to expect the worst and over-react. She was finally over the nightmares, when a good friend of hers also got diagnosed with CD, and that started it all over again.

Btw - thanks for a great Forum, loads of information and equally important - somewhere to vent. Having a bit of difficulty with the abbreviations and the medical terminilogy in general though, but that would always be the problem for non-native English speakers. This will be a way to expand my vocab

Thanks again

 

[DustyKat]

Wow, I would never have guessed that English wasn't your native tongue!

You haven't done anything Rikke, :hug:, sometimes a tricky question leaves us stumped! :lol: It really does make it difficult for you when you don't have codeine as the next step up from Paracetamol. Hmmmm, a lapse in memory sounds like a very good idea when you are next travelling! :wink: I'm curious, do you know why it is banned?

It sounds like you are keeping on top of the bloods. Just continue to keep a close eye on the vitamins and minerals as they may well fluctuate. B12 is only absorbed in the terminal ileum and since your daughter has that area removed it may start dropping again.

Good luck! and if you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask!

Dusty. xxx

 

[Twiggy930]

Hi Rikke,

:welcome:

Sorry, I saw your post yesterday but had absolutely no useful information for you. I did want say a big welcome to the forum, just got a little distracted by a hockey game on TV... I am new to Crohn's and I have found the forum to be a great resource. Hope to see you around in the threads!

 

[Sascot]

Welcome to the forum - have been a bit stressed with a recent hospital visit so haven't done much posting.
We have been give dihydrocodeine as a strong pain tablet. They do tend to avoid codeine based painkillers but I think mainly because they consipate children. We were told to make sure he drinks alot while taking them.
Glad your daughter is doing well.

 

[izzi'smom]

Ditto that I read your question and had nothing useful to add...plus I often peruse on my phone and posting is difficult and cryptic (full of misspellings and poor punctuation) so I tend not to post.
Welcome!