What pain relief do you take?

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carlyo

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Genrally what pain relief do you take? whether its crohns or just general aches and pains. I find codiene and dicofenic make me conistpated and tramadol gives me bad nights(nightmares and sleepless nights) paracetamol does nothing. Take brutrans patches but don't want to stay on these.

Carly
 
Tramadol for me but it makes me extremely fuzzy & as you say causes insomnia.
Rgds
Grant
 
Hiya Carlyo
and welcome

You mustn't take Diclofenic with an IBD, these are NSAIDS, which include Ibuprofen/Nurofen etc
As you've found codeine can make you constipated with a higher risk of obstruction.
Paracetamol would be your safest bet
xxx
 
Joan,
On one occasion when I was obstructing nothing would take the pain away via IV until they introduced liquid paracetamol.
It was utter bliss, the relief just washed over me.
Rgds
Grant
 
Didn't know they did liquid paracetamol! sounds good.

Hey, hope you're doing ok now Grant, you've had a few scary days?
Can't help you regarding clots and bleeding but make sure you get to see someone tomorrow, ok? Be on the safe side, yeah?
xxx
 
Tks Joan
Going to try & speak to the specialist nurse asap about the clot. Not too bad, belly feels very tight at times so I sometimes take Milk of Magnesia which really helps. Got to wait until Oct 10th now for next attempt @ Balloon Dilation.
Ref the liquid paracetamol, it was such relief I cant explain just how great it was.
Hope your well also & continue so
Rgds
Grant
 
I strangely find paracetamol to be one of the most effective pain relievers for me. When I was recovering from my most recent surgery, I found it to be the most useful at getting rid of the nasty pain from the surgery--even better than Tramadol.

I was sent home with a box of effervescent paracetamol, and that is quite quick and effective since it is effectively a liquid when you take it.
 
Half the time, arthritis formula acetemeniphin (650mg x 2) works well.

Pardon the spelling mistakes?

Percocet drives me mad with anxiety after 2-3 days. Then it stops working for pain.

For moderate pain, tramadol works pretty good with no major side effects for me.

With the knee implant, they brought out the big guns - Dilaudid. So far nothing works as good for pain for me than this. It seems I never get constipated, but this does make for a "normal" stool for me.
 
I was hoping there could be something else apart from paracetamol, I took it last wk twice in one day and rolled around following day with bad cramps, afraid to take it now.
 
Oxycodone right now, but when I was in the hospital they gave me Dilaudid. That stuff is GANGSTA!!! I hope I never have to take that stuff again, if I do, its only because I am in so much pain I cant function. Oxycodone messes my head up enough as is. Dilaudid is just a complete shutdown for me. They had to watch me to make sure I was breathing after taking it!
 
Tylenol 3's yes it has codeine but it works. Have had Oxycotin and or percs but the doctors dont give it out here any more..very addictive. Have had Dilauded but that was moons ago, same with Talwin, wicked stuff.
 
I usually just take paracetamol when the pain just starts to interfere with what I'm doing. I guess I'm quite lucky that paracetamol seems to work for my pain most of the time. I also take buscopan when my stomach is doing it's horribly painful crampy spasms.
I have got codeine on prescription but I only take it when the pain becomes really bad because I am prone to bouts of constipation.

And I have had morphine (hate that stuff but it did help) and tramadol (the side effects I got had me off that quicker than I got on it) in the hospital.

I used to take ibruprofen like a nutter because it really used to help with pain but since diagnosis that has been firmly off the list!
x
 
I take tramadol. I have the same issues with sleeplessness, so I don't take at night, and take tylenol PM to knock me out to ignore the pain. I've been on it for the same pain for a year now and it is still working pretty well! I don't like the idea of taking opiates/narcotics constantly for my pain, so this is a better alternative for me. There are times I wish I had some vicotin or percocet on hand though!
 
jesseiam2 said:
Oxycodone right now, but when I was in the hospital they gave me Dilaudid. That stuff is GANGSTA!!! I hope I never have to take that stuff again, if I do, its only because I am in so much pain I cant function. Oxycodone messes my head up enough as is. Dilaudid is just a complete shutdown for me. They had to watch me to make sure I was breathing after taking it!
Click to expand...

Dilaudid is GANSTA! They gave that to me in the hospital and I wanted to scream when they put it in my IV....I don't want to be high as crap, I want my pain gone! O.O They sent me home an hour later and I couldn't walk it was so strong...
 
They gave it to me and my eyes rolled back in my head and my face got all itchy like I was a junkie, lol. They had to give me Benadryl to offset the other effects. You wanted your pain gone, that does it!
 
I got really itchy too! It was soooo bad...it was late at night when they gave it to me, so I spent all night in bed scratching. Yuck!
 
Dilaudid is availble in pill form @ 2,4, and 8mg. I don't get any major side effects from the pill form. I use 2-4mg and am wide awake and alert. I didn't know about the pill form until the knee replacement. I don't know what you'd need 8mg for? It's definitely on the FDA list as a schedule 2 narcotic, so it's heavily monitored.

You're also correct anout the IV dilaudid - pretty strong stuff.
 
Learned the hard way that Morphine and Percocet have no effect so when I'm home I am on Vicoden and when I am hospitalized I am on IV Dilauded with a Phenegren chaser. My worst ER trips were spent trying to describe this without coming across as a junkie. Wish there was a way it could be charted so that I didn't have to start from scratch every time.
 
I have hideous back and hip pain from oseopinia cause by years of pred use in early 20s, but I digress, I take 10 mg hydrocodone as needed for pain, not to exceed 4.
 
I use hydrocodone (lortab) and oxycodone (percocet). I typically don't take anything unless I just get really tired of the pain.
 
I take no pain meds at all regardless of how badly I'm flaring. It's a personal choice but I find that enduring the pain (and believe me, it's quite severe at times) is preferable to enduring the Crohn's complications that tend to arise from taking drugs that can mess with motility and hydration, etc.

If I'm in really terrible pain I sometimes take hyosciamine to stop spasms and prednisone to ease inflammation, when possible.
 
I have been prescribed Tramadol by my pain doctor. It seems to help with some of the pain but not all. Especially not my joint pains. When I am having a flare I am usually either given oxycodone or hydrocodone. Both help a little. When in in the hospital I am given dilaudid which helps a lot. Other then drugs heat packs usually help along with warm baths and naps if the pain will let me take one.
 
I find the stronger opiate, or synthetic opiates like tramadol make me horribly constipated. Codeine, or dihydrocodeine is okay although I often need quite big doses for it to kill my pains, which are not gut related but joints and back.

For a while last year I was on gabapentin but stopped due to side effects and other issues. I started pregabalin (Lyrica in the US) a couple of weeks ago, which is similar to gabapentin, and I think has just started to kick in. My pain is a lot either a lot lower or I'm just coping with it better. Whatever, I've felt a lot better overall yesterday and today than I have for ages. So if you have chronic non-trivial pain I'd recommend trying one of these!
 
tramadol is MUCH weaker than oxycodone. Tramadol is a synthetic opiate, so its not a full narcotic medication. Oxycodone is one of the strongest narcotics! Tramadol is one of the weakest prescription pain medications, which is why I take it. Its commonly used for long term chronic pain due to the fact that it is supposedly harder to get addicted to, and it also works for 8 hours, when narcotics usually last 4-6 hours.
 
I take percocet for my back aches, and was given Levsin for the stomach cramps and pain associated with that. I like the percocet, but, I have to take a nap with it because I can't function.
 
I rarely take pain meds for anything at all, if it is absolutely necessary I take a codeine based drug-- like in a medical necessity situation, but I am more of a fan of stress reduction methods (exercise, refocusing my thoughts, stretching, breathing techniques, praying or reading the bible) and also marijuana.
 
Quite frankly my GI wouldn't give me pain meds if I asked for them. Pain means your disease isn't being managed properly in his view (and mine.)
 
Not to contradict you Muppet, but it is possible to treat active disease and control pain. When I was first dxed in 1992 I met many doctors that said the same thing that you said. The part they leave out is that administering small amounts of narcotics to crohns patience does not make it impossible for them to manage the disease. All those blood test show inflammation and so on and so forth. All the physical symptoms are the same, except the patient isn't screaming anymore. The only real drawback to administering narcotics to a crohn's patient is for the doctor! lol, He is the one who will have to work a little harder!!! Awwww ain't that sad:(
 
ekay03, I agree with you that pain relievers do have their purpose, however, the problem with narcotics are the host of side effects that come with them, but the two main problems are potential dependency and constipation. There are also other problems like with organ destruction and like you said, everything remains the same except the patient feels less pain. This is why I am a big believer in meditation and exercise and also marijuana which is a non-toxic substance that reduces bathroom trips but does not constipate, it relieves pain, and it reduces inflammation. It actually can help heal diseased tissue.
 
I never said you can't manage Crohn's while on pain meds. I just said that if you're in enough pain to need pain meds, your disease is not controlled (in other words, it's active and you need more than symptom masking drugs.)

I'd never even heard of Crohn's patients even *taking* narcos until I had been diagnosed for 20 years. Pain meds treat a symptom and my GI and others are worried that patients will stop treating at that point, I guess. That and there are definitely special consequences of narcotics for Crohn's patients (motility, depression/stress making things worse, etc.)

If you're in desperate pain and just have to have something, I guess it's hard to argue against that, but for almost 30 years I've done without partly because I only recently even knew it was an option and partly because it's just not necessary. Steroids, anti-spasm drugs, and maintenance meds usually get me functional (not in remission, just functional) again within a couple of days. Just not worth starting Demerol/Percocet/Vicodins for that 2-3 day window, in my opinion. I tend to think that if you're relying on narcotics to keep yourself from suffering, your GI is probably not doing a very good job.

Granted, not everybody has a tolerance for pain.
 
billyjoel, I am assuming you live in a region where marijuana is an option. OH how I envy you! Yes marijuana is quite effective. Alas here in Texas that is still a big no no!! And to you muppet, again with all due respect, using steroid drugs is at least as dangerous as narcs. I use to keep a stash of pred around so I could feel well enough to go to work everyday. Seemed like a no brainer. The pred worked and I went about my day, until one day I met a doctor (low guy on the totem pole) He explain to me the very harsh realities of steroid use over time. He wasn't very nice about it, but he, sure made his point. I never self medicated w/ steroids again. That was 20 years ago and I haven't taken them once. My crohns is controlled by Azothiaprin. No to address why a person with crohns that is under control would need narcs? Funny story (kinda) It seems that all the steriod use did a real number on my bones. I have all sorts of rib cracks and hip issues. They call it osteopenia and it will turn into osteoporosis. That, the doctors say is from years of pred use. So really at the end of the day, you get to choose your own poison
 
In 30 years I've had to self medicate to function with prednisone 3 times. Not a bad average, I think. I'll take the endocrine risks over the narcs, especially since steroids actually have a restorative effect while narcs are only a willpower aid.
 
dilaudid made me so effing itchy at the hospital, i have scars from all the scratching :(
I am just in love with paracetamol, it's so effective, plus it's the safest for IBD. tylenol will always be my favorite
 
ekay03, I do not live in a medical marijuana state I just feel it is patriotic for me to use pot whenever I choose; sort of like speakeasies during prohibition.... Usually I choose not to use it because of the private employer risks involved, i.e., getting fired. I have experimented with using marijuana for a two year period at irregular intervals during that time, and I never once had an issue with Crohn's, I usually just casually used with friends or whenever I did have it at home, and I could go and binge drink every weekend and not feel a thing, that is a miracle! Not that you should want to binge drink, but a single drink now while I have no pot in my system results in a small flare no matter what, so I just don't drink... My ultimate goal in life is to start a successful small business so that I can use pot in peace every single night of the week, then I am risking at most having the authorities confiscate my stash if I ever have it on my person in public, not a big deal cause I can always buy more. :)
 
chrisnsteph1022 said:
I use hydrocodone (lortab) and oxycodone (percocet). I typically don't take anything unless I just get really tired of the pain.
Click to expand...

Hi there,

My name is Jeff/Israel.I have crohn's.
My gastro doctor just put me on humira.My main complaint is fatigue.

Do you have any good results with cimzia?

Kindly waiting your reply
Jeff
 
Reality with Crohns- we will go through periods of trouble. I am not sure that means its we are not managing properly.

We manage with medication- sometimes its not enough and pain managment is important!
Having my three kids didnt hurt as much!

Lauren
 
I used to smoke cannabis. I didn't do it because I had Crohn, I was doing it already (legal here). I read a study that it might stop inflammatory cytokine, but now that my crohn is under control I don't do it anymore since my doc told me to stop smoking immediately and I trust him.
 
muppet said:
Pain means your disease isn't being managed properly in his view (and mine.)
Click to expand...

I agree with this. Painkillers should be very very temporary. If you still have pain it means your disease is not under control.

The thing is, you can pretend that you're simply taking a painkiller and the pain is over and you move on. NO, that is not what happens, if you have pain it often means you have inflammation, which means you have a tiny wounds, which means scarring, which could potentially cause a stricture, you seriously do not want that.

So I agree with muppet, if you are in pain more than a few times, your disease is not managed properly and you're going to run into issues that are not going to be cured by taking a painkiller.

Not to mention that painkiller addiction is serious stuff, way more serious than cannabis addiction, my uncle commited suicide using painkillers and alcohol. Painkillers should be temporary until medicine starts working or until you can get to ER or whatever, it should not be used to treat Crohn, because it doesn't treat Crohn, it just gives you the opportunity to live in denial.
 
For some people it can take weeks, months even years to get the disease under control, and they can be in great pain the whole time. Leaving pain untreated is barbaric, unnecessary and unhelpful for healing.
 
handle said:
For some people it can take weeks, months even years to get the disease under control, and they can be in great pain the whole time. Leaving pain untreated is barbaric, unnecessary and unhelpful for healing.
Click to expand...

Assuming this was directed at us. What me and I assume also muppet's point was that a painkiller is not a substitute for treatment, and long term pain is an indicator that your treatment is inadequate. No one said you couldn't take a painkiller, but you can not start depending on it.

As far as the "it can take years"...you should not be on years of painkillers at all, in any shape or form with crohn, period.

If you are on years of painkillers it means you are not being looked after or your treatment has completely failed on you. It is completely abnormal to be on years of painkillers with crohn in this day and age, not to mention incredibly dangerous, because not only is there the risk of addiction to the painkillers or the risk of an overdose, the risk of scarring if left untreated is substantial, painkillers are not a solution.
 
Kiny, I have no idea who 'us' is.
Since you quoted my post, and chose to ignore it's message, I will try to clarify by saying that pain medication has a valuable place in Crohn's Disease treatment. It is not a solution but rather an adjunct to treatment, sometimes necessary to provide relief and an opportunity for healing. People who need to use pain meds should not be made to feel like drug seekers, or fools. They are neither.
 
I agree as long as it doesn't create dependency. If it's from time to time, but if it's like every week or even every day, it will not end well, since all that scarring is going to cause a stricture. As a very sporadic pain reliever I don't see an issue.
 
I do not think its a hard and fast rule example- no more than
three pain pills a year. This disease is different for everyone.
Our symptoms vary the degree of trouble varies from on flare to the
next. I wouldn't presume to tell someone what they are doing
Is wrong for them in managing their disease.

Many of us have gone through hell to get a diagnosis, treated
Like drug seekers etc. Most of us will not become addicted
to pain meds. If our disease is that advanced we are prob in
the hosp already. If addiction runs in the family and your Dr
knows he will watch what he is doing.

The bottom line is we use pain meds and not doing so
is the same as torture if you ask me. And maybe you
didnt but that's my opinion.

Sent from my phone sorry for any errors in spelling etc...

Lauren
 
tots said:
I do not think its a hard and fast rule example- no more than
three pain pills a year. This disease is different for everyone.
Our symptoms vary the degree of trouble varies from on flare to the
next. I wouldn't presume to tell someone what they are doing
Is wrong for them in managing their disease.

Many of us have gone through hell to get a diagnosis, treated
Like drug seekers etc. Most of us will not become addicted
to pain meds. If our disease is that advanced we are prob in
the hosp already. If addiction runs in the family and your Dr
knows he will watch what he is doing.

The bottom line is we use pain meds and not doing so
is the same as torture if you ask me. And maybe you
didnt but that's my opinion.

Sent from my phone sorry for any errors in spelling etc...

Lauren
Click to expand...

Very well said. Thank you :)
 
A question for you all in the United Kingdom: when you are prescribed Codeine, do they give you pure codeine? If so, how many mg of codeine per tablet? I know you can buy the co-codamol at most stores there without a doctors Rx (which contains 500mg paracetemol and 8 mg codeine phosphate.) Thanks!
 
patcrawford1 said:
A question for you all in the United Kingdom: when you are prescribed Codeine, do they give you pure codeine? If so, how many mg of codeine per tablet? I know you can buy the co-codamol at most stores there without a doctors Rx (which contains 500mg paracetemol and 8 mg codeine phosphate.) Thanks!
Click to expand...

Yes I get pure codeine - 30mg tablets.

You can't get pure codeine without a prescription - the kind that you can just buy in a chemist is never that strong per tablet, and it will always have paracetamol added so that if you try taking too much, the paracetamol will make you sick before the codeine can make you high. (On the packet they make it look like the paracetamol is there to add to the pain relief - it's not, it's there to stop you overdosing on codeine.)

I just posted a thread in the treatment forum http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=55261 you might want to check out before considering asking for pure codeine.
 
I take Tramadol. i usually have to cut them in half and take 1 1/2 to manage the pain. sometimes i only take one. if its an on the floor kind of pain ill take two. whats nice is that it lasts a good amount of time the bad part is that it keeps me awake.
 
I use medical marijuana, hydrocodone or oxycodone depending on my pain level during a flare. Been in so much pain this year with a hospitalization and two big flares (including current one)it's hard to just grit my teeth and take it.

In the hospital they had me on morphine the whole damn time. I was loopy so luckily had ppl there to be my advocates!
 
badbelly said:
I use medical marijuana, hydrocodone or oxycodone depending on my pain level during a flare. Been in so much pain this year with a hospitalization and two big flares (including current one)it's hard to just grit my teeth and take it.

In the hospital they had me on morphine the whole damn time. I was loopy so luckily had ppl there to be my advocates!
Click to expand...

WTH what kind of pain do you have? I need to be shaken or something I feel like I'm missing information with this disease, maybe the Dr is withholding. MJ and Hydrocodone OMG is the severe pain something the comes with time? I do understand its a progressive disease but pain like this was never mentioned. After reading many threads Ill say more have pain mentioned in them that don't. I'm starting to freak out a little my pain is dull cramp not severe stabby. Right now at this time I am pain free had shot of Cimzia last week. However my future of being pain free is questionable. I hope your pain is lessened by your meds and you start feeling better.
 
Cleuger, not all individuals with IBD have chronic pain. The majority of the people in my local crohn's and colitis meetings do not have chronic pain.

No disrespect, but I disagree with the people who have said that if you are in pain, your disease is not under control. As an example, axial arthritis activity does not always mirror IBD activity. I have been in endoscopically verified remission for four years, but I have been in pain most of that time.

I am currently taking imipramine and Lyrica. For breakthrough pain, I use Percocet. It has taken diligence and a lot of doctor's visits to find meds (other than opiates) that work, but I'm making progress! I rarely have to use the Percocet now.
 
I taje tramadol and tylenol. I cant take the tramadol at night though because it make me wide awake.

For the ones asking..tramadol is NOT a nurcotic! It acts like it but not
 
Wilder said:
Cleuger, not all individuals with IBD have chronic pain. The majority of the people in my local crohn's and colitis meetings do not have chronic pain.



No disrespect, but I disagree with the people who have said that if you are in pain, your disease is not under control. As an example, axial arthritis activity does not always mirror IBD activity. I have been in endoscopically verified remission for four years, but I have been in pain most of that time.



I am currently taking imipramine and Lyrica. For breakthrough pain, I use Percocet. It has taken diligence and a lot of doctor's visits to find meds (other than opiates) that work, but I'm making progress! I rarely have to use the Percocet now.
Click to expand...


Agreed. I've learned that I can be in endoscopic remission yet still experience pain like I am in a flare! I am in pain, daily!! I also feel that my doctors are managing my disease very well, and that the pain level is not a reflection of level of management or inflammation! I take Percocet as needed on really bad days, and bite the bullet otherwise.
 

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