What do you take for pain | Arthritis Information

Im a 37 yr old male. Pa hit 1 yr after a microdiskectomy on l5-s1 severe rupture nerve damage left legg. Im on MTX increasing dose to 4 pills this week. I have times where my pain is a level 8-9-10. The only thing my doc gave me is tramadol 5mg i believe 1 in the morn and 1 at night as needed. This does nothing for my pain esp when i get home from work and try to sleep. He did give me when i asked for lunesta wich has helped i was becoming a bear only sleeping an hr here and there. I live in montana and drug abuse is wide spread or i think my doc would give me something alittle stronger to help on the bad days. I wont take pain meds at work cause im a lead and in charge of 7 people. We work close togethher on equipment that if turned on at wrong time could injure one another. But my pain is usually at its highest point 2-3 hrs after work when i go to bed. My knees just kill me somedays i cannt stand even the weight of a blanket on them. I hope the MtX calms even more of my pain down soon. So i was just wondering what other people are taking for pain. Thinks for all comments and i hope all get some relief soon.I"m not sure we have the same type of pain. I'm on Celebrex and refuse pain drugs because I need to, as you do, have my wits about me. I have been offered some of the heavy duty pain meds but on a few occasions when I've taken them they didn't do a whole lot for the pain and did a lot to upset my stomach, make me sleepy, and make me nauseous.

Tramadol did absolutely nothing for me. Tried it on two occasions. The one drug that DID knock out my pain [but knocked me out, too] was Toradol....but you can't take this for more than a few days.

But for day long use, Celebrex works for me to some extent. Ask your doctor for another NSAID. Sometimes you have to keep trying them until you hit on one that works for you.

Good luck!

Thanks for the reply. I will talk to my doc about nsaids. Celebrex isd definitely for me it tore up my stomach in no time but i know there are more out there. I'm up to 4 MTX a week building up 1 a month swelling is down but pain is still there especially when i go up stairs. It seems i can now feel it in a few of my fingers also sometimes my right ankle but not sure on that one due to nerve damage from ruptured disk and micro.It's also possible the MTX isn't working as fast as it should. Is the pain localized in the joints you mentioned? Do they hurt only when bearing weight?

My ace in the hole is Kenalog - a cortisone injection into the joint itsef, given by the orth surgeon. I swear by this. I have had it my my knees, my fingers, my wrist, my ankle. Problem is that you can't get more than 2 in 12 months in a specific joint because to many injections cause damage to the tendons and ligaments.

Are you sure it's not the MTX that isn't the problem with your stomach? Celebrex is generally kinder on the stomach than many of the NSAIDS. But we are all different.

You ARE taking folic acid with the MTX, aren't you?

I have pain most of the time in knees mainly left knee but right knee is generally more swollen. I did have the left one drained and a steriod injection that only worked for a couple of days. We are still steping up the dose of MTX. Yes i take perscription folic acid. MTX just makes me hungry lol. Celebrex i took many yrs ago so it could be different this time. I have a standing apointment with rhymy and will discuss nsaid then. My finger have just started bother me at times pointer finger on left hand mainly this started after I started MTX. I have told ryhmy about this he doesnt seem to concered my wife and I have also noticed more skin iritation and swelling in spots on my face. I hope we are catching this arthrits before it gets real bad. My knees bother me alot but have gotten better pain between 3-5. Tonight was a bad one a few hrs at level 7-8 in left knee. Xrays show no damage to knees a few months ago. Left knee is my main concern along with the meds and infection worries. Still getting use to taking this stuff. My worst pain generally is 2-3 hrs after work when i go to bed. Thinks for your comments.Regarding that finger pain......I've found that it's best to get it taken care of right away. For me that involves Kenalog injection in the joint by my orthopedic surgeon. He uses the long lasting cortisone and I generally get about 2 months relief. You cannot have this kind of injection more than twice a year in the same joint. Causes tissue damage with repetitive use in short time frame.

I've found that some rheumatologists are not huge fans of using Kenalog, and that's why I tend to go straight to my orth surgeon who specializes in hands. For me, losing the use of my fingers or hands is especially disastrous since they are my livelihood.

Is this the same finger you use on your computer mouse? You might consider getting a truly ergonomic mouse. I've got the Microsoft "Natural" Wireless Laser Mouse 6000. But if you're left handed, forget it.

Stepping up the MTX is the way to go, I think. Sometimes it just doesn't kick it as fast as we would like. What about adding Humira?

I know it's no consolation, but many of us find we have to jump through a lot of hoops to get everything under control.

Yea just getting use to all this i think my rhymy thinks im a whinner cause i tell him about all the pain i have. because ive seen it written so many times tell your doc of all pain and symptoms. I dont expect him to fix it all I just want my knee pain to stay between a 2-3 even when going up stairs. Mind you ive been in pain all my life. WHen i was 10-12 yrs old i use to cry myself to sleep with knee pain my parents took me to many doc and never found a problem. My rhymy said it was most likely the PA started basck then and skin symptoms started later. I hope people get an early diagnoses and dont suffer for yrs trying to get to an answer.If your doctor thinks you're a whiner, fire him and get a new one.

Granted, doctors do see their share of whiners, but there are also some doctors who cannot seem to believe the patient is hurting unless tests validate a problem. Doctors, the good ones, know that tests are not always conclusive and often find it useful to practice with the "if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck...." attitude.

thank you im acually feeling better lately from the mtx kicking in but now something is going on with my throght so i might have to stop and see a ear nose throght doc to see what going on increased folic to 3 pills aday and spots in throght didnt go away hmm.Celebrex realy tore up my stomach im glad it works for some.

I'm sure we're all different. But are you sure it was Celebrex that your stomach reacted to? Celebrex is the ONLY NSAID my stomach does NOT react to.

bumpmoving this upI was just dx recently and have tried Mobic 2x each day which did not help at all. I wsa then switched to Voltaren 2x each day with no effect. I am now on methotrexate (8 pills x 2.5 mg) one time each week, and was VERY sick to my stomach even though I took the ONE pill of folic acid (1mg).

I also take Hydrocodone 7.5mg. It doesn't always work in reducing the pain, but allows me to focus long enough to get a little work done.

Check the other thread - I posted some ideas,

I'm not keen on hydrocodone, ESPECIALLY if it only works some of the time.

You need two medications:

~ MTX [or anti-TNF] to stop the progression of the disease

~ Pain killer [Celebrex has caused the least amount of stomach discomfort for me and has been the best help for pain as I don't want to be brain dead]

Lynn

Kajoeyla sorry about the diagnosis. I am on MTX , Arava,naproxen,exstrenght Tylenol and a narcotic(PRN) I have found that 5 mg of folic acid helps with the nausea more so than 1 mg. You will get used to the MTX and the nausea will clear off eventually. i wish I could tell you when. good luck.

I have been called for presurgery screening again[QUOTE=2trees]Kajoeyla sorry about the diagnosis. I am on MTX , Arava,naproxen,exstrenght Tylenol and a narcotic(PRN) I have found that 5 mg of folic acid helps with the nausea more so than 1 mg. You will get used to the MTX and the nausea will clear off eventually. i wish I could tell you when. good luck.

I have been called for presurgery screening again[/QUOTE]

Out of curiosity - did you try Synvisc or one of the hyaluronic acid therapies?

[QUOTE=Sam1234][QUOTE=2trees] You will get used to the MTX and the nausea will clear off eventually. i wish I could tell you when. [/QUOTE]

This is not always the case. I took MTX for 2 years, and was nauseas the whole time. I also had my hair fall out, got the mouth sores and had my liver and gallbladder fail resulting in emergency gallbaldder removal. Sometimes the side effects are WORSE than the disease, and you need to say no more and move on to something else. There are many other drug choices out there that can work without the side effects of MTX/

No, I do not know anything about Synvisc or hyaluronic acid...Acetaminophen is a non-aspirin pain reliever. It can be used to lower a fever and soothe headaches and other common aches and pains. However, acetaminophen does not reduce swelling. Well i hope all get some pain relief. My pain has gotten better, 5-6 most days but not he 8-9 everyday. I was about to go insane. tramoadol is great for me with moderate pain but not the 8-9 level pain. My wife was pissed at my doc she told him i was moaning and groaning in my sleep when i slept and he acted like it was nothing. I will always say noone can understand your pain untill the find a way to do pain transferance lol. Psa bothers me more then my back surgery (microdisectomy l5-s1) 2 yrs ago. I had severe rupture nerve damage to left legg severe foot drop compressed spinal cord. Well have a good one and thanks fopr the comments.Hi...New to PSA, have had skin proriasis for about 2 years.......having lots of pain in left foot, left hand, upper back, and hips. Most average days pain is constant at about 5....days I work it shoots up to 10+ and I have very hard time getting back under control in the evenings...I am only on Naproxen 500 mg twice per day right now....appt with rheumy again on the 7th to supposedly starrt mtx...........I need relief now!!!! Can I take advil with naproxen? THANKSNo, you may NOT take Advil with Naproxen.

The 7th is around the corner.....just keep focused on that date. Once you get started on MTX it will start to kick in and you can look forward to relieft.