Pain Meds | Arthritis Information

Hello everyone, I am not new to the sight just been away awhile. I have had RA for four looong yrs. It is definitely a roller coaster, I take plaq., meth, mobic, folic acid, and zoloft. I tried Humira last year and failed miserably, caused cardiac problems and totally screwed up my nervous system. With the aid of pain meds I have been doing ok but now I am having a horrible flare, no swelling just pain!!!! IMy question is why do dr's hate prescribing pain meds so bad!!! I have been responsibly taking Lorcet for 4 years, and now when I honestly tell them that it is not working very well and could we up the dosage, now they want me off of them. Just curious what the rest of you take for pain relief? I am afraid to take another biologic after my experience with Humira. Just down in the RA dumps, don't know what to do!!! Thanks for reading, AliceI was taking my mom's old pain killers from her dentist when I was sick and couldn't see a doctor. I was very afraid of using them but felt I had little choice as my condition deteriorated.

My doctor actually prescribed me vicodin at 5mg to have for pain as needed. I really don't use it unless I really feel the need. I have used very little since I got on the predisone, but it is nice knowing I have it in case I have a flare.

Pain killers are something that need to be monitored for side effects. And if you are using them properly, they don't give euphoria after the initial use. I take testimony from people addicted to pain killers often and I have seen some scary situations and doctors have to protect their patients from that potential, so I do understand the caution they feel.
I'd say it depends on the doctor. My doctor was willing to give me Vicodin in Dec. I wasn't willing to take it. My rheumy thinks if you're being properly treated for RA, you shouldn't need a lot of pain meds.

Huge issue for me. I swear, I have no will to live without pain meds. It is no life just coping. That is what my life is like without pain meds. I take darvocet for everyday permanent damage and lortab for major flares. I take soma to relax my muscles when I overdo and I take valium when I get stressed out. You might think I am a drug addict but I seriously know I am not. Darvocett does not get me high at all and it is my favorite pain med. I get irritated when I have to take the ones that get so high and stupid. The valium I have been taking for years and I have never taken it more than a couple days a week without craving it. Soma I take at bedtime.

I feel blessed my doctors prescribe me these drugs. I am extremely honest with them. I think it has to do with pre ra I always turned down pain meds. Seriously, I could not cope with ra without pain meds. It is more pain than I have ever imagined and more pain than I can live with. Thank God for pain meds. I hope you find a better doctor that will understand. I don't know what an addictive personality looks like, but I don't think I am. Even if I was, I would rather be a pain med addict than laying around crying every day hating life.

I am on ultram twice a day, he said i can take it 4 times, but twice is enough. If i miss a dose i am in horrible trouble though.

I just asked for another refill today, i got a refill for 5 more bottles when needed.

My doc wants me off the regular pain meds and prednisone one day, but as it looks so far, that isn't any time soon.

You can see from our posts what different reactions we have and what different lives we live. Some of us do hard, physical work. That's just not possible without help. Some of us have had RA longer. Some of us can't take meds. Everyone is coming from a different place. When they gave me the painkillers back in Dec., they did nothing for the pain, but they made me sick and dizzy.

Your doctor needs to treat you, albehu, and make life bearable for you. You know what you can tolerate, and you know when and how much you hurt. It's your doctor's job to take that pain away and feel as close to "normal" as you possibly can. If he/she isn't willing to do that, you might need to think about moving on.
I am allergic to antibiotics, NSAIDS and most pain medicine. I can only take extra strength Tylenol for pain. I tried ultacet but was so sick from it I decided I'd rather have the pain. Even when I had skin cancer surgury I opted to take nothing except Tylenol. Needless to say, the pain gets me down and I'm depressed a lot. A hot bath at night relaxes me enough to at least get to sleep but I wake up after 4 or 5 hours.My husband and I own a hardware store - so I have mental (book work) and physical stress daily - I am lucky in that if I can't do something (including going to work) I don't have to. My rheumy prescribes Darvocet and Oxy - don't use the Oxy much and when my script (30) is out of date I take him the left overs and he gives me a new script (I haven't used all 30 in a year for 2 years) darvocet I only take when I really really need them but don't feel bad when I do! The remicade, humira and enbrel was not working for me so last Friday I started Orencia - keeping my fingers crossed - pain meds are a necessary part of this disease rather we or our docs like it. To function and cope with daily life is a must. Docs are liable for the pain meds they prescribe and some have got to the point where they don't want to chance any misuse, I was lucky enouogh to find a rheumy who is willing to work with me and have been with him long enough now he trusts me not to overdo on them. I did ask him one time if he would live my life and accept it with little to no pain meds and since then we have agreed to work together. Good luck. Hugs and good vibes. 2manyaches38824.9354861111My doctor told me to take tylenol arthritis. No pain meds other than that. she also prescribed elavil to help get a good night sleep. Sleep makes a difference. my doctor hasn't given any pain meds. I have no problem with them. I had 2 c sections. I had percocet it just makes you tired. wish you luck.

I take 10/mg of vidocin in the morning, after lunch and again late afternoon. It's very helpful, I've been at this dose level for 1 and 1/2 years. There isn't any high after taking it for so long, but it works on the pains very well. The Enbrel, pred, paxil do their things, but Vicodin numbs the pains that never seem to go entirely away.

DFWmike

A lot depends on your doctor .my doc see’s the pain I’m in and does what he can to help me control it .I was on Enbrel and meth but I got a very bad infection in my left knee and almost died from it and I don’t trust it anymore .I have some ultram but I try not to take them because all I do is sleep when I take them .I’ve found that two extra strength Tylenol with my Celebrex twice a day and I use two 500mg vicodin three times a day works fine for now .one problem with vicodin is after some time they don’t work as well . I’m not telling you to brake the law but I’ve also found that when I really hurt bad a puff or two of some good grade pot will help me relax some and that in it’s self will help with some of the pain and as I said I’m in no way telling you to brake the law but you need to do what you need to do .

Many docs are fearful of the DEA when it comes to pain meds for chronic pain. Many also use the crap excuse of highs and addiction when it has been shown that most people with chronic pain do not get addicted to pain meds unless there are improper prescribing practices on the doc's part or if there are other addctions in place. If despite treating your RA using the normal DMARDs, NSAIDs and steroids, and you are experiencing a large amount of pain, do not let your rheumy bully you about not taking pain meds. My former one felt RA and fibro shouldn't be treated with pain meds. Needless to say she's fired and I am seeing a new one at the recommendation of my pain management doctor. I found him after the rheumy decided to only treat my fibro not my RA and then only with an anti-depressant after me telling her every one I'd been on had caused me more problems than it solved.
My pain doc is a wonderful man (my new hero) because for the first time in years I feel like I'm gaining a bit of my normal life back. And all it took was low dose vicodin and a combo of Lyrica (now switched to Neurontin) and Zanaflex. Aside from flare ups this is working well for me. I took a trip this month that 6 months before was torture for me...this time, it was pleasant.

I really agree that a lot depends on your doctor. My doctor offers me something for pain everytime I visit him. More times than not I say I'll stick with what I'm doing.....so I guess after all these years he knows that I don't take anything more than I need. He's not worried about prescribing anything that I want because he's well aware that I won't abuse it.

My doctor and I both are firm believers that if my RA is under control; I don't need that much for pain. We've always adjusted my DMARDS when i've gotten to the point where I need more and more pain medication.

I think if I was seeing a doctor that wouldn't give me anything for pain....especially if I asked and they refused; I'd change doctors. I think the choice should be left up to us and any doctor that doesn't treat us with the repect we deserve isn't a doctor I'd continue seeing for long.

thanks so much for the replies. Just goes to show everyone is so different with this disease. I just want to live a semi pain-free life and be able to continue to work full-time. Really the worst time for me is AM, the pain med just makes it so much easier to get up and get going. Without it can't get going for quite a while. Thank you all so much!!!

Hope each of you have a pain free day!!! Alice

I have a lot of pain and use Vicodin to take the sting off of it. I alternate it with Extra strength Tylenol. But you have to be careful not to take too much in a day. I also am on Mobic which they gave me in place of Vioxx (which I loved-too bad it was so dangerouse).

My daughter has Fibromylagia, Endometriosis and a bulging disc. Pain is an extreme problem for her.

Between the two of us, I have learned some important things:

1. You have the right to pain relief. Push your doctor.

2. Is the pain chronic or is something new causing you more pain. For instance, my shoulder is causing me extreme pain and it has to be treated. During treatment, I need a bit more pain medicine to survive the therapy.

3. Cortisone and synvisc shots can do wonders for pain and get your body going again. I have had shots in my knees and my shoulder. It really helped my knees. Wasn't so lucky with the shoulder.

4. Pain specialists can be great or they can be irresponsible. Find a good one. There are so many more treatments out there than just vicodin. There are pain patches that don't mess with your head. There are also some heavy medications that I don't want to go on but my daughter swears she couldn't live without.

5. When I have to take pain medications, I take the least dosage first. Sometimes, I just need to change activities. I don't know why this works, but it does. If I get home and a wait an half hour or so, sometimes I no longer feel the need to take something for pain.

Or, I start my writing. A distracting activity helps me considerably. Of course, that is dependent on having the energy.

6. Acupuncture works for some people, although I haven't tried that yet. But my dad did, and he loved it.

The biggest thing is that you need to be treated with respect as far as your pain goes. Old school doctors still think we are all going to get addicted. If you really like your doctor except for this one thing, do what I did (in reference to something else). I didn't agree with the diagnosis of my doctor (who is very good) on this one thing. So, I looked up the info on the Internet, printed it out and took it into him. It was several pages thick from very good sites regarding the subject. I don't know if he read it. But he backed down on the subject and those papers rest in my file to this day.

Hope this helps. I use the pain meds to give me a breather from the pain. I can't drive on the Vicodin, so there are only certain times when I can't take it. So, in my mind, I can say, if necessary I can take a break from pain starting at 6:00 pm tonight. Somehow that helps.

Alice, I cannot start moving without a darvocett. I get out of bed in so much pain and crippled up, it makes me automatically very depressed. I get my cup of coffee and take a darvocet. It used to be a darvocett and pred. In about 45 min. I can get in the shower. I am out of darvocet right now and I only have the strong stuff - lortab and some norcos left over. My doctor won't be in until Thurs. I don't like the strong stuff - only for flares. I called the other doc in my doc office for more darvocet and he said no way until my doc comes back. It makes me so mad. Now I am cutting in half the stronger meds, wasting them for the bad flares. They also make me sleep. It makes no sense. The doctor should be glad to know I prefer the weaker pain med. Anyway, I am rambling - just got up - no drugs and barely moving. I want my darvocet !!!!!! If I never flared again - I wish - I would throw away the rest of the pills !

Good to see you Wayney and glad you got some pain meds

I use advil on a regular basis to get be through if nessesary (Which I'll admit is more often than I'd like).