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Killing Pain.
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I'm having major problems finding a painkiller that's strong enough to work, but doesn't make me ill. I've taken Brufen and Paracetamol regularly for years, but I've been prescribed Co-codamol for about 2 months. I've taken them and everytime without fail, I'm off my face on them. I'm shaking, naucious, dizzy and it's horrific.
Ibuprofen/paracetamol simply isn't strong enough, yet the co-codamol makes me royally ill.
Any suggestions? I went back to my doctor, and he gave me tramadol to take on top of the co-codamol (but ONLY when the pain was really really bad). But I won't take them full stop.
Ibuprofen/paracetamol simply isn't strong enough, yet the co-codamol makes me royally ill.
Any suggestions? I went back to my doctor, and he gave me tramadol to take on top of the co-codamol (but ONLY when the pain was really really bad). But I won't take them full stop.
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ETA - 8/500s are available over the counter in a chemists
Thanks x
Anyway, I second the volterol suggestion.
Why not? Did you get the prescription made up?
ETA: I;m not sure what the pain is cause by, but have you asked to be referred to the specialist pain service at the local hospital?
I assume you are taking the paracetamol and ibuprofen both at their max dose, and alternating the doses so you're taking something every 3-4 hours? If not then try doing that, it can make a surprising difference.
Another thing with pain management is to stay on top of it, take something as soon as it starts to hurt, and don't stop the doses until the pain has completely gone. Don't wait until it gets really bad as the painkillers aren't nearly as effective that way.
Like others have said voltarol/diclofenac (brand/generic name) is a heaftier version of Ibuprofen which it may be worth asking about. As long as you take it with food (even just a couple of biscuits or a slice of toast) it has very few side effects.
Why won't you take the tramadol? You don't have to take it on top of codiene, you can take it in it's own right and it's a damn good painkiller, gets a big :thumb: from me. I've found it to have very different side effects to cocodamol so don't write it off as an opiod thus will have the same problems. It's definitely the best thing I've come across for managing pain when it's keeping me awake, as it makes me a little drowsey.
Another line to look at would be managing the side effects, if it's nausea/vomiting that's the problem then there's a relatively new medication called buccastem which is a very very effective anti sickness drug. It's what someone thought up for me when I was drugged into oblivion on all sorts of stuff and throwing up whenever I sat/stood up.
Hope any of that is some help, ask more or PM me, I've got really quite good at pain management recently.
Like MoK said, see if you can get your GP to put you in touch with pain management team, they were a godsend to me. Like you my GP was great, but pain management have so much more experience and skills in this area.
I decided to look in codiene again, as it works on the pain, just 30mg is too strong and makes me squiffy. In the end I bought boots own paracetamol and codeine 8mg/500mg I think. They seemed to do the trick without making me naucious/light headed.
I'm going to talk to my GP again soon about trying something like Diclofenac - I think I've had it before when I was younger, but can't remember if I had any side effects...
I'm going to talk to my Rheumatologist again too about exercises and things to give me some sort of relief. I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome type 3 also known as Hyper Mobility Syndrome.
Anyway, just wanna say thanks for all your input, it's been really helpful!!
Doesn't paramol contain paracetamol?
Depending on what the pain is, can't you use heat packs or similar instead of taking pills all the time?
I think they're mainly for people in a lot of pain 24/7 and/or who have a big problem finding anything at all that helps... I think they mainly refer people if they've been suffering for quite a long time. I think they can offer stuff like acupuncture and reflexology on the NHS, and kit you out with TENS machines and other things, like giving you tips on how to relax and avoid making the pain worse etc etc.
They probably wouldn't refer to someone when they don't know what's causing the pain though... But I dunno.
Here, I think this would be local for you. Ask your GP to refer you for specialist opinion. Maximum wait is 13 weeks from referral. It's wort hpushing him/her to find out if they are using Choose and Book because you should be able to get an appointment date within 24 hours (not necessarily be seen in 24 hours)...
Come to think of it, I have a friend that's mentioned something like this before. He had his nerves damaged in a knee operationa and it's caused something where his brain will not block out pain. He uses morphine but also has acupuncture. He also has hypnotherepy but I don't know if that's private. I'll ask him if this is the same place.