Quote:
Originally Posted by sweetcell
He seems to have all the symptoms of Neuropathy - Nerve pain, poking feeling, tickling feeling, terrible itching, still some restlessness, creepy crawly feelings. He can't sleep. He's been given sleeping pills and pain medication, and now is on ms contin 15 mg which is doing nothing. He's going to double the ms contin to see if that helps.
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Hi sweetcell,
You didn't mention burning, which seems to be a very common symptom of neuropathy (but not a deal-killer).
If it is neuropathy, opioids like ms contin are not generally the first-line or preferred medication, and as
mrsD mentioned, they can cause itching. Increasing the ms contin could exacerbate that symptom (as well as cause constipation). Neuropathic pain is more often addressed with certain antidepressants and anticonvulsants you'll see mentioned here and elsewhere (and since you're in Canada where they're legally prescribed, cannabis derivatives like Sativex).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuropathic_pain
If he decides on trying one of the anticonvulsants, most patients here (USA) begin with gabapentin (Neurontin) because it's much cheaper than Lyrica, and well tolerated by many. (Sorry, I don't know about Canada's prescription coverage.) Some folks prefer one over the other (result-wise) and others have been known to alternate every few years as their systems build tolerance to one or the other.
For some patients, a combination of an antidepressant or anticonvulsant along with an opioid works better at lower dosages of both.
Please also check out the resources and links in the Peripheral Neuropathy forum here.
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum20.html
Doc