when I tried the morphine pump, the medication DID NOT get to my "head." It was explained to me that it only is bathing the nerves with the medication, and it doesn't get to the head, so there is no real side effects. Now, how true that is, I don't know. But I did NOT feel ANY side effects at all. All I know is that for the day that I had the trial, I didn't feel ANY pain at all!!! Unfortunately, like I said I couldn't have the pump.

The Lidoderm patches are only "topical" patches and do NOT get into the blood stream. So there should NOt be any side effects at all. I found that they didn't help my pain at all because they ARE topical. They didn't get deep enough to have any effect. The only problem you MIGHT have is with the adhesive that is used to keep the patch on. But they might be worth a try for you. Anything is worth trying at this point.

Wish I could help. God Bless Pebblebeach2 -- thanks for updating us. Hugs, Lee