I have some neck disc problems and have tried muscle relaxers, gabapentin and now lyrica. I've been taking 75mg at night and today was the first day I added another 75mg during the day. I've been on the 75mg for 6 nights already and I don't feel any better. My pharmacist said I would know if it works in 2 days. I'm considering to stop taking it, I am hungry all the time and frankly I don't need to gain anymore weight. A friend suggested I try Cymbalta, any thoughts on this? Does it help with nerve pain? My other concern is that my pain med is not as effective as it was when I first started taking it. I don't know if my tolerance has risen or if my pain is just increasing? I've been taking Hydrocodone 10/650 for the last few weeks and it's just not helping like it did, and on top of that I think it's making my stool hard, which now I started taking Miralax to help with that. Any suggestions? I'm going to see the spine surgeon next week.

Thanks.

We have a Medications & treatments forum also, you might find some info there-
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum72.html

For specific things you can also use the search link in my siggy for a whole forum search.

I didn't get much help with Lyrica ALONE -- but it works great WITH OpanaER. i don't know why it works better WITH another med, but it does. Strange.

As for the Cymbalta, it's USELESS for pain, but it's GREAT for depression! When you have the kind of pain that YOU have, Cymbalta isn't good at all. They say it's supposed to have pain properties in it, but I don't feel any at all and I have very severe pain. Maybe if you have a sprained ankle or something, but not severe pain.

And as for the Hydrocodone, I hate that stuff. It's VERY hard on the liver, and you're taking a high dose of "tylenol." The "650" denotes the amount of Tylenol that's in it and that's quite a bit. They could have given you a lesser amount. They also could have given you something ELSE for pain, such as OpanaER or something like that, that doesn't have ANY "tylenol" in it. I don't know why docs are afraid of doing that, because it's no more addictive than the Hydrocodone and since your pain is severe it seems that it's warranted.

Talk to your doctor and see what he has to say. He might not agree, but these are just MY opinions. I wish you the very best. Please let us know how you come out. God bless and please take care. Hugs, Lee

LM,

For starters, I would ask your doc if he would prescribe Hydrocodone 10/325 instead of the 10/650. I don't know how often you are taking it, but too much Tylenol is NOT a good thing. Having less Tylenol per dose would allow you, IF within the doctor's orders, to try to use less medication when you are at home or sleeping and have more to use when you are trying to go out/do more. That can be a possible fix for some situations without having to ask the doc for MORE medication.

I don't know how long you have been on this dose, or how it manages your pain, but maybe you have built up some tolerance (or have increased pain). Do you think your doc would be open to prescribing something stronger or more longer acting ?

I would be hesitant to ask for a specific med. For some health care professionals, they may take a specific request as drug seeking behavior. I would say that your current med/dose doesn't seem to be working as well anymore and ask what he would recommend to help you. If you feel he would be open to it, you might mention that many members of an online pain forum you belong to have discussed/recommended a longer acting medication offers more effective management for many, without the dips in pain relief while waiting for the next short term med to kick in.

For me, Cymbalta works more on the whole body aches and pains that come from my fibro than it does on the burning nerve pain from my TOS/RSD. It does cut down on the shooting 'zingers' I get from my neck area down my L arm, but not that base burning pain. It has worked very well for the depression that has accompanied by pain issues.

For me, the Neurontin that I also take, works on the same aches and 'zingers' as the Cymbalta, but also doesn't touch that base burning pain.

Everyone is different and you never know until you try it. You may need more time on the higher dose of Lyrica to see the effects. I've been on and off Neurontin and Lyrica and I didn't see results until 1 or 2 weeks on my maintanence dose. I feel your pharmacist's "2 day rule" is inadequate to see results.

I will caution you to not suddenly discontinue the Lyrica. In addition to other withdrawal symptoms, there is a risk of seizures when that type of med is suddenly discontinued. I have never had issues like that, but I wouldn't discount those risks.

Good luck. It's difficult to find the right balance.

Thank you for your responses. My doctor offered me Oxycontin and I declined it. I know that drug has a stigma associated with it and I didn't want to go down that road. At this time though, I hadn't had any MRI's yet and didn't know what was wrong with me. When I see my spine surgeon on Tuesday, I'll explain the challenges I'm having and see what he suggests. I need to be able to drive, work and take care of my family, I don't want to become a zombie. I am not depressed, even with this current pain, I'm optimistic (but I'll admit scared). I don't want to take an antidepressant, I've been very sentimental/emotional the last month and I'm over it. I don't want drugs changing me, just take away the pain please..

If hydrocodone makes your stool hard, anything stronger will only make things worse. But it seems like you decline stronger meds. I agree asking for a med by name isn't what most would do. Something with less Tylenol would be a good start. But then trying all these NSAIDS puts strain on other parts of your body. Try something topical. Not a lot of options, lidocaine is popular. Methadone is good for nerve pain. Very cheap. And I take only 30mg aday as opposed to hundreds of morphine. Gapapebtin works really well with everything else I take.

LM,

The right amount of narcotics to manage pain does NOT make one a zombie. Too much medication can.

The fog from Neurontin or Lyrica is another story. They can also cause weight gain. For me, that turned into type II diabetes. I'd prefer life without those side effects, but I keep taking Neurontin as it is a critical part of my pain management plan.

Hopefully, the surgeon will say that he thinks he can do something that will be curative for your pain from disc issues. Some people get relief from accupuncture, chiro, or PT.

If you are one of us unfortunate ones who end up with chronic pain issues, you will find that there is no easy solution. Most of us have to deal with unwanted side effects from meds or treatments to attain some measure of control over our pain. Someone else may have discontinued a med like Neurontin that cause weight gain because of that side effect, but they are probably dealing with more pain because of that choice. If they could find an easier solution, I'd go for it too. You'll be faced with many choices and often you won't love either choice. Try to do what you think will work best for you. If you can still manage now, without "graduating" to the OxyContin, awesome. If and when the pain becomes worse than your fear of the stigma and side effects of OxyContin, then you talk to your doctor. It's a difficult choice.....and one only you can make. As down as you probably feal right now, at least consider yourself lucy that your doc is offering something stronger if you need it. Many of us are unable to drive, work, or care for our families as we would like. It's because of our pain/disabling conditions. If it comes to the point where you can't do what you want to do/feel you need to do......don't beat yourself up for that. If your body won't let you, you just can't do some things.

Hi Lilasmom ~ So many people have a skewed idea about opiates and antidepressants. First, the opiates don't makes you a zombie if you take them as prescribed. The doctor won't put you on a high dosage. He'll put you on a dosage high enough to help with your pain, but not MAKE you a zombie. The opiate will work on the PAIN, not on your head. When you take it for pain, it doesn't effect your head. I take OpanaER, 40mg twice a day, and I feel NOTHING in the head. When I expect to drive, I don't take it because I can't say for sure that my reaction time isn't effected. So I wait until I come home before I take it. As for the antidepressant, that just brings you back to a "normal" state. You feel like you would if you weren't depressed -- that's all. Sometimes the chemicals in our brain get screwed up, and they have to have some help. The antidepressant does that. Perhaps you just need a temporary antidepressant. Some people do -- they go thru a rough period in their lives, and the medication helps. With me, I have clinical depression, which means I don't HAVE the chemicals in my brain and I need the medication to replace them. I've been on the medication for about 40 years. I'll be on it the rest of my life. Without it, I fall into the pits of despair.

I wish you the very best. I hope you get some relief. God bless and please take care. Hugs, Lee

I have moderate intermittent back pain and a hot tub does wonders. If you have access to one I would give it a try.

Finz,

I was interested in your comment about zingers. I was googling zingers in neck and your post came up. I have been dealing with back/neck pain for over a year now, and these zingers for almost as long. I have been to many doctors and have had many tests, and they have not been able to figure out what's wrong with me yet.
The zingers I get are the the worse, most horrific pain that I feel like I could ever experience. I am just wondering if doctors have told you why these happen to you, or what you have done to ease them. Any advice would be appreciated!

Lori