Jess, If you cut the Lidoderm patch in half and then cut it part of the way so that you can place it on the sacrum and along both sides at the beginning of the buttock crack, it will help the pain you are describing. I have a fractured sacrum with the break going thru S3/4. I also suffer from the other issues you describe. Using this patch daily gives me about 5 hours of good relief in the morning. I usually put it on about 9:00 p.m. and take it off about 9:00 a.m. It helps with the horrible burning. But like Mrs. D says, it takes several days before you start feeling the relief.

Billye

I take lyrica and it has been very helpful for me. I take 225 mg a day and i find, divided into three doses. i have found my pain decreased. I am combining it with elavil, just 12.5 mg a day, it's been almost always enough for me.

The only side effect is that i was sleepy at the first two weeks, and veeeery sleepy... but it only lasted two weeks aproximately. No weight gain at all for me.

I take Lyrica (switched from Neurontin) and Tramadol,
and have little to no s/e except for constipation (take FiberSure)
and some slight memory lapses (where'd I put those car keys?).

Thanks for replying.

I suppose what would be helpful to me, and I know it is subjective, but what are your pain levels laying down? Standing? Sitting?
Or are they all the same with the meds?

Sincce I have pudendal neuralgia, the burning pain is different. While taking 2400mg of neurontin and 25mg of Elavil, my pain levels are about a 2 while lying down, standing, a 2-3 while walking, and higher when sitting 6-7. That is why I am unsure if i should even go on the Lyrica, as my levels are low ( except sitting, which I avoid mostly) and know that it may not get to 0 with meds ...

I don't think it ever gets to '0', with meds.
I think that 1-2 is the best we can hope for, with occasional periods
of distraction that seem to be an '0', but in reality are just that we are
so absorbed in whatever else we are doing, that the time goes by,
& we don't realize that we've been 'pain free' for a short time.
We really aren't, but the mind seems to play many tricks with the
ability to block-out certain pain, if it is distracted enough.
Just an observation, and personal comment.

Thank you Billye and Bob

I will ask my pcp about the lidoderm patches and let you know how it goes.

I've been on Lyrica for about 18 months, no side effects except not being able to find Z on my keyboard

Started out on 150mg/day but it had no effect until I was upped to 300mg.
Was up to 600mg day for most of the 18 months but now it seems my idiopathic neuropathy is starting to fade away. Have now cut back to 350mg and it's still working but I can tell it's still to early to cut it off completely.

After a pain management doctor put me on Nuerontin 100mg 3x daily and Opana 20mg 2x daily from 10mg Percocet as needed, I finally had relief from pain. However, the Nuerontin gave me hostility. I was constantly feeling anxious and angry on it. The Army then sent me to a new PM doctor and he prescribed me Lyrica. It has worked miracles. I've had about 10-15lbs weight gain and tons of swelling. I can no longer wear my wedding band. But, either be in pain or be a little fatter .

I take 150mg Lyrica 3x daily now with 10mg Opana ER 3x daily and 5mg IR as needed for BK pain. So far so good. I do notice though with Opana if I try to skip a dose because I don't hurt, I immediately feel withdrawals. I become tired, weak, diarrhea. Also, If I don't take the Lyrica I feel pain... It's a cocktail of medication the are co-dependent of one another each other for fantastic pain relief.

Good luck.

hi jess
I'm the new kid on the block but have had pn for 30+ yrs.. at one time I was taking 4000mg neurontin and just today my pcp moved me up to 400mg lyrica(from 300mg) the lyrica took a long time (45+days) to kick in but am very satisfied with the results and am glad I stuck it out and waited for it to begin working. weight gain was insignificant when compared to pain reduction. a semi-complete list of my meds is on the thread "new and ignerent" although today I also stopped the percocet and am trying avinza 30mg and also tylenol #4 (hate the tylenol, is to hard on my liver) as I am building a tolerance to the opiates. hope you find what works for you

I tried Neurontin and it was really bad for me. I take Lyrica now at 150mg. night and morning. Recently the doctor tried increasing my Lyrica but it made me extremely nauseated, but backing down to a lower dose got rid of that. I also take Trileptal in the morning and at night and at bedtime I take Flexaryl. I almost think the Trileptal does better for me than the Lyrica, really. If I forget the Trileptal for even two or three hours, my burning starts back up again. Oh, I also take 5mg. of prednisone a day, but that's because my PN seems to be a genetic inflammatory condition. I don't have any weight gain with the Lyrica and no swelling. With Neurontin, my legs swelled horribly.