What Can We Use For Pain Caused by Compressed or Damaged Nerves?
 

What drugs can we use for pain caused by damaged or compressed nerves? I have tried Neurontin and Topamax. Neurontin caused weight gain so I stopped it. I just ate and ate...It did stop the pain though...Just cannot control what goes into the mouth....so cannot take it. My insurance company will not allow Lyrica...I think I am having problems with my eyes from the Topamax and am not certain it works alone, but might ask if I can combine it with the Neurontin to determine if it might curb the hunger, though I notice I get heart palpatations when I combine both drugs together at low doses...Anyone else experience this?

GJZH,

I have a compressed spinal cord in my neck which causes pain and tingling down both arms and into all fingers and thumbs.

I have neuropathy in my fingers/toes, hands/feet, forearms/lower legs from a blood condition. Numbness, loss of strength, loss of muscle mass, PAIN.

I also have fibromyalgia.

My son says if I were a horse they'd shoot me :o Good thing I'm a http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9.../moosemove.gif!!

I've found that both Duloxetine (Cymbalta) and Effexor XR work to pretty much stop the majority of the pain.

I could not open jars at all before I started taking the Cymbalta. Even if I hit them with a hammer beforehand. I can open brand new jars without pre-striking which means, I've gotten a lot of strength back -- especially in my left hand.

I stopped taking the Cymbalta when I left the clinical trial. I'm now taking Effexor SR. That's only because the Cymbalta was not available yet when I started taking this class of drugs.

For me, the Cymbalta worked faster -- full effect in one week. The Effexor XR took a full month to kick in.

The Effexor XR throws me into nasty withdrawals if I stop taking it for a week -- lousy transportation combined with snow sometimes makes it difficult to get to the pharmacy. I keep telling myself, I need to get my prescriptions mailed.

I could NOT tolerate the pain level before I started taking these drugs. The only other pain reliever I use is 800 mg Ibuprofen 1-3 times a day for the arthritis in my spine. I also get ESIs periodically in my neck and lumbar. I don't like them because they turn me into *THE* STEROID WITCH.

Barb

Barb,

My insurance company would not pay for the Cymbalta, but I would like to try it. I think my doc has to call it in or request it or something....

GJZH,

As far as I know, the Cymbalta and the Effexor XR are the only two drugs in that class (SSNI—selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor). They're similar to Prozac (SSRI—selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) but work on different brain receptors.

5 or 6 years ago when I was taking Prozac, Medicaid changed me over to the generic prozac. I had a really bad reaction to it. I didn't know at the time that I could appeal the denial in light of the reaction. So, I cold-turkied it -- still paying for that decision.

Talk to your doctor and see if he/she believes that this class of drugs might help you. If he/she does think so, he/she KNOWS how to write the request so that it won't be denied again by the insurance company.That's what doctors do for a living -- learn how to write convincingly. It'd be a real shame if this class of drugs might bring you some relief and you're denied just because of bean-counting.

Good luck. I know how much that type of pain hurts. I hope you get some relief so you can get your life back.

Hugs.

Barb

I have experienced chest pain from increasing Neurontin too quickly.

Hope you have a nice day. :)

I will keep this in mind when increasing the Neurontin....I was thinking of taking the Topamax at night and the Neurontin during the day....

I wanted to add... I got chest pains when I increased the Neurontin by 300mg every 3 days, but I then switched to increasing it by 300mg every 7 days and it worked better! Some people, however, are fine increasing it faster (I'm not one of them :)).

I haven't experienced any extra weight gain from the Neurontin, and I tolerate it well (other than the chest pain experience), and I am now taking 2700mg each day.

:Good-Luck:

Gjzh
 

Dear GJZH;

Oh my, I feel so bad for you for I know what you are going through. I have small fiber peripheral neuropathy - idiopathic. I started with foot pain in '98 & site injections were able to keep it under control until 2003. At that time, I had my first tarsel tunnel surgery (on both feet as once) done to give my nerves more room. The surgery didn't work and additional nerve damage and scar tissue made the pain unbelievable. I could not work and lost my job. Shortly afterward, my husband and I moved and my new podiatrist said he could fix my feet. 4 surgeries later, things were worse. Now 3 yrs. later, I have had every possible test involving nerves/nerve damage. The final word is that I have neuropathy. I live with good days and bad days but even on the good days there is pain. On the bad days, nothing really helps and its agonizing. I also have fibromyalgia and a neurogenic bladder also caused by the neuropathy. I have been under the care of a pain management doctor for the last 2 years and have a regular pain regimen:

Cymbalta - 90 mgs.
Lyrica - 300 mg. twice per day
Vitamin B12
Methadone - 70 mgs. per day
Percocet - as needed for Breakthrough Pain

I hope that you will be able to find the pain med(s) right for you. I do not recommend narcotics across the board, but for me, the methadone & percocet have been life savers. I could not imagine living a life where every day was torture. Narcotics DO have their place helping patients with severe chronic/intractable pain.

GJZH - With all of your surgeries, you probably have experienced a lot of pain. Nerve pain is a "different animal" and I wish you the best of luck as you search for a solution suitable for your situation!

Take care;
Nancy-H

Nancy,

I guess I am getting some of these drugs confused...I thought Cymbalta and Lyrica were in the same family or is Lyrica in the same family as Neurontin? It is difficult to keep tract of the new drugs...I think I am going to have to sit down with my Pain doc and have him go over all of the drugs with me at the next appt.

I thought you could not take some of these together...but I guess I am confused..

Another one
 

Lyrica, Neurontin and Topomax are the same family. In fact Lyrica and Neurontin are the same drug, just Lyrica is the super-consentrated version from what I understand. Neurontin just made me gain 50 pounds which I am working on getting rid of. So if you have that side effect on Neurontin, you are best not to take Lyrica because the same would happen.
Cymbalta is the sister drug of Effexor (neither of which helped me by the way).
My nerves are entrapped by the muscles, especial my sciatic nerve, which runs through my piriformis muscle instead of around it like normal people.;) So when that muscle group gets in a dander, my sciatica kicks in.
My left shoulder also has the same problems with the nerves of my left arm. If my shoulder is having an FM moment, I find my left hand is slightly weaker than my right.
I hope you find something that helps you!

Oddly enough, Effexor does nothing for the tingling, pain and other nasties in my feet. Course I was only taking 75mg. I'm currently in the weaning off process.

I've heard about Cymbalta for this kind of pain. What was your experience with the sides?

I was taking gabapentin for the symptoms. 600mg a day about an hour or so before bedtime. It turned me into a bloated zombie with suicidal thoughts. Not a good place to be.

For me, the Effexor XR and the Cymbalta worked exactly the same. The only difference that I found was that the Cymbalta started relieving the pain in one week as opposed to four weeks.

Come to think of it, when I stopped the clinical trial after about six months, I did not ramp down off of the Cymbalta and I did not get the MAJOR WITHDRAWAL that I get when I miss 7 days of Effexor XR doses.

In my body, in my experience, if one of these drugs worked/did not work, you'll have the same experience with the other drug. Although, when I was trying to find an NSAID that I could tolerate on my pathetic stomach, most of the other ones kicked me to the curb, while the Ibuprofen only 'bothered' me.

Because of the fillers and actual commitment to standards by the drug companies, you might see a difference. In my experience, the only time that differences between examples of one class of drugs have been really noticeable has been between generic and non-generic.

I didn't really have any side effects at all, other than dry mouth, from Cymbalta. Since it seems to kick in so quickly, it might be worth your while to give a try.

Good luck. I know how much this type of pain destroys your life. I hope you find a solution.

Barb

pain
 

Effexor puts on weight too . as well as Neurontin , Lyrica . Cymbalta made me nuts so had to quit that one . I am now on Keppra and have been 1 yr .Seems to be working well . There is always Tegretol . Ameritriptiline also puts on weight.

Di,

I have not tried Zanaflex....Maybe I will ask my pain doc about this ....I am back on Topamax, but noticed now I am starting to tingle and burn again...so maybe the Zanaflex would help with this....I hate to up the Topamax again...Thanks for the info...I see my PM doc in a few weeks...

zanaflex question
 

just reading your post about zanaflex and wanted to share my story about it. i was diagnosed with rsd and started taking zanaflex 2mg at bedtime (and a lot of other stuff too) anyway nothing was working so i went to new p.m. and started taking zanaflex 8mg at bedtime and 4mg in am and 4 mg in afternoon. it has made a world of diffierence but nobody sat down and discussed it with me, just wondering if this is a safe dosage?:confused:

According to rxlist.com:
A single dose of 8 mg of tizanidine reduces muscle tone in patients with spasticity for a period of several hours. The effect peaks at approximately 1 to 2 hours and dissipates between 3 to 6 hours.
So if you take a 24 hour day and do a little math magic ;) you can take up to 4 8 mg pills in a day. Jenny, you are just fine.
By the way I am a strong advocate for Robaxin. It has been the only muscle relaxant strong enough besides Soma (which doctors are trying to stay away from because of its addictive issues) to help me.

You can also have your doctor order a mixture of nerve pain drugs in a transdermal creme. This is a special creme that takes the medication through your skin, you just rub in on in areas that hurt. I find I can take medications without side effects in transdermal creme form that I have bad side effects to in pill form. I think the medication stays more local and doesn't get into your bloodstream as much.

here's one web site that shows some common formulas
http://www.mypainreliefdoc.com/PRISM-topical-gels.htm

you would proably have to work with your doctor to tune it to your problem and your side effect problems.

Lisa interesting website. Never thought that could work. But what if your pain is more widespread? Wouldn't that cause a problem?

I am not sure, something to check with your doctor.

I take one pain pill in oral med form and rub the creme on six places on my body that are most painful, and it works really well for me. I have no cognitive effects, sleepiness, or weight gain issues from my pain meds, (unless I get flared up enough to have to add other meds)

There are several different transdermal bases they can use, the one I use (not the website ones, I have not tried his products) is pretty thin and can spread over a wider area.

The dose of meds is related to the quantity of creme you use, as you might guess.

Okay I have just reread this thread and a question comes to mind. Knowing that all these drugs make us CPers gain weight. couldn't they use their big brains to invent a drug that doesn't do that???? I mean geez! Look at the list!
No wonder I am 70 pounds overweight. At one point I was on 1800-2400 mgs of Neurontin a day and it did nothing for me except gain tons of weight that never went away!

I believe at least one of the neurotransmitters involved in pain is also involved in hunger regulation (as well as many other things), so that's why so many cause weight gain.

There are a couple antidepressants that cause weight loss, asking your doctor if it's approperiate for your situation can sometimes balance out the effect.

What are the anti depressants for weight loss?
 

I am in the same boat as everyone else. Gained 80 pounds from all these drugs. All my life I was a petite size 10 - now I feel awful. The drugs do this even though I eat very little. I did manage to lose 30 pounds - due to neuropathic mouth pain as well as topomax. Now on lyrica and putting it back on again.
I would happily change anti dep. to one that caused weight loss.
Anyone know which anti dep are in this category?
Sydney

CrazyMeds
 

www.crazymeds.org

Created for "Mentally Interesting" , site is great source of info. --
several types & categories of Meds for many problems & disorders--besides "MI" -- including Pain.

Antidepressants , AntiConvulsives , & many more

OFF Label & Primary approved uses , pro/cons -- may answer some Questions.
also Lists side f/x (including several not commonly known)

In BASIC INFORMATION: "what you Need to know about Side Effects" will Link to more info. about Weight gain

Topamax--anti-convulsant is cited w/ weight Loss. When I took had no appetite, didn't want to eat; was prescribed for my migraines and did help. It can also help some nerve pain. Many have problems w/ it.
Zonegran is similar. < I used this for "mixed" headache dis.
Keppra , another anti-convulsive, has several uses inc. neuropathic pain, migraines & more; may be better tolerated than Topamax-- supposedly has fewer side f/x

many other meds Listed here that may have multi-benefits your seeking.

Lyrica, Cymbalta & Neurotin are The Main Meds prescribed for nerve pain, neuropathies; for some "miracle" meds but not for everyone. many experience adverse affects.
We're all unique; have to weigh benefits vs tolerable, or endurable side f/x.

Often combo's work best. Challenging process of trial & error.
Hopefully will find something that works or helps.


Good LUCK

Well, I thought I would give Topamax a try for my nerve pain, since I was told it was good for weightloss (and I have plenty to lose!)
But, I haven't lost my appetite yet...I just can't keep much food down, and I have constant diarrhea...that wasn't the way I expected to lose the weight! My stomach just can't handle the Topamax.
:confused:
~Jaime~

:) :) Hi There,
I am in Australia and Have just been put on a drug which is relatively new here called "Lyrica" It is generically a drug called Pregabalin...........It may be of help to you...........It is not a quick-fix............you body has to get used to it like an anti-depressant if you have ever been on those..........It may take a week or 2 on the minimum dose for it to start working and then they will increase your dose............It somehow works on the nerve endings and decreases pain...........one word of warning though.............you may feel like you are drunk till your body gets used to it however..........and most people give up on it because they want a quick-fix..........or get paranoid by the initial side-effects that I spoke about but if you can work through those for me it was a God-Send.............I have been having the best nights sleep without pain since I can't remember and have only been on it now for 4 weeks.........I hope this helps.............E:hug:

what is your pain like? I have compressed nerves and I take kadian, Valium and a very low dose of Neurontin. It often takes a cocktail. I have muscle pain and throbbing and numbness. I can barely walk it so painful and the muscles get more and more irritated as I move, because all the signals are wrong.

So I sympathize. The reason I asked what your pain was like is two people could have compressed nerves or similar MRIs and very different symptoms.

I asked a use some topical compounded creams, but those usually are not covered and expensive.

Too bad on the Lyrica, but I did found it made me very drowsy.

Some people mentioned Zanaflex and that's an excellent muscle relaxer although it did not work so well if I took it all the time.