Is there such a thing as a painkiller that goes through the night?

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

Lying here having been awake since 5:30 which is good for recently, normally I wake in pain around 4am.

I'm not allowed anti inflammatories any more. Boo hiss. But my arthritis is horrid. I've been on cocodamol, but that wasn't taking me through, so now I'm on tramadol and paracetamol. Not helping with the early hour pain though I'm ok when I get going in the day. I'm mega busy and knackered and desperately need more sleep as I'm making mistakes.

Is there anything that will work that will allow me to function?

My DH is prescribed slow-release ibuprofen, which lasts 24 hours so he can take one before bed and still have some pain relief working by the morning. Ask your GP if you can have similar. It's not enough to kill the pain but it gets him through the night and takes the edge off for the morning until he can take more.

Although just saw you are taking tramadol, when DH is on that he's definitely impaired and wouldn't be able to function properly - could you be getting side-effects from that contributing to mistakes?

DHC Continuus, which is dihydrocodeine. It slow-releases over 12hrs and helps enormously in keeping the pain under control so you can get a decent night's sleep.

Lizzie ibuprofen is an anti inflammatory drug.

No suggestions, just sympathy from me. Maybe speak to your GP or pharmacist, see what they suggest. Maybe an opiate pain killing patch?

Amytriptiline keeps me asleep all night.

Amitriptyline used to be my best friend for pain but I'm not allowed that now either even though I've begged for it. Stupid arsing side effects.

Petitgrain that sounds really good. I'll ask about that, and the patches too Cats. Thanks all :)

What I actually need is my lovely steroid injections, but I'm only allowed them every 6 months.

Tramadol is available as slow release ,if that's any help .

Sorry you're in so much pain .

Tramadol SR is great - 12 hours of pain relief, so you can take twice a day plus paracetamol for top up

I take tramadol twice a day (mrning and evening) as 12-hour slow release tablets. Once you're used to a certain dose you don't get the side-effects any more. I can function perfectly well on them. The only side-effect remaining is chronic constipation because tramadol slows down your digestion, but hey, it's better than the pain.

Just want to add that if you start taking heavy-duty meds like tramadol on a long-term basis, your GP really needs to be taking bloods from you once or twice a year to check that your liver and kidney levels are remaining stable.

Oh I will definitely ask my gp for slow release tramadol. I wonder why it wasn't offered. Tramadol seems to be much less foggy head making and sore tummy making than co-codamol.

That's useful to know Arch - thank you :) I've just had another round of blood tests, so I'll make sure I keep on top of that. I know what you mean about the constipation side.