Doctor won't prescribe effective painkillers?

[27Harper]

Hi I'm new here. I have a beautiful son who was born last February called Leo. I also am currently awaiting a rhematology appointment after a recent referal as I have suspected fibromyalgia. I have taken some of my sister's solpadol (30/500mg cocodamol) in the past which I know is bad and you shouldn't take others medications, but I was in really bad pain. I told my doctor this and he said it's a very strong painkiller and I said I know but it still didn't really work, just took the edge off of the pain a bit. He said he didn't want to prescribe any weak opiods as they can cause dependence and that the solpadol is very strong. Which annoyed me because I know all this bit I'm in pain and they don't work! So he said he was going to prescribe ibuprofen as if I hadn't tried that already, then naproxen, again which I've tried. What logic is it to prescribe an anti inflamitory when there is no inflammation whatsoever? Also even if there was, it's technically a weaker painkiller than the solpadol which doesn't work, so how did he think that would help? So then he gave me ANOTHER NSAID called Etoricoxib, which is for things like arthritis and gout, and it's a once a day pill. I've been on it for a few days and I might as well be eating skittles. My back and legs are killing me and I have a screaming one year old to look after lol
He says he's just trying all options which I guess makes sense of course but anti inflammatory drugs don't work for fibro I've tried tons of them. Can I possibly phone up my doctor in a few more days and say they're not working? Ugh I really need some advice if possible thanks. I'm always paranoid that I seem like some sort of drug seeker lol. Thanks xx

Op, duoloxetine which is an antidepressant is licenced for fibro pain have you tries that? I completly understand where you are coming from with the pain. I usually have morphine patches which work for me but i had to come off them due to pregnancy. My god the pain is horrific. Others to try are nerve supressants such as gabapentin/pregablin. I dont get on with these and put on a lot of weight with them. You will find that your drug tolerance level in general gets quite high quickly and need more and more increases in doseage. Are you able to try alternatives such as hydrotherapy and try to pace youeself in the day?

PancakesAndMapleSyrup

Thanks for being understanding hun, sorry to hear about your pain. I have heard if Duloxetine being effective for pain, but I am on Sertraline which I find really helps with my depression and anxiety and I'm not totally sure if I could take both of them? I'm not sure. I guess for an actual proper treatment plan it's of course best to actually receive a diagnosis. My neurologist seemed pretty certain but it could of course be something else. I was just terrified it was ALS or something xx

As previously said Amitriptyline and Pregabalin / Gabapentin used with some success for Fibromyalgia. I really hope you get some adequate pain relief must be very difficult with caring for your baby.

You might have worked your way up the ladder but you have done that without your GPs support. Now your GP needs to do it.

Powerredbybread - thank you bunny! He's totally worth it though lol he's my little monster.

FruitCider - yes I guess that's true. Only use it when the pain gets unbearable, not all the time as I know that's not right. xx

Could you ask for referral to a pain clinic?

I guess I could in the future, just hesitant as I have a rhematology referall and a cardiology referall xx

I think there are support groups and sub groups of mums with small children who have fibromyalgia. Might be worth a look...

I was just coming on to suggest also that that gabapentin or pregabalin are better for nerve pain (shooting pain, numbness etc) ) rather than opioids. Good luck and hang in there.

Also, I'm sure you've probably tried natural methods of pain relief too, but they are worth mentioning. My DH suffers from chronic back and nerve pain, we both find heat packs/wraps can be very useful. He also has used a tens machine which worked quite well for nerve pain (not a childbirth type one, there are different types for nerve pain) and also an actipatch which is a similar electrical device which aims to disrupt the pain signal getting through.

I was going to post about TENS, I have a chronic pain condition and have been on all sorts from gabapentin to oxycontin at various times but the long term nature of my condition and the side effects meant I didn't feel happy to take them for more than a short time so I have moved over to using adapted versions of the hypnobirthing stuff I learned in pregnancy and a TENS machine. It isn't perfect but it gets me through.

Opioids actually aren't fantastic for Fibromyalgia, which is why the 30/500s didn't help too much. You should really be prescribed something that targets nerve pain. Agree with PP that the dr might be wary to prescribe co-codamol if you seem to be seeking them. I take Pregabalin for my Fibro and it's genuinely been a miracle drug. Maybe talk to him about something like that?

I would love something that isn't opiates and my aunt who also has fibromyalgia takes pregabalin amongst other things and says that it has really helped for her, but I assume that the doctor is waiting until after I have been assessed by the rheumatologist. Which I totally understand, but it's just frustrating being in pain until then xx

Lamotrigine is pretty good on nerve pain - also ups your mood a bit. Almost no side-effects and doesn't make you feel sleepy or floaty in the way that pregablin does.

Any anti-epileptic, you need to ask for 5mg/day folic acid alongside as they are pretty much all anti-folates.

I've had morphine, tramadol, codeine, DF118 etc etc for years and years, while they have their place, they're not very effective on nerve pain.

FWIW, people with genuine chronic pain may end up dependent on opiates but the vast majority will not end up addicted. That said, they can often create more problems than they address - such as breakthrough pain ending up as much of a problem as the underlying pain.