Chronic Nerve pain

[rollonsummerhols]

My mum experiences chronic nerver pain as is on the highest level morphine patches which unfortunatley are no long strong enough. She has been on them for 7 years and i was wondering if anyone has the same problems and is on different medication. Medicine has advanced so much in 7 years that maybe there is a different opion

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as she is is so much pain, she can no longer function

There are a number of drugs specific to nerve pain, like Gabapentin and Amitryptiline, but the main thing is that your mum needs to get a refferal to a pain clinic to get a pain management programme sorted out.

Getting a referral can be like pulling teeth, but just keep pushing.

Is her pain from spinal compression ?

There was a lady at my pain clinic who had injections into her nerves done that blocked the pain. I have another friend who has it for his back pain due to a degenerative disability combined with MS. They were both on Morphine patchs before trying this. I will ask him what it is called and get back to you.

Hi Has she tried accupuncture? I found this really helpful.

He says to quote 'it was called Anti TNS, it's very hard to get though' HTH

cauza.at/cauza.pdf/Literaturliste/12.pdf TMF not tNS!

i agree a referral to the pain clinic at the local hospital would be a good idea. they have all the info & advice on the different options for pain relief x

Hi :)

I know you posted a while ago and may have already sorted your mum but I thought I would reply just in case.
I have had chronic spinal nerve pain for 15 ish years. I would say your Mum definitely needs to be referred to the chronic pain dept of your local hospital. They sorted all my meds and injections to allow me some sort of normal life, which is exactly what I needed as I work and have three kids to look after!
I have regular spinal injections combined with my medication (50mcg Morphine patches, pregbalin (fabulous!), diazepam, diclofenac, co-codamol & amytriptiline)
I'm not saying this combination would be right for your mum as each person is different, but they will certainly help. I have also had some denervation - basically having the nerves severed with a tens machine wire! It is uncomfortable, but is worth every bit of breathing through the pain because it took my sciatic nerve pain away for years.

I hope she's feeling a bit better and gets sorted soon.

hi andreadl - just interested in your pain treatment as it sounds like you have similar type of pain to me. can i ask what your condition is that causes the pain? i have permanent damage to my pelvis from pregnancy (as well as long term m.e which causes general chronic pain). although the pain in my actual pelvis is much better now, the referred pain i suffer in my lower back & down my left leg / sciatic nerve has got worse & worse since i had my daughter.

i'm on tramadol, diclofenac, co-dydramol & have to take citalopram to help with the anxiety my conditions cause me, as well as zopiclone to help me sleep when the pain is bad. i did have a steroid injection into my lower back & then a 2nd time into a facet joint, as that is where the pain clinic thought my pain was being triggered from down into the sciatic nerve. i have to say the results were good but only for about 6 weeks each time : ( my clinic will only give me a max of 2 of these injections a year, as they say regular use can cause early osteoporosis : ( so now i'm left til next year til they will give me another injection.

i have regular hands on physio every 2 weeks which really helps, but it's expensive at £40 a session.

i'd just be really interested in your experiences & things you've found most heplful : )

bea x

I'd second the physio. I don't know if there is a specialist neuro physio team near you but mine has been the biggest help with pain releif.