Pain relief suggestions from anyone?

[moorech3]

Hi - My mom has been experiencing a lot of pain in her legs and hips. She has not had a bone scan yet though I am urging her to do so. She also tries to take as little pain medeicine as possible - mostly taking ibuprofin with a few stronger pills here and there. The doctors have suggested morphine for the pain but she won't do that becuase she had a friend who lost her cancer battle several years ago and morphine was the last pain med she was on.

What are some other good options for leg and hip pain that never seems to go away? Thanks for your ideas and you prayers for mom.

[wendyr]

Hi my husband takes 20mg oxycontin 3xdaily and is able to function quite well. He also takes oxycontin ir 5mg for breakthrough pain. There are a lot of pain med combinations and the best person to talk to is your mother's onc. The onc can start her out with milder pain meds and increase as the situation needs.

wendyr

[RandyW]

My wife was on same regimen and she drove herself to school daily for couple of months before she passed. AND took art classes..

[overtherainbow]

You could try IV Dilaudid...my dad had that for a while and it really helped him. He was able to get it on a PCA just like morphine.

A non-IV option (besides pills which a lot of people have already suggested) might be a Fentanyl transdermal patch; those are pretty good for breakthrough pain.

[janehill]

Some pain meds (other than morphine):

Fentanyl patch (25 mcg/hr - works for 3 days straight without having to take pills) maintains a constant flow of pain meds - can't recommend it highly enough.

Tramadol

Vicodin

Percocet

And when all else fails, have them prescribe Roxanyl (which is liquid morphine but since it has a different name....)

One of my thoughts on this subject is that when the pain is really bad enough, patients will inject Fruit Loops into their veins if they thought it would help. So, basically, I'm saying....maybe she just needs some time to do it her way and to not feel needy of drugs to get through this tough road. When she really needs it, I'm sure she will. Much luck to her (and you).

[Suzie Q]

She really needs to stay on her pain meds, even if she feels ok. It is much harder to get control of a mountain of pain.

And sometimes good, old ibuprofen can actually manage the pain if it is taken properly and at the regular intervals recommended by her doctor.

~Karen

[moorech3]

Thank you all! We are off to the doctor today and this information is very helpful. I'll keep you posted.

[J.C.]

May be late,

but Fentanyl patches are morphine, they

come in many strength.

Decadron

and the good old codeine, statex (morphine)

for breakthrough pain

and the best

Oxycontin.

Jackie