bam451 Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 I was wondering if any of your loved ones went to a pain management doctor. We just cannot seem to get the pain under control. My mom's cancer has spread to one rib back in April. She started taking fentanol 25mcg(sp?) patch.. In August it got worse and they added Naproxen. When they added Naproxed 250mg they also increased her patch to 75mcg. Last week they put a port in my mom and took her off the Naproxen because it's asprin based. The no good doc didn't prescibe anything in it's place, only telling my mom to take tylenol if that pain got bad. Why would he think that tylenol work work when mom's on that much pain meds?? Anyway, by the time Friday night rolled around she in extreme pain which lasted all weekend. She should not have to be in pain. She was taking oxycodone 3-4pills every 4 hours. They also told her to increase her patch to 150mcg. Now surgery is done and they put her back on her normal pain meds patch, still at 150 and naproxen three times daily and she's still in horrible pain. I'm starting to wonder if the cancer spread to another rib. We thought maybe she should go to a pain mangement specialist, but her doc said that that is normally for cronic pain, not pain caused by cancer. Just looking for some insight. It's bad enough mom has cancer, but I cannot stand to see her in pain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overtherainbow Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 I'm no doctor but it seems to me that your mom should be on something stronger than naproxen. There are a lot of options and if your mom has a port, they may be able to give her meds intravenously that she can control with a PCA (patient-controlled analgesia) if she is in such severe pain. My dad saw a pain specialist and he wasn't much help but the palliative care folks stuck with IV morphine and that did the trick most of the time. Other drugs to ask about are Dilaudid and MSContin. The drawback to the stronger drugs is that your mom would be pretty heavily sedated most of the time. There are a lot of factors to weigh and again, I'm not a health professional, but speaking from experience, hopefully knowing drug names will give you a place to start with the doctor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nova Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 I'm sorry your Mom is having to deal with so much pain. There's really no excuse for her to have to go thru that now-a-days. It used to be that people with cancer suffered horribly, because they were worried the patient would become "addicted" to pain medication. My opinion is that they should be kept as pain free as possible, then worry about any addictions they develop later on down the road when they're completely cancer free. Maybe another doctor would be in order? Or a pain specialist? (Begging, pleading, crying, kicking your feet, refusing to leave the room until someone does something is always an option I've considered too.. ..) Whatever it takes to get it under control. I'm sorry. Take care, Nova Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don M Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 I think seeing a pain management specialist is a good idea. Don M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph74 Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 Beth - hopefully the hospital you go too has a Pallitative Clinic (it's not hospice) - you know my story, my mom is in about as much pain as yours, she's been on the oxycodene for weeks now, and it barely helps. A REAL doctor from the Pallitative Clinic at Northwestern comes every two weeks and prescribes patches/pills for the pain, and does a health check up at our home. She sees her oncologist once a month for chemo, but this guy will see her weekly if she needed it. Check into this option, Insurance pays for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fillise Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 My mom has seen a pain management specialist, but only because the mets to her spine aggrevated her arthritis there. It wasn't for pain related to the primary tumor. Regardless of who it is, I think your mom needs to see someone about her pain. Perhaps the pallitive care specialist steph mentioned would be good. And don't get scared by the word "pallative." It denotes comfort care and does not mean anyone has given up (some people think that). Best of luck to you, let us know how it goes. Susan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendyr Posted October 24, 2007 Share Posted October 24, 2007 You've received some excellent advice and I do think that pain management docs can be very helpful with all kinds of pain. They are trained to treat chronic pain as well as cancer pain, in fact any kind of pain. If you can get her to a reputable pain management doctor I think he could probably help. Good Luck & God Bless wendyr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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