Neuropathic pain.

mellman01
mellman01 Member Posts: 5,306
edited 7. Feb 2023, 10:10 in News Archive
Hi I hope I am posting this in the right place if not then please let me know.

Now I don't know about anyone else but I got very bad neuropathic pain from both types of arthritis I have, i.e. knees and neck.
Anyway it ruled my life and destroyed my working carrier I also lost several friends over it as well.
Anyway I tried nortrityline, as well as anti convulsants i.e. pregabalin and gabapentin, both were horrible drugs, anyway I did a bit of digging on the web for some type of drug that wasn't epilepsy based and found one called Dufloxetine, I managed to get some from my GP but sat on them for over a year as the list of side effects were worrying so I didn't take them, well a year or so down the line I had a massive neuropathic flare that lasted 3 weeks, I'd come out the other side wiped out, anyway a week after it left it started again, I was so worn down but it I took one of the tablets and within an hour the second flare was history!.
The only problem was Duloxetine made me very tired so I dropped down to taking half a tab at a time, things were OK for 6 months then they started to fail me, anyway here's the interesting bit.

When a neuropathic flare was pending before I got any pain or sickness I'd notice my mood would go really down, I'm talking proper depression dip, crying feeling worthless and so sad I'd find myself trying not to cry if a sad story came on the TV, this normally went of for a few days then the flare would kick in.
Duloxatine stopped that so I suspected there was also a brain chemistry issue but how or why there was stumped me,
Anyway back to the laptop I went and I found out that there are 2 main drugs in Duloxetine, one is a tricyclid, i.e. 1 of the 16 types of Ametriptyline, I already take it and it works for my neck pain but does nothing for the neuropathic or knee pain so it wasn't that, the second was a drug that was a sodium channel blocker (as far as I can remember). this drug worked to block you body cells from absorbing serotonin, apparently if your brains levels are low it can increase it's sensitivity to pain especially the neuropathic type, this corroborated my observation with regards to a brain chemistry issue, anyway I wondered if Prozac might also help so off to my new lady GP I went and she agreed it might so gave me some 20mg Fluoxetine i.e. bog standard Prozac.

Now that was 2 years ago and so far I have been totally neuropathic pain flare free!, OK I get a hint of neuropathic pain i.e. numb cold lower legs and feet but that's it and that only happens if I go silly.
Now to give my case some more credibility this year I ended up in the Churchill hospital with what is called a GIST, it's a very rare form of stomach cancer and I went in to have a 5kg tumour removed as well as a load of plumbing, anyway when I was in the pain management doctor came to see me and she asked me what the Prozac was for, I told her about the neuropathic pain issue and how I'd come to work out Prozac might be worth a go, she told me I was right and it's been known for some time Prozac can help reduce the symptoms of neuropathic pain.
Why this isn't common knowledge beats me, I've been suffering from it since 2008 and it has been highly debilitating, I also don't get any of the crushing depression I use to get, 20mg isn't a lot but the moods are level and the neuropathic pain is a thing of the past for me, I'm also 11 weeks post cancer OP and doing very well, all I need to do now is get the council to give me a blue badge and I'll be sorted but I fear I am still not ill enough to be granted one, Oxford county council are prone to taking badges away rather than give them they are a right nasty bunch, but I will try again and hope they will treat me fairly this time round but I don't expect them to they actually fabricated evidence to deny me a badge in 2014 so I don't hold out much chance. I will however be covertly recording things thats if they grant me an assessment this time round. Oh and if anyone is interested in my GIST's story then please ask and I'll post an article on here that's if it's OK with the MOD's.

Comments

  • mellman01
    mellman01 Member Posts: 5,306
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    No problems Sharon, I can only speak form myself but the effects have been dramatic I've been flare free for a very long time now and before I started on Fluoxetine things were getting noticeable worse, either way it's worth a try the least it will do is help with the depression many get from long term pain, as for the council I'm not holding my breath but I am going to give it a go as since the cancer surgery my general mobility has changed and not for the better.