Pain relief

Lipop

Hi , looking for opinions on pain relief please. I'm currently waiting on a hip replacement having been told it will be before the end of May. (This will be my year wait). My pain is now unbearable. I take naproxen alongside paracetamol atm, have always been reluctant to take anything more but like I say, I feel like I'm at the end of the road now. I work 30hrs a week (on my feet ) aswell as multiple hrs housekeeping. Getting signed off work is not an option due to uni costs (for son). I also don't do well mentally being unoccupied. I use crutches now as I cant walk unaided .I cant sleep more than 2/3 hrs due to pain. Can't sit still for long , can't stand still for long either. My doctor not a all helpfull but the consultant advised me to join this group therefore I'm hoping people can recommend any painkillers they feel may help. Thanks

Emmasknackeredjoints

Have you tried cocodamol, especially for night time to get sleep

Baloo

@Lipop I find missing a dose is a bad idea, I start aching again, so I keep mine in a box.

You can see I missed one dose today because I slept in.

I fancy trying a course of co-codamol soon to see if I sleep better but phew, they are going to be six times the cost.

The hospital offered me Co-Codamol once for sleep, so I don't feel out of order to try some, but I turned it down. It turns out my paracetamols are free and they work.

I agree on being reluctant to take anything. I found taking nothing at all helps me know where the pain is, but ends up with being whacked out as well.

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Lipop

Hi, tried codiene which did nothing . Amitriptyline which made me feel a bit sick. I've been trying to hold off as hoping op is soon tbh but I'm struggling to get through the day now. And night.

stickywicket

Hi @Lipop ,

There are plenty of 'painkillers' on offer but the stronger the med the more drowsy we can feel. If it's just to help you sleep at night before your op just ask your GP.

Co-codamol comes in different strengths but they all contain paracetamol so, if you're also taking paracetamol, regardless of the strength of the codeine element, don't exceed the eight per day rule ie eight of either.

I think you're doing great to be still working hard but it will certainly take its toll and I can understand the need to keep it quiet overnigjt. Good luck.

Baloo

@Lipop balancing inflammatory activity against anti inflammatory drugs is out of my league but there are plenty of people who do it, so I am wondering how they all manage to find their ideal level of treatment.

I would be straight onto 111 or the Arthritis helpline with my latest situation, to at least get myself going along the right lines. No idea if Naproxen is even compatible with Co-Codamol, but you tried it, so its good evidence for the experts to say why its like that.

Sleep is interesting not that Im an expert or anything. I am quite keen on sleeping more than once if I can. I noticed using a smart watch that sleep only comes in cycles of a few hours anyway, and the next session is different to the previous one. In other words your system adjusts your sleep session to get the kind of sleep that your system decides you needed, you just need to trust that, and make sure there is enough cycles.

Welsh1

Hi you really need medical advice for pain killers and their effectiveness and side effects you really need sleep you are going to wear yourself out. Lack of sleep will make the pain feel worse. Can the uni help your son can you get benefit or carers advice or some funding for him. Best of luck.

Trish9556

Hi @Lipop

I've suffered with my hips now for over over a year and tried many things

Max strength prescription codiene with paracetamol in-between doses stronger than over the counter cocodamol worked well for a bit

Tramadol x 8 a day I still take when I need to but not the full dose.

Buprenorphine patches are my current choice. I change them weekly and find they start losing their effectiveness about 36 hours before the change date. Top up with paracetamol and tramadol when I need to.

I use red tiger balm and voltarol when I need to plus my tens machine

Had an awful conversation with one of the GPs at our surgery who told me I should be used to pain as I had osteoarthritis and there was nothing she could do when I phoned up for help after no sleep and chronic pain for a week. Found another GP at the surgery who was more sympathetic and helpful. He put me on the patches.

I have also had two injections into my hip. One did nothing and one was good but hurt like hell.i am lucky I am now retired. Good luck with finding something that works for you.

Trish xx

swimmer60

If anyone is taking buckets of pain relief, as I was before my op., be careful of constipation. Mt GP didn't warn me and I was very constipated before i looked it up and realised what was causing it, duh!

Take care good people.

Denis68

Hi @Lipop

This may sound a bit left field but it worked for me. Try acknowledging but then ignoring the pain. (Credit to a podcast episode on pain)

It follows this logic pathway.

1.Pain is the way my body sends a message that lets my conscience know there is something wrong, it's automatic and can't normally be switched off (medications usually adjust our sensitivity to the message rather than stop the message).

2. I already know there's something wrong with my hip so the pain message from my body isn't telling me anything new.

3. My doctor/ physio has told me that keeping moving will help so I'm not causing more harm (obviously this bit might vary and it's IMPORTANT to follow medical guidance).

4. I can acknowledge the pain message as an automated signal but do I really need to give it much attention?

5. No, seriously, no. I can choose to move on, move being the operative word (or adjust my position and go back to sleep)

A caveat to this is that we are all different in how we experience pain and are levels of tolerance so this may not work for everyone.

As I say it's a bit left field but it took me from doing as little as possible and popping paracetamol to the maximum about 3 years ago to still cycling, albeit fairly short distances, and walking 20000 steps a day with no pain killers and a hip that was bone on bone right up until my Op 3 weeks ago.

Baloo

I bought some CoCodamol enough to replace my Paracetamols for four days, to see if they help with sleep, but just looking at the box is putting me off. Something in me says don't eat without advice.

Ellen

https://community.versusarthritis.org/discussion/comment/717074#Comment_717074

I agree @Baloo always take the advice of your Dr or pharmacist when it comes to medications/supplements.

Best wishes

Ellen.