I know, I know, we've been here before!
I wrote way back in October / November of last year about how I was battling some really dark clouds in my life. I put it down to turning fifty and being in constant pain and I was determined to overcome it without the need for medication.
Just after Christmas I thought I'd beaten it. Things began to look brighter. I was still in chronic pain and I had, in the time since I last wrote about being depressed, been prescribed Oramorph to take alongside my Cocodamol - despite my being unwilling to go down the drug guinea pig route again. But, up until last week, everything seemed fine. I'd beaten my depression.
Then, a week or so ago, I woke up feeling really miserable one day. Nothing specific that I could put my finger on as the cause, I just felt glum. I thought I might be getting another cold and brushed it aside, but I was very snappy with the family and really easily irritated.
On Tuesday my poor, long-suffering wife, made some innocuous remark about something (I can't even remember what it was) and I blew my stack. Said some awful things and really lost control. The worst of it was that I lost control in front of our thirteen year old daughter.
Now, even when I'm in the wrong and I know I was in the wrong on this occasion, I'm a stickler for not backing down and I used the old "well if you hadn't said / done such and such, I would never have said what I said" chestnut - which only served to amplify my wife's anger towards me and the row went on for several days. In fact, it was still going on this morning - six days later.
I had a pre-booked appointment to see my GP to review my medication at 10am today and when I walked into his consulting room everything (apart from the row) was fine. I sat down and he asked how I'd been and I just burst into tears and let it all pour out. I felt such an idiot. Normally when people ask how I've been I say "Fine" or "Not so bad" - it's a standard for fibro sufferers the world over. Today I let the standard fall. My wall, usually so impenetrable, collapsed to dust and the flood barriers opened.
Clearly my depression had not been beaten. I'd just bottled it all up, put the cork in the bottle over Christmas and New Year only for it to explode today in a spectacular, embarrassing and totally non-British way!
I walked out of the room fifteen minutes later with a prescription for Duloxetine in one hand and a wet tissue in the other, dabbing tears away from my bloodshot eyes as I walked into the waiting room, where my wife sat waiting with a smile on her face. We wrapped our arms around each other and hugged. I blubbed a pitiful, guilt-laden "Sorry" into her shoulder.
She'd known all along that this day would come.
I'm currently taking 600mg of Lyrica (Pregabalin) per day as well as 8 cocodamol 30/500mg tablets.
My hip and lower back pain is getting worse.
Obviously the pills aint working, but I'm sick of pestering my doctor, and I can't use the TENS machine 24/7.
Having a really bad time! Will I ever find a medication that actually works without giving me horrendous side-effects??
What works for you?
I've been taking pregabalin (Lyrica) 150mg twice a day for about six weeks now and, if I'm honest, I can feel no benefit with it. The pain in my right hip is still as bad as ever and my lower back pain is still like a toothache - constant throbbing and sharp stabbing pains when I move a certain way or bend to pick something up.
I called my GP today for advice and he suggested I take two 150mg doses twice a day - what he seems to forget is that the last time I was on the higher dose I got horrendous dizziness - no good for me in my everyday life or my work life. I told him this and he replied by saying 'Well, if you're not prepared to try again there's very few options left open for you.'
I feel like a guinea pig for the drug companies as it is. However, to make my point I'm going to try to take 600mg per day again - just for one month to see if a) It works on my pain and b) I get the dizziness again (which I'm almost certain to as I get it mildy on my current dose of 300mg per day)
I have so many suggestions for treatment that the doctor could try and, if I have to make another trip to see him about my medication reactions, I'm going to take the list with me. I know a few adversely interact with other meds I'm taking, but there are others that he could try - if he can get over the shock of the cost to the NHS!!
(Another side effect of pregabalin is weight gain - but that doesn't phase me as I've been underweight for years - it's the dizziness that gets me most.)
Wish me luck.
Do you pass the fibro test?
I have the pain in all four quadrants, insomnia, fatigue and fog but I'd fail the eleven out of eighteen tender points bit!
Best start looking for a new diagnosis.....
I mentioned a while back in this blog that I was on Pregabalin (300mg twice daily) - well, I started to get an unwanted side-effect: extreme dizziness, which was making working and even standing up unpleasant and/or uncomfortable so three days ago my doctor switched me onto Gabapentin (100mg three times daily) and as soon as I started taking them I started to get the symptoms of a flare up of my Crohn's Disease. Horrendous stomach cramps, diarrhoea and nausea, and last night I thought I was going to have to go to the hospital because of them.
I'd managed to get through the day in relative discomfort and in the evening had (just about) managed to get through my shift at work - though I was clearly under-par, I got home at 11.30pm and went to bed but couldn't sleep because of the pains inside. At 3am I was on the toilet trying desperately not to pass out. The pain in my gut was unlike anything I'd had before. I was considering calling an ambulance when it dawned on me - could it be the new tablets?
I don't usually read info leaflets in tablets and in any case there hadn't been one with these new ones, but the pains were so bad I had to know if there was a link so I searched "side effects of Gabapentin" This is what I found:
Common: More than 1 in 100 people who take Gabapentin
- abnormal gait
- abnormal laboratory test results
- abrasion
- accidental injury more likely
- acne
- back pain
- blood and bone marrow problems
- breathing difficulties
- bronchitis in children
- changes in appetite
- confusion
- constipation
- convulsions in children
- coordination problems
- cough
- depression
- diarrhoea
- difficulty sleeping
- double vision
- dry mouth or throat
- eye or eyesight problems
- feeling anxious
- feeling nervous
- feelings of hostility
- flatulence
- flu or flu-like symptoms
- fractures
- general feeling of being unwell
- headaches
- hyperactivity or aggressive behaviour in children
- impotence
- indigestion
- infection of the ear in children
- inflammation of the gums
- itching
- joint pain
- memory problems
- mood changes
- muscle twitching
- muscle pain or tenderness
- nausea
- oedema of the extremities
- pain
- pharyngitis
- raised blood pressure
- reflex problems
- respiratory tract infection in children
- rhinitis
- sensation changes such as paraesthesia and hypaesthesia
- skin rash or rashes
- speech problems
- stomach pain
- swelling of the face
- tooth problems
- tremors
- unexplained or unexpected bruising
- unusual thoughts
- vasodilatation
- vertigo
- vomiting
- weakness
- weight gain
(I've highlighted every side effect I experienced during the last 48 hours)
The stomach pains, flatulence and diarrhoea still haven't subsided and I've vowed to myself to never take another Gabapentin. So it looks like another consultation with the quack when I can drag myself away from the toilet! Looks like I'm going to have to manage with just cocodamol for the time being.
I've been taking 600mg of Pregabalin every day for the past six weeks. 2 x 150mg tablets in the morning and two at night.
Initially they worked just fine - though I did notice that I suffered mild 'light-headedness'. But in the last two weeks at this dose the light-headedness has intensified to the point of swooning dizziness. It really feels like my head is about to lift off or I'm going to fall over - especially when turning my head any faster than a tortoise!
I've also noticed that I've developed tremors - in my hands, legs and shoulders.
The medication is prescribed for chronic neuropathic pain and can affect the central nervous system, so I was half expecting a mild form of these side effects, but these have now become troublesome - to the point of losing a shift at work - so I've decided to wean myself off them and go back to see the quack.
The tablets have helped with the pain a little - in the sense that they've probably numbed my brain to it!! (Which, I suppose, is what all pain relief does!!)
I hate messing around with medications, but until the doctor gets it right I suppose I'm going to have to be a human guinea pig for a while longer.
I wonder what side effects others have had on this medication?
