what can gp prescribe for chronic pain?

Hi, I feel let down by healthcare esp my ms nurse. Since my ms became progressive 2 years ago pain has been getting worse every couple months and now I am at the point where I can’t do anything except lie in bed and try to block it out. I have tried all the anti- epileptics my ms nurse suggested with terrible side effects and no relief My gp doesn’t know what to give me,I tried co-codamol and diclofenac and tramadol and none of these take the pain away they just knock me out I waited months, putting up with the pains til my app at the pain clinic then just as I was leaving for my app they cancelled on me They were my last resort now I have to go back to gp as im desperate for some relief as I have 3 kids that I can’t do anything with so does anyone know what I can suggest to the gp for relieving my chronic pain? My ms nurse doesn’t have any answers as she said just wait to be seen by the pain clinic I can’t handle it anymore I can’t blovk it out anymore and I feel like dying but gp and ms nurse are no help at all Dont know what to do?

Oh love, this is just so awful and so down right chuffin` wrong that you are left in such pain.

Did the pain clinic give you another appointment?

I guess you have tried what I take for chronic pain…amitriptyline?

If you have already tried everything us lot here usually take, I donno what else to suggest.

What about botox? That helps with some pains.

I do hope someone can ease your pain soon.

Please dont think about dying…you have 3 kids and too much to live for, but I can understand why you said that.

Hang on in there chuck, yeh?

much luv, Pollyxxxxxxx

My GP is downright useless and I’m nowhere as badly affected as you BUT my nurse did suggest I download the fact sheet from the MS Society or the MS trust about pain and take that along to my GP to give him some idea from trusted sites about the types of painkillers that he could prescribe.

Do you think that is something that would give your GP something to go on until you get another appointment at the pain clinic?

Other than that I don’t know what to say or do to make you feel better. I wish I could reach out and give you a <<>>, sometimes life is so unfair :frowning:

Tracey x

Hi Arlene,I know what the pain is like,but with three kids,it is unbelievable what you manage.This may sound very odd,but I get better relief from tiny doses of anti epileptics.I take 3-4 100mg Gabapentin and 100mg of Lamotrigine in two doses daily,but I’ll vary that to suit.I also wear 10mg/hour Butrans Morphine patches,usually at 25mg doseage and have got Oromorph, which is liquid morphine.These are heavyweight and your GP will probably want ‘say so’ from somebody who gets payed more.

Do you have a Social Worker or any kind of Nurse?If not the GP should know about where the help is.You should have help, if needed to write to the Neurotic,Pain Clinic,MS Nurse,GP,head of PCT explaining about the cancelled appointment and your situation.Is one of the kids’ teachers clever enough to help you? For you to be talking about dying, things are very bad,but if you have talked like that to the GP and it has not acted, that is very wrong and the Practice Manager needs to be made aware.

You should keep an eye on this, as I don’t think any situation is completely new to the Assembled Throng…Glad I remembered the R this time,

Stay in touch,

Wb XX

Hi, I have been on diclofenic, amiltrytalline and coedine phospate for a long time due to spinal problems. i found Co codemal didn’t agree with me so switched to coedine phosphate which works better, but be warned it does knock you out! Apart from that, I found Gabapentin very helpful, only trouble was it caused quite bad water retention for me but i’m sure many people get on fine with it. I do sympathise, it seems impossible to find an effective pain killer that doesn’t make me really drowsy. Hope you get some hekp soon x x

Hi elmo,

I looked for the fact sheets you mentioned but had no luck (probably not looking in the right places). Do you have links for them?

I’m having issues with chronic pain also. I take ibuprofen (up to 1200mg a day), tramadol (up to 400mg a day) and baclofen (started on 15mg a day but now take 40mg and it can still be increased). It helps a little but my pain is still severe.

Hope you find something that helps.

Elephanteyes, to get a list of ms society publications…press the ms support tag at the top of this page. when you have done this look at the blue titles on the left hand side. The very bottom one says ‘publications and library’. click on that and you can look up lots of things including help with pain. Teresa.x

On the MS Trust website you click on the tab for Publications, then on the right click on the link for All Publications and scroll down to find the ones that interest you. The one I printed off was the Pain Fact Sheet which you can order by post or if you have a printer you can download a copy and print it off at home.

Hope this helps

Tracey x

Thank you so much xx

Hi thanks for your replies i’m currently taking 20mg baclofen 3 times a day which has stopped the cramps but no relief for other pains I get I’ve tried gabapentin, tegretol, pregabalin and phenytoin but side effects have been awful The imipramine I have been on for years due to depression helps the pain as its worse when I forget to take it so god knows what I would be like if I wasn’t taking that I have an app with my psychiatrist today I wasnt feeling depressed until the pain I am in got so bad and the fatigue Its the pain and fatigue that are making me depressed I got app 2morrow with gp so I will try and find that fact sheet to show her Thanks

Saw my psychiatrist today and he says the anti-epileptics can make depression worse and they were not the best things to be on in my situation Because anti depressant imipramine which I am taking is used for pain relief like amitriptyline he is gradually going to hike my dosage up and see me every 4 weeks while doing so to see if it helps my pain. He also suggests I ask gp or pain clinic for the cannibinoid spray after we were discussing how when I smoke cannabis it helps the pain and I can pee when I smoke it rather tham having to self catheterise He says if it helps and if I want to smoke it then I should do until I can get the cannabinoid spray from gp or pain clinic he said if he could prescribe it he would do he has another patient in same situ as me and she got it and it works Cross my fingers doc will prescribe it if not I’ll have to wait it out till pain clinic

Saw my psychiatrist today and he says the anti-epileptics can make depression worse and they were not the best things to be on in my situation Because anti depressant imipramine which I am taking is used for pain relief like amitriptyline he is gradually going to hike my dosage up and see me every 4 weeks while doing so to see if it helps my pain. He also suggests I ask gp or pain clinic for the cannibinoid spray after we were discussing how when I smoke cannabis it helps the pain and I can pee when I smoke it rather tham having to self catheterise He says if it helps and if I want to smoke it then I should do until I can get the cannabinoid spray from gp or pain clinic he said if he could prescribe it he would do he has another patient in same situ as me and she got it and it works Cross my fingers doc will prescribe it if not I’ll have to wait it out till pain clinic

That sounds very promising. You sound a lot more positive today, glad things are looking up

Tracey x