Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Support Group

Greetings, everyone!

My doc has finally started giving my Lortabs for pain, in addition to the Cymbalta and gabapentin that I already take. I've noticed that if I take a Lortab in the evening, I cannot fall asleep. It doesn't matter when I take it - they keep me up for 3-5 hours afterward.

This is not good because I'm still working, and I require a lot of rest right now as this disease is spreading from my foot to my arms and hands. Does anyone else have this problem with pain medicine? Does anyone take any pain medicine that does not keep them up? Maybe I should take something different in the evening...

Pain meds affect everyone differently. Lorcet (tabs, etc.) are hydrocodone, which some find soporific, as do I. Oxycodone, otoh, I find stimulating. There are lots of opiates; telling your PMP about this will allow him/her to make a different choice or add something that will help your sleep.

Good luck.

Howard

Jen,

Howard's right and the meds will be something different for each of us. I have trouble falling asleep even on the mix of meds that I take, but I take ambien and melatonin and they do help me sleep. My pain doctor is a big believer in sleep being important for pain patients. I can't say for sure if any medication has caused me to stay awake or if just the pain has.

Just tell your doctor if you haven't that this is happening, like Howard said. There are other things that your doctor could change you to or possibly add something. Until then, have you tried melatonin? Also, do the little things as much as possible that really do add up. Stay away from the computer or TV that last hour before bed. The lights in them will affect the chemicals that allow you to sleep. Can you take a bath with lavender to de-stress some? I love lavender in candles, sprays, lotions... it's everywhere in stores now and a very soothing scent that is suppose to be helping in getting to sleep. I know you're under a lot of stress. Do you have things that help you with it? They also have sleepytime teas at the grocery store. Some people say they help. I bought some but don't really like it. It might be worth a try. Make your bedroom a lavender-scented little place of escape if you can and don't grade papers or do work in bed. I'm just throwing out ideas that have helped me some.

If the medication is really the culprit and not stress or something then probably only changing it will help. I know you need that sleep to deal with a bunch of teenagers! Hope it works out for you soon...

gail

Jen I take diazapam which calms me and my muscles. I have spasms even in my sleep that wake me up and this helps with that. Then RIGHT before I go to bed I take an Ambien. Before I understood how Ambien worked I would take it and wait till it made me sleepy but it did not. I would eat a large bowl of ice cream and have conversations with my older kids and in the morning I did not remember any of it. That is why even on the commercial they tell you to take it right before bed. Otherwise it is like you are sleep walking. It works great if you take it right before bed, so I take my pain meds. and a diazapam then get ready for bed then take the Ambien.

I hope this helps, Cindy

Thank you! My hands hurt too much to say much right now, but I like all of these ideas

Jen,

I read somewhere that you've been using the RX cream on your hands that you used on your foot. That's what I use on my feet all day and night. I was just going to tell you that there's something that helps me a tiny bit with the burning and I don't know why it helps but it's Vaseline aloe fresh moisturizing daily body gel with 100% natural aloe vera. I put a LOT of the RX pain cream on and let it sink in and then it's still burning, as I'm sure you've experienced, and I put some of this on top of the other cream. It feels very cool going on, so if you're hyper-sensitive to cool I wouldn't try it I guess. But, for some reason the coolness, which I re-apply in a few minutes, seems to take the edge off another tiny bit. Then if I'm really still and try to ignore the feet they seem to get a tiny bit better. When the burning is less, it becomes easier to sleep.

For some reason some days the burning is extremely intense and other days it's more the stabbing and deep bone pain. This does nothing for those. I just thought I'd tell you about it in case the burning is keeping you awake. It's at Walgreen's or probably any other drugstore. Oh, and I don't rub it in. I let it sit on the skin until the coolness dries. I guess the alcohol in it evaporates and leaves the other things like aloe vera and cucumber extract. Like I say I don't know why this would be helpful, but it does feel good.

Get some sleep!

gail

Post edited by: maddiesgram, at: 04/29/2012 09:34 PM

Saw my doc today... I guess the bags under my eyes gave it away, cuz he seemed concerned about my sleep! When I answered that I'd only gotten about 4 hours of sleep for the last 5 days, he prescribed me valium for a few nights. I'm pretty sure I will sleep well tonight! Thanks for the interesting idea. He did write me a script to get more of that cream, but it is expensive. It has ketoprofin, ketamine, lidocaine, and gabapentin in it. Is that what you use? Didn't you tell me once you found an affordable place for that? Just wondering... I still have a bit left, and hopefully we can control this spread to my arms and I won't need anymore! Getting a block through my neck for my right arm in 4 days. He's forcing me to take 2 weeks off work unless the block really helps, then he'll change it & let me go back next week. He scheduled two more blocks for the arms in the next 3 weeks, and then I already had 3 more scheduled for the left leg at the end of May (the catheter with 3 days in a row of medicine). If that's not enough medicine in my nervous system to put a lid on the RSD, then it's just not meant to be for me! At least they are doing all they can, so I know that I am truly blessed to have this team of docs. Now if only they would look into adding ketamine infusions to their arsenal... Anyhow, I'll keep my fingers crossed! Thanks, again, for the tips

Jen,

I'm so glad for you that your doctor is very aggressively fighting your RSD! He really wants you to beat this if possible and that's great. It also sounds smart that he has you taking time off and taking care of yourself. That way you will get blocks done and get rested up and hopefully feel somewhat better when it's time to go back. It does sound like they are doing all the can and that's pretty darn unusual for us to hear.

I do use a pain cream with gabapentin, lidocaine and prilocaine in it. The pharmacy that I get it from is in south Texas and is called Richies's Pharmacy. They also compound other creams with ingredients more like yours. I tried one with ketamine in it but I had a bad itchy reaction to that one so we went back to the one I use now. As far as prices go, when I first was going to get this filled and the girl told me the price, I couldn't believe it! I can't remember the exact costs now but it seems like about $500.00/month. I told her that I could NOT do that and she send me a form for a hardship case. I didn't know if they would approve me for hardship and was so nervous, but they did, and now they send my RX cream with no charge to me! That has been such a blessing!

Well, I'm falling asleep and need to go--------have a good week.

gail

Jen I am glad your doctor gave you something for sleeping. Valium and diazapam are basically the samething. I am trying to get my doctor to do the Ketamine too.

I don't want to scare you but the blocks in the neck usually make the pain worse for most people. I really have not heard of to many people having relief from them but hopefully you will be different and it will help you a lot. You have to remember the space between discs is smaller in the neck. I will be praying for you!!

Cindy

Valium (Diazepam)www.nlm.nih.gov

Diazepam is used to relieve anxiety, muscle spasms, and seizures and to control agitation caused by alcohol withdrawal. Diazepam comes as a tablet, extended-release (long-acting) capsule, and concentrate (liquid) to take by mouth. Do not open, chew, or crush the extended-release capsules; swallow them whole. It is ...

Side effects - How to take - Precautions - Missed a dose

Diazepam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaen.wikipedia.org/wiki/DiazepamCached - Similar

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Systematic (IUPAC) name. 7-chloro-1,3-dihydro- 1-methyl-5-phenyl- 1,4-benzodiazepin-2(3H)-one. Clinical data. Trade names, Diastat, Valium. AHFS/Drugs.

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