i was taken off vicoden....

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	Helllo,My  name is Sherri, I am 48, have chronic pain and I have fibromyalgia. I guess that is what it is,because test after test has been run on me, and there is no logical explanation for my pain. 2 doctors have said "yes",it could be fibromyalgia.           My story is:                         I have been on Vicodin for years now, it has helped me to get through my day and I was able to work my normal work week, with lots of overtime ( 13 hour days ). I am not married, I have to support myself so I do have to work to take care of me. Yes, I have tried everything else it seems in the med dep't, nothing worked. My Vikes ran up to 4-5 a day. I did not abuse it and take any more than needed. ( Even tho ,I still felt pain ).I would take Tylenol.The dreaded Vikes helped me get through MY DAY!!!! Otherwise, I was not able to live my life,such as having too work. My doctor sent me to pain mangement,I had an appointment June 29th,he put me on 25mg. Lyica,2x day,and 15 mg. meloxicam,2x day. I have no vicodens, so this is cold turkey. I am on my 4th day, I am fine,no withdrawals, nothing. Just in excruciating pain.....I am going nutd. The good thing is, I was off these past 3 days,I go back to work tomorrow. I work for the state as a dietary worker on my feet all day, busy as hell. I am will ng to give this Lyrica a chance,I will see the PM doctor in 3 weeks. Should I stick this out? Or try to get more of my Vicodens?                         I am wondering, is this a blessing in disguise? What is the meaning of changing something that worked for me to something that does not?

Hi hurting,

I actually have a different opinion. I am on Lyrica & I LOVE it. It took about 4-5 weeks for it to really start helping, but after that I was able to cut back on my pain meds & to be more alert & able to function for longer periods of time at work (though I would rarely work more than a 9 hour day -- occasionally 11, but then my PM would yell at me :).

I also used to work with a lady who had very severe fibro. She was on Ultram & something else (don't remember) & it was helping her some, but not that much. She would get home from work & just crash -- not able to do anything for her family, including cooking which she used to really, really enjoy. A couple of months on the Lyrica & she was much better. She just took the Lyrica & some kind of OTC anti-inflammatory (Motrin??) and was able to start doing a bit more. Her PM prescribed a physical therapy program for her (very slow progressing) & over the next several months she started getting her life back -- able to come home from work & cook for her family, help her kids with homework, go for short walks with her husband. She is not pain-free, but she found that the Lyrica helped her enough to do the PT & the combination really gave her her life back without all the risks of narcotics.

As far as Lyrica being addicting, I think was Smoochie meant is that it is habit-forming. You usually cannot just quit it without there being severe side effects (I start twitching really badly if I go for more than a day without it). In my experience, that can be managed by slowing cutting down the dose, or substituting another anti-convulsant for the Lyrica. It is not at all the same experience as trying to get off of a narcotic & you cannot get addicted to Lyrica (addiction=willing to lie, cheat or steal in order to get more of the medication; I've never heard of anyone that desperate to get Lyrica).

The other possibility is that you are not on a high enough dose of the Lyrica for it to help. They cannot put you on a really high dose to start with. Often, though, people may need up to 300mg 3x/day in order to benefit the most from it (I can't take that much b/c I get too sleepy, but others can & do). It takes some time to build up to that level.

My recommendation would be to call your PM first thing on Monday morning. Let him know that the pain is horrible & that it is affecting your work. Your PM will know what is the best course of treatment for you -- wait-and-see, more Lyrica, or some narcotic. It really is important to try to find a PM that you trust. If you already have a great PM, then try to realize that all patients respond differently to meds. For some people, 50mg of Lyrica once or twice a day is plenty, for others, they need much more to get the pain under control. I think you need to give your PM this new information (the Lyrica is not helping enough) & see what he says.

I will definitely say a prayer for you that you can get something to help you ASAP before the pain starts to get out of control. Try to take it easy this weekend & give your body a chance to relax. For that matter, you may need to consider cutting back your hours at work. I know it is so tough to consider that -- we need money, it is hard to find employment right now, the boss doesn't care about ADA regulations, etc. I've used all those excuses myself, but at the end of the day, there are always more jobs & you only have one body. If you can't leave your job or cut back your hours, maybe ask your PM is s/he has any suggestions for modifications to your workspace or body mechanics to try to cut down on the stress to your body from being on your feet so much. :)

peace,
Frances

Hi, HurtingBad,
Welcome to the chronic pain forum of Healing Well. Always sorry to learn of another person in pain, but there's no better site for support than Healing Well. We're not doctors, though, but can share our experiences and what we're learning along the path of chronic pain.

Did I read your post correctly that you were taking tylenol in addition to the vicodin? Because that could be one of the main reasons your doctor took you off of them. I also don't know if your any of your doctors checked your liver enzymes (blood test) because if they were high that again could be why someone would take you off the vicodin immediately. If you read on some of the other threads deaing with this issue (they're all on this first page right now) you'll see that it is dangerous to take too much tylenol (acetamenophen). Right now 4000mg/day is the maximum, but I recently heard that liver damage occurs between 5000-7000mg/day. So there's not much of a gap there. Two extra tylenol in addition to your vicodin could do it, let alone the fact acetamenophen is in many other products like NyQuil and TheraFlu.

Frances has given you some good information. It seems your doctor has started you on a very low dose of lyrica, and that's normal. I wouldn't wait the 3 weeks to see him to provide input about how much pain you're in. I don't know if he/she has someone on call over the holiday weekend, but I'd definitely call Monday morning as Frances suggested. And although it's hard, switching to other medications may be safer for you in the long run if you have a good pain management doctor.

Hope this helps a bit.

Again, welcome.

PaLady