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Pain Medication - Pain Relief 'Lag'?

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Posted 10/20/2013 10:07 PM (GMT 0)
I hope I haven't asked this before...been having horrid memory issues recently.


Anyways...anyone have a "lag" with their medication?

Meaning...it'll take HOURS before any relief from their medication?

I take Norco/Lyrica and both can take around two(and sometimes more) hours before my pain starts easing down a few levels.

Could it be due to taking with food in my stomach?(not stuffed...but close to an hour after I've eaten.

Hope to go there isn't something wrong with my stomach.
Posted 10/20/2013 11:41 PM (GMT 0)
With either of these eating should not be a problem. Lyrica is not going to knock your pain out like a regular narcotic will so. I don't know how much Lyrica you are to take daily but it should be taken the same time every day if possible. Norco it always took a good hour or more for it to start working for me. I always drink something hot when taking my pain meds to get them to kick in quicker.

Susie
Posted 10/21/2013 12:21 AM (GMT 0)
I have been on Lortabs for over 3 years plus, and the lag in them is so exact, that I could almost set a watch to when they start to work. It takes one hour for me to feel them working, always have been that way with me. Doctor said that wasn't unusual, and that it varies greatly patient by patient. I have to take that into consideration when I take them, and not let the pain build up too much in advance, knowing there will be that one hour lag.

David
Posted 10/21/2013 12:31 AM (GMT 0)
I'm the same David,...very consistent results with my meds...about 25 to 30min's.

I agree with the Lyrica comment as well. I suppose if a patient were to change their habits, and take their Med's on a full stomach, when they have not been doing so,... then there could possibly be a delay.

SE
Posted 10/21/2013 12:40 AM (GMT 0)
I take Lyrica three times a day, up until recently I had been taking it ever 12 hours but my doctor told me it really only lasts for 8 hours.

This was mentioned above but if you can be as precise as possible with dosage time once you're on a good cycle the lag time should disappear.

I've had experience with other medications where it takes so long to kick in its like I never took it or on the other side meds that I can only take every 4 hours that only last for 2 hours of relief

Best of luck!
Posted 10/21/2013 1:38 AM (GMT 0)
SE: I should add, as far as effectiveness. Takes the first hour to kick in, then I get 2 solid hours of pretty steady relief, and then in the last hour, a noticeable fading.

With my Fentanyl, since I go from patch to patch, every 48 hours as regular as clockwork, I can't honestly tell when it works one way or the other. When I was originally dosed at 72 hours, it didn't take me or my doctor long, to figure out that by day 3, there wasn't enough med left to do me any good, so I started a pattern of every third day being a bad day. So he switched me to the 48 hour swap, which for me, was a good thing.

David
Posted 10/21/2013 1:39 AM (GMT 0)
Yeah, my schedule is very hectic, rarely take them at the same time everyday due to whatever is distracting me in day to day activities...but will try.

Hate when I'm feeling good and busy with something...wait to take the medication...then BAM Pain attack, take the medicine...and nothing.

Thanks for all the responses(especially the hot drink idea...I'll take it with some chamomile tea).


ETA:

I take Lyrica 150 x3 every 8 hours and Norco x3 every 8 hours. But...like I said, I need to work on taking the stuff around the clock as ordered. Sometimes I only get to taking 2 of each a day(Also have a fear of building up the tolerance...so sometimes just deal with the pain). :/
Posted 10/21/2013 9:53 PM (GMT 0)
Some medications, including hydrocodone are "prodrugs" -- that is, they have to first be metabolized into the drug that provides the pain relief. It is metabolized into hydromorphone, and so the lag involves, in part, this metabolization.

Tramadol is a partial pro-drug in that on its own, it can release serotonin, but has also to be metabolized into a different molecule for most of its opioid benefit.

By contrast, oxycodone, as itself able to bond with opioid receptors works more quickly.

In my experience, hydrocodone takes 30 minutes. Tramadol takes 45, but oxycodone take 15.
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