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Crohns and Opioids

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 11/27/2018 8:57 PM (GMT 0)
Has anyone been given Opioids of any kind to ease the pain or if it helps? I know about the constipation with those and that is also part of my problem. I take Linzess which helps and there is also Relistor for Opioid constipation. I am told to take Tylenol, are they serious? That hardly helps a headache. Dr's are to worried about addiction but at least there is help for addiction. Not much to help Crohns for some. Patients should bear the responsibility of not being addicted.. Personally, I would take the risk.. I often wonder if Addiction or Crohns is worse??? I havent been addicted to anything so I dont know. Out of anger I told my Dr I may have to seek "street drugs" on a bad day so see how he responds. (I got a blank stare)
Posted 11/28/2018 12:49 AM (GMT 0)
It's becoming near impossible to get opiates prescribed, at least in the US and the UK - might be easier in other countries. That said, in my experience codeine isn't a massive help with abdominal pain.

Can you tell me more about your pain and what meds you are on? Some chronic pain is unavoidable, but Crohn's pain shouldn't be. If the meds don't work, then perhaps you have got to the point of needing surgery.
Posted 11/28/2018 1:03 AM (GMT 0)
I just had my 3rd Remicade infusion. I have tried Pentasa and Prednisone and none helped.. My Dr said to give it more time but there are those days that are really horrible and its not like you can drink Liquor either to help with that. He may be adding 6MP eventually...I think Medical Marijuana can be prescribed for crohns here but dont know if that helps but I cant take that anyway because of heart disease..They havent talked surgery yet since I started treatment a few months ago but had this condition which took 2 yrs to diagnose
Posted 11/28/2018 1:19 AM (GMT 0)
I forgot about medical marijuana - can't get it here, so it's not an option for me. It's meant to be pretty good for Crohn's pain. Does the heart disease rule it out absolutely? :/

Remicade usually starts working between 2 and 3 infusions, so it's not a great sign that you are not feeling any better after the 3rd infusion. I wouldn't expect Pentasa to do anything, but prednisone not helping isn't a great sign either.

I'm wondering whether you have strictures that are made up of scar tissue rather than inflammation. Meds usually can treat the latter, but can't, unfortunately, do anything about the former. People who have the first sort of stricture invariably end up needing a resection.

I'd go and ask your doctor for an MRI scan to see what's going on internally.

In the meantime, a change of diet may help if you do have a stricture - low residue, low fibre, nothing that's hard to digest. Fibrous material can stuck in the narrowing and be immensely painful.
Posted 11/28/2018 7:26 AM (GMT 0)
What kind of pain are you wanting to treat? Abdominal pain? Headaches? Joint pains? Other?

Occasional use of opioids is pretty safe, but there are reasons to avoid frequent/long-term use besides the risk of addiction. Not only do the opioids cause constipation, but studies have shown that Crohn's patients who take opioids are at much higher risk of poor outcomes with their Crohn's, including infections, worsening of disease, increased frequency & severity of flares, complications if/when surgery is needed, etc.

So there are legit reasons for doctors to be reluctant to give out prescriptions for opioids.
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