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What do you take for pain relief?

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Posted 10/5/2009 6:34 PM (GMT 0)
Hello all,

Well, I know that UC peeps aren't supposed to take Advil (my choice for menstrual cramps). Tylenol is basically useless to me. So...what do you take for headaches or cramps? I'm more concerned about the cramps as they are coming soon! Last month I took Advil anyway but I'd like to stay away from it if possible as I think it make me bleed more.

Thanks for any suggestions.
Posted 10/5/2009 7:11 PM (GMT 0)
Tylenol is the only thing I can take even though it does not always work well.  Other pain meds make me bleed more but I have been told by my nurse that drugs containing Mesalamine cannot be mixed with anything other than Tylenol.  I have tried to cheat before and paid the price.
Posted 10/5/2009 7:51 PM (GMT 0)
I don't take anything for headaches and cramps. Tylenol gives me rebound headaches. So even though it might be able to get rid of the headache I'm having at the moment, I find that it gives me a few more headaches over the next couple of weeks, in which I need more Tylenol, in which I get more rebound headaches. The only way I have been able to break this cycle is to suffer the first headache. I've read that rebound headaches will come from misusing the medicine, but I get them anyway even though I'm not misusing the medicine.

Thankfully, I get few headaches and only get cramps a couple of days a month.

I'll take Sudafed and use a mild nasal saline when I have a sinus infection. It is either that or take antibiotics, and antibiotics definitely cause me to flare.
Posted 10/5/2009 8:28 PM (GMT 0)
I like Tylenol Rapid Release for headaches. For cramps (and mine are awful), I take Hydrocodone very judiciously.
Posted 10/5/2009 9:21 PM (GMT 0)
So nothing OTC except Tylenol? That stinks! I have pretty bad cramps for a day or two.

thatfield...i didn't know that you couldn't mix anything with mesalamine! scary...
Posted 10/5/2009 10:24 PM (GMT 0)
I can only take tylenol. Early on, when I was pred and asacol, my doc prescribed naproxyn and I did fine with it, but a few years later I took Advil for a backache for a few days in a row and went into full-fledged bloody flare. So - I have avoided all NSAIDS since, even through 2 C-sections.
I can tolerate Precocet, so if I have horrible pain (at the moment, arthritis) I can take that... though obviously not too often and not if I need to be out and about or working - it makes me a bit loopy.
Posted 10/5/2009 10:40 PM (GMT 0)
I just take Tylenol, but yeah, doesn't do much. Sometimes I take an ibuprofen, just one, and if it's bad enough, I add two Tylenol. That's usually just for my arthritis though. For cramps I don't take anything except Midol, and usually not even that... I just rub my abdomen lol.

songlady, OT, my friend said when you get a C-section your stomach's numb forever. I thought that sounded kinda ridiculous. Is that true? Seems like if it was, you wouldn't need painkillers anyway! lol
Posted 10/5/2009 10:50 PM (GMT 0)
I take tylenol and I have Darvocet for the really bad times. For cramps I use a heating pad it really helps alot.
Posted 10/7/2009 11:40 PM (GMT 0)
I use Bentyl, it seems to help most of the time.
Posted 10/8/2009 12:04 AM (GMT 0)
Elephantpipe -
They gave me an epidural to numb me from the waist down. No issues for about 24 hours - but after that I had some pain. They wanted me to take ibuprofen but I told them I couldn't. I think they gave me Percocet.
And yes, I nursed the babies. No harm done.
Posted 10/8/2009 12:09 AM (GMT 0)
Midol? But check the label some (extended) does have  advil!
Posted 10/8/2009 2:35 AM (GMT 0)
This may sound crazy but I run, fast, if I have any pain (if GI pain I run near a bathroom). Your endorphins kick in about 10 minutes into hard exercise and pain basically disappears afterward. Pain was bad enough that I needed Percoset years ago, and dropped it once I started running hard (although the first 10 minutes were often brutally painful though). Would remain relatively pain free for up to 12 hours afterward, very nice.
Posted 10/8/2009 3:07 AM (GMT 0)
I stay away from all Nsaids. All I take is Tylenol, if it doesn't work I just go to bed early to sleep it off.
Posted 10/8/2009 3:38 AM (GMT 0)
I used to pop Advil like candy, now I don't touch it! I only take Tylenol. I have a Rx for Fioricet for the bad headaches/pain.
Posted 10/8/2009 6:39 AM (GMT 0)

LuckyLindy said...
This may sound crazy but I run, fast, if I have any pain (if GI pain I run near a bathroom). Your endorphins kick in about 10 minutes into hard exercise and pain basically disappears afterward. Pain was bad enough that I needed Percoset years ago, and dropped it once I started running hard (although the first 10 minutes were often brutally painful though). Would remain relatively pain free for up to 12 hours afterward, very nice.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will have to try this.
Posted 10/8/2009 12:54 PM (GMT 0)
Elephantpipe -
I just re-read your note. Numb "forever"??? Not my experience. I had the "bikini line" C section - twice. The skin right across there was numb for a while - maybe even a year, just a tiny line of the skin along the incision? - but I frankly hadn't thought about it in years. The numbness did go away.
Posted 10/8/2009 5:13 PM (GMT 0)
I used to take ibuprofen like candy for back pain.  It heavily contributed to my pancolitis.  Now I take tylenol with caffeine for headaches.  When the pain is really bad I take Hydrocodone - carefully.
Posted 10/8/2009 11:19 PM (GMT 0)
for any pain except for UC pain i take panadol (paracetamol) which is safer than any other pain med around. so they say.
for UC pain i take endone (oxycodone) as its usually very severe and i have it all day.

i used to take ibuprofen like candy as well. for years. for anything.
the drs originally said tht is probably what caused the UC in the first place.
stay well away from NSAID's (advil, motrin, naprosen, ibuprofen, midol etc..)
bad bad bad

[NSAID's = Non Steroid Anti Inflammatory Drug's]
Posted 10/9/2009 2:14 AM (GMT 0)
What is Panadol? I'll have to do a search for that one.

My main concern is my menstrual cramps. I have 3 small kids so laying around with a heating pad or taking hydocodone isn't really feasible for me except at night.

I sometimes get migraines and I have a prescription for Midrin (my best friend sometimes...lol) so the headaches aren't a problem. I don't seem to get 'regular' headaches...it's either a migraine or none at all.

But as far as I know, Advil, Motrin, Naproxin, etc are all NSAIDs...is this correct?
Posted 10/9/2009 3:02 AM (GMT 0)
Yeah, they are I think. I dunno, I mean, you really only get cramps once a month, and unless you're really sensitive to them, I think a couple ibuprofen once a month isn't going to hurt you lol. Just not super strong stuff. Usually if I have cramps though, other than Midol or tummy rubbing, I just keep moving and it kind of subsides or I just stop paying attention to it.
Posted 10/9/2009 3:18 AM (GMT 0)
panadol is paracetamol. its over in australia and like the safest thing you can take. they come in 500mg tablets. take 2.
check it out. i think you can buy online and have it shipped.
i send it to my family back in california all the time.
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