Does anyone find it possible to get by without some kind of painkiller? I have tried, several times, to stop taking pain killers and I do fine for weeks. But I have a flare, or I overdo, or I just have all over pain. I don't get withdrawal symptoms, I guess because I don't take it daily. I am wondering how many of you can get by on the biologics and anti-inflammatory drugs alone? I really would like to. For years, I took Tramadol and Norco, before I was actually diagnosed with PsA; I am only taking 5/500 Vicodin, when I need it. Does anyone find it possible to get by without some kind of painkiller?
Not me. At least not at this point.
It's interesting though because Friday I started on some new meds including Prednisone for my flare up. Prednisone didn't help last time but this time it appears it may be. Today I didn't take a pain killer until late in the day and although I had some pain....it wasn't too bad. Nothing compared to usual.I think a lot of the pain comes from the swelling and since the swelling is down the last couple days...the pain is less.
This hasn't happened before so I'll have to give it time to figure out if it's the new meds and combination that is helping. Now it's Plaquenil and Leflunomide. That might be the magic combination for me but maybe it's just a fluke. I will need a lot longer than a day or two to know for sure.
Yeh, nope! I take my drugs daily. I know when I need them based on how I feel when I get up. I just know its going to be that kind of day. 
I know I am doing well when I can wait until the late afternoon to have my first pill. Those days make me so happy!
I take Percocet. I also take a long acting narcotic. Please understand that my disease IS NOT WELL MANAGED. My docs are aware of this fact, and take pity on me. We are also working on the control part, but it helps to know what you are treating. I don’t have psychological addictive tendencies, so the docs are content with this rather than playing biologic bingo, especially when we aren’t sure what is going on. The bright side is that they no longer make me dopey, and they take the pain to a manageable level and that is awesome.
Pardon my run-on sentences today.
My disease is poorly controlled at this point, so no, I need some pain meds. When my disease is under better control I can, but I try to always have some on hand for a bad day or two. For example, extreme weather changes (a sudden drop of temperature, a large storm system with dramatic barometric pressure changes) can take me from feeling well to throwing up and wimpering in my bed all day.
I did a bout of time release narcotics years ago, and it ended up creating a pain syndrome. Luckily, once I was off it stopped. Plus withdrawal was hell (literally, even with meds to manage it). So I keep to short release pain medications, and keep plugging away with my rheumy on getting my disease under control (I'm changing meds YET AGAIN in a couple of weeks).
Yep, mostly I get by without pain meds…I don’t find that they help much with the sharp enthesitis pains I get anyway. My SI pain is best served by using my TENs when it gets to a pain score of about 7…Only when the throbbing of my upper spine stops me sleeping to I take co-codamol.
I rarely take pain meds during the day, but usually take one before bed because if I don't, I get too sore too quickly and can't sleep.
I take 2 Tylenol morning and night and either Celebrex or 2 Aleve every day. I use to take 4 Vicodin a day until I read more on Chronic pain syndrome. I decided Tylenol and Aleve worked as well as the Vicodin without the risk. I am not well controlled either but I no longer work. So on bad days I can soak in a hot tub or swim at the pool. I also have bought a Conair foot soak with jets and an electric throw!Ii am one lucky girl!
Thank all of you for your answers. I stopped the pain pills for a couple of months, I didn't have withdrawals so that was good. I had been exercising more before I stopped. I gradually exercised less and less; without realizing it was because of pain. I've been trying to exercise more, now that I have the Vicodin, but I'm only prescribed one a day, and I run out. I thought I didn't want to rely on pain killers anymore, but when I exercise I have pain. Sitting in my chair may be worse for me than the painkillers. I just don't know.
I take Norco 10/325 as needed due to poor disease control. Most of the time I break it in half to keep the amount of hydrocodone to a min
imum. Currently waiting for insurance to approve weekly Humira. I used Nsaids for years until I developed kidney problems as a result. For me the pain pill is better than taking lasix to help the kidneys in order to use nsaids.
Rheumy is trying to get weekly Humira due to continual flaring that required steroid trigger point injections to allow me to walk.
Currently only taking celebrex occasionally, however I am going to start taking Tylenol daily and if needed the celebrex. My disease is not managed and the pain levels increasing (especially hips and lower back). I am also taking MTX 25 mg injection weekly and was taking Sulfasalizine but dropping it as the combination was not working. Have a prescription for Avara, however I decided I won't take that either. My goal is to tame the pain enough to get moving again and get back to work for as long as I can. Eventually, I hope to try Enbrel and see how that helps. I still have insurance coverage at this point and called my provider and Biologics are covered.
This is a good discussion. I think I worry a lot about taking pain meds. I recently stopped taking them, and I didn't take a high dose mostly 1 7.5 narco if needed, 1/2 the time, at night. And possibly 1 in the afternoon, if I hurt a lot after work.
While on vacation recently I was in good shape so I didn't take them at all. BAD idea, I had stomach, colon cramps felt like I would throw up, had the tight stomach, sweats, all that. I had no idea it was from stopping even that low a dose. Well I had stomach issues before I started taking these medicines so even a little change makes the underlying trouble bother me. I also take 2 celebrex a day and my Dr. wants that down to 1, and Enbrel 50mg a week.
I had to take the Narco regularly and then reduce each dose over about 3 weeks. Now that I have been off them a long time I know my pain is really bad, so I probably will have to go back on them. You know treating a real pain is sometimes a necessary thing.
I am newly diagnosed and still workin on meds, but I am taking 100 mg of tramadol 3 times a day, 200 mg of celebrex 2 times a day, and MTX 20 mg a week. We are trying the celebrex since the tramadol is just not enough pain coverage right now, and we are trying to stay off of the other narcotics as long as we can. So far I dont think the MTX is doing its job, and at my next apt in December, we will be discussing biologics. Hubby has put in his 2 cents, but he is not the one living in this body. I on the other hand have seen what biologics can do, and hope they works as well for me.