SCARED! pain so bad couldn't finish shower--Lyrica?

[Maggie2015]

Hi, it's Maggie. I am sorry to bug you all. I just posted talking about the spasticity in my back, but it was a long post, so I am going to keep this one short.

The pain was the worst today it's ever been. I woke up whimpering and moaning. I took my Baclofen and my Tramadol and got then tens on and blasting. After two hours I thought it would be safe to take the tens off and take a shower, but the pain got so bad without the tens I could only get the essential parts (not to give too much information ).

I was bent double and whimpering and moaning and I managed to dry myself off, get on my uniform of yoga pants and tank top and t-shirt, and get the tens back on. Now I can sit up to write this.

I can't even take a shower. This pain and its effects are starting to scare me so much. And I feel so pathetic. And I HATE being like this.

I see my PCP tomorrow and a friend with fibromyalgia suggested I ask for Lyrica. Has anyone ever tried this and had it work?

Please help if you can. Thank you. Maggie

[jreagan70]

Hi Maggie:

I just now submitted a post under your other thread that addresses Lyrica. (As I'm typing this, it hasn't been published yet.)

Lyrica works for fibromyalgia pain, and you can get some general relief from it, so it's worth trying. But if your major pain is back pain from spasticity, then Lyrica may not help for that. Lyrica works best on nerve pain, and pain from spasticity is mostly muscle pain. A medication that works for one kind of pain often doesn't work well for the other.

Spasticity and chronic pain have several aspects to them, and sometimes each angle has to be addressed individually (more about this under your other thread when it gets posted). I hope you and your GP can come up with a plan to get you some relief.

[mlissa67]

Lyrica

Hi Maggie,

I'm sorry to hear about your struggles ... MS just sucks!!!

I have been on Lyrica since Nov. 2014. I take it for both nerve pain & musculoskeletal pain. I'm considered to be at a high dose, 400mg/day, but I bet there are folks out there who take more than me.

I have thought about weaning off of it, yes, my neuro is aware, but quite frankly...I'm too scared to. Lyrica has been my golden ticket so to speak when it comes to its pain relief properties. Yes, I have gained some weight, but it's worth it and I wouldn't give it up just bc it's caused some weight gain.

I hope that helped Maggie.

[hunterd]

hi Maggie,
I take Lyrica and it has helped me a lot! I started off on two doses of 75 mg per day and am now taking three doses of 150 mg per day. I could not believe the difference at first. I went from severe "knots" in both my calves and my forearms. The pain would be so bad that I had to wake up my wife to first massage the area, and then wrapped it in the heating blanket. That was the only way I could get rid of them. Good luck to you

[Maggie2015]

Lyrica--on way to PCP in an hour

Hi and thank you for your responses.

Pain still so bad I'm not going to try to take a shower--deodorant and dry shampoo and to the dr. I go!

jreagan70, I read your post on this thread and my other thread, too--thank you so much for responding to both!

hunterd and mlissa67, thank you for sharing your experiences on Lyrica. I am going to ask for it from my PCP. It can't hurt to try.

hunterd, you said you could not believe the difference at first. How long did it take to start working? As you can imagine, if Lyrica is effective for me, I can't wait to be out of this pain. I mean, I have to be able to SHOWER or it's not just going to be ugly but smelly.

mlissa67, do you mind if I ask how much weight you've gained on Lyrica? It wouldn't deter me from taking it, but summer is coming and I need to get some clothes that fit (I've actually lost weight because the pain has been so bad it's hard to eat). If I expect to gain weight on Lyrica I'll only get a few things to tide me over.

And hunterd and mlissa67, did you have any other side effects from it, and if so, how long did they last?

I know I can ask my PCP these things, but I am learning slowly that it is MUCH BETTER to hear them from actual people like you who have gone through it (not in place of my PCP, but as additional perspectives).

Thank you all so much. Maggie

[gwynnf]

Hi Maggie,
I just posted on your other message. Did you go on Lyrica? If you do I hope it works for you. It didn't for me, but many people do have good results with it. You just need to hang on and find what works for you.
I did want comment on the pain in the shower. I too, on very bad days, have experienced an increase in pain from the shower....so your not alone.
I did find a couple of times if I waited too long to put the TENS on it actually aggravated the pain. Again, I don't know why and we are all different. If I use my TENS it will work pretty quickly on the pain....if it doesn't I have turned it off.
Have you tried stretching? I know it's the last thing you want to do when your back is spasming but I've found that works at times too.
It is very frustrating I know. I just keep trying until I find the solution for the day.
Best wishes and take care!

[hunterd]

it started working for me immediately. It was like someone turned on the light switch. I hope it you do try it. It works the same way for you. I will say that I thought that the doctors said it was for leg pain. But I could ( and usually am) be wrong I hope I am.

[Maggie2015]

on Lyrica since May 26!

Hi--thank you so much for your responses.

I went on Lyrica on May 26th, 75 mg twice a day. My first daytime dose made me really loopy and tired, and I was worried about that, but my second daytime dose did not have the same effect--so I was happy about that. I seem to tolerate it well.

However, I haven't experienced any relief yet from my back pain.

gwynnf, thanks for what you said about the shower, and for your advice about the tens. Maybe I should put on my tens on first thing in the morning, before I do anything else--because I wake up and by the time a half hour passes I'm in the WORST of the pain.

Right now I'm just trying stay calm and to work with the pain. I keep the tens on all day and I'm keeping on with the Lyrica, and I have my to-do list next to me and it's broken into two parts--what I can do sitting down and what I can do standing up, by priority. So today when I could stand up I got dressed and went to Walgreen's to get my meds (with the tens on me). And then my next round of standing up I fed my sweet cat, cleaned her litter box, and took out the trash (with the tens on me).

Next round of standing up, if I can bear to take the tens off--a real shower. Oh, fingers crossed.

Oh, and hunterd, thank you for your kind words! I am so glad it worked for you right away and that your pain has been eased. I know that solutions are few and far between for all of us who deal with chronic pain due to MS and whenever someone finds one I just cheer in my heart!

gwnnf, you asked about stretching. I have no idea what kind of stretches to do. Do you know of some kind of stretching guide for people with MS who have spasticity in their backs or just for people chronic back pain? That is something I can research on my own, too!

The good news is that my neurologist gave me a referral to a doctor in their spine clinic, and I looked him up and he is a physical medication and rehabilitation specialist, and I think that is the kind of specialist someone here recommended I see. The appointment is Th. June 4 and I have high hopes! And this means my neuro is finally taking the pain seriously (it's been months).

I just have to manage to not get scared until then. It's hard. The pain is lonely and I hate not being able to do normal things--clean my house, fix a meal and do dishes, take a full shower.

I'm so glad I got on this board. The fact that you are there listening to me makes me feel so much less alone. It is helping me cope. THANK YOU.

Maggie

[hunterd]

some good stretching would include yoga, and/or tai-chi. if available to you, everything is made easier in water. Your buoyancy is greatly increased.

[gwynnf]

Maggie...I'm glad things are moving forward for you. Hopefully the Dr you are seeing on the 4th will be able to give you some stretches to do. It's hard to describe them to you in words but as Hunter said yoga and tai chi can help. Also, with the shower...do you have a shower chair? I find my very helpful and it takes the stress of trying not to fall.

Take care!