Pain Meds

[Guest guest]

I don't seem to be able to make my doctor understand me...

5 weeks ago, i started Humira. it has not kicked in full steam at

this point and i have been trying to make my dr understand that i

feel like i need something steady in my system for pain, at least

until the humira has a chance to really work. other than humira, i

take ultracet which was originally prescribed by my gp for " break

through " pain... in other words... to take " as needed " , NOT regularly

on a daily basis. i have called the rheummy several times and each

time he prescribes a step down treatment of prednisone...

am i wrong in wanting/needing something that is perhaps time released

that stays in my system constantly? i suffer daily from pain,

stiffness and severe fatigue and don't feel like anyone is listening

to me!!!!

i would appreciate any advice or shared experiences. if anyone is on

humira, what else are you taking? anyone on enbrel? if so, what

else are you taking? what about remicade? what about fatigue? how

do you handle that?

i know these things have been discussed here, probably many times

over... please, if you don't mind, lets talk about it again...

thanks!

alison - who is exhausted...

[Editor's Note: Alison, I'm sorry you are hurting so much. At this point, I

think your rheumy is right not to prescribe anything else. Humira is a heavy

duty and expensive medicine and I don't know how you or he will know if it is

working if, at this juncture, you are put on something additional. After the

Humira has had a real chance to take hold (two to three months), you will be in

a better position to evaluate to what degree, if any, Humira is helping. That

would be the right time to re-evaluate whether you should stay on Humira, go on

something else, take MTX in combination with Humira or perhaps add a muscle

relaxer or pain killer to your medication regimen. If you start to feel better

from Humira, you will probably find that some of the exhaustion also fades away

as will some of the pain. You are entitled to live as pain free as you can, but

I personally think it is wrong to go on two medications at once because you will

not be able to figure out which one is working. So - I would suggest being

patient a little while longer. One other point, although I have lived with this

disease for 41 years, there are times that my medication (currently Enbrel, MTX,

occasionally Soma and periodic cortisone shots) helps me lead a reasonably good

life. There are other times when I'm in a flare and then nothing stops the pain

and that includes ultracet. The reality is that I have a chronic disease for

which there is no cure and that means that some of the time, I will live with a

great deal of pain and some of the time, I will feel pretty good. You may well

need a pain killer on a daily basis, but it is best to make that call after

giving Humira a chance to work. Kathy F.]