I have had several heart attacks and have 2 stents in my heart. i also have stents in both legs. this is due to vascular disease. i have chronic back pain and have been on lortab 10 for a couple of years - 2x a day. they don't seem to help anymore. i also take plavix,asprin,and a number of other meds. any ideas on what i should ask my Dr. for to help with the pain?
What is the strongest pain medication I can take for chronic back pain?
Question posted by fortunate on 7 Oct 2009
Last updated on 19 November 2022
96 Answers
I've been put on Cymbalta works great for chronic pain of all types back , fibromyalgia, nerve, osteoarthritis, arthritis, muscle it takes about 4 to 6 weeks to start working.
I believe the best answer for your question is you should really seek the advice of a medical professional which specializes in pain management or physical medicine.
With your other health issues it's very important to be up front with your physician as they know your issues and if they've prescribed the Lortab for 2 years there shouldn't be a problem adjusting your medication.
As far as the hydrocodone v/s oxycodone the oxycodone is stronger. However your prescribing dose is 2 hydrocodone 10mgs per day so they might adjust it to 3x or 4x per day just to find if that has better pain management throughout the day. If this is the case they will see you back in office in 30 days to see if the adjustment works or if it didn't work at which time they will adjust accordingly.
Always be completely honest with your physician and if they don't want to treat your pain issues accordingly just ask for a referral to a pain management physician one that you've looked up yourself one you think you'll like and trust.
Hope all goes well
Well spoken and a very thoughtful response... you took the words right out of my thoughts. Your answer is that of someone who works in the medical field. Perfect! I'm impressed...
Try Nucynta. It was a godsend for me. Good luck
A pain patch might be a good option for you. Butrans patches tend to work really well for a lot of people and have far fewer side affects than some of the other pain patches on the market and as well as orally ingested narcotics. The nice thing about the Butrans patch is that you only have to change it once per week and comes in quite a few different strengths. If you try that patch and it doesn't work well enough for you, you may still be able to take a shorter acting oral pain med like you are now and if that still doesn't help you might want to try another pain patch. There are many different kinds of pain patches out there that you could use and I would strongly encourage you to explore different pain patches as options because a pain patch keeps a "steady" level of medication in your body at all times. I find that getting your pain under control is the hardest part but once it's under control (down to a manageable level) it is much easier to maintain that level of relief. Hope this helps!
I had a double bone fusion of the L5, S1 Nov 2010 and I am still having severe pain. I am now seeing a pain doctor and I am on Opana ER (which is a synthetic Morphine) and Oxycodone that I can take every 4 hours. I am not sure if you can take these because you've had heart problems you can ask.
I am still having a considerable amount of back pain and I am at the end of my rope. This medicine may help you, for me, it takes the "edge" off.
Good luck!
Jen
I love reading posts that some habve no clue on what they are talking about. I know i'm way late but had to throw my two cents in. First of all, percocet is not like hydrocodone, that is vicodone. Oxycodone is percocet just to clarify things. And yes this is what you should try. Percocet comes in many different miligrams and is great for pain.
do not take opana the with draw sickness is torture. you freeze and sweat badly. you have it running from both ends.
you should probably go on the percoset 15mg or 30mg based on tolerance and if you have been on lortab 10I think one of these 2 would help you and maybe an ER oxycontin the percoset are just instant relief oxycontin... Hope this helps just go up gradually til you find something that helps the pain
I suffer with back pain as well, it has been almost two years since I was given it so I don't remember the name but my cardiologist had me given a shot, the medications is put into the muscle and when you feel pain all you do is rub your arm. The medication stay there for just about a month. You will know that you been given the right medication 5 minutes after the shot because it will burn for the next fifteen minutes like someone put a branding iron to your arm. I have not had a bad back pain since.
Percocet and loratab's are pretty much the same medication, just tell your doctor that it is not helping anymore and that you are having to take more of them than you used to and then discuss what kinds of stronger medications you can take that won't effect your heart or interact with your other meds!!! I know quite a few people that went through the same thing so after a discussion with your dr and some research your dr should be able to help!!! Just remember don't not tell your doctor if the new meds he gives you makes you feel funny or they are too strong or about the same as what u are on now...
If the back pain is nerve pain you can try one of the following:
percocet
morphine sulfate immediate release
morphine sulfate extended release
If the pain is from the musculature you do NOT want to use opiods. You want to use an anti=inflamatory drug.
Good Luck.
RH
Unfortunately I am not sure for your exact question. The stongest drug I was sent home with was oxycotine. Now I am on a Fentnly patch. I have Epilepsy and 10 brain seizures after the doctors found I had stage 3 Brain cancer.
Lizardoli, just wanted you to know that my heart skipped some beats reading your post, sending you prayers and comfort and strength and Light,
SeeknFind
The strongest mess you can get for pain is OxyContin ,oxycodone,and hydrocodien
Lortab is fairly lightweight when compared to some others. It's hydrocodone and Tylenol and I would pay attention to how much Tylenol and aspirin you're ingesting. A couple of years on the same dose is usually going to cause less effectivity because we build tolerance over time, and 2 years is a long time. Just tell your Doc what you're taking isn't helping as much anymore and hopefully he'll change it.
Ask your Dr about neurotin or tramadol same med
Hey R189 , Nurontin is in no way near being the same med as tramadol. However, they are sometimes prescribed together for chronic pain. Nurontin is a drug that was found to aid in the relief of pain resulting from nerve damage. Example: diabetics suffering from neuropathy. This medication was originally prescribed for Epilepsy. As with many meds it began with one purpose and was discovered accidentally to be highly beneficial for many others . I take it for Fibromyalgia ( cheap & truely helps). Now for Tramadol... Tramadol is the generic name for Ultram. Ultram is non-narcotic pain killer but it is very effective for some types of pain in all people. In some people it works so well it is amazing. It is a very sophisticated drug in the way it is designed to mimic the way opioid drugs ( Hydroecodone , Oxycodone, ect.) work in the brain. But with Ultram your chances of addiction are 0 physically however, there are some people who can create a psychological dependency for them.
This can be more about the pain relief Ultram has provided where so many other meds had not. It is a fear of pain returning that creates the dependency. It is also wonderful for recovering addicts who cannot use Opioid derived pain killers. For these people an accident like a broken bone , or injury at work that others would use Vicodin for could unravel their hard fought sober lives. It is great we have these nowadays. Now as to the incorrect answers given everywhere on this site... Really people ? Many of you need to stop fooling yourselves. This is like some silent & twisted intellectual version of American Idol ! Some of you think you can sing ! But your coming off tone deaf. I get embarrassed for those wanna b singers and can't watch the show. I'm more embarrassed for you silent twisted intellects who don't take the time to check your answers to ensure they are fact before posting them ! This bad... You are sitting at computers & smartphones and you can't take 30 seconds to ensure that you are not perpetuating the flow of ignorance on the Internet? Please people this is important stuff here... God Bless us all because He knows we need it ! ;)
Related topics
lortab, heart attack, heart disease, pain, back pain
Further information
- Lortab uses and safety info
- Lortab information for Healthcare Professionals (includes dosage details)
- Side effects of Lortab (detailed)
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