It has been stated already that what works for one person won't necessarily work for another, but there are some great options here. I have been on the anti-seizure meds and the only one that kind of helps me is Topamax. Without it I would be a giant bundle of spazzing nerves. I also of all things eat banannas too. The potassium in them help. I also keep my feet and legs and arms cool. They cannot handle hot at all or they will spasm bad.
It will take most meds usually 30 days to kick in and it can a crazy ride, but don't give up until you know if it's going to work or not.

Best Wishes,
Toni

I've had chronic pain since the 1980's, but wasn't really treated for it much. At the time, I was only taking Elavil- I was diagnosed with fibro. and lupus. In 1995, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and after all the treatments were done, I was in a lot more pain. My onc. suggested I try oxycontin, since I have a high tolerance to pain meds-nothing seemed to help up until then. I have been on it since then. No one believes that I have been on it for so long without any bad effects and having to up the dose. I take 20mg twice a day, but can use more since the script is for 30mg twice a day. I only do that when I'm really bad. For me, this is the only pain med that has any effect on my pain-it doesn't get rid of it, but does take the edge off and allow me to get up in the morning. The only problem I have had was when I got a virus and couldn't keep anything in my stomach. Because of that, I went through withdrawal cold turkey, and couldn't figure why I was so sick (I never want to go through that again).

I think each person reacts differently to each med-this is the perfect one for me. I also take other meds for other illnesses I have (I have 10 other meds I take each day), and they all seem to work together-If I forget one, the others don't work right, and I get super tired and sick. If I feel like that, I know I have to check and see what pill I forgot to take.
I hope you can find something that will at least allow you to get out of bed in the morning and function a bit. God Bless. Kathy

I have both, mechanical/movement pain, and also nerve pain, for the nerve pain I did cymbalta, neurontin, lyrica, and every other medication that you've heard of, but as soon as my pain management Doctor offered a spinal cord stimulator. The SCS has taken care of about 70% of my nerve pain, and the methadone that I use for my mechanical pain, is also helping, so try to talk to your Doc, and see if one of these options is something that he is willing to try, and/or he's not open to either one, ask him to give you a referall to a PM Doctor that will help you with both. Been in pain is no picnic, and having a Doctor that will think outside of the box, is a most!

Good luck, and I hope that you get relief soon.
Hugs,

I've had severe nerve pain for 10 years, caused by a large nerve in my leg. For the last 2 years my pain has been quite well controlled because my pain docs hit on what seems to be the right med combination for me (and yes we are all different and what helps one may not help another). I am on Oxycontin, a tri-cyclic antidepressant, an anti-seizure med and Tramadol, with Doloxene (Darvon-N) as my breakthrough (yes I know that is banned now in other countries but is not here). I am unable to use Lyrica or Neurontin as they are not on the government subsidised list here, which means they are not affordable. This current combo keeps my pain down to manageable levels most days. Wishing you luck in finding the right combo for you... don't give up trying as it often takes some time to find what is right for you.

Marijuana does not really have analgesic effects objectively. It likely makes people care a bit less about the pain though.

Thanks everyone for talking about what works for you. It really is interesting how different we all are in terms of which meds work or don't work for us. So I guess the answer to my original question is "possibly." I wish my doctors would just give me a whole sample set of 30 different meds to try individually and in combination with each other, but I can see why that concept would be ridiculous. So far the meds I've tried for my pain (mostly nerve pain) are:
-the worthless (for me) OTCs
-Tramadol (no reaction)
-hydrocodone (no reaction)
-oxycodone (on an empty stomach, sometimes a slight, short reaction)
-amitriptyline (no reaction except for mild drowsiness and constipation)
-celebrex (no reaction)
-diclofenac (no reaction)
-soma (no reaction)
-mixed soma with oxycodone (felt better for almost an hour)

So that's why I'm so pessimistic--everything I've tried so far has failed. But I still need to try fentanyl, MS Contin, methadone, dilaudid, med marijuana, marinol, and then the ones where it will take forever to see if it works (Neurontin, Cymbalta, both together). Hopefully at least one of those will work, or else, I really don't know what I'm going to do. At least ice helps, but I can't use it 24 hours, 7 days a week. I like reading you guys' stories about how you finally found something that helps after trying a lot of other things; gives me some hope.

Hope that you find something that will work for you Lisa.
I am thrilled that I am now on a very low level of pain with the tramadol. I know it doesn't work for everyone and I am thankful that it does for me.....at least for now.
I would not have bot through this week as well as I have without it.

Keep searching and eventually the right combination will be found for YOU.

CC MJ is illegal here still - at least in our area, so I have not tried it for years. But back when I did smoke it there was no pain - even when I had a rather nasty accident at home.