From what I have heard,fractures/broken ribs take a long time to heal and does affect ones breathing..have you spoken with your drs nurse? Just to double check your concerns

I've had fractured ribs as a child and they do hurt like hell at times. They do take longer to heal often due to the fact that the rib cage flexes with each breath. I know they use to wrap thick rubber bandages around the rib cage but that often lead to other lung issues sometimes. What helped me, is that I focused on shallow breathing as not to flex the rib cage as much, definitely a big pain in the arse. When in doubt, it doesn't hurt to get it double checked, just to be on the safe side.
Us natives often use the herb Comfrey to speed the healing of broken bones, if your thinking of trying this, just check with your pharmacists since they have access to really good data bases and will know if it will react to what you're already taking.
Hope this helps, Blaine

Thank you both for your help. I did speak with the nurse yesterday but she was unable to tell me anything other than its painful, which I already knew. I guess I was just curious if anyone else experienced those intermittant severe pain episodes. Thank you again

Your pain meds are not going to touch your rib pain. People don't understand that when you've taken Narcotic/Opioid meds for a long time for other pain issues, in your case back/neck issues, it's very hard to get them to work on different kinds of pain.

We just think that "hey I hurt myself no big deal, I'm already on pain meds, they'll cover the pain" It just doesn't work that way. Your daily pain meds are set on certain receptors and signals in your brain and pain centers and they direct to that path. They don't just cover every other pain that happens to your body.

This is why when long term narcotic users have to have surgery they are usually weaned down a great deal so that they meds will work for the post op pain. Your body/brain knows what those daily pain meds are meant to treat a certain issue. The fact that people think that they'll cover any other new pain that comes along is just incorrect thinking and alot of hoping on our part.

Most Dr.'s don't even prescribe narcotics for a cracked rib, the RX strong anti-inflammatory meds and tell you to take it very easy and use alternating heat and ice for pain and swelling.

Take care,

kat

I didn't know that. And I have had several surgeries and have never cut back on my meds. I guess that explains why I am in more pain than I thought I should be.

My wife also fractured 3 ribs, and has been in pain management for headaches for 3 decades.

Her experience with morphine-class (oxymorphone - Opana, dilaudid) drugs is that they help somewhat better with physical pain than the codeine-class drugs (oxycodone - Percaset, Oxycontin) but that with a high tolerance already the relief has very short time span.

She has tried Fentanyl. The patch works ok, and the sub-lingual spray Subsys was not very effective and tasted bad. I heard some people like the lollipops, but she never tried them. It is much stronger than oxycodone or oxymorphone and can kill you by stopping your breathing if you're not careful, but you do have a tolerance already,

My wife also reports that oxycodone with acetaminophen (Percoset) provides more relief than without the acetaminophen/Tylenol. A doctor told her the Tylenol creates a passage to the pain nerves that enables the opiate. But you also have to be careful with Tylenol, it is highly toxic, especially if your liver is compromised.

Your medical professionals may be concerned about giving opiates if your breathing is already compromised, because they can also affect your breathing.

If your pain management is not working, ask to try something else. Everybody's body chemistry is different. If a doctor or nurse tells you there is only one medication to treat a specific type of pain, find another doctor or nurse.

They may be unwilling to mix drug classes, but you might get better breakthrough relief from oxycodone IR (Immediate Release) than adding more oxymorphone or taking oxycontin ER.

Can you take any NSAIDS? They are often best for physical pain because they also have ant-inflammatory actions. My wife developed a bad reaction to NSAIDS after she suspended them during pregnancy, and has not been able to tolerate them since.