I take Keppra for my Epilepsy caused by the MS (Complex Partial Secondarily generalized...which means the seizures start with one type & sometimes spread to other types of seizures). I have never heard of Keppra being prescribed for pain relief of any kind.

I also take Topamax in combination for the MS Epilepsy & that is also for "migraines" & has a small pain ralief property in it as well.

My Neuro. has told me that when I was diagnosed with "Migraine Disorder" as a pre-teen, that in my case it was most likely the onset of MS lesion formation & what I was feeling was the pain of lesion formation & "Migraine" combined, but more so lesion formation...Even though Excedrin Migraine works in some instances for this pain, it can still be hard to tell if you are having a lesion formation or a straight Migraine my Neuro. says.

My Neuro. said that in my case, that when I got the onset of MS, I also got Epilepsy onset...about 20yrs. ago or so.

To your original question...YES! I get chronic pain with my MS. It is due to nerve pain. The one thing to avoid is MUSCLE RELAXERS! TRUST ME! Especially if you have any sort of epilepsy or fainting spells caused by the MS. I took a "FLEXERIL" (my Neuro. is amazing, but he had an OH NO moment & RX'd me them) & I took just one little tiny pill, had a "drop attack seizure", blacked out & literally the last thing I remember was saying goodnight to my cats & coming to with my head hurting & looking at the cats bedroom door & there was seriously a head shaped hole in the door as if someone had thrown me through the door. BUT all that had happened is I had blacked out & slammed my head through the door. AVOID "FLEXERIL" if you have Epilepsy, Faint, get tired easily or are dose intolerant...which I am ALL of the above!

It's for muscle pain, NOT NERVE the nerve pain of MS anyway. So my pain didn't lesson. I just damaged a door & got a horrible Migraine!

A friend at a local Epilepsy group I attend has a son who has Epilepsy caused by "ALS" (which is in the same family as MS...his grandma has MS, interestingly enough) & he took "Flexeril" & his mom said that her son blacked out & it looked like someone threw him full force into the ground & almost busted a hole in the sidewalk...Basically gave him a severe, not a mild, "Drop-Attack seizure!"...

So yeah, "Flexeril" is not a good pain medication to take for the most part.

Take care,
Stay sane!

I have never heard of this medication. Have you talked to a pain management center in regards to this medication. If anyone with medical knowledge has info about this drug they would.

Best wishes,
EP

You might consider METHADONE. It is supposed to be the only drug out there that can help with the pain I read. It is hard on the liver, etc. but if you are at the end of your rope, you might consider asking about it.

Take care!!

My mother suffers from neuropathy in both her legs and her doc gave her lidoderm patches that she puts on the area of pain and works. My aunt who also has MS and terrible pain in her lower back and legs uses the patches as well. Direct pain relief when you need it.

I am no better than you are right now carolinagirl. The pain is horrid, yes horrid. I couldn't get up all day yesterday and wow, the pain in my legs/feet (and back I'll add) is a nightmare.
I have a whole bunch of Lidoderm patches. They help to a point (I use them on my back). However, I've never tried using them on my legs.
You can put on up to three of these patches a day and must wash yourself well after using them. They are very expensive - a box of them (a 3-month supply) costs over $1,000.00. Luckily, I have insurance that pays most of the price.
I wish they had something they could do for us. This pain in my my legs began before my DX in 1995 and it is slowly getting worse.
I must admit that I am getting not only really sick and tired of it, it is also beginning to frighten me.
None of the pills help much and my doctor won't prescribe methadone. :(
I'd take methadone if she'd give me an RX for it. You get desperate when you are in pain and you don' think clearly at times, I know that much.

Oh good to know Hope on how well the patches work. Have you tried going for alternative therapies? I have heard from some cancer patients (I regular at my fathers chemos), that Acupuncture has helped enough to get them comfortable when dealing with the pain.

I decided to try the patches on my legs yesterday after a good shower. They did nothing to help with the pain. :(
I left them on for several hours to give them a good chance but no, they did not help. I suppose they are helpful if you have a direct place where the pain is (like my lower back), but the leg pain if from the knee down in both legs and the feet as well which tend to go into severe spasms and knot up on me and the toes get stuck together in spastic fits. One 5 mg. Valium under-the-tongue will often release the spasms in the feet but it does little for the pain.
I've yet to find one thing (sans morphine) which takes the pain away. You build up a dependence on the narcotics rather quickly and soon you find there is a diminished effect noted.
I wish I had a better answer but I would not recommend the Libroderm patches for leg pain; back pain yes - helpful at times.
I've tried acupuncture and it did not help either sadly. I actually have insurance that pays 80% for acupuncture treatments but I can't see doing it if it does not help with the leg pain. It has at times helped with the back pain however.
This is such a very difficult disease to try to deal with. Drat is about all I can say!

Sorry to read that the patches didn't work. I guess my aunts pain is more arthritic than what she had thought to be another MS symptom for her. As for the acupuncture, I have heard it needs to be done for quite a while before it begins its magic. If pills work, than let them work, MS SUCKS!!