Drugs for Nerve Pain
For many, pain is a part of their everyday lives. Some experience mild pain, others moderate to severe. Whichever type you may experience, the need to alleviate it is crucial in order to continue on with everyday life. For some people, over-the-counter medications such as ibuprofen, acetaminophen and aspirin provide just the right amount of relief and allow them, for the most part, to live pain free. For others, however, prescription medications may be required. For example, those who experience "neuropathy" or "nerve pain" require specific medications geared toward targeting the damaged nerves and calming the associated pain.
-
Definition
-
The Pain Clinic defines nerve pain as a type of pain that "originates from the peripheral and/or central nervous system. The source of the pain is commonly due to the nerve being trapped, compressed, or pinched, and less commonly due to some other disease process affecting the nerve." A damaged nerve creates disharmony throughout the nervous system, resulting in severe pain, burning and a feeling of "pins and needles." This pain is resilient to over-the-counter medications and even most prescription pain medications.
Drugs Used
-
As previously stated, the most prominent cause of nerve pain is that a nerve or groups of nerves are damaged in some way. The causes can be from injury, diabetes, age and a series of other factors. Treating this pain has proven to be a challenge. Prescription medications such as Vicodin and Percocet do little for nerve pain and can cause the patient to feel drugged or anxious, among an array of other negative side effects.
-
Anti-Seizure Medications
-
As the efficacy of most pain medications offered little relief for nerve pain, scientists and physicians soon began trials using medications especially created for epileptics, called "anti-seizures." These drugs have been used for more than 50 years and according to the Mayo Clinic have "nerve-calming qualities that can also help quiet the burning, stabbing or shooting pain often caused by nerve damage." Soon, anti-seizure medications became all the rage in treating chronic nerve pain. Although these medications showed efficacy in some patients, they do have some unsavory side effects such as liver damage. Scientists continued to formulate new, less potentially dangerous anti-seizure medications.
Newer Anti-Seizure Medications
-
In an effort to alleviate the dangerous side effects of the older anti-seizures, newer drugs were formulated to impose less chance of negative side effects. One of the newest, most effective and certainly most controversial of all medications used to treat nerve pain is Lyrica, or pregabalin. According to Drugs.com, Lyrica "works by slowing down impulses in the brain that cause seizures. Lyrica also affects chemicals in the brain that send pain signals across the nervous system." It remains extremely controversial as it has similar components to the date rape drug "GHB," and in higher dosages can create feelings of being "high" and even suicidal thoughts. At low dosages, however, Lyrica and other drugs in its class are offering nerve pain patients the relief they have been longing for.
The "Nerve Block"
-
For those who are resistant to or just unwilling to take an anti-seizure medication, there is also the option of a "nerve block." Medicine.net defines a nerve block procedure as: an area that causes pain to a specific area can be blocked with the injection of medication into a specific area of the body. Thus, a nerve block is an injection of a nerve-numbing substance into the area nerves affected. This procedure, for many, has been quite effective, for others, not at all.
Tips
-
If you are experiencing numbness, tingling or burning persistently in one or several areas of your body, chances are you may have some nerve pain. Seeing a physician should be your first step in treating this pain. From there, you may be referred to a neurologist who specializes in this area. If medication is not something you are willing to do, many seek out alternative methods such as acupuncture and have stated that it does in fact help. Whatever your decision, never take any anti-seizure medications without first seeing your physician. With a competent medication treatment plan, most can lead a pain-free life.
-
