During radiation and/or chemo, did you take pain medications? For those that did, what were you prescribed?

My mother is at her second week of radiation, second chemo and is experiencing the burning in her mouth along with the infamous Candida infection. She started the magic mouthwash and diflucan yesterday. Today she saw the nurse because the mmw does nothing to help the pain. She was prescribed 30 mg. of MS Contin every 12 hours. This seems to me a rather strong pain reliever to give her at this time. I am more used to the oxycodone/hydrocodone scripts. And she was warned that the MS Contin will make her very sleepy. So that's one more thing for her to complain about.

Thanks for your input.

Cynthia

My ENT is VERY conservative on painkiller and initially encourage me only to use tylenol or motrin. Fortunately the radiation oncologist was more agressive and prescribed the hyrocodone. He gave me a dosage range because I was using the liquid so I started with one amount but was told I could keep increasing it which happened over time. I also took liquid morphine for a while and in my case (which was unusual) the pain got so bad and I became so ill that I was hospitalized and while in the hospital I was on an IV of dilaudid. I was on some very heavy doses for a while. I tell people that my last memory the beginning of June 2001 was standing over the kitchen sink screaming in pain because I couldn't swallow the pain medicine (and diflucan burned terribly also, I ended up with that by IV too). The next several months I describe as being in a drugged haze but it is the only way I could have gotten through it. I still had 2 weeks left of radiation when I was hospitalized.
Discuss your concerns with the doctor. Maybe your mother can be on a lower dose to start with and if that works, great or she can increase the dose as she needs. The treatment is wearing enough without serious pain also. Once I started feeling really bad I didn't care if I slept alot. I was annoyed that I had this enforced "vacation" and all the time to do nothing and nothing was all I had the energy to do!

Thanks Ilene. Sounds like you had quite alot of pain. I didn't realize it could get that bad.

That's another thing I think is bothering my mother - the 'forced' vacation and all the sleep. I try to explain that it comes with the territory but so far she is not buying it.

I appreciate your input.

Cynthia

Cynthia, I didn't have RAD or Chemo, but was in real pain from all of the surgery. When I left the hospital my Doctor gave me a script for liquid percocet. I couldn't even take it with a spoon, I was so swollen from everything, so I'd just swig it from the bottle. I believe I had two scripts of this then he put me on percocet tablets. In the beginning I had to break them up into applesauce to get them down. After two scripts of that he told me take tylenol. Well, I was eating those babies like candy. Even today, almost two years later, I take two Alleve every morning. Only really bad days, I might take one more at night. Since I recently went through bone grafts I was back on percocet for awhile. My doctors are really conservative about drugs too. But I look it this way they are looking out for my welfare. Don't know if this helped or not. Take care and tell your Mom she is not alone. Anne.

Cynthia, I declined drugs, thinking I could make it through on Tylenol, but after one particularly bad weekend, gave in. I have a Fentanyl patch that works wonders. Right at the tail end of treatment, I have begun having break through pain, so am using Hydrocodone (Lortab) which really works too. Am not sleepy at all. Your mom should not be in pain. That just takes too much energy which she needs for other things. I will be done with everything on Wed., and on Sun. am leaving on two week camping/fishing trip. I will definitely be taking the two above-named medications with me! Ask about the 3-day patch for your mom. It is prescribed frequently where I go, and helps so much.