I am struggling with pain management during my B/C treatment. Yesterday I went to day surgery for port insertion and the procedure was fine. To manage post op pain, they sent me home with Palexia (Tapentadol) which is an opioid. In the past, I have taken Endone (Oxycodone), Tramadol, and Panadeine Forte, and all of them have made me vomit a la The Exorcist. I was told that Palexia was similar to Endone but it is less likely to cause vomiting or nausea. However, two hours after I took the tablet I vomited four times and was very dizzy :( I was told to take Olanzapine beforehand for nausea and vomiting. It stopped the vomiting but I had to lie down for two hours because the room was spinning and I felt waves of nausea. My experience does not bode well for my surgery (lumpectomy, lymph node removal, and partial reconstruction: seeing my surgeon again in October) in November. Does anyone else find they react badly to these types of drugs? If so, how does your team manage severe pain?

Yes I can't tolerate endone and PF. I had fentynl recently which worked well without side effects. Good luck with surgery.

No my anaesthetist. We had a preop chat about my intolerance of pain meds and anaesthetics. I've never woken up so good before, post op

@Erko_Girl_68, I was given Oxycodone for painkillers at the hospital. It make me nauseous and also wanted to 🤮 vomit. To add icing to the cake, I also become constipated! Best part of the deal: I wasn’t informed of these side effects. I’ve never had surgery of any sort previously so had no idea how my body would react and didn’t know what questions to ask as well. Lessons learnt the hard way!Hope you find a suitable painkiller.xxGin

Thanks for taking the time to respond, everyone. I'm going to speak to my oncologist this week.

Managing pain is really important, having cancer is enough of a worry without having pain as well. But I have noticed that, while well intentioned, prescribing really strong painkillers seems to be the norm even if you may not need them. I was besieged with painkillers after my mastectomy - I squirrelled them away until the nurses gave up, I wasn’t in pain. Same after a surgical intervention to clear up an infection - boxes of painkillers I didn’t require. Even my dentist once gave me a prescription for Endone in case I had some tooth pain (never happened). I’m no stoic but I’m happy to use something less strong, if I am in pain, to see how that works before requesting bigger guns. Serious pain of course needs appropriate treatment but there does seem to be a pattern of rolling out the cannons before checking if lesser firepower might do the trick.

Reacting to prescribed painkillers: Alternatives?

Aska
Member
2 years ago
Yes I can't tolerate endone and PF. I had fentynl recently which worked well without side effects. Good luck with surgery.
Erko_Girl_68
Member
2 years ago
Thanks @Aska. Wow, did your surgeon prescribe that? Thanks, still doing chemo at the moment.
Aska
Member
2 years ago
No my anaesthetist. We had a preop chat about my intolerance of pain meds and anaesthetics. I've never woken up so good before, post op
Erko_Girl_68
Member
2 years ago
Yes I need to have a chat with mine before surgery. Anaesthesia makes me vomit as well.
GinGin
Member
2 years ago
@Erko_Girl_68, I was given Oxycodone for painkillers at the hospital. It make me nauseous and also wanted to 🤮 vomit. To add icing to the cake, I also become constipated! Best part of the deal: I wasn’t informed of these side effects. I’ve never had surgery of any sort previously so had no idea how my body would react and didn’t know what questions to ask as well. Lessons learnt the hard way!
Hope you find a suitable painkiller.
xx
Gin
Vetty
Member
2 years ago
Tapentadol made me sick too :/
Anti-Inflammatories may help too but you can’t take them while on chemo. You will need to chat to your GP about options. Maybe ask about anti nausea tab? Not sure sorry I can’t help
Erko_Girl_68
Member
2 years ago
Thanks for taking the time to respond, everyone. I'm going to speak to my oncologist this week.
arpie
Member
2 years ago
Opiods make me throw up too @Erko_Girl_68 .... ask your GP/Onc about the use of Medicinal Cannabis Oil too for pain control - as it can also help with sleeping better too, as well. It can be ordered in different strengths ..... and can also reduce side effects from AIs too (aches & pains.). I take it 1/2hr before I go to bed .... My Onc has given me a letter that I have in the car in case of a road side test, 'just in case' .... but not all Cannabis Oil has THC content ....

Wishing you All the best
Erko_Girl_68
Member
2 years ago
Thanks @arpie I will ask about cannabis as well. We have access through our cancer clinic. One of the nurses I spoke to did not think cannabis would work for acute post-operative pain, it is better for long-term chronic pain. My only gripe is that the bottles are still a bit on the expensive side.
arpie
Member
2 years ago
I agree 100% about the cost being expensive @Erko_Girl_68 .... but it needn't be - as it is not difficult to make ..... so long as you can source the product! It DOES take a little while to 'get up to speed' over a matter of days, to feel the effect (unlike a tablet which can be pretty quick) but you rarely hear of anyone getting ill from the CBD oil. ;)

If you live in Canberra, you can grow & make your own oil - shame the other states haven't followed suit yet. grrrr