Health Organization for Pudendal Education

Hav FM and suspected Pudendal Neurology. Take dihydrocodeine, co-codamol, diazepam but all to no avail. Went into garden today and bent down to take a few weeds out. Am doubled up in pain now. Anyone know of quick solutions to alleviate pain quickly. Pain in left buttock radiating into my lower stomach and vagina. Cant stand or put weight on left leg which is swollen.Have been tested for DVT but test showed everything was clear. Any answsers please as I am desperate.
Abbeystead

I would stop doing things that hurt like gardening. Also check out the home page for a PT in your area that knows about PN. As for painkillers Tramadol is not a narcotic and works pretty well for my pelvic nerve pain and I have used Oxycodone-APAP 5-325mg which is a narcotic. Also the faqs off the homepage give steps for getting diagnosis and treatment. Best of luck.
Janet

Welcome Abbeystead,
I agree anything that makes your pain worse is to be avoided...especially bending down and gardening.
Have you tried using ice to calm things down? Read through our many threads about different ways to provide cooling relief to these areas.

Please try to take it easy in the coming days....and less stress will lead to less pain!

Hi there Abbeystead
Some antidepressants are good for nerve pain. I take cymbalta and it has helped. That drug is often teamed with either gabapentin or lyrica/pregabalin.
Full NICE guidlines for neuro pain here http://www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/live/1 ... /47949.pdf
Excerpt from above,
Neuropathic pain is often difficult to treat, because it is resistant to many medications and/or because of the adverse effects associated with effective medications. A number of drugs are used to manage neuropathic pain, including antidepressants, anti-epileptic (anticonvulsant) drugs, opioids and topical treatments such as capsaicin and lidocaine. Many people require treatment with more than one drug, but the correct choice of drugs, and the optimal sequence for their use, has been unclear.

Pacing is necessary to try and keep things on an even keel along with the suggestions already offered by Amanda and Janet. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has helped many people too. Hope things calm down soon.
Take care,
Helen

Dear Abbeystead,
I think all of us have to find the right combo of drugs that work for us. For 3 years it's really been a Juggling act to find the best fix for me. I'm not happy about all the drugs I take, but if they can keep me below a 5/10 level of pain I keep taking them.
The first drug I started with was Tramadol. It definitely took the edge off. And my many Drs. tell me not to worry about it becoming habit forming like some other pain pills. I have tried to get off at least one of the below drugs at a time, but my pain increases and I'm right back there on all of them.
Here's my cocktail:
Tramadol 300 mgs (100mgs 3 times a day) I take 2 50mg as the 100mg time released dont work for me
Elavil 100mgs at night
Lyrica 200 mgs at night
Cymbalta 90 mgs in th morning
5% Valium with 4% baclofen suppositories twice a day

So I'm a walking zombie but they all help in this combo. I'm having an MRI and pudendal nerve block next week with Dr. Hibner, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will help and maybe then I can get off some of these meds.

You need a good Dr. Who will let you experiment with different drugs.
Good luck!
Lindsay

If you need a quick fix for pain, try a slushy condom or water bottle:

Put about an inch of alcohol in the bottom of the condom. Fill with water. Tie a knot in the end, then slip it into another condom. Tie a knot in that one, slip it inside a toilet roll and freeze it. I've made two so I have one to use and one's always ready.

For the water bottle, same thing. Put 1-1.5 inches of alcohol in the bottom of a plastic water bottle, fill with water, re-cap and freeze it. It never freezes too hard so it's pliable enough to remain comfortable.

Don't do the things that aggravate your pain, or if unavoidable, do them differently, taking into consideration it can be stretching, bending, crouching or sitting that can bring the pain on..

Hope you can find what works to help your pain..

When I'm burning I use an ice pack. Dr. Hibner told me "ice for nerves, heat for muscles.". Makes sense.