Hydrocodone

[Espaso]

I've been having pains very similar to Carpal Tunnel... and my doctor actually ruled CT out.
I have a constant hyper sensitivity in my left index finger.. and sometimes thumb... and excruciating pain in my arm/hand/neck (mostly in my index finger)  in the mornings or late evenings when i'm sedentary.
I've had an x-ray, MRI of the neck, MRI of the brachial plexus, and an EMG.
Only the EMG showed an abnormality in one of the muscles of my forearm.... the rest were negative.

I was prescribed hydrocodone... and for some reason.. no matter how much i take it never relieves any sort of pain minor or major. If anything it just leaves me sorta "stoned" ....in a way unable to react to the pain that i'm still feeling... basically it just dopes me up but the pain is still there.
Am i immune to hydrocodone? i dont understand. My doctor is really fighting me on going to the chiropractor which is really what i'm leaning towards.. this has been going on for over 4 weeks already. Pinched nerve keeps getting thrown around.. but nothing is being done about it other than expensive tests and doping me up.

So, my question is: Can someone be immune to hydrocodone (vicodin) and does anyone have an idea of whats going on with me?

[AnonDH56]

Glad I saw this. I have used Vicodin on and off for years. The only thing I am sure of is I can get addicted to it. At best I think it may just divert attention from the pain from the "stoned" feeling you mention. I have taken much stronger opiates and I know that this class of drug can work but vicodin is one of the poorest I ever took. Go any stronger though and even higher risk of addiction, gets me really lazy, I cant drive safely, yada yada. Because of this I am down to no more than 20 mg a day and that will end soon. I need to taper off it since as I say I dont think it is doing me any good and I dont want to get stuck without any and have to quit in one day. I have gone thru that before and felt terrible for half a week or more. Aleve and Ibuprofen dont do anything either for me other than certain kinds of headaches. If I had the kind of hot tub I had years ago, that is all I needed to aleviate my pain, which is in my lower back, the backs of my legs and my feet. I dont know why doctors keep handing this stuff out when surely they know from patients like you and me that is just isnt very good other than placating patients looking for a buzz.
For nerve pain, if you can tolerate the side effects, drugs like Neurontin are not narcotic and decrease pains from nerve problems by dealing with the electrical signals or something like that. Google it, I cant take that one or any in that class. The one in the news that is newest and ie costs a fortune is called Lyrica. It is just a variation of Neurontin and the higher price doesnt mean it is any better. Good luck.

D

[Espaso]

Thanks for your input! I got a call from my doctor late in the afternoon after i had saw her that morning. She told me that she sent off all my test results to an "esteemed" medical professor that she knew.. and he told her that he was VERY positive that i have a virus.. viral infection.
She put me on rather strong steroids so strong that i have to take a few Prilosec while on it.
I was given steroids before by my neurologist... those of course, we're a lot weaker that the ones i'm currently taking.
I've had this pain for 5+ weeks... and have had NO signs of it getting better. I'm hoping/praying that this diagnosis of a "virus" is correct.. so i can finally be rid of this nightmare.
The EMG actually showed that i had several abnormalities in different nerves.
Right now the hydrocodone i'm taking is 5/500... which i think is a rather small dose.. there are days where i'll take 8 just "get away" from reacting to the pain.. and there are days that are ok.. so i'll only take 1 or even just half.. and i'm out like a light. For the longest time i think my doctor thought i was exaggerating or faking to get the valium and hydrocodone. .. but the EMG i guess proved to her that what i was going through is real.
Thanks for your response.....i'll definitely look into the Neurontin like you suggested.  i wish the best of luck to you as well. :)

[dan722]

I have been on the Hydrocodone,Neurontin and Lyrica for 3 years now(not all at once)I did notice some relief fron the Lyrica for a while and then it seemed to level off.
At first i was prescribed a 75 mg capsule 2x daily. although other drs raised that to 150mg caps 3x per day.I had little if any relief from the Neurontin
In pain management THAT dr.raised the hydrocodone to 750mg every 4 hours.youre right about just taking them to escape the pain.I dont think it does anything to relieve the pain.I think youy just dont care about it.

[Mollyrae]

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