Versus Arthritis
Versus Arthritis have newly released self-management course calendar and patient self referral links, which can be accessed through the following link:
Gabapentin and Pregabalin
Are you taking Gabapentin or Pregabalin to help with your pain? Ask yourself these six questions:
- Am I still in pain?
- Does my pain never seem to get better?
- Has my pain lasted more than three months?
- Do I have any side effects associated with my medicines?
- Am I missing out on life?
- Would I like to find other ways to manage my pain, apart from medicines?
If you answered YES to any of the above questions, please see below:
How effective are gabapentinoids?
- 5 in every 10 people taking a gabapentinoid for nerve pain will not get any benefit at all
- Even those who don’t get any benefit will still experience side effects
- If you have pain that is not caused by nerve damage or from a change in how the nerve works, gabapentinoids are very unlikely to be of any help to you
- 1 in every 3 people taking gabapentinoids will get side effects that stop them using the medicine
What about the side effects?
There are lots of possible side effects. The more common, experienced by up to 6 in every 10 people are:
- Problems with thinking clearly
- Dizziness, problems walking
- Tiredness
- Tremors (shaking)
- Weight gain, water retention or bloating
- Changes in mood and emotions, includes depression
- Headacke or vision changes
Taking gabapentinoids with drugs like codeine and morphine also increases the risk of breathing problems and accidental overdose.
Are they the right treatment for me?
- Has your pain reduced since starting or increasing the dose of the gabapentinoid?
- Are you doing more or recovering faster from activity than before you started taking the medicine?
If you do not think the medicines are helping, then you are probably better off trying to slowly reduce them, with the support of your healthcare team.
Even people who think they might be better using a gabapentinoid should reduce the dose from time to time, to see if the medicines really are helping or if they get the same benefit on a smaller dose.
So how do I reduce them?
Gabapentinoids should always be reduced showly and with support. You may need to have different strengths of capsules/tablets to enable you to do this.
Please make an appointment with a member of our healthcare team to discuss making changes to your gabapentinoid medicines.
Are there other ways of managing my pain apart from medicines?
YES! There are lots of new approaches to pain relief apart from medicines. These new approches to pain self-managment are helping people regain a better quality of life. Many of these are things you can do yourself. GPs and pain specialists are increasingly supporting patients to adopt these new ways to mange their persistent pain.
To find out more, click the links below and check out some of the ideas and techniques. We can help you with these.
If you would like to know more, talk to our healthcare team.
Promoting Self-Care for Chronic Pain
Most patients with Chronic Pain can help ease their condition by adopting some simple self-care techniques. The Pain toolkit booklet can help them understand their pain and show them some simple but effective techniques to better manage their pain.
Click below to view the toolkit and watch a short video:
Understanding Pain Video
Further help with pain, see the links below:
Better Days Pain Support Programmes will be delivered by Healthy Living Centres across Northern Ireland between from April-June 2023 and will help people with chronic pain learn other ways to help manage their pain and improve their quality of life, and reduce their reliance on medication.
Better Days Pain Support programme from October – December 2023.
Bookings can be made online at:
Condition Management Programme Video:
Changes to medicines or treatments on the Health Service
Flippin’ Pain – campaign provides a wealth of resources which aim to increase understanding of chronic pain among both patients and healthcare professionals, and improve the quality of life of those living with pain. These include videos, patient information leaflets, patient stories and podcasts.
Understanding Pain – What you can do about chronic or persistent pain. Click this link for information: Pain Self Management
Managing your Pain & the Challenges courses are available to people in the WHSCT area.
Painkillers: The Downside!
Opioids : A Painful Prescription? http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00050s0
Opioid-Prescribing-Patient-Information-Leaflet
Codeine Free – Taper Plan – Patient Leaflet
