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Steeled14 t1_j889qw2 wrote

Reply to comment by Alternative-Sea-6238 in [OC]Combating The Opioid Epidemic Medicaid's Opioid Prescription Decline by Away-Pepper-9239

Good list but yeah very situational. Also I do not know if I am an outlier but unless I have swelling I do not take NSAIDs and acetaminophen has never done much in my experience. Maybe it helped with one headache in my life haha. Tylenol liver issues and NSAID issues but they make special formulas for longer term use now (coated to not harm GI).

Gabapentinoids maybe but it has its own side effects - might not be great for neurology long term like most things though I guess but might be more pronounced in a drug like pregabalin (neuroplasticity).

Clonodine and fluoxetine don’t seem very light either not to bash them if they work great for someone and they do not mind side effects.

Local anesthesia seems to have some serious draw backs from my quick read and makes sense why I haven’t heard of it more.

I’ve known someone who had back pain from like a pinched nerve in a herniated disk get a steroid shot that lasts a long time but I don’t know how many situations that can be applied to and what steroid side effects are like.

Alcohol seems a bit meh to suggest as chronic pain reliever and magnesium seems like a long shot but if it works I’m glad for those people. I do not use pain medicine or have had issues with chronic pain so I do not mean to bash the list but yeah we are in desperate need for drugs that produce analgesia or block pain like opioids do.

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Alternative-Sea-6238 t1_j88bfoz wrote

Correct in that it would be great if we had more drugs to choose from and yes, like all drugs they all have side effects, pros and cons and are situational. No drug is perfect.

Plus I listed analgesics because that is what someone asked for a list of but I didn't mean that all are suitable for chronic pain. Very little is. In fact the best therapies often aren't pharmaceutical for chronic pain.

R.e. steroid side effects they include increase in glucose levels, reduction in immune system response, a decrease in endogenous steroid production, increaser risk of GI bleeding and weight gain/hunger. Very unlikely to get these from a single injection like your friend though and actually it's unclear why single shot steroids remain so effective for as long as they sometimes do.

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Steeled14 t1_j88c77d wrote

You’re good I was just looping it back into the conversation which is opioid replacements. And yes I only emphasize side effects because the drastic severities for example dementia later in life versus some tiny weight loss or gain.

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