is it possible for oral pain medication to be stopped or destroyed before reaching the brain?

Question

My brother has been given pretty much everything for the pain in his legs, Neurontin 600mg, hydrocodone 10/325, ect and absolutely no pain relief, not even the slightest. We did find out he has lymphedema, 2nd degree, also cellulitis, and he is being treated with the manual lymph drainage and wrappings, which seems to be helping with the leg swelling, but thus far, after 3 treatments still has not done anything for the pain. Is it possible that the pain medications get to a certain point and are destroyed before reaching that part of the body where it sends signals to the brain that its not feeling pain....the signals to the brain that its feeling an 8 or more on the pain scale is not blocked at all, pain is a constant 24/7., pain pills do not block the signals. Does anyone know what could cause this? and would pain patches put right on the legs or pain shots work? Thank You, Marti

Answer 1

Hi Marti

It's good your brother is getting the care he needs. Cellulitis is infection and can become serious, if he has active infection right now he should NOT be in therapy, when the infection has cleared it would be ok to treat again. The swelling and heaviness of the fluid pressing on nerves can be very painful. Alot of us with the condition have chronic and debilitating pain. Has he been evaluated for fibromyalgia? It tends to go hand in hand with lymphedema as does chronic fatigue, high blood pressure, thyroid issues, etc. Restless leg and sleep apnea are other problems that we lymphers have too. Pain patches probably won't help, you could try it but without the proper circulation and knowing exactly the cause of the pain, it might be a waste of money. Exactly where is his pain, in the legs?

Answer 2

The chance of success is nill. Ever notice that when a liberal policy fails all that is needed to make it successful is even more money? We have been pumping more and more money into welfare and other programs for decades with no end in sight. In that time it has destroyed a large segment of the black community and black families. The sad thing is that the people these programs hurt the most are the ones who keep voting to for these same ideas. If you keep doing the same thing over and over but expect different results that is just crazy. The Rev Wright could do so much more to help his congregation if he would preach fire and brimstone about how bad these programs are. Maybe he should sit down and talk to Bill Cosby because he seems to have a handle on it. Socialist programs in the US there are several. Welfare, the SCHIP program, and any program where you take money from one person to give to another. The removal of god and all religion from peoples lives in order to make a secular society is an idea the both Socialists and Communists believe and strive for. Elana- Are you kidding???? Where do you get you facts and info.??? The US has the second highest corporate taxes in the world and is why so many companies have left the US. There are so many countries that have far less taxes than we do and several have gone to a flat tax.

Answer 3

As for your brother, has he possibly been diagnosed with RLS? Restless leg syndrome is a tricky beast to tackle. I have seen Klonopin used for it, as well as the standard treatment of Remeron. Depending on what patch you are talking about, there may be possible relief. If you are putting a lidocaine patch on, he may experience a topical relief, but I would be very surprised if this worked. A duragesic patch applied directly to the leg would be no different than if he put it on his arm. The only possible explanation I could think of is if his liver is damaged, or kidneys are damaged. A bad liver may limit the ability to metabolize the drug. You might consider having the medications compounded into a cream that can be absorbed through the skin and into the bloodstream instead of having to pass through the liver and kidneys. These are just suggestions, and I hope they work for him. Relentless pain is a *****.