In this era where everyone is running after money, we often neglect smaller issues of life which later turn into monstrous situations. The same goes for smaller health issues that can turn into extremely painful situations like nerve pain. With the help of this blog, we will answer the most in-demand question “What is the best medication for nerve pain?” that will help you lead a better quality of life. If this pain lasts for a long time, then it may turn into life-threatening issues.
There are many medicines that are used to treat nerve pain like Gabapentin, Doxepin, Codeine, Dilaudid, and Oxycodone. Many drugs can be added to conventional pain relievers to reduce nerve pain. Due to nerve pain life gets severe and can be complicated to treat. Nerve pain occurs only because of nerve damage. If this is not treated effectively, it can become a chronic condition. Nerve pain is very dangerous, when people face any type of nerve pain they cannot do any work. Nerve pain medicines are taken after the doctor’s prescription. Your doctor prescribes you the best medicine for Nerve pain.
What Is Nerve Pain?
Neuralgia is the second name of Nerve pain. Neuropathic pain occurs when a disease affects the nerves that carry sensations to your brain. Nerve pain occurs due to damage to the nerve. This damaged nerve cannot send the proper message/ signals, making it difficult to perform daily activities. Nerve pain mostly occurs in the hands and legs. Due to pain we lose our body balance and feel sharp and troubling pain. The feeling of Nerve pain is different than other pain.
Some examples of Nerve pain include:
- Post-herpetic pain: This happens if you’ve had shingles and affects the same area as the shingles rash
- Trigeminal pain: This pain occurs in your jaw or cheeks
- Occipital pain: This pain occurs in the base of your skull
- Pudendal pain: Pain occurs in the ‘saddle area’ between your legs
Nerve pain is a different type of pain that feels like a shooting, stabbing, or burning sensation.
Treating nerve pain is difficult. Pain medicines can work as non-medicine treatments like exercise, acupuncture, and relaxation techniques.
What Causes Nerve Pain?
Nerve pain occurs due to an injury that affects your nervous system or nerves that run to your organs and muscles.
Some Common Causes Of Nerve Pain:
- An injury to your brain, spine, or nerves
- Poor blood supply to your nerves
- Heavy alcohol use
- Vitamin B12 or thiamine deficiency medicines
Diseases That Can Cause Nerve Pain Include:
- Infections such as HIV and Shingled
- Multiple sclerosis
- Diabetes
- Stoke
- Cancer
What Medicines Are Used For The Treatment Of Nerve Pain?
Medicine for nerve pain usually acts on natural chemicals (neurotransmitters) in the body’s nervous system. These medicines work by calming down your nervous system activity to reduce the pain. Many medicines are available to treat nerve pain and other conditions. The following categories divided these medicines:
Antidepressant Medicines:
- Amitriptyline:
Amitriptyline treats mental problems like depression. It may help improve your feelings and mood and relieve anxiety. This medicine helps improve your sleep and increase your energy level.
- Codeine:
Codeine is a drug that works on the brain by changing the feeling of pain and relief to relaxation, and pleasure. Some people use Codeine without any prescription for chronic pain, mental health issues such as depression or anxiety
- Norco:
Narco treats moderate to severe pain. It contains pain reliever hydrocodone. Hydrocodone works on the brain to change how your body feels and responds to pain.
- Duloxetine:
This medicine is to treat muscle pain, depression, anxiety, and nerve pain with diabetes. It takes 2-4 weeks to work, but it may take more time if you are taking it to treat nerve pain. Duloxetine is a serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor (SNRI).
Anti-Seizure Medicines:
- Hydrocodone 10-650 mg:
Hydrocodone 10-650 mg is the most prescribed medicine by doctors. This medicine treats moderate to severe pain. Doctors prescribe this medicine to people who suffer from Trauma and cancer problems.
- Methadone:
Methadone is a long-acting medicine. It takes time to show the effects of this when used for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD). Your doctor will prescribe you the right amount of methadone.
- Oxycodone:
Oxycodone treats severe pain when other medicine does not work, so doctors prescribe oxycodone. It works on the central nervous system for relieving pain. This medicine is available in Tablet form and capsule form and in wide variants.
- Lortab:
It consists of a combination of Hydrocodone and Acetaminophen. Prescribing Lorcotab is for moderate and severe pain. Lortab is prescribed to children according to their weight. You can take this medicine as prescribed by your doctor.
Other Medicines May Be Used Very Rarely Including:
- Tramadol
- Lignocaine
- Capsaicin
- Botox
Most medicines that work for nerve pain can only bought with a doctor’s prescription. Your doctor takes time to find the right medicine combination that works for you.
Some medicines work only for nerve pain in about 1 in 7 people who try them.
How Can Nerve Pain Be Diagnosed?
Firstly your doctor will examine you and ask you about the symptoms of your disease. They test your nerves by checking your muscle strength, and sensitivity to touch.
Your Doctor Might Also Refer To Some Tests Including:
- Blood test
- CT scan
- MRI scan
Side Effects Of The Medicine Used In Nerve Pain:
All medicines have side effects. Ask your doctor or pharmacist about the side effects associated with the specific medicine you have been prescribed.
Common side effects of antidepressants and anti-seizure medicines are:
- Drowsiness
- Dry mouth
- Blurred vision
- Weight gain
What Strategies Can Help With Nerve Pain?
There are many treatments for nerve pain available in the market, including medicines. Sometimes the pain can be treated if the cause is known.
Managing the cause may reduce the pain at the right time. Medicine plays a partial role in relieving pain. Your doctor helps you to manage and reduce the pain by exploring non-medicine pain management strategies for you. Non-medicinal treatment and strategies make your life better with nerve pain.
Follow The Below-Given Points For Better-Controlling Nerve Pain:
- A healthy lifestyle can improve your life quality and feeling of well-being.
- Take a balanced diet, and avoid unhygienic food
- Stay fit and active as possible, to retain flexibility
- Plan daily targets and try to achieve them one at a time
- Follow Meditation and Relaxation techniques
- If you can not sleep due to pain, ask your doctor about strategies that will help you
Non-medicine treatment that can be helpful to you:
- Keep the knowledge of nerve pain and how to manage it
- Do exercise on a regular basis, and do a small amount of gentle exercise over the day as part of your routine
- Acupuncture
- Relaxation techniques to help with your pain and with sleep
- Psychological treatments help you feel in control of your pain, reduce distress, reduce anxiety, and improve your mood
- TENS blocks the transmission of pain sensation to your brain.
Summary:
We have described What is the best medication for nerve pain by mentioning some of the best medicines that are used to treat nerve pain. All these medicines are prescription medicines, you can take them after the doctor’s prescription. If you feel any type of pain then ask your doctor about this.
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