Dilaudid Doesn't Work For Pain (Page 2)

I am allergic to Vicodin and Percocet so for my last 2 surgical procedures have been prescribed 4mg oral Dilaudid. I understand that it is a very powerful pain reliever but I get minimal relief from it so is it possible that my pain receptors are not responsive to this type of medication? The only other pain med that I take is Lodine (NSAID) for arthritis. It seems that I get more pain relieve from 2 Tylenol but am still in alot of pain with that. Both times after surgery I have stopped taking the Dilaudid after 3 days because I'm still in pain and on top of that constipated. Has anyone had this same minimal response and any suggestions on other pain meds I could use if needed?

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Is dilaudid 2 mg as strong as a morphine 30 mg

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I'm really worried about all these people in unmanageable pain. It's unreal. I've been on hydrpmorphone for 9 years and in the last 2 years I've been in unmanageable pain and really don't know what the next step is.
I was in a car crash(not the driver) and had over 50 operations and spent almost 3 years in the Hospital,that's all behind me now but now I have to put up with the pain. It was great for a long time but in the last 2 years I don't seem to get relief as I should. I'm going to see my Dr tomorrow and have my meds changed. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.
Thanks and I hope you all get the relief you need.

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By allergic do you mean you itch like hell when you take them??

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awesome comment ... well said!

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de anna ... if you are indeed still alive after your self- prescribing and self-dosing until you feel "oh soooo good" seek professional help and not for pain or even pain management ... for out and out addiction and your attitude which is totally warped i suspect in EVERY area of your life to come on here and post as you did and think you are giving out advice that ANYONE should take without harm to themselves and are in the same boat as you which is the "good ship f*** me up" ... mt gawwwd!!!

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Thanks for the end of your message. You start to feel crazy when nothing works. I'm post surgical and nothing is helping. Sigh. But thanks.

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I was just browsing through this... and it is a year later from when you posted... But I sort of know what you are going through. For me it has only been four months (Though it feels like forever) that this pain has destroyed my life. It too is on the lower left pelvic area and it hurts like nothing I've ever felt before. The pain is constant and quite seriously never ending... If I am lucky the pain is dulled with my medication 2-4mg dilaudid every 4hrs, Naproxen 500mg twice daily and right now they are testing Lyrica on me to see if it is nerves causing the damage so I am on 50mg three times a day. The pain is still there, and nothing stops it from deciding to spike randomly where no medication can help me and I am left a curled up mess in bed, crying because of the pain's severity. Some doctors have looked at me and not wanted to treat me, saying that my illness is psychosomatic... Which I too know that it is not. I have had countless blood tests, and so far all they have really checked have been my ovaries, by searching with multiple ultrasounds, CT scan, and an explorative laproscapy.

So far they have found absolutely nothing. Which is infuriating for me; before I got sick I was a floor manager, on my feet for a minimum of 8 hrs a day. Life was great, I did what I wanted basically when I wanted and I took care of myself. Now I can hardly even force myself to bend down and change my cat's water dish. Luckily I too have someone who has surpassed all normal expectations; my long term boyfriend. He takes care of me and handles everything.

If you do happen to read this and have had any success with your problem, please let me know! I am rather desperate to be able to return back to my normal life... I am sure that you know exactly how I feel!

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Sounds like GP to a T. Every symptom can be explained by GP.

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I am so sorry to hear about your troubles. I too suffer from chronic pain and I know all too well the sudden onset of hot shards of glass in the abdomen there is nothing like it. I was very fortunate to find out very early on that I had a condition called Interstitial Cystitis(IC) also known as Painful Bladder Sydrome(PBS). Your symptoms sounds similar to what myself and other IC sufferers have endured. I had been coming back positive for blood in my urine for about a year and never had an infection. My Primary sent me to a urogynecologist who set me up for a cystoscope where they found Hunner's ulcers and I was diagnsoed with IC. I have learned through trial and error how to manage my condition mostly with diet, but I still have flare-ups occassionally. Having only been diagnosed for 10 mos I am still relatively new to dealing with the condition, but I have been fortunate in the swift manner I was diagnosed. I am not a doctor and can only go off of my own experience and those I've heard from others, but I would recommend a urogynecologist since it could be so many things. Have they looked into Irritable bowel syndrome, you are just way too young for this, unfortunately chronic pain does not discriminate no matter what the ERs do. I have been treated like a drug seeker enough times in my life due to my first herniated disc occurring when I was 22 and since then and turning 35 this year I have now had 8 more herniations and a few other random health issues pop up out of nowhere. I wish I could elaborate further, but I would need to look over your post again. I certainly hope you have found relief since you originally posted this. Good luck!

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I can relate to your struggle completely. Doctors do a HUGE disservice to women when THEY are stumped they decide it must be in your head or you just want RX. NO! You want to be fixed! I had to learn to be my OWN advocate and not simply assume they knew what they were doing. I have multiple abdominal autoimmune diseases and issues. ONLY YOU can possibly keep track of so many little clues and symptoms. I have saved MY OWN life many times by not simply adopting the doctor's lack of a conclusion. I went through decades of pelvic pain (always brushed off by doctors) and only in a hysterectomy did they find I had two types of endometriosis (one a rare cancer)and said "No wonder you were in so much pain" DUH! In that same surgery in the closing MRI they found someone had left a plastic catheter in my small intestine. No one thought it was a problem, but I had been losing the ability to survive over 5 years ( walk etc) so I made my own arrangements with a specialist in another state. The minute they scoped it they threw me into the hospital...the plastic tube had been slowly drilling a hole in my small intestine poisoning me. I was always taught to trust the Dr. and they were the expert. NO you are the expert on your own body & should research. EVERY single time I have insisted on finding treatment, my Dr. would give me antidepressents saying I wasn't the same happy person blah, blah. How happy would he be? And an Ex who called me an addict even though I clearly was about to have surgery for a bad problem. YOU have to trust yourself & not listen to that silliness. I've had about 20 surgeries, 13 abdominal and yeah my life is complicated & at times (and fully now) I couldn't work...though I tried my best. That is what Social Security Disability is for. You pay into it. You help others with your payments and they help you. If you have or will be totally disabled for at least a year they can help you and after a year you can get % help with medical stuff. It will help you get better to not have so much financial stress created by health issues. File right away because it takes time & they go back to the date you first filed. I'm an old lady and have been dealing with these issues now half my life. Try to find one doctor who can be your main guy so you don't have to keep reinventing the wheel for every new person. Make list of symptoms, meds, hospitalizations etc. so you can just give them that rather than constantly try to get a new person to understand, make it as easy as you can for yourself. You will probably have to be your own job for awhile. I'm surprised the hospitals didn't have any social services come & talk to you for help. It's hard to ask for help. I never did. I hid my pain and still do, which takes lots of energy, but sometimes you've got to let someone help you. I now have more medical issues and I'm tired & sometimes not so optimistic, but my struggles, my doing clinical drug trials is going to help others in the future...maybe you need to move closer to better hospitals or a medical mary jane state, but there are options. They are out there and luckily there is the internet to help! It's always nice to know one isn't just nuts! or that there are plenty of us!

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The Dilaudid will work through IV in small doses because it's not bring filtered through the liver but orally it's basically useless because most of it just gets filtered out, u would have to take very high doses for the pain relief because it has a very low bioavailability

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I'm in the same boat as many others on this site. I'm currently having uncontrollable back pain after my morphine pump had to be shut down after 10 years because my catheter is blocked. Never knew until now how much pain my pump was actually controlling. Since it's so difficult to make the cross over in doseage from the pump to oral meds, I've been in excruciating uncontrollable pain. Recently my dr prescribed 8 mg of oral dilaudid every 4 to 6 hours. Zippo. It did nothing for me. Two hours after the first dose I took a second pill. Still nothing. I'm at my wits end and all my dr keeps saying is it takes time for the dilaudid to kick in. What does that mean anyway? I've never heard of a narcotic that "takes time" to work and I've taken them all over the years and never gone through this. Dilaudid is supposed to be so powerful, but I may as well be taking aspirin. Has anyone else ever heard of this so called phenomenon?

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Thanks for.saying that. When I seen that post I felt bad for the others that actually look for help.

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Barbara Dilaudid - Hydromorphone doesn't do anything for me either so your not alone, crazy or have some type of phenomenal tolerance. Opana - Oxymorphone has the same result with me too. I'm allergic to morphine. The only 2 schedule II opiates that have worked on my pain are oxycodone and Meperidine - Demerol. I have an extreme tolerance to fentanyl do to hundreds of procedures I've had over the last 26 years getting it delivered via an IV. I've come across several other people over the last 26 years in pain management that have very similar results with Dilaudid, meaning it doesn't work very well or at all.
Hopefully you have an understanding and knowledgeable pain management doctor that will work with you and isn't one of the ones who think one drug works for all or something is wrong with you! There are some doctors like that... Good luck with your search for a suitable analgesic for your pain situation.

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I can so relate! Had similar issues but change left side to right. Add passing blood and had a colonoscopy which found nothing. Was sent home and was told to follow up with PCP. PCP office treated me like a addict and sent me to a woman's Dr. I lost my job because the week I spent in the hospital and my supervisors knew I had a exploratory surgery scheduled. No job= no insurance and the Dr office canceled my procedure. 6 months later I was back in er and er Dr suggested I go to the teaching hospital in Portland and sent me home with a RX for pain meds. I contacted Portland hospital and they wouldn't see me unless I paid 12 grand up front. My (now) husband and I researched and believed my pain issues were related to my tubal ligation. So we went to chapel hill where they do a exploratory procedure fix what's wrong and bonus removed and repaired the tubes. My problems were a failed clamp was sliding through my fallopian tube. I had necrotic tissue spreading into my bowels. And adhesions. One miracle baby half the price surgery and 3 abdominal procedures later ( I found a awesome wonderful obgyn) I am a heck of a lot better and endometriosis and adhesions were culprits. My long winded story is don't give up. Find a new Dr and it sounds like endometriosis to me.

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I am in a very similar situation. Your post was very affirming for me. I dreadfully sorry that you have been going through what you have been. I know what it is like to have pain and to have every test in the book and not have a diagnosis. I know what is like to use pain medications and to receive no relief. I see that your post was written a couple of years ago. It is my hope that you medical professionals have been able to help you and that life is so much better for you!

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I think I might be able to help you!! You are taking the WRONG drugs! I was in the same spot as you years ago, but thanks to a friend, I never_ suffered again. I got a prescription for Maxalt 10mg this is a little wafer that you put under your tongue. Lie down. In about 20 minutes, no more sickening headache! I've been taking it when I get a migraine (or what I have called a migraine) and it always_ works. Here in Canada however, they are $120.00 for 6 yes SIX wafers. I'm telling you, they worked for me. Saved my life, saved my job.... NO hang over from them, you can drive....the headache just is gone for me 20-40 minutes TOPS.

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Hey Barb--my wife takes Maxalt for migraines and it works great. Sadly, with all new strict drug laws, my wife has to go to a neurologist now before she can get more. Her stupid doctor thinks she's exhibiting "drug seeking" behavior. The jerk should sit here with us when I have to hold her to calm the pain and she cries and cries until the Maxalt kicks in. I stumbled across this site because, post-spinal fusion, Dilaudid 4 mg doing little, wondering about others' experiences. Best thing was Tylenol IV in hospital--pain disappeared immediately. Now I take Dilaudid w/ oral OTC Tylenol and that keeps me relatively pain-free. Kids stuff, I know, compared to the other posts I've read. I am lucky in that I am on the mend and will taper off soon. I don't want to be chained to a substance. My heart goes out to those in chronic, lifelong pain. It's 2015. No one should ever have to be in serious pain. I had wonderful care during my surgery and hospital stay, but I saw so many areas for improvement. The insurance companies are behind the curtain running the show and we--the human beings in need--are just numbers. Who would have thought that at 48 I'd lose my innocence? Be well everyone--I truly pray for a relief of others' needless suffering. John

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I too have chronic migraines. I have had good luck with percocet but because I built up a tolerance they switched my to dilaudid. U have taken 6 mg with no relief. If I go for Iv therapy I receive 15mg injection of morphine which works. I am curious what your doctor gives you on a regular basis. I have a very hard time getting a RX that works and a sufficient quantity. What do you suggest, if anything?

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I had surgery yesterday and was given dilauded through the IV. It didn't seem to touch the pain. They administered oral Vicadin and the pain was gone in about an hour, but it made me feel lightheaded, so last night I took 2 OTC Tylenol and had complete pain relief. I have to go back for another surgery but was wondering if there is any research that would explain why I had no response to the dilauded. Morphine makes me extremely sick and I don't tolerate Percocet enough to use it, I would rather put up with the pain. Any guidance would be appreciated so I can have an intelligent conversation with my surgeon.

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