Pain management

Hi Oberon, yes, there are alternatives, tell your team that you are having trouble managing the pain, they will give you stronger painkillers which you now need. Make sure you keep on top of the pain, by taking the painkillers regularly, not just when needed. you're nearly there now there now, just 2 weeks and you will be on your recovery.

Ray.

Hi Oberon 

I agree with Ray, tthere are stronger analgesics. I was on morphine for most of my trip. Some folk were on Fentanyl, Buprenorphine and Oxycodone but they are all opiates which slow down gut transit time and can give you constipation.

Oberon said:

Even with laxative at the same time

I was on Laxido, the other common one others had being Movicol. They are the same and can be taken in higher doses. They are stool  softeners which is how they work. I had two a day but many here had more.

I suggest you go speak to your RT team when you go tomorrow and they will organise something better. You have at least another four weeks of this as the radiation builds for two or three weeks after treatment end.

I was on Morphine till 12 weeks and it really kept me comfortable.

Unfortunately the pain meds we use can and will cause constipation...Laxido was my go to...sometimes I needed four sachets to flush the system...3 years after finishing treatment I have the odd bout of constipation...Figs and kiwi fruit help...if it is still stubborn I use a sachet or two of Laxido

Hu you’ll need the co codomol don’t suffer pain I was given laxido the same time as I wa sti en co codomol. It’s a common theme please ask team tomorrow for either laxido or movicol they are the best ones  as they are gentler than pure laxatives, I was  on oramorph as the last weeks approached. As Dan8 says treatment continues to work after you’ve  had your last session, for several weeks.
I felt worse if in honest all I did was sleep feed via ng tube  oral hygenie repeat .

good kuck

Hazsl x

Hi. 

It seems prescriber first go for senna, which in most cases is not enough for someone who's taking opioids for weeks and on a high doses. 

I ended up in a&e with suspected bowel obstruction, and it was "only" constipation.

What worked very well for me was laxido/cosmocol sachets and Docusate capsules. 

They are way stronger than senna and combined together work best. 

When I was on high dose of opioids I took 2 sachets in orange juice in the morning and 2 capsules twice a day, and went to toilet in the evening, no problems.

Now only on small dose of oxycodone and I only take one sachet a day, and ONLY if by 12 pm I didn't GO to toilet. 

I am so terrified of having constipation again, I'm trying to keep on top of it.

Managing pain is vital, I was also told pain in oesophagus is one of the worst to manage and I agree. Even strongest opioids didn't take it away, only allowed me to function.

I hope you can sort it ASAP.

All the best.

Izzy. 

Hi Oberon ,its a common theme im afraid i went onto Cocodamol and then Oramorph and then Zomorph all within a a couple of weeks all are opioids i was also taking off the shelf pain killers at the same time .The pain was still there but i could cope with it ,however i did have severe constipation i ended up giving myself an enema which was not nice and ended up on the toilet for a couple of hours it did improve as time went on and i reduced the amount of morphine i was taking i still struggle 7 months later but i have a liquid fibre sachet most days that helps .Dont suffer pain but take regular Laxido and high fibre it does help .

Just read an interesting article today concerning Kiwi fruit...they help with constipation...

also...

''Two nightly kiwis helped middle-aged people with self-reported sleep disturbances to get to sleep more quickly and then sleep for longer.'' 

'Kiwis are increasingly being discussed in relation to sleep and recovery due to their high levels of nutrients that are linked to sleep regulation and recovery processes in the body,' said nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert.  

'While this area of research is still developing and larger studies are needed, including kiwis as part of an evening snack may be a simple, food-first approach worth trying for those looking to support their sleep routine.' 

Getting a decent night's sleep aids our recovery.

Hi, very interested in the kiwi stuff and I'm off to the shops later and will be buying some and will report back,  thanks for the heads up. 

But regarding constipation.....my God it's evil !!!!...... but my partner who has been in the care industry for years (we are both in our sixties) a nurse taught her  a buttock massage that really helped me, I'm 6 weeks into recovery  from RT my pain meds are pregabolin and oxycodone,  around weeks 2 and 3 I was severely compacted and actually quite scared and in a lot of discomfort and she mentioned this technique of massage each buttock in turn by pushing down from the top of the buttock, near the crack, towards your anus, do each buttock in turn, you have to do this very firmly,  you will feel the poo moving down it might take a while depending on how much you are compacted,  but it helped me.... more than once. I was amazed I'd not heard of this technique before .

It helped me and I hope my description of the technique may help others.  

Make sure that the Kiwis are ripe and sweet...the tart ones can be a bit rough on our sensitive mouths...

me too