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Help with pain

User
Posted 08 May 2019 at 12:44

Hello everyone

Just a brief background. My husband Sean, aged 51 at the time, was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer in December 2017. PSA of 170, Gleason 4+5 (if this is the correct terminology) and generally not a great prognosis, with mets extensively in the bones, and also some showing in the liver.

Started 6 cycles of docetaxel in Feb 18 and PSA got down to 3. After 6 months it had risen back up to 25, so consultant put him back onto chemo, and he started on Cabazitaxel in January this year. He is also receiving Zoladex every three months, and Zometa infusions every three months.

He is about to have his last (of this cycle) chemo tomorrow, but he is suffering from really bad pains. This is a recurring thing that tends to happen every few weeks (usually just before chemo). The consultant advises it is due to the cancer which is in these areas, which I'm sure is correct.

The point of this post is that how do you all deal with the pain? He has been given paracetamol, co-codamol, ibuprofen, naproxen and also liquid/tablet morphine. The combo that seems to work best is co-codamol, but it is not helping too much at the moment. 

The consultant has suggested that radiotherapy might be an option when the chemo is finished, but it is very difficult and worrying for me (and Sean more so) to be in continuous pain and not really be able to relieve it. So I was just asking what others experiences are and if there is anything we could be doing additionally to help. Sean is very concerned that it is becoming more frequent, and that the cancer is spreading/getting worse. So any advice would be greatly received.

Thanks

Elaine x

User
Posted 08 May 2019 at 16:27
Hello Elaine, sorry to hear about Sean. I had a diagnosis of advanced PC in October 2015. I have had 3 courses of radiotherapy, one to the prostate and 2 to regions of my spine. I found it to be an effective treatment although the spinal ones caused a temporary flare-up in pain before things got better. Regarding painkillers, and depending on the exact source of the problem, you could ask about gabapentin, which can be useful in certain nerve-related (neurogenic) kinds of pain. Good luck with everything and bear in mind there are many good treatments these days.
User
Posted 08 May 2019 at 20:49
If it hasn't already been done, ask for a referral to your hospice team - they are usually much better at pain management than the hospital or GP, as it is their area of expertise and they are able to mix and match the pain killers to get the right balance. If your local hospice doesn't offer this service, ask for a referral to the hospital pain clinic.
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

 
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