Chronic Cancer Pain can be due to a variety of causes.
It’s important to start cancer pain treatment as early as possible to get the most benefit.
What Are the Symptoms of Cancer Pain?
The symptoms of cancer pain vary from person to person. The amount of pain may depend on the type of cancer, the stage or extent of the disease, and the person’s pain threshold (tolerance for pain). Pain can range from mild and occasional to severe and constant.
What Medicines Are Used To Treat Cancer Pain?
Mild to Moderate Pain
Pain relievers:Acetaminophen (Mapap, Tylenol) and a group of pain relievers called nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin and ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) can treat mild to moderate pain. Many of these are over-the-counter drugs that do not require a prescription, but some do require a prescription. Patients should check with a doctor before using these medicines, especially if they are getting chemotherapy. NSAIDs can interfere with blood clotting, cause gastrointestinal problems and can lead to increased risk of heart attack or stroke.
Moderate to Severe Pain
Narcotic pain relievers: These drugs include codeine, morphine (Kadian, MS contin, Oromorph), hydrocodone (Lortab, NorcoVicodin), oxycodone (OxyContin, Roxicodone), hydromorphone (Dilaudid, Exalgo), and fentanyl (Actiq, Fentora). Narcotic pain relievers require a prescription and may be used along with mild pain relievers for moderate to severe pain. Interventional pain techniques and therapy like neurolytic blocks, spinal cord stimulators, intrathecal drug delivery systems etc can be used to treat the cancer pain effectively and reduce the medicine dose by a significant amount.
Tingling and Burning Pain
Antidepressants: Certain antidepressants are used to relieve pain even if the person isn’t depressed. Amitriptyline and nortriptyline (Pamelor) are antidepressants sometimes used to treat pain.
Anticonvulsants (anti-seizure medications): Despite the name, anticonvulsants like gabapentin (Fanatrex, Gralise, Neurontin) and carbamazepine (Carbatrol, Equetro,Tegretol) are used not only for seizures, but also to control burning and tingling pain, painful symptoms of nerve damage.
Other drugs: Corticosteroids such as prednisone (Sterapred) are used to lessen swelling, which often causes pain.