Neck pain

[dolomitesquirrel]

Hello everyone. My husband has bulbar MND. He is now having trouble with his neck. He is struggling to keep his head upright. He is having a custom made neck brace fitted on Friday at our MND north west centre. I’m awaiting a phone call from our GP for pain relief. We have tried regular ibuprofen via his peg but with little relief. It is not neck spasm.
Has anyone any advice re effective pain relief? One that isn’t constipating 😣
He has a heated neck and shoulder warmer which is providing a little relief.
Any advice much appreciated xx

[JamesW]

Hi,

Sorry to hear about your husbands neck pain.

In my case, the use of a neck support made a huge difference to my levels of pain (I had spondylosis anyway before I was diagnosed with MND). Also, I found that night time can be especially difficult and I have had to try different pillows and configurations to get the right level of support for my neck.
Pain relief obviously helps and I hope you get something sorted with the doctor soon.

James x

[dolomitesquirrel]

Thank you JamesW yes he finds it hard at night. Mainly just getting into bed and lying down. It’s got much worse the last couple of weeks. At Christmas he had some slight neck stiffness but nothing like the problem he has now. It’s such an awful disease. Everything you enjoy slowly gets stripped away from you. Not being able to speak then having me prattle on at him 😔 sorry I’m saying nothing you don’t already know

Rosy

[Ellie]

dolomitesquirrel I know his pain 😬 Friday can't come soon enough.

To avoid constipating opioids, maybe naproxen which is about 10% stronger than ibuprofen, but longer lasting. Because he’d take it in liquid form, he’d really need to also take a stomach protector if he doesn’t already as it’s hard on the stomach lining.

Or maybe the GP will OK short-term use of 600mg of ibuprofen. Or add in paracetamol to an NSAID, although it does nothing for my muscle pains, tbh.

If he can sit in a reclined position that will lessen the strain on his neck in the first place. xx

[TinyLady]

dolomitesquirrel I like Ellie suggestion of the Naproxen (with tummy protector). I was on Naproxen for a long time and found it extremely helpful with my pain in other areas, especially topped up with heat from wheat bags. Might be worth asking. My neck is getting a bit saggy and tired, no brace yet, but useful to read others experiences, so thanks for a good question xx

[dolomitesquirrel]

As ever great advice given knew I could rely on the forum. Thank you Ellie TinyLady JamesW
will chase the GP again as despite me stating he’d already tried ibuprofen 200mgs 3 times a day that’s what has been prescribed 🤦🏻♀️

[Ellie]

will chase the GP again as despite me stating he’d already tried ibuprofen 200mgs 3 times a day that’s what has been prescribed

What!! Not even 400mg, 3x/day - no wonder the poor man got no real pain relief.

What's the plan for tomorrow - get the GP to understand? xx

[Claireflo]

I don't know whether anything like voltarol will help? It's a gel that you can rub onto the skin. Maybe worth a try while you try to sort out some meds from the gp.