Someone mentioned Gabapentin! I imagine it may help some people. However, I had an extremely horrible experience with it, as well as did a couple of my friends who fell and injured their selves while taking it.
My surgeon prescribed it along with a couple other pain medicines after rotator cuff surgery. Originally, I didn't take it because I was on so many meds, I had to write down every pill I took so that I would not OD. Later, I was still experiencing a lot of pain and read up on the Gabapentin. It sounded great! Started taking it for about a week. I am an older lady, and my memory is not what it used to be. But I started having frequent, severe memory loss problems. I would forget words while I was talking and couldn't complete my thoughts. It was scary! This went on for a few days. When I started investigating possible reasons for the memory loss, it became clear that adding the Gabapentin was the only thing different. Sure enough, memory loss was a potential side effect with it. Stopped taking the Gabapentin, and almost immediately, my memory returned to normal. Since then, I have become vigilant about reading up on ALL new medicines suggested by my care team. I only read info on the internet posted by the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic. It is ridiculous how many horrid medicines they are suggesting and getting mad at me for refusing to take them.
My care team prescribed Norco back in 2000 for severe pain. Have used it on and off since then. During my best times, I only took 5 mg, twice a day. It took the edge off the pain, allowing me to function with daily responsibilities. Last year, I voluntarily quit and went back to work. When I got injured on the job, through no fault of my own, my care team refused to prescribe Norco for my almost constant pain. I have several reasons for the pain, and it is only getting worse since I am now 75 years old. Mind you, I had absolutely no side effects from the Norco and functioned very well and knew how to manage my pain when I over did it physically. Now my care team offered Buprenorphine patches, and I am trying them. Am on the second week. They slowly adjust it until they find the right dose. I have had absolutely no pain relief, and more upsetting is the fairly low-grade headache, almost daily with no relief. It wouldn't be a problem except I have been in constant almost unbearable pain since this last January. I certainly sympathize with all of you out there. Most of you have worse problems than I do. Back to the whole point of this post! Be careful with Gabapentin!