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Living with chronic pain is miserable for a lot of reasons. But the worst of all might be how helpless you feel to do anything at all to manage your pain. It seems like for most of the conditions that lead to chronic pain, there is very little that can actually be done to cure them. I mean, that’s why they call it chronic pain right? It persists in spite of your best efforts to treat it.

And as for the treatments that do exist, often they end up having side effects that are worse than the condition they are trying to treat or create major problems of their own. But if you’ve been living with chronic pain, you’ve probably tried every chronic pain medication out there. And you probably know first hand how little any of them actually work.

But is there anything that could work? Is there actually an effective chronic pain medication out there? Well, let’s look at some of the pros and cons of various things that are commonly prescribed to figure out if there’s anything out there that works.

Common Chronic Pain Medication

NSAIDs

These are probably the most commonly used medications for pain, chronic and otherwise. NSAIDs (Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs) are things like acetaminophen and ibuprofen. They’re the things you get over the counter in most drugs stores.

They’re used for daily pain like headaches or stubbed toes, and in that capacity, they often do a great job. The problem is that they often can’t handle heavier pain such as you get from chronic pain conditions like a slipped disk in the back. In order to effectively treat this kind of pain people often have to take high doses.

But this is actually quite dangerous. High doses of acetaminophen can cause severe liver damage. And that’s easier to accidentally do than you might think when you’re frequently taking pills to make up for the fact that you’re in chronic, severe pain. So, when it comes to managing severe chronic pain, doctors usually turn to a different drug.

Opiates

Opiates are another one of the most commonly prescribed chronic pain medications. But there are also some of the most problematic. Opiates are derived from opium, which is famous for its ability to numb pain and for its addictiveness. For instance, heroin is one of the most widely known opiate products.

But when it comes to severe pain, opiates are probably the most effective chronic pain medications. But like with everything involving chronic pain, there’s a downside. The over prescription of opioids has produced an epidemic of overdose deaths around the world. In America particularly, people are overdosing on prescription opioids at extremely disturbing rates. The CDC estimates that more than ten thousand people a year die from opioid overdoses.

This means that while opiates are an effective chronic pain medication, they also carry serious danger or leaving the patient physically or psychologically addicted. And they also carry the risk of leading to an accidental overdose. So, while an opiate might be the best answer for your chronic pain, your doctor should be monitoring your usage carefully.

Antidepressants

Antidepressants probably aren’t the kind of thing you first think of when it comes to chronic pain medication. But for a lot of different conditions that lead to chronic pain, antidepressants are one of the first things that doctors prescribe.

For instance, fibromyalgia is often treated with antidepressants. They are believed to be effective because they alter the chemical composition in your brain in a way that prevents pain signals from being transmitted effectively. These medications are largely without side effects, though some patients experience depression symptoms (ironically enough).

But the downside is that many patients find antidepressants ineffective for treating their chronic pain. They seem to be very hit-or-miss, with some patients reporting that antidepressants are actually very effective, and some claiming that they basically don’t work at all.

So as you can see, there doesn’t seem to be a chronic pain medication that is completely effective for everyone in every situation. And the ones that are the most effective often carry serious risks and side effects. So when it comes to finding an effective chronic pain medication, you basically just have to try to find whatever works for you personally, if indeed anything does.

But let us know, what do you use for chronic pain? Is it effective? Tell us in the comments.