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Saturday, May 16, 2009 change asks

Q: Chronic Pain and Zoloft

About 2 years ago I was in an accident and have had chronic pain ever since.  I've tried to do as little as possible when it comes to medication and have just tried to 'tough it out.'  I finally saw a doctor hoping I could get some sort of relief.  Toughing it out just isn't working.  He prescribed Zoloft.  Depression seemed to be the focus and yes, constantly being in pain has definitely changed my state of mind.

Waking up the stairs the other day (one of the more painful acts that I try to avoid if possible) I thought, "How 'good of mood' can Zoloft put me in when I still have this pain just going up steps?  If it does, am I really going to care?"

Maybe I'm just too new but something is telling me that just alleviating the pain some would help my mood more than anything.

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5/17/09 6:06pm

Hi Change,

 

So sorry to hear that you are in such pain right now and have been for 2 years.  That certainly can be draining on you physically and mentally.

 

I found an article about the Treatment of Chronic Pain.  The discussion regarding how chronic pain can develop well past the injury is interesting.  An explanation for the neuropathic nature of chronic pain is presented and indicates that antidepressants and antiepileptics are best for this type of pain.

 

If you've just recently begun taking Zoloft, give it at least 6 weeks to really build up in your system.  Hopefully it does work to calm down the pain signals.

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