No safe meds?

[madvet]

I am a 47 year old army vet with fatty liver disease.i have been takeing hydrocodon for over ten years.i dont drink or take any drugs.after the dr told me of my fatty liver she cut my meds in half and told me there's no safe meds i can take.can somewon give me some advice.

[keepingOnkeepingOn]

" told me there's no safe meds i can take."

That's serious and should be paid attention to what your doc said. I'd be thinking about plan B using Alternative Medicine specifically in pain management. Maybe your doc can hook you up?

[fretboard]

Opiate drugs like Hydrodocone replicate your viral load, you can't win when taking opiates.  I guess your doctor has to weigh the pros and cons in your particular situation and apparently that's what she did.  It's not a good pain killer to be on if you have HepC. good luck!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1603777/

[JimmyMose]

My VA gastro suggested that my primary switch me from 4  7.5 mg hydrocodones a day to 4  5.0 mg oxycodones a day.  That was 4 years ago.  They still help for my siactia related right leg pain.  I only use when needed for pain to avoid building up tolerance.

[AWorriedMom]

I always forget that a lot of these opioids can be prescribed without tylenol. Thanks for the reminder.

[Dee1956]

oop WM must have posted while I was typing, she is right none of us are doctors, just patients trying to help each other.

[Dee1956]

Hi , welcome to the forum.  I am sorry this happened, it doesn't seem very fair to just cut your meds in half.  At the very least she should have had you wean down.
Are you seeing a hepatologist?  If you are, I would find another one or a pain management doctor.
If you are taking hydrodone with tylenol she could have cut out the tylenol. I was told it is the tylenol that is hard on your liver.
Do you also have hepatitis C?  If not, can you take advil?  That might help while you get used to a lower dose of pain meds.
I have a friend who has fatty liver disease and she was given hydrocodone without the tylenol.  They also tried Tramadol to see if that would help her knee pain.
Did the doctor tell you what you could do to improve the health of your liver?
Other people will be a long soon to offer some help
Take Care, Dee

[AWorriedMom]

There are no doctors here. Doctors need to weigh the risk against the benefits of each drug a liver patient ingests. They are the only ones who know your medical history. Just how bad is the fatty liver? Where is your pain and is there any treatment other than pain meds? Perhaps a pain management doc would be helpful to you. I am sorry you are dealing with pain. I hope you get some answers that satisfy you but I wouldn't get them on a discussion forum with other patients because what is good for one may not be for another.