Have Back And Leg Problem Due To Fracture. Was On Opiod Medicine And Stopped. Had Weight Loss. Related?

Posted on Fri, 20 Sep 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 20 Sep 2013 Answered on

Thu, 10 Oct 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : Yes, hello. I am a 58 year old woman with severe back and leg problems due to a back fracture years ago and several back surgeries. I have been on opioid pain meds for over 26 years. Recently, I cut my meds down drastically because I had to care for my husband who had cancer. I actually stopped my medication for several months, but I have started very small doses again, which seem to work much better than they had for awhile. About 10 years ago, I put on 60lbs and have been able to take it all off in the last few months. After trying to diet and exercise for a few years it finally came off. Do you think coming off the meds and losing the weight have anything to do with each other? Thanks, XXXXXXX

Answered by Dr. K. Naga Ravi Prasad (30 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
No definitive relationship.

Detailed Answer:
Hi, thanks for writing to XXXXXXX

There is no definitive relationship between waning off pain medications (opioid analgesics) and weight loss.

A few measures which can be of help in improving your back pain are

* Physical and therapeutic exercises
* Massage therapy
* Ultrasound therapy and TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation)
* Epidural steroid injections & Facet blocks
* Spinal manipulation with chiropractics
* Radio frequency ablation

Hope I have addressed your query. Happy to help further

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar