Breakthrough Pain
Breakthrough Pain is defined as; pain (The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage that comes on suddenly for short periods of time and is not alleviated by the patients’ normal pain suppression management.)
Breakthrough pain is common in cancer patients who commonly have a background level of pain controlled by medications, but the pain periodically “breaks through” the medication. The characteristics of breakthrough cancer pain vary from person to person, including the duration and possible causes. At times there is a trigger to the breakthrough pain but often there is no actual onset or cause to the pain spike. When this occurs the person is going to require more medication and often times the medication is stronger. When using narcotics to maintain the pain and if breakthrough pain occurs it may indicate that tolerance is happening. Tolerance is defined as- the person taking the drug has less of a reaction to it thus requiring a larger quantity for the same effect and or pain relief. To remedy the situation the seasoned medical professional best serves his patient by administering a different medication. Often this eliminates the dependence and the tolerance issues. There are several medications that your doctor will address in regards to your breakthrough pain. The goal is pain relief as quickly as possible. Some of them include; actiq, fentora, dialudid, acetaminophen, percocet, vicodin and other narcotics that under the medical professional will be safely prescribed.
