Help Yourself:
Manage Your Pain Medications!

You can help yourself manage your pain and get pain relief by working with your doctor to develop a plan that meets your individual needs for relieving pain. Things to clarify with your doctor include:

• When to take your pain medicine
• How to take your pain medicine
• What to expect from your pain medicine
• When to take extra pain medicine
• Under what conditions to contact your doctor

Do not skip doses or wait for the pain to get worse before taking your medicine. Be sure to ask your doctor about other medications or treatments you can use to help you with potential side effects of pain medications.

Because pain is a complex interaction between the mind and body, talking about your pain can often help you to better understand it and, sometimes, relieve it. Talking with loved ones, your doctor, or even a mental health professional can be a useful addition to medications for treating pain.

Your mood affects how you perceive pain. If you are generally happy and upbeat, you are more likely to tolerate pain better than if you are down and blue. Diet, exercise, and sleep can all affect your mood and, therefore, your perception of pain. To help decrease pain, the following tips may be helpful:

• Try eating a balanced diet full of fruits and vegetables. Avoid sugar-sweetened or greasy foods.
• Limit alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco.
• Exercise often--every day, if possible. If your pain makes exercising difficult, ask your doctor for alternative ideas.
• Get plenty of sleep. Pain that interferes with your sleep can sometimes be treated with sleep medications. Ask your doctor for more information about the benefits and risks of this type of medication.