News has been coming for a long time that Pfizer will be releasing a new wonder-drug for sufferers of chronic pain. It was being said that it would change everything and gobble up the market for prescription pain killers. However, the FDA has seen things differently and pulled the clinical trails of Tanezumab because it seems to make symptoms for many of the patients far worse.
In June, 2010, the clinical trial for the treatment of patients with osteoarthritis was halted as the condition of some patients had taken a turn for the worse. The condition had deteriorated enough that many patients had to get joint replacements. While Pfizer has argued there were no problems with trials in which test groups did not have osteoarthritis, they have been forced to shut those down as well. Such other trials included studies of patients with chronic lower back pain and diabetic peripheral neuropathy. They are to continue testing its effect on cancer patients.
There has been speculation that Tanezumab could work for a number of chronic pain conditions, especially those stemming from nerve problems. Neuralgia—a condition resulting in severe aches and pain in one nerve or nerve group in the neck, head, or both—was also a possible condition to be treated by Tanezumab, but sufferers will have to stay with their current drugs longer.
The problem is, most medications for neuralgia, often a life-long condition, are highly addictive. Tanezumab was thought to be a drug that would not cause addiction or abuse. Current treatments for neuralgia include:
- Antidepressant medications
- Antiseizure medications
- Over-the-counter analgesics (painkillers, such as aspirin and ibuprofen)
- Narcotic analgesics for short-term pain, such as opioids like codeine and morphine
- Topical creams with the active ingredient capsaicin
Antidepressants, antiseizure medications, and narcotic analgesics can be extremely habit-forming and create whole new pain problems aside from neuralgia. Over-the-counter analgesics are not as problematic of course, but they are also not very effective at treating the extreme pain that is commonly associated with neuralgia.
Currently, most medications exist simply to treat the pain, not the other symptoms of the condition, which may include:
- Loss of deep tendon reflexes
- A lack of sweating
- Reduction in muscle mass
- General soreness and sensitivity in the face, jaw, forehead, and neck
Even if Pfizer were to go ahead with trials and the FDA approved the new drug for patients suffering from neuralgia, there is no guarantee that it would be more effective than current drugs.
The other downside of Tanezumab is that it is available currently only as an injection. There is no pill form. The Associated Press had erroneously reported that patients were to cease taking “pills”, but, make no mistake, the drug is not available as a capsule or tablet.
Perhaps the best drugs for the treatment of chronic neuralgia and chronic pain in general are Tramadol, Tramadol apap, and Tramadol hcl—the generic forms of Ultram, Ultram ER, and Ultracet, irrespectively. These drugs are so effective because they are synthetic opioids that are less addictive than narcotic analgesics generally are and also function as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), which are used to treat chronic depression and anxiety disorders.
Best of all, you don't have to get into a clinical trial just to get injections of it. You can buy Tramadol pills cheaply, easily, safely, and conveniently right from your computer.
