Individual response may vary. Clinical practice guideline no. 9. Management of Cancer Pain. Other Medicines Used for Pain Relief Analgesics alone don't always produce total pain relief. Pain from damage or irritation to nerves may not respond to analgesics.
Some people get pain relief from antidepressant and anticonvulsant medicines.
Anticonvulsants and antidepressants take several days to weeks or more to start to relieve pain. It is not yet known why these medicines work for some kinds of nerve pain, but they can help a pain plan succeed. Medicines used to treat anxiety, sedatives, and some heart medicines can also be helpful for nerve pain. Codeine, capsaicin, sedatives, and antidepressants have been used for the nerve pain caused by herpes zoster infection, or shingles . Not everyone gets relief from these medicines.