Sickle Cell Pain Crisis

Home care

Follow these guidelines when caring for yourself at home:

• Drink at least 3 quarts of fluid (12 8-ounce glasses) over the next 24 hours. This will make sure you aren't dehydrated.

• Rest until all your pain is gone.

• Apply heat to the painful areas. Don't use ice as it can make the pain worse.

• Take any prescribed pain medicines as directed. You may take acetaminophen or ibuprofen instead for milder pain. If you have long-term (chronic) liver or kidney disease, talk with your health care provider before using these medicines. Also talk with your provider if you’ve had a stomach ulcer or GI (gastrointestinal) bleeding.

Preventing future attacks

• Keep yourself well hydrated. Drink 8 or more 8-ounce glasses of water and other fluids every day. Drink more when you have a fever, are driving at high altitudes, or are traveling by air.

• Don't overexert yourself or be exposed to very hot or cold temperatures. Don't do strenuous work or exercise, such as training for an athletic competition. These may make you very tired or dehydrated.

• Limit how much alcohol you drink. A drink once in a while may be okay when you don’t have symptoms. Always check with your health care provider.

• Try to stay away from high altitudes. Don't fly, go mountain climbing, or go to cities with a high altitude.

• Take your prescribed medicines:

  • Adults with severe SCD may take medicines, such as hydroxyurea or L-glutamine, to help reduce the number of pain crises. Research shows that hydroxyurea therapy may also help babies and children with SCD.

  • Some people have severe pain and must use an opioid medicine, such as morphine, daily, along with additional pain medicine.

• Don’t allow smoking in your home or car. Stay away from secondhand smoke.

• Keep all appointments for follow-up. If you use hydroxyurea, your provider will likely check you often. This is to prevent complications, such as infections.

• Talk with your family and friends about SCD. People are often not aware of how painful the disease can be.

• If your pain crisis is severe, you may need to go to the hospital or emergency room for intensive treatment.

• Regular follow-up with your SCD specialist is important to care for your disease.

• If you travel, consider carrying a letter from your SCD specialist. It should include their contact information. It should also include the appropriate care for you during a pain crisis.

Follow-up care

Follow up with your health care provider, as advised. Keep all routine follow-up appointments and ask about new treatments. Recently, new gene therapies were approved to treat SCD. Talk to your provider (or your child's provider) about these new developments. Talk with your provider if there are issues that make it hard for you to follow up (such as not having health insurance coverage for prescribed medicines). If SCD interferes with your work, talk to your human resources department. Through the Americans with Disabilities Act, you may be able to have workplace accommodations when SCD complications occur. Wear a medical alert bracelet or necklace.

When to get medical advice

Contact your health care provider right away if any of these occur:

• Pain that doesn’t get better after taking the medicines prescribed

• Fever of 100.4°F (38ºC) or higher, or as advised by your provider

• Cough with dark sputum or shortness of breath

• Blood (pink, brown, or red color) in your pee (urine)

• Trouble with speech or vision

• Any painful joint that gets hot, swollen, or red

• Headache that is different from normal

• Not being able to move, or feeling like a part of your body is numb

• Sudden weakness or numbness

• Painful erection that doesn't go away

• New symptoms not seen before with the disease