Harm Reduction The Pain Management Mega Thread - for all your questions on dealing with chronic pain

[LightTrailz]

^^^^^^^^
i was on baclofen for awhile but decided to switch to soma because it was longer acting...i preferred the soma...

is there anyone out there that has tried both, and what did you think of them comparatively?

Have no tried soma . and soma was discontinued in canada in 2003.

 

[[email protected]]

Lyme disease pain

I was recently diagnosed with Lyme's, had spinal tap, still waiting for culture results, but liquid was clear. MRA of head look ok. But, I am having severe headaces. Because of past drug abuse history, doc is really reluctant to prescribe pain meds. When I went to the ER due to head pain when I was first diagnosed, got 2 injections of demerol, didn't even get me high, just took the edge off. Now I take 800 mg. ibuprofen, and lay icebags on my head. This shit is crazy. Tried imitrex, but made headache worse. Do doctors ever come to the point where they say "hey, this person needs pain meds (narcs)". I last abused 2 years ago and have been clean. I'm so sick of this...Maybe it's time to search for a new doc. Looking for answers. Any similar situations?

 

[TheMatador]

Have no tried soma . and soma was discontinued in canada in 2003.

whaaaat?? soma is great, why did Canada decide to discontinue it?

 

[LightTrailz]

I have not been able to find an answer . i have an up coming appointment in january and am going to ask him about it , and also hopefully he puts me on something else as a sleep aid , hes got me on trazodone and while its ok , it doesnt work unless im already tired , if i have a migraine it makes it much worse , next day drowsiness is driving me crazy and the dry mouth is rediculous..

 

[sweetbeatlvr]

I was recently diagnosed with Lyme's, had spinal tap, still waiting for culture results, but liquid was clear. MRA of head look ok. But, I am having severe headaces. Because of past drug abuse history, doc is really reluctant to prescribe pain meds. When I went to the ER due to head pain when I was first diagnosed, got 2 injections of demerol, didn't even get me high, just took the edge off. Now I take 800 mg. ibuprofen, and lay icebags on my head. This shit is crazy. Tried imitrex, but made headache worse. Do doctors ever come to the point where they say "hey, this person needs pain meds (narcs)". I last abused 2 years ago and have been clean. I'm so sick of this...Maybe it's time to search for a new doc. Looking for answers. Any similar situations?

sorry to hear you are dealing with such an awful disease. it was thought i had lyme, when i was first searching for a diagnosis, because of the symptoms, but it turns out it was fibromyalgia. i empathize with you.

as far as the doc not prescribing pain meds... is this the same do who handled your med abuse? if so, i would search out a new doctor, who does not know of your past abuse.

since it is in your records (med abuse), possibly starting all over with a new doc would be your best bet. since you have been diagnosed, it will not be hard to be diagnosed again, because of the bloodwork showing you lyme. pain in the butt, but may be worth it to get the help you need.

best wishes to you.

 

[[email protected]]

sorry to hear you are dealing with such an awful disease. it was thought i had lyme, when i was first searching for a diagnosis, because of the symptoms, but it turns out it was fibromyalgia. i empathize with you.

as far as the doc not prescribing pain meds... is this the same do who handled your med abuse? if so, i would search out a new doctor, who does not know of your past abuse.

since it is in your records (med abuse), possibly starting all over with a new doc would be your best bet. since you have been diagnosed, it will not be hard to be diagnosed again, because of the bloodwork showing you lyme. pain in the butt, but may be worth it to get the help you need.

best wishes to you.

Yeah, same doc's office when I was doin my drug searching a couple years ago. Now it seems they don't believe the pain, don't blame em really. Feel like in order to get anything my blood pressure needs to shoot sky high. That's when the headaches are horrific. I've been drinking poppy seed tea, my own remedy for the pain. Hey, it helps, but gets expensive. I live way out in the middle of nowhere so have to travel quite a ways to see a good doc. But, might be worth it. Don't want to buy off the streets, you know. Don't know where to turn sometimes.........Merry Christmas

 

[edarrin]

I thought pharmacology was key and scoffed at alternative opinions, but I've since learned how important the mind is in all of this.

This is the most astute idea presented here. I've been on various opioids ovr the last 10 years and with the meds I find either you continously up the dose (not paractical after a while....tolerance gets too high and the docs get nervous) or periodically lower your dose while suffering some w/d symptoms but can be minimal if done properly.

Or resort to street drugs (which greatly extends your staying power on the upward swing).

But what really helps me is mindfullness based meditation and , as mentioned, it promotes a different attitude by centering one on living more in the moment. It makes you realize how much time one spends mentally in the future and/or past. Two thing we have no control over.

 

[LightTrailz]

^ Its not as hard as most people think it is .

Like ive told other people . ive been on 80mg extended release for a year and a bit . and use maybe 20mg of immediate release throughout the day combined with a muscle relaxant .

and after all this time my tolerance has not changed . and if i feel like it is . i knock 20mg off for about a week or two , then continue and will do it again in a month or so . my doctor is extremly happy , and if you do a little bit of reading then you would notice that once someone who has chronic pain finds a specific dose , they will stay with that dose and be comfortable for a long time .

this bullshit about having to constantly have meds upped and upped is only in a very few specific cases . most of them are people who just arent getting the high from them anymore , the other half believe that they should not have to feel ANY pain , sorry to say but life is FULL of pain , and they need to get over themselves . i can still feel 40mg , and i can feel it even more when taken with my muscle relaxant , hell i can still feel 2 percocet when taken 5-6 hours after my 40mg dose .

all you need to do is get used to that particular dose of medication . there was a point where i though i had to have it upped and i decided to see if i could get used to it . and i wish that more and more chronic pain patients would get this into their head . instead of thinking that having pain is just a gateway to copious amounts of narcotics.. you need to find a common ground between pain management and quality of life , once your quality of life gets shadowed with pills , your going to have to work twice as hard to get back to where you were.

 

[pixplzthx]

^^

I get what you are saying LT but sometimes I wonder if there is a distinct group others than those who "purposely" up their dosages. I honestly feel that there is a group of pain sufferers that for some reason believe that the "warm fuzzy" is what let's them know that the medicine is working.

Those stems from either a doctor not telling them that they will have pain or from the patients unrealistic expectation of the medicines analgesia. Long before I was on regular prescription opiates (seven years prior to be exact), I had a PT specialist looked me square in the face and say these exact words; "You are going to hurt everyday of your life."

Well don't sugar coat it for me!

Sure enough, he was right. When I was done jumping through the proverbial hoops, I sought at a new primary care physician (someone I actually knew) and asked him what I could do. His response: "Well, I've read your chart. What do you think will help you?"

You read my chart? Before I got here? Amazing.

Over a year and a half ago I asked for 30 mg of hydrocodone a day to keep the pain at bay. Since then, I have had to switch doctors (one left the practice and the other thought I was a risk: Even though I have no history of abuse. I don't even smoke or drink coffee), I am still on that same dosage, albeit in a different form(s). I was switched to 20 mg/day oxycodone (compounded with aspirin) and then to 8 mg/day of hydromorphone and then back to 20 mg/day oxycodone (non-compounded).

One of the doctors even commented that he was surprised I hadn't requested a higher dosage. My response was plain; "I don't intend to be pain free. I just want to be able to play with my kids and mow my own lawn."

I working into my ninth year of all this. I found out that my dad has a similar situation that he just had surgery for. It looks like I've got a great future ahead of me! The person I feel sorry for the most: My lovely bride. This whole mess flared up the month after we got married.

She clearly didn't sign up for this. But she has stood by me through it all.

 

[hexxx]

this bullshit about having to constantly have meds upped and upped is only in a very few specific cases . most of them are people who just arent getting the high from them anymore , the other half believe that they should not have to feel ANY pain , sorry to say but life is FULL of pain , and they need to get over themselves . i can still feel 40mg , and i can feel it even more when taken with my muscle relaxant , hell i can still feel 2 percocet when taken 5-6 hours after my 40mg dose .

The difference I had from my pain treatment, was between being bedridden and being able to go to work. I don't need the pain killers I'm scripted now, but I have 2 more ops to go and I'm scared they'll do what they did before, "OK you're fine, we shortened your arm and replace the broken prosthesis, here's some darvocet, you should be fine" (they did that after releasing me with a badly shattered hip, the assholes). I'm gonna make sure I get the same or stronger meds and build a motherfckn stockpile of the shit before I go for the next op.

They giving me fent with the option to import oxy. I think I'll stick to fent thank you very much. NSAIDS worked extremely well for the pain but I have an undiagnosed kidney ailment which rules them out. I actually requested them but was denied. I have some Celebrex stored up but I'm worried it's gonna cause me shit if I take them.

 

[head_creeps]

taken by mouth, what works best for break through pain when using oxycontin? is taking roxicodone a good idea to just dose up on the exact same drug? how about oxycontin with opanaIR, dilaudid, norco (i know its weaker than others and a partial mu agonist).

i know by search and research that dilaudid has a lower bioavailability, but would it be more effective than norco when taken by mouth? (not hospital heroin iv abuse here).

what experiences do you have with IR opiates coupled with oxycontin(oxycodone)?

what combos have you tried that are effective with oxycontin at the baseline for ER?

 

[LightTrailz]

Get that bioavailability shit out of your head , if you actually are a chronic pain patient and not abusing your medication that crap should mean nothing to you . Its your doctors decision which medications to put you on and to base what medications you "want" based on such information is totally rediculous .

If your doctor didnt think the medication hes prescribing you was worth doing so , then he wouldnt prescribe it . that BA stuff is really only pertinent to those wanting the most out of their high .

this is another thing i dont get .. if you are in pain as long as something is covering your opiate receptors its going to influence the reduction in pain your looking for .. it has nothing to do with how well its going to treat your pain.

 

[TheMatador]

^^^^^^
+1,000,000

 

[Darkness2Light]

If your really wanting to help yourself as a pain patient, quit looking on ways to get high or the better meds-find what works.Communicate with your doctor--be honest, be willing to try all avenues of methodology. IF pain reduction is your true reason,which it should be, then you will be better off in the long run.Now, if your doctor is NOT listening or doing the proper tests to find the cause then fire him/her and find one willing to do the job.Because so many people abuse the system, doctor are wary and really can you blame them?

 

[Nyogen]

Here's my issue:

Long story short, about 12 years ago I started having lower back pain and went from slipped L4-L5 discs to having both rupture with stenosis and nerve compression. Luckily, I haven't had much nerve damage to my legs, but I live with constant pain and am unable to stand/walk more than 30 minutes without feeling like I've been shot in the back.

Aside from the discectomies I've had (2) and numerous (5+) steroid/nerve block injections...the only thing that's provided relief is hydrocodone.

The problem is...it just isn't doing it any more. I'm currently taking 2 Norcos (10-325) three times a day. So... I'm going to have a discussion with my pain doc on what would be the logical step up.

After my last surgery, I did have about a month's supply of Oxycontin, but other than making me feel loopier, it really didn't help with the pain. It just kept me high enough to not realize it was there!

My question for anyone that might care to offer suggestions... What would be a logical step up from the Norcos but not into the realm of Oxycontin? Is there something in between?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Rexeh]

I know what you are talking about since I have lower back pain myself as well (Scheuermann's kyphosis). I do have only Tramadol and Codeine myself but I notice that my meds don't work like they used to like they did a few months ago.

I don't know where you live but my guess is the US, do they have Dihydrocodeine where you live? my initial thought was taking an NSAID like Ibuprofen or Diclofenac but since you mentioned OxyContin I doubt they would work for you.

MSContin (Morphine) is probably your best choice seeing that it is about half as strong as OxyContin according to this source, but I am not an expert ofcourse so try to bring it up during your appointment with your pain doc. I am sure he and other people on this forum have way more knowledge about this than I, so all I can say as another chronic pain patient is good luck and I hope you'll find the right medicine.

Peace o/

500th post \o/

 

[LightTrailz]

could give a low dose fentanyl patch a go with norco for breakthrough , that may help alleviate that edge without being too high .. i have heard good things about the fentanyl patch and may be giving it a try myself. read up on it , may find it would work for you .

 

[prsd]

i have muscle pain from accidentally discloating my jaw that was relocated again 5 years later which i did myself..i have been taking ativan for over a year off-label for pain and im up to 4-6 mg a day. The ativan relaxes the nerves and muscles and allows my pain to go from a 10 to a 1-2 and if i take more 2mg of ativan its nearing the 0 level but it only lasts a few hours. I just turned 24 y.o. and the past 5 or 6 years of my life have been pure hell. I was taking ssris for years and other crap before i figured out my problem. I now have no sex drive anymore from prior drug use. My HPTA is still under chronic stress. I eat healthy and take many supplements. My question is would a *chiropractor* help my condition if ativan helps to such a large degree since it is a muscle relaxer of the entire body. I feel tension in my neck shoulder and particularly my ear with severe stabbing pains 24/7 unless the ativan is active in me. My life feels ruined right now with chronic pain and no sex drive. I dont think it will ever come back unless i get healthy and off drugs pain free which is why i think the chiropractor may be a good idea. BTW i constantly snap my tmj joint but the nerves are compressed and the pain doesn't go away even when i snap it.

 

[Cane2theLeft]

^Do you have bad anxiety? If you have severe stress/anxiety that could A.) cause the pain or B.) seriously exacerbate the pain explaining why lorazepam (which alone has little analgesic quality except where muscle spasm is the problem) is so beneficial.

Do you have nerve pain at all? I wouldn't be surprised if you had trigeminal entrapment given the area. Do you ever have burning, stinging or electric type pain in that area?

 

[prsd]

^Do you have bad anxiety? If you have severe stress/anxiety that could A.) cause the pain or B.) seriously exacerbate the pain explaining why lorazepam (which alone has little analgesic quality except where muscle spasm is the problem) is so beneficial.

Do you have nerve pain at all? I wouldn't be surprised if you had trigeminal entrapment given the area. Do you ever have burning, stinging or electric type pain in that area?

i have some form of electric pain there but mostly stabbing and when i crack the joint out there is some relief. I take a lot of supplements which make the joint snap more...I get shocks tho occasionally. I don't really have anxiety but i did for years prior. The lorezapam literally takes away all the pain and i have tried other drugs such as neurontin which did nothing but make me feel tired and shitty. Ativan seems to have the most analgesic potential for my condition which makes me consider a upper cervical adjustment. I don't mind ativan but its no cure and i dont want to be on it for the rest of my life for chronic pain.