Harm Reduction The Pain Management Mega Thread - for all your questions on dealing with chronic pain
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johanneschimpo
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There's a thread thats several pages long, all about pain management. It shouldn't be hard to find, its probably on the first or second page.
LightTrailz
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Narcotics dont necessarily make things better , but they do help .. continue to go to the chiropractor , even if you think its not working , i just went to one last thursday and i feel my meds much more now , the alignment takes so much off your back and increases the blood flow to many more areas than you would think if your body is twisted in anyway you will feel much better than you do now , yes youll hurt a little bit but its worth it . theres 2 massive muscles just behind your stomach muscles , alot of doctors forget they are there and clamp with about 300lbs of force in each muscle supporting your back .. one of those out of whack will cause pain everywhere and on your back . keep it up .
im 22 and have arthritis in both of my knees and a back similar to scoliosis , and i am being treated with moderate dose narcotics and ive started seeing my chriopractor again .. i take 40mg twice daily along with another 30 - 40 mg of percocet ontop on a bad day , but ive also had xrays , mris , physio therapy , acupuncture , message therapy , stretches exercise , and nothing changed .. thats the only reason i get narcotics . and also i spent 8 years trying to work around not having to be prescribed them which they liked to see.
and please dont lie to your doctor because if he finds out your lieing he may cut you off too , honesty is really your best policy even if its not working right now , if you need to get really emotional with him talk about your quality of life , how you dont want to be on them but you need atleast something to live a normal life etc .. give it a shot .
im 22 and have arthritis in both of my knees and a back similar to scoliosis , and i am being treated with moderate dose narcotics and ive started seeing my chriopractor again .. i take 40mg twice daily along with another 30 - 40 mg of percocet ontop on a bad day , but ive also had xrays , mris , physio therapy , acupuncture , message therapy , stretches exercise , and nothing changed .. thats the only reason i get narcotics . and also i spent 8 years trying to work around not having to be prescribed them which they liked to see.
and please dont lie to your doctor because if he finds out your lieing he may cut you off too , honesty is really your best policy even if its not working right now , if you need to get really emotional with him talk about your quality of life , how you dont want to be on them but you need atleast something to live a normal life etc .. give it a shot .
Cane2theLeft
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Is there a neuropathic component to your back pain at all? Do you have any sharp, electric, burning, shooting type of pain or any symptoms resembling when a limb falls asleep?
Where your back hurts do your muscles spasm/get really stiff and tense up? Epidural steroid injections combined with physical therapy may really help if this is the case... if might not cure the problem, but it very well could give you a few months of relief. If you have low back problems then your lifestyle (such as posture, walking, etc.) may prevent the injury from healing and so the ESI combined with physical/occupational therapy may make a tremendous difference.
If the pain is neuropathic, as I inquired about above, different medications like tricyclic antidepressants and anticonvulsants may make a huge difference and may reduce the amount of narcotics you need to feel relief.
There are dozens of causes of back pain that wouldn't show up on your aforementioned tests, if you can give us more information about the type of pain, location, what makes it better/worse then we might be able to give more specific suggestions... both for medications/other treatment and maybe other tests to pursue in getting a diagnosis. Chronic pain is largely treated the same regardless of etiology, but some things can be treated directly reducing the pain or even cure it.
Anyway, I'm not sure if any of this helped but I think I would be able to help more if I had more information about your specific case. Also to re-iterate what LT said, please please please don't lie to your doctor, not only could it be bad for you, but the more doctors are lied to, the more people with legitimate problems are treated with suspicion.
Where your back hurts do your muscles spasm/get really stiff and tense up? Epidural steroid injections combined with physical therapy may really help if this is the case... if might not cure the problem, but it very well could give you a few months of relief. If you have low back problems then your lifestyle (such as posture, walking, etc.) may prevent the injury from healing and so the ESI combined with physical/occupational therapy may make a tremendous difference.
If the pain is neuropathic, as I inquired about above, different medications like tricyclic antidepressants and anticonvulsants may make a huge difference and may reduce the amount of narcotics you need to feel relief.
There are dozens of causes of back pain that wouldn't show up on your aforementioned tests, if you can give us more information about the type of pain, location, what makes it better/worse then we might be able to give more specific suggestions... both for medications/other treatment and maybe other tests to pursue in getting a diagnosis. Chronic pain is largely treated the same regardless of etiology, but some things can be treated directly reducing the pain or even cure it.
Anyway, I'm not sure if any of this helped but I think I would be able to help more if I had more information about your specific case. Also to re-iterate what LT said, please please please don't lie to your doctor, not only could it be bad for you, but the more doctors are lied to, the more people with legitimate problems are treated with suspicion.
To go to a pain management clinic- Some advice please
Hello everyone. I recently have been thinking about going to pain management for management because of my daily pain. I have MRI proof of Ruptured disc and DDD and a BAD case of IBS, and am wondering about peoples thought process on if It is a good Idea to go to a pain management clinic.
Here is my story, summed up and full.
Basically I am a 22 year old recent college graduate who has been diagnosed via MRI with Degenerative Disc Disease, and 2 ruptured disc, between my L4-L5-S1. I have done physical Therapy at least 3-4 times since i was diagnosed when I was 16, have had numerous steroid injections, and actually recently had a Cortico Steroid shot into my Spinal cord (FUCKING OUCH). \Well, recently I was also diagnosed with IBS and it has just been KILLING me lately, it overrides my back pain and sometimes I cant even work/stand up.
I am in good shape, 6'2 170 ex collegiate athlete/high school athlete with a B.S in health and exercise science (so I know very very well about health and such). Since being diagnosed recently with IBS and a worsening in my DDD, my life has just seemed to fall to shit. Ive been through alot in the doctors office, from 3 MRI's proving my back is worsening, to steroid injections, to 3 CT scans for IBS, blood and urine analysis's and recently some medicine that is not helping my IBS, I have lost motivation for allot of things in life due to my pain. It used to be very manageable as a teen, but recently not one day goes by where either my IBS acts up or my back does not hurt to the point to where it makes life very difficult.
I have been prescribed Hydrocodone a few times (7.5, usually #30 or so) by a godsend of a Doctor (my last doctor was a total cockface and basically told me that I am to young to be in that much pain, even when the MRI showed i had herniated disc as a teen, and promptly gave me tylenol and muscle relaxer), whose husband had a spinal fusion so she knows first hand how bad the pain can be. The medicine helps somewhat, but I have NEVER had complete pain relief, even taking 2-3 of them at a time, they just kinda take the edge off, but I am still in pain.
So what I am trying to determine is if taking that next step to go to a pain management facility and see what they can offer. I honestly cannot live in this amount of pain that I am in on a daily basis, but I also am very concerned about addiction/tolerance if I am put on a bigger dose of pain meds, but its for legit pain.
What have other people in this situation done, what can I expect if I go to a pain management clinic, do they drug test you before they put you on something? I quit smoking weed a while back after I graduated college so I could look for jobs (God smoking made the pain so much more bareable) and I just want something regardless of future problems that will help put my life back on the right path. My life has seemed to fall apart because of the amount of pain I am in, I used to be a very active, great attitude person, but now I just feel like a 80 year old man crying and writhering in pain. THANK YOu
Hello everyone. I recently have been thinking about going to pain management for management because of my daily pain. I have MRI proof of Ruptured disc and DDD and a BAD case of IBS, and am wondering about peoples thought process on if It is a good Idea to go to a pain management clinic.
Here is my story, summed up and full.
Basically I am a 22 year old recent college graduate who has been diagnosed via MRI with Degenerative Disc Disease, and 2 ruptured disc, between my L4-L5-S1. I have done physical Therapy at least 3-4 times since i was diagnosed when I was 16, have had numerous steroid injections, and actually recently had a Cortico Steroid shot into my Spinal cord (FUCKING OUCH). \Well, recently I was also diagnosed with IBS and it has just been KILLING me lately, it overrides my back pain and sometimes I cant even work/stand up.
I am in good shape, 6'2 170 ex collegiate athlete/high school athlete with a B.S in health and exercise science (so I know very very well about health and such). Since being diagnosed recently with IBS and a worsening in my DDD, my life has just seemed to fall to shit. Ive been through alot in the doctors office, from 3 MRI's proving my back is worsening, to steroid injections, to 3 CT scans for IBS, blood and urine analysis's and recently some medicine that is not helping my IBS, I have lost motivation for allot of things in life due to my pain. It used to be very manageable as a teen, but recently not one day goes by where either my IBS acts up or my back does not hurt to the point to where it makes life very difficult.
I have been prescribed Hydrocodone a few times (7.5, usually #30 or so) by a godsend of a Doctor (my last doctor was a total cockface and basically told me that I am to young to be in that much pain, even when the MRI showed i had herniated disc as a teen, and promptly gave me tylenol and muscle relaxer), whose husband had a spinal fusion so she knows first hand how bad the pain can be. The medicine helps somewhat, but I have NEVER had complete pain relief, even taking 2-3 of them at a time, they just kinda take the edge off, but I am still in pain.
So what I am trying to determine is if taking that next step to go to a pain management facility and see what they can offer. I honestly cannot live in this amount of pain that I am in on a daily basis, but I also am very concerned about addiction/tolerance if I am put on a bigger dose of pain meds, but its for legit pain.
What have other people in this situation done, what can I expect if I go to a pain management clinic, do they drug test you before they put you on something? I quit smoking weed a while back after I graduated college so I could look for jobs (God smoking made the pain so much more bareable) and I just want something regardless of future problems that will help put my life back on the right path. My life has seemed to fall apart because of the amount of pain I am in, I used to be a very active, great attitude person, but now I just feel like a 80 year old man crying and writhering in pain. THANK YOu
gethigh
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best thing to do is get a referral from a specialist i live in stl and none of the pain docs would let me in without the docs office making the appointment i got lucky bc my pc has a pain doc in the room next to him and if you look at a xray of my back you would say live in a bed and suck on 100mg of iv morphine a hour, i have 10 pounds of steel in my back..
btw look here http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/showthread.php?t=390899
btw look here http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/showthread.php?t=390899
^ thanks, Ill read through that. I was referred to a neurosurgeon who didn't seem to take a keen note on me that I was only 22 when I was in there with terrible disc pain, he wouldn't even prescribed me a differnt muscle relaxer when I told him I have been prescribed cyclobenzaprine for 6 years now and all it did was make me feel worse then ever, he told me anything else would be highly addictive. Now all he wants to do is give me cotico steroid shots in my spine again even after I told him that it was the worst feeling I've ever felt in my life and did barely anything.
Do you think I need to talk to my normal doctor, or try going back through the neurologist who wont even prescribed me a thing unless hes going to do surgery on me?
Do you think I need to talk to my normal doctor, or try going back through the neurologist who wont even prescribed me a thing unless hes going to do surgery on me?
gethigh
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yeah i missed 3 years of school and had to live in bed due to pain having a full spinal fusion isnt fun try it for one day.
i would ask your normal doc(GP) general practitioner for a referral to a pain management doctor or ask him to help you with your pain, in my case my gp had me go to a pain doc for a recommendation for what narcotic i should be on and my gp writes the scripts as a matter of fact im picking up the script tomorrow.
my dad and best friend had the steroid shots i cant have em bc of the steel in my back the said all they do is lay you out for a day or two and then do nothing and as for cyclobenzaprine i downed 300mgs of that shit and got no relief but soma which is addictive but not really addictive, low risk for addiction is really good muscle relaxer.
i would ask your normal doc(GP) general practitioner for a referral to a pain management doctor or ask him to help you with your pain, in my case my gp had me go to a pain doc for a recommendation for what narcotic i should be on and my gp writes the scripts as a matter of fact im picking up the script tomorrow.
my dad and best friend had the steroid shots i cant have em bc of the steel in my back the said all they do is lay you out for a day or two and then do nothing and as for cyclobenzaprine i downed 300mgs of that shit and got no relief but soma which is addictive but not really addictive, low risk for addiction is really good muscle relaxer.
Okay, Ill try the GP and see what she says, she seems very concerned for my situation. So frustrating graduating college with hard work and a degree and being in so much pain daily you can't even imagine looking for a job without first fixing the problem. Thanks a bunch, yeah my neurosurgeon said soma was just WAY to addictive, and just smiled and said, want another shot. f.u. ha
thanks a bunch.
thanks a bunch.
gethigh
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dude im in crippling pain for life i have marfans (look it up on wikipedia) and about 20 other diseases and i go to college for a undergraduate in biology and plan on going to medical school. all for free to bc my whole family is disabled and the pell grants pays all my tuition.
gethigh
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look at this and think that things could be much worse for you, so dont be depressed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marfans
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marfans
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marfans said:
chronic pain is the worst. I have had 3 spinal fusions myself (well 2 surgeries but the first fused only my back and the second did my back and through my tummy 
I hope you get the help you need. Pain management clinics are a bitch tho...Do you think you could go to a family practice doctor that you know? They are always more caring and seem, atleast in my opinion, to try to help...
My family practice doctor was amazing, I had horribe BTP during my finals week and he mailed me scripts and did it for the whole year during college....get someone like that, that actually cares about your situation
I hope you get the help you need. Pain management clinics are a bitch tho...Do you think you could go to a family practice doctor that you know? They are always more caring and seem, atleast in my opinion, to try to help...
My family practice doctor was amazing, I had horribe BTP during my finals week and he mailed me scripts and did it for the whole year during college....get someone like that, that actually cares about your situation
Damn, that marfans disorder sounds excruciating, sorry bro. I really do not want to have surgery if at all possible, as I know it CAN makes things worse....
I know people have it so much worse than me, I watched my father go through radiation and chemotherapy and I feel so guilty even showing any signs of pain around him. Thanks for the help, I am reading as much as I can about some sort of pain management, reading that thread makes me want to get proactive and get as much relief as I can. many thanks .
I know people have it so much worse than me, I watched my father go through radiation and chemotherapy and I feel so guilty even showing any signs of pain around him. Thanks for the help, I am reading as much as I can about some sort of pain management, reading that thread makes me want to get proactive and get as much relief as I can. many thanks .
gethigh
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my family doctor writes me for morphine, i have a spinal fusion from tailbone to base of neck so i know what your feeling, and my back surgeon said that i should have no pain, i said fuck you and spit in his face, with a nice big dip in.sunset117 said:chronic pain is the worst. I have had 3 spinal fusions myself (well 2 surgeries but the first fused only my back and the second did my back and through my tummy
I hope you get the help you need. Pain management clinics are a bitch tho...Do you think you could go to a family practice doctor that you know? They are always more caring and seem, atleast in my opinion, to try to help...
My family practice doctor was amazing, I had horribe BTP during my finals week and he mailed me scripts and did it for the whole year during college....get someone like that, that actually cares about your situation
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