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Harm Reduction The Pain Management Megathread (Chronic and Acute Pain Discussion) Version 5.0 ~ V

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Backeotomy said:
Hello everyone! I'm so happy that I found these pain management megathreads. I've spent hours reading through these, and they have been very informative. My heart goes out to all of you because chronic pain sucks.

Does anyone suffer from arachnoiditis/adhesive arachnoiditis? It's scarring on nerves from invasive treatments, and it causes pain in the spine as well as pain/numbness in my legs (multiple procedures/surgeries in lower lumbar). This condition is doctor caused, so they are not up front about the diagnosis.

I have this as a result of "malpractice mayhem." L3-S1 fusion resulted in 3 bonus surgeries due to medical staff errors (anyone considering a fusion, please think long and hard before choosing this procedure). Add many cortisone injections and nerve blocks and I'm left with this incurable/unfixable condition.

I'm currently taking small doses of oxycodone as needed and would rather not increase because hyperalgesia made it worse and I'm tired of being treated like garbage by pharmacists. I also take diclofenac (hope my stomach holds out :)) and baclofen. Does anyone have recommendations for other medicines or treatments that help with nerve issues? I cannot do TENS as it sends my nerve issues into overdrive. Spinal cord stimulator is not an option as it will rupture my CSF fluid mass. All other invasive treatments are off the table as I've been through enough already. I also do PT/exercise regularly which has helped.

Thank you for any help you can provide!
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Ugh, thanks for sharing. As you can see in my earlier posts, the day is coming where I will need double fusion of L3-4 and 4-5. Stories like yours are the reason I am so hesitant.

Gabapentin and Lyrica are supposed to be a good option for nerve pain. Have you tried those?

Also, I love your username. I quote that movie line often for my own back problems :)
 
Lyrics is pretty standard treatment for neuropathic pain nowerdays.......have you not tried it?
 
Thanks Harrisment. On the worst days I say I need a backeotomy because the pain sucks!

Did both Gabapentin and Lyrica. Gabapentin at 1,800 mg/day didn't help. Lyrica seemed to help more, but it made me feel drunk. They say you need to take it for a while to get acclimated, but I just couldn't get used to it after 6 months (300mg a day). Plus the constant desire to eat, causing weight gain, was not going to help my spine.

How about diazepam or other muscle relaxers? The random spasms are rough. But my doc is scared of the opiate/benzo mix even at my low doses. Been stuck with the Baclofen because it supposedly works well with muscles and nerves. But its not helping and I'm hoping to find something better.

The fusion is something to think long and hard on. If I only needed one I would have been much better off. With even one you can get arachnoiditis. My situation was a worst case scenario because of the complications and how it almost killed me. The surgery actually helped a lot of my issues, but the new issues offset what was fixed. The recovery is hard and painful. Will take your body at least a year to adjust.
 
Backeotomy said:
Hello everyone! I'm so happy that I found these pain management megathreads. I've spent hours reading through these, and they have been very informative. My heart goes out to all of you because chronic pain sucks.

Does anyone suffer from arachnoiditis/adhesive arachnoiditis? It's scarring on nerves from invasive treatments, and it causes pain in the spine as well as pain/numbness in my legs (multiple procedures/surgeries in lower lumbar). This condition is doctor caused, so they are not up front about the diagnosis.

I have this as a result of "malpractice mayhem." L3-S1 fusion resulted in 3 bonus surgeries due to medical staff errors (anyone considering a fusion, please think long and hard before choosing this procedure). Add many cortisone injections and nerve blocks and I'm left with this incurable/unfixable condition.

I'm currently taking small doses of oxycodone as needed and would rather not increase because hyperalgesia made it worse and I'm tired of being treated like garbage by pharmacists. I also take diclofenac (hope my stomach holds out :)) and baclofen. Does anyone have recommendations for other medicines or treatments that help with nerve issues? I cannot do TENS as it sends my nerve issues into overdrive. Spinal cord stimulator is not an option as it will rupture my CSF fluid mass. All other invasive treatments are off the table as I've been through enough already. I also do PT/exercise regularly which has helped.

Thank you for any help you can provide!
Click to expand...




As mentioned, have you ever been on Lyrica? It works on the nerves........

On a scale of 1 to 10, what does your pain level reach normally each day?

First time I seen my GP, he looked at my xrays & said, you may need a fusion & possible rod on your spine. That really scared med & after getting the MRI, my spine specialist then said we will hold off any surgery as long as possible since I'm still young enough, last thing they wanted was if the surgery didn't turn out well & I ended up in worse shape so I did go to physical therapy for 3 months but when I got to the weights, it simply hurt me too much, even tho I used pain meds before going in........

After a few sessions with weights & coming home to ingest a double dose of pain meds because I hurt so bad & couldn't get up from my bed for an hour to go take a shower.

My orthopedic doctor signed off on me doing physical therapy anymore. You can do stretches & walk daily, it helps me but I can't do any weights......for me, lifting 5 pounds can be painful at times.

Besides trying Lyrica out, have you ever used Somas? Baclofen is nasty & makes me constantly groggy, I stopped taking it.

If you're out west, have you ever tried smoking weed for your pain?
 
Forgot to add, done Skelaxin, Robaxin, Flexeril, and Soma (they no longer prescribe that here).
 
Thanks for the input everyone!

Lost boys, my average daily pain is about a 4. Keep in mind I have a decent pain tolerance and experienced a 10 (broke 3 molars from clenching due to surgeries/complications). With any flare (which can be caused by simply breathing), it will go up to a 7-8 because of the combined back/leg pains. I was 31 when I had the fusion. Long story why, but before it I was at a constant 7-8 and opted for the fusion because I was desperate for help. I hear you on the PT, gotta watch out for some of them. I've had some gung ho therapists get pissy with me for not going down far enough to touch my toes. Two 12-inch rods and 12 bolts doesn't let me do that anymore genius! So I do only my own PT. I'm doing the same as you and it helps, although you input reminds me I need to not lift heavier things when I can.

Can't do weed, job won't allow it. Baclofen doesn't make me tired anymore, but it doesn't do anything. I'm pissed about the Soma because it helped a lot. I moved to Maryland and learned they will not prescribe because of its street popularity and how it synergizes with opiates. I think valium may help, but I see the warnings on here about the benzo/opiate combo. Would 5mg valim and 10 mg percocet max 3x a day be that dangerous or is my doc just being super conservative die to today's pain management climate? My tolerance has come down from my 200mg+ oxy days, but I'm sure I can handle this. I'm up against a wall because pain management keeps trying to force me into more needles. They don't care if I've been there and it didn't help. Some studies show the spine injections cause arachnoiditis, and I sure as hell don't want any more.
 
My spine specialist was caring enough to explain the needle for my back & said its a 50/50 shot to work. She told me several people don't get it cause they're scared of needles & she doesn't force it on anyone.

As for 5mgs of Valium 3 times a day with percs is okay......if you don't have a tolerance to benzos, I think 5mgs twice a day is enough with your percs.

I used Valium today, only 2.5mgs with 30mgs of morphine & it worked great for my pain & last a long time. I don't need much Valium....... It seems you have more on going pain through out the day than I do.

Somas are definitely better IMO........of course the go well with opiates, they do a wonderful job & anything that works well is a no no to these agencies that control the doctors, complete joke!

How long have you been with your doctor? It seems now a days doctors are becoming more scared to prescribe what the pain patient needs.

But like I said, if you can't get somas, Valium's are way bbetter than Baclofen, only thing is you don't want a benzo addiction, it can become pretty scary to get off of.
 
I often wonder how long it will take for the opioid-phobia exhibited by doctors in the sates will take to manifest itself on this side of the pond. I guess it has to some degree already (depends on the individual gp) but its nowhere near as severe.
 
LostBoys, exactly what I needed. I'll see what my doctor thinks. I've been with her 2 years and she truly sympathizes with my condition. I'll heed your warning on the benzos. Saw a lot of stories here when I was researching to come down on the oxys.

Englandgz74, I hope this doesn't come your way but unfortunately I'd bet it will. I've been doing pain management for years and getting help keeps getting harder.

Take care everyone and best wishes!
 
I haven't seen mention of implantable pain pumps for back pain. They work pretty well, but do have to be refilled periodically, but I believe can be done with a needle through the skin. I knew a fellow with one of these and he was still pretty bad off, but could at least function with this.

Implantable Drug Pump
 
Frustrated. Dealing with severe chronic back pain for 15 months...

So, 2 weeks ago my Dr was concerned that I would get dependant on Oxy (been on 20mg/day for ~4 months, really helped a lot at first but starting to get tolerance, never abused or ran out early) so she prescribed me tramadol @ 150mg/day. The tramadol literally didn't do anything, I used it before Oxy and it helped a bit then but no it does nothing for the pain. So after 2 weeks of suffering I tell my Dr that I need something else, so she prescribes me Oxy again @ 15mg/day ... Less than my initial dose.. I mean, it helps obviously but I'm still in way too much pain. The worst part is that I live in North Canada and she is the only doctor within my range...

Just needed to rant, it fucking sucks that people abuse their meds and make it impossible for people like us who are in actual tremendous pain to get the medication and/or doses that we need to just to live in bearable amounts of pain. This pain has just destroyed me physically and mentally and I don't know what to do.
 
lifterpuller said:
Frustrated. Dealing with severe chronic back pain for 15 months...

So, 2 weeks ago my Dr was concerned that I would get dependant on Oxy (been on 20mg/day for ~4 months, really helped a lot at first but starting to get tolerance, never abused or ran out early) so she prescribed me tramadol @ 150mg/day. The tramadol literally didn't do anything, I used it before Oxy and it helped a bit then but no it does nothing for the pain. So after 2 weeks of suffering I tell my Dr that I need something else, so she prescribes me Oxy again @ 15mg/day ... Less than my initial dose.. I mean, it helps obviously but I'm still in way too much pain. The worst part is that I live in North Canada and she is the only doctor within my range...

Just needed to rant, it fucking sucks that people abuse their meds and make it impossible for people like us who are in actual tremendous pain to get the medication and/or doses that we need to just to live in bearable amounts of pain. This pain has just destroyed me physically and mentally and I don't know what to do.
Click to expand...



I know exactly how you feel.......I've been suffering with chronic back pain for 14 years. The first 10 years, I just suffered with it w/o seeing a doctor too much. I was given T3 off & on & tried vicodin & percs but I was too sensitive to them & got sick so stopped them back then.

4 years ago started going regularly & started with Tramado (doesn't do jack for pain but is a mood lifter), was on it for 6 months & then moved to vicodin again & to my surprise, worked great.

Been on somas & vicodin for several years now.......tried morphine & that works the best. Talked to my doctor & he said once the vicodin stops working, will move over to morphine because I don't like oxycodone at all.

Use to have a doctor that was an idiot & thought it was all in my head & that I just needed exercise, even though he had xrays & an MRI in front of him showing otherwise.......

These younger doctors are stuck on physical therapy & exercise......I use to play a lot of sports & I'm thin & in shape.......if my back didn't hurt, I would be out there playing sports. Just do your job & prescribe me the meds you clown :)

They love taking your money & don't want to give anything back in return when you are in real pain.
 
TheLostBoys said:
These younger doctors are stuck on physical therapy & exercise......I use to play a lot of sports & I'm thin & in shape.......if my back didn't hurt, I would be out there playing sports. Just do your job & prescribe me the meds you clown :)

They love taking your money & don't want to give anything back in return when you are in real pain.
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this is EXACTLY how I feel, such a joke. A dr (or anyone) truely cannot understand living in severe chronic pain unless they themselves have gone through it. It's absolute agony and the fact that my own DR wont give me what i need to at least be functional is just so frustrating. I'm almost to the point where I would have to go and try to get pain killers illicitly because I can't live in this level of pain. I've asked my dr to give me a referral to a pain management specialist but she just keeps saying they won't do anything more than what she is already doing..
 
You have to go & find a better doctor willing to give you the pain meds you actually need.......& some pain management clinics don't offer opiates, so you gotta be careful & find out which ones prescribe them.
 
TheLostBoys said:
You have to go & find a better doctor willing to give you the pain meds you actually need.......& some pain management clinics don't offer opiates, so you gotta be careful & find out which ones prescribe them.
Click to expand...

The problem is that the closest "city" that I could go to where I would be likely to find a dr like this is a 6.5hr drive away and I don't have a car. I could probably find someone willing to do the drive once for me but I doubt anyone would be willing to do it regularly so I can get my scripts refilled :/ I would move but I already had to quit my job because of the pain and need to stay here with my brother because the money I get wouldn't be able to allow me to pay for rent/food on my own without a job :/

Such a fucking shitty situation.. I feel so hopeless. Everything would be okay without this pain, the pain has ruined my life.
 
6.5 hours to another doctor, do you live in like South Dakota, middle of no where?

You have it rough man.......quitting work cause of the pain sounds like you have serious pain issues......have you told your doctor you had to quit?

Most doctors are clowns anyway, it won't matter, they're not sympathetic & like you said, if they don't have pain, they don't understand.

I don't want anyone going thru the pain we are but they won't understand & show compassion unless they are going thru the same thing.
 
TheLostBoys said:
6.5 hours to another doctor, do you live in like South Dakota, middle of no where?

You have it rough man.......quitting work cause of the pain sounds like you have serious pain issues......have you told your doctor you had to quit?

Most doctors are clowns anyway, it won't matter, they're not sympathetic & like you said, if they don't have pain, they don't understand.

I don't want anyone going thru the pain we are but they won't understand & show compassion unless they are going thru the same thing.
Click to expand...

I definitely live in the middle of nowhere.. Northern BC, Canada :p

Thanks for the support friend, it is good talking to someone who can sympathize and understand what I'm going through. Nobody I know in real life can.
 
Pain management centers need to offer MORE than opiates. There are all sorts of nerve blocks and procedures than can be used in conjunction with opiates. A proper pain management center will use everything possible at their disposal to get you out of pain.
 
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