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

[Runtoparadise]

C'mon Rave, it's not logical to start shooting heroin. When do you see the pain specialist? You've managed, just, for three yrs.. Hang on a bit longer buddy, maybe you can be helped!

Actually let's be a bit more positive & agree that you're seeing a pain specialist, & your pain will be dealt with by whatever means. Avoid the needle by any means!!

Do you have a helpful GP? Over here in oz our pain specialists usually only get involved if our usual doctor can't control our pain or we require high doses & need a consultant involved to verify our needs.

Rtp

 

[SixBuckets]

I'm calling Bullshit! Lol, if you're in chronic pain, pain meds will help.
Doctors will tell you such things, as will some websites, but I gotta say yes...the right pain med will help your pain.

Just curious, as your description sounds a lot like mine how you obtained this diagnosis? I understand fibro can be awful to live with, but doctors will also throw that label around all too easily. Have you had scans, bloods etc to rule out other conditions? A little background would be great!

Neuropathic pain can be described as burning, stabbing, pins & needles by some. For me, I get flare ups of such deep agonising pain that hospital looks good to me. A far cry from my Phobia of hospitals up until a cpl of yrs ago!!

Rtp

They certainly didn't throw the diagnosis around lightly! I've been seeing all sorts of doctors and getting all sorts of tests for a year and a half now, trying to figure out a cause for my pain and fatigue. Most of them wouldn't even look past the fact that I take psych meds, even though I assured them that my medication isn't sedating, and that I've been on the medication for a while but these experiences are new.

Finally saw a rheumatologist, who asked many questions, got me to move around a bit, pressed my incredibly sore and aching muscles/pressure points and felt my joints and said he thought it was fibromyalgia. He's uncomfortable about treating me (because, again, people who take psych meds don't deserve medical treatment) so I'm looking into what I can advocate for for myself.

 

[Runtoparadise]

You prob don't need a rheumy involved now you have a firm diagnosis,- there's nothing more he can do than your GP can. Is that who prescribed the psych meds? Or are you seeing a psychiatrist?

Rtp

 

[rave_itsrealfun!!!]

I just got my MRI so we'll see. I don't even really have a GP anymore, I'm in with a serious pain clinic finally. I'm not giving up, it gives me hope that there are more tests that can be done... CT scan, bone scan... I really need a diagnosis.

I wouldn't IV since sniffing a small bump of good H gives me instant relief so there would be no point, I've just been so miserable this past week.

The pain has been INSANE lately, way worse than usual. I'm trying to figure out why, I have no idea.

I smoked opium for 3 weeks straight, a whole half ounce of cooked stuff. I couldn't put the pipe down and I just smoked it until I ran out a week ago. Do you think after a week of not doing the O it could still be fucking with my sensitivity to pain? I felt really depressed for a few days when I switched back to the percocet, but I find it hard to believe the opium could do that. I was getting ridiculously good pain relief though for those 3 weeks. The opium was the most addictive narcotic I have ever tried personally, I will stay far the fuck away from it. Once it was gone I was happy like good riddance but it was like how a bag of weed used to be for me, I just can't ever stop smoking stuff it's in my nature to fiend that ROA. Way worse than insufflation for me.

 

[SixBuckets]

You prob don't need a rheumy involved now you have a firm diagnosis,- there's nothing more he can do than your GP can. Is that who prescribed the psych meds? Or are you seeing a psychiatrist?

Rtp

That's good to know. I'm seeing my GP on Sunday to discuss the rheumatologist appointment, so hopefully she'll have some idea of how to move forward.

I see a psychiatrist - have been seeing him for over a decade. I'm really happy with how my brain meds have been sitting for the last few years (achieving excellence at work + study + not crying all the time) so it'd have to be a pretty sure thing that doing so would reduce my fibro symptoms before I'd risk changing them.

 

[SixBuckets]

I've been referred to pain management for my newly diagnosed fibro and am waiting for an appointment.

Can anyone who's done this (especially in Australia) tell me what to expect?

 

[rave_itsrealfun!!!]

Ok so I have a herniated disk and a few bulging disks and some other damage... it's a lengthy report I still need to analyze and talk with the doctor about more. The damage is permanent, I am very distressed. No issues getting meds now though. I'm really scared though now that I know it's not all in my head or something... I always knew I was fucked up but to actually hear that it's permanent damage is very disheartening... I am sad.

Why the FUCK did it take 3 years since my injury to get this diagnosis? I never ever thought it would be a herniated disk. Finally I got a good doctor but the rest of those assholes were nothing but clowns. And the motherfuckers who fired me shortly after this happened, because I couldn't function at work anymore, instead of supporting me through this. That's part of the reason it took so much time. It is no wonder I have a panic disorder now.

 

[Runtoparadise]

^Keep in mind that the radio graphic report differs from the medical diagnosis. If pains combining from the actual disc it's referred to as axial pain, or if the disc material is leaking & putting pressure on a nerve it's called nerve pain.

Please don't feel so distressed by these findings, PT & specialist interventions can help tremendously. Not that I'm trying to undermine your pain.

Glad your MRI has helped you to show your doctors that it's not "all in your head". Take care,

Rtp

 

[Runtoparadise]

I've been referred to pain management for my newly diagnosed fibro and am waiting for an appointment.

Can anyone who's done this (especially in Australia) tell me what to expect?

Tbh, if your gp prescribed you lyrica, & you're taking a tricyclic, I don't expect PM would be able to do much more for fibro.

If you've been referred to a multidisciplinary pain clinic, expect PT, mindfulness & psych appts.

Are you taking pain meds? Opiates are generally not prescribed for fibro unless your quality of life is severely impacted.

Here in Aus, avoid any DR who uses the wrd "narcotics", they'll not give you anything helpful for pain.

Rtp

 

[ozarkG]

Dependance issue

I've had chronic pain in some of my tendons in my legs for years. Hydrocodone(up to 30mg) only took maybe 10% of the pain away. I also don't want to deal with dependence anymore. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what might work for me?

I have chronic shoulder and knee pain that bothneed surgery. But first a little back history. I had been on fent patches before thru a differsnt doctor. I talked him into giving me two to three extra patches a month because of my work enviroment. I'm a welder and because of where i would wear my patches i would sometime burn holes in them and or tear them. So the few extra patches would allow me to get thru my monthly supply without running short and start going thru withdrawls and severe pain for a few days until i could refil my script.
I have gone back and forth with different opis because of tolerance issues, and have since gone back to fent patches. I switched doctors and was completely up front with her(my new doc) about tollerence and dependancy issues, and decided that patches were going to work the best for me, as far as pain management and dosage control. As before with a few extea patches i could cheat and wear two patches at a time, or wear one and suck on another sometimes. Right now, there is a standing note in my chart that there would be no early refils for any reason. If i try to get ahead on my patch schedule, wear more than one or whatever, i cannot call in and say i bunt holes in a few patches, ripped one or what ever, i wont gdt an early refill.
And , i have turned my meds over to my wife. She gives me my next patch per my every 3 day patch schedule. My wife knows my previous drug history before her and my current issues. So we keep them lock up. I had even talked about going to rehab therapy for my problem, but between my doctor, my wife, and i, we all decided that the lock box would work for now unless something changes and i still cant be trusted not t7o figure out how to cheat my shedule and be back abusing my meds. By the way, my wife is the director of nursing for an area federal drug treatment facility, so she knows how to help me deal with this and my dependancy issues.
So, if any of that helped, i'm glad i could help. If you need any further i put message me.
Mark

 

[ozarkG]

I have torn ligaments and cartilage in me knee and shoulder. Also the doctors dont want to opperate on either. All the surgens ive been to say have some moew cortisone shots and here some more meds to deal with the pain. As a result, im left with pain management. Pills, patches, whatever. As a result, i grown tolerance to your average doses of hydro, oxy, etc, and am growing tollerence to my patches in the dose im on. Now usually, only terminally ill cancer patients get prescribed fent patches.so i nearing the top of the med list as to what will effectively control my pain. As of rifht now im one 100mcg patches. I do t know what goes above that.

Are there any suggestions as to what i can do, what i can take to help control daily chronic pain.


Thanks guys, Mark

 

[rave_itsrealfun!!!]

I have a steroid injection coming up. I told them I had a steroid injection already, and that after the anaesthetic wore off I was in so much pain that I was literally bedridden for 3 days unable to move a muscle. I was relieved to reach my regular pain level again - but when they did it that time, they didn't have any MRI to go by and he just sort of stuck the needle in and moved it around. I explained this and they assured me they are injecting in a very precise spot this time based on the MRI and it will be different. Well I fucking hope the reaction will be different. Maybe I should have been more clear about the previous negative reaction because it was so uncommon apparently to get that "cortisone flare"? I am hoping I don't get anyone one of those agonizing flares.

Anyways, has anyone had relief from these steroid things?

I think my pain is axial pain as opposed to nerve pain because that would explain why any sort of lifting or exercise makes it so much worse and I have to be extremely careful (well, not anymore, my body has been conditioned to be a little bitch). I also don't have any "shooting pains" in my limbs, so I think it's axial. Just that one area with the herniated disc and other bulging discs (I'm still too scared to even look up what that means... ignorance is bliss).

 

[Mstmil]

Ozark- I too am on the patch but my dr has me change them every 48 hrs instead of 72. He swears they don't work after 48. Would your doc consider that? I'm in the same boat with lock box!!

 

[SixBuckets]

Tbh, if your gp prescribed you lyrica, & you're taking a tricyclic, I don't expect PM would be able to do much more for fibro.

If you've been referred to a multidisciplinary pain clinic, expect PT, mindfulness & psych appts.

Are you taking pain meds? Opiates are generally not prescribed for fibro unless your quality of life is severely impacted.

Here in Aus, avoid any DR who uses the wrd "narcotics", they'll not give you anything helpful for pain.

Rtp

God damn mindfulness.

I specifically requested non-opioid medication options in my referral (or rather, had my GP request) but I have zero idea of what the alternatives are.

By the time my appointment roles around, I should have an idea of whether the massage and physiotherapy programs are helping (have just started). I'm really looking for something for those days I can't get out of bed.

 

[poke-alotta-puss]

Im a new user and i need help........ I have transverse mylietis its a spinal cord disease that causes extreme muscle and neurological pain....My pain management doc put me on oxycodone 30 instant release and oxycontin 30 extended release OP 30.... the oxycontin OP 30 doesn't seem to help, I've tried opana ER 20 the new formula and i had no luck with that either....does anyone have any suggestions on a good reliable extended release medication? BTW, I'm allergic to morphine.

please help.......thankyou

 

[Mstmil]

I still like my fentanyl patches 100 mcg and 50 mcg changed every 48 hrs and oxy for breakthru

 

[rave_itsrealfun!!!]

The chronic pain in my spine has set my life off course. That is the hardest part, knowing that I would be a completely different person right now if I hadn't hurt my back. The course I am on is one that I despise... I have to switch careers because I was discriminated against in the workplace after my injury. I hate what I'm doing with my life now, I hate the path that I'm on. I just want my old life back.

I used to live to work out, but I guess that's the least of my worries now. I used to frown upon people who had any sort of belly fat obscuring their 8 pack abs. I used to spend like 10 hours a week in the gym, martial arts, running 10k's 3 times a week, going on cycling adventures for hundreds of kilometers, and doing 2 hours of yoga a day. How the fuck did I just give all of that up, after years of hard work it was what I lived for. I'm just a little bitch now I can't do a single pushup or situp. All I can do is some very minimal yoga and biking when I'm opiated.

I just want to die already and leave this wasted corpse. I just want to ensure that I am cremated because I don't want my family and friends looking at my ugly dead mug in a fuckin coffin I am so against that, and then buried 6 feet under to have my dead brain eaten by maggots. I want to be dust in the wind, my ruined spine scorched out of existence but I hate the idea of passing away and not being in control and having my family decide what to do with my body.

Can anyone relate to the whole, not being able to be the person you used to be thing. I really like who I used to be, but it's not possible to be that person anymore. I do not like me anymore. What happened to me? That person I used to be, he just disappeared. He no longer exists, I am truly a shell of my former self. I died at the age of 23.

 

[TheLostBoys]

The chronic pain in my spine has set my life off course. That is the hardest part, knowing that I would be a completely different person right now if I hadn't hurt my back. The course I am on is one that I despise... I have to switch careers because I was discriminated against in the workplace after my injury. I hate what I'm doing with my life now, I hate the path that I'm on. I just want my old life back.

I used to live to work out, but I guess that's the least of my worries now. I used to frown upon people who had any sort of belly fat obscuring their 8 pack abs. I used to spend like 10 hours a week in the gym, martial arts, running 10k's 3 times a week, going on cycling adventures for hundreds of kilometers, and doing 2 hours of yoga a day. How the fuck did I just give all of that up, after years of hard work it was what I lived for. I'm just a little bitch now I can't do a single pushup or situp. All I can do is some very minimal yoga and biking when I'm opiated.

I just want to die already and leave this wasted corpse. I just want to ensure that I am cremated because I don't want my family and friends looking at my ugly dead mug in a fuckin coffin I am so against that, and then buried 6 feet under to have my dead brain eaten by maggots. I want to be dust in the wind, my ruined spine scorched out of existence but I hate the idea of passing away and not being in control and having my family decide what to do with my body.

Can anyone relate to the whole, not being able to be the person you used to be thing. I really like who I used to be, but it's not possible to be that person anymore. I do not like me anymore. What happened to me? That person I used to be, he just disappeared. He no longer exists, I am truly a shell of my former self. I died at the age of 23.

I feel you dude.......I played sports all my life & up to age 27, then my back started to hurt, one day I was doing jump rope & felt this sharp pain go from my lower back straight up my back & it felt like it hit the back of my head/brain area, very sharp pain.

From that day on, never played sports again. Diagnosed with Spinal stenosis, scoliosis & 2 bulging discs & some other stuff.

Fell into depression, didn't feel like doing anything. Now can't lift anything over 5 pounds.......tried to do pushups standing up against the wall & that hurts after several.

Im a thin guy, & never had any fat on my body.......I now gained 10 pounds, got a tummy, gf doesn't care but I care.

Its a tough life living with a bad back, I can only imagine what you're going thru.

I guess the way I look at it, there is someone always worse than me......but is that suppose to give me some consolation of my life?

No.one should suffer & everyone deserves to live a happy & fruitfull life......but reality is, that's not how this world really is.

 

[ErinEllis]

It is simply created in a careful measured way. All this ofcourse has immense social,economic, and political implications.

 

[Mstmil]

Rave- I can relate more then you know. I was a professional athlete. I earned a living for my family doing so. Life was sweet. I fractured my back when I was 13. It didn't bother me too much until I carried my one and only child. After I had her, my back was soooo fucked up. I had surgery on it 2 years ago and still have to have a second one. I'm able to coach clients both my personal career is kinda over. I had a decent job until October but had to quit because of the pain. My family is now living with my mother. I used to own a home in NJ and one in FL at same time by the time I was 21. Big change!!!

For me, the opiates allow me to do some of what I love and luckily my dr gets that and takes good care of me. I do understand you but life is worth living. Good luck and anytime you want to chat, pm me