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

[2muchpain]

is there anyone around that can answer an urgent pain management question please? I can post here or if someone could please pm me i can pm details back. I have a doctors appointment this morning and need advice apap please.

 

[Jabberwocky]

^check your pm's

 

[Darkprogramer]

Wow, so many people suffering.

Well, if you need any help in the chronic pain area give me a yell. I have suffered for around
5 years now. I have been through a lot from insurance issues to doctors that dont seem to
care a bit. I truely think that some doctors only care about billing your insurance. geee

Your friend,
Darkprogramer

 

[toomuchpain]

hey guys, sorry for asking this, but im not sure where to turn because im not getting any help, like 0 replies, so i was wondering if anybody knows if its possible to aggrevate a compression fracture?
they told me that i should heal in about 6-8 weeks, its been 8 months and i still feel pain, tho its been slightly better, ive been doing excersices and i recently started to roller skate and practice taking shots (hockey) today and after about 45 minutes and plenty of breaks i felt terrible, couldnt lean over at all, barely stand straight, and if i did i was leaning up against a fence, im out of vicodin and still in horrible pain.
so could it be aggrevated, if thats possible, or is it just that i havent done a lot of strenuous activities since the injury, if you wanna call it that, but could it just be that the muscles are tightening up? im supposed to go see a neurologist tuesday and hopefully he will be able to arrange an xray to confirm anything, maybe to see if its getting better, or if theres something new showing.
i appreciate the help

 

[stonedandrolling89]

Alright, was prescribed tramadol today for my right shoulder. I was told that I have 'loose cartilage' and that my rotator cuff is torn.

I must get surgery once I'm able to get insurance, and I only hope that it gets better.

It clicks and grinds and pops when I move it, and it hurts like a bitch. The Ultram is helping alot, and I'm about to go blow 30mg of morphine that a coworker gave me earlier today.

It looks like I have finally got my foot in the door into the world of pain management(which is one of my dreams, lulz) and I'm glad that I met a doctor who is compassionate enough to listen to me and take the time to see exactly what is wrong.

 

[toomuchpain]

Alright, was prescribed tramadol today for my right shoulder. I was told that I have 'loose cartilage' and that my rotator cuff is torn.

I must get surgery once I'm able to get insurance, and I only hope that it gets better.

It clicks and grinds and pops when I move it, and it hurts like a bitch. The Ultram is helping alot, and I'm about to go blow 30mg of morphine that a coworker gave me earlier today.

It looks like I have finally got my foot in the door into the world of pain management(which is one of my dreams, lulz) and I'm glad that I met a doctor who is compassionate enough to listen to me and take the time to see exactly what is wrong.

i always say this with ppl who take tramadol, be careful, dont take high doses of it, its well known to cause seizures, i had one

 

[Cane2theLeft]

TMP- what does the pain feel like? Injuries can cause nerve damage or CRPS/RSD even when they heal properly and everything goes fine. Either way, you should talk to a doctor and see if you can get some imaging studies done and if those are negative and it looks like you have nerve issues, try a tricyclic or anticonvulsant and maybe get an EMG or something to check for nerve function.

 

[Rexeh]

It is been like 50 hours since my operation now, so I thought I would give an update on the road to getting new teeth. :D

I arrived at the hospital at 07:30 and was operated at around 09:15, I got a pill called Dormicum before the operation to calm me down, which it surely did! I woke up after a few hours in the recovery room next to my mom and heard that all went well, except:

two serious sinus infections and two infections in my jaw were found, the whole operation lasted 2 hours because everything that was filling up my sinuses and the rest had to be drained. I was damn lucky because otherwise the infections would have caused at lot more pain in the future.

I am not allowed to sniff or snort my nose because of all the surgery done there and ofcourse I have lots of meds to sniff so I'm not feeling quite happy TBH

I don't have lots of pain and my mouth is healing quite fast so I felt good enough to give a small update for those that care

I'm going to rest a bit now, anyways I wish you guys well and hope to be posting some more tonight or tomorrow.

Peace o/

 

[Artificial Emotion]

Can someone answer my question? Pretty please with a cherry on top.

 

[sweetbeatlvr]

If you made an 'attempt' to commit suicide and then explained to the hospital that you did it because you were in so much pain and were refused adequate pain relief by your doctor because of being labeled a 'drug seeker' at some point in the past, would they be more willing to take you more seriously?

I don't suffer from chronic pain, but I do get flare ups sometimes and was wondering what would happen if it gets really bad and my doctor ignores my pleas for help.

i (personally) would not say you tried to commit suicide because you were denied appropriate pain control, unless you really did. in that case, you would definately need other types of care, and they will make sure you get it (ie. possibly spend a few days in the psych. ward).

if your doctor is unwilling to help, and you are truly in a large amount of pain, go to the ER, describing exactly what's going on. then ask to speak to a patient advocate, explaining that you get bad flare-ups of pain, that your doctor will not take seriously, and that you desparetly need help to control the pain, because it mentally wears you down, and you don't know what to do.

then, continue to look for a doctor who will take your pain seriously, this sometimes takes awhile, because you have to build up trust.

best wishes to you.

 

[LightTrailz]

That would be hard to say.

It could definatley be the final nail in your coffin of ever getting ANY thing remotely useful because theyll simply see that you attempted to kill yourself . Thats all theyre going to see , which means theyll also doubt your sincerity and think your simply lying to get something stronger to do the job right or that your a case for drug abuse.

It could go either way but honestly attempting to commit suicide because your "in pain" is a rather pathetic excuse to get into pain management. Its good to see that in certain places someone cant just walk in off the street say theyre in pain and get any amount of painkillers they think is adequate , they dont do it to spite anyone it simply has to do with the rising rate of prescription drug abuse .

Just take the time to do things properly , get diagnosed , get second opinions , get xrays and then if nothing shows on the Xray , which is usually the case for chronic pain conditions , get MRI's , get referrals from phisio therapists or chiropractors etc.

I went on for 9 years suffering from chronic pain . The surgeon who even did my surgury said that when i got older i would be in pain and that my knee and possibly other areas of my body would never be the same again , and when i finally got to the point of not being able to control it by buying street side and ruining almost any decent relationship i ever had the doctors still would not believe me until i had my knee folded back about 90o the wrong way 3 times in the space of 3 months and a 6 month stint in phisio that shows no signs of positive progress was i taken seriously. My knee also fills up with about a half cup of fluid everyday and i cant even pull it back to touch my upper thigh . And yeah ill totally agree there were definatly points in that time where i felt like just overdosing and putting myself out of the misery i was in but thats not the proper thing to do .

But now , i can ask my doctor for anything and everything i want within reason , i can change my meds , add meds , take away meds without so much as a second thought . once you find a doctor who you can work with and is willing to work with you things will start to look up , just be sure it whats you really want .

 

[toomuchpain]

TMP- what does the pain feel like? Injuries can cause nerve damage or CRPS/RSD even when they heal properly and everything goes fine. Either way, you should talk to a doctor and see if you can get some imaging studies done and if those are negative and it looks like you have nerve issues, try a tricyclic or anticonvulsant and maybe get an EMG or something to check for nerve function.

the pain feels like tight and sharp, with spasms in my lumbar and cervical.
apparently when i went to the er today the dr i saw told me after reading my test results that i have part of a bone pinching a nerve in my spinal canal and he said that may be the reason on top of teh fracture that im having worse pain.
do you know of any relation of the fracture and pinching of the nerves in the spinal canal?

 

[jnicolas1980]

Anyone know what the common pain meds are for Crohn's? I was diagnosed with it years ago but have been asymptomatic until recently. Now, my gut hurts, my joints hurt and I feel like I'm 100 years old. And I have lots of "emergencies," which makes going out near impossible.

I'm going to see my GI doctor this week but I'm afraid I'll end up with Darvocet or something weak. I've suffered numerous injuries over the past five years, including surgeries. My tolerance for pain meds is above normal, and I know something like Darvocet won't work. But I know I can't say anything 'cause then it'll look bad. I just want to be able to get some part of my old life back. It really, really sucks.

 

[RainingDownOxy]

Anyone know what the common pain meds are for Crohn's? I was diagnosed with it years ago but have been asymptomatic until recently. Now, my gut hurts, my joints hurt and I feel like I'm 100 years old. And I have lots of "emergencies," which makes going out near impossible.

I'm going to see my GI doctor this week but I'm afraid I'll end up with Darvocet or something weak. I've suffered numerous injuries over the past five years, including surgeries. My tolerance for pain meds is above normal, and I know something like Darvocet won't work. But I know I can't say anything 'cause then it'll look bad. I just want to be able to get some part of my old life back. It really, really sucks.

hey and welcome to BL and to the PM megathread!!!we are glad you have joined and are all happy to help in anyway we can, right guys!!

For your ?--We cant really tell you specifically what kind of pain meds for Crohn's are. But, an family member of mine has had Crohn's for some many years now and he has been on an off quite a few differant pain meds, as well as other types of meds. As far as I know, at least from the last time a I knew what he was on a year ago, he was taking a opium tincture sort of cocktail, cant remember for sure what is in it, and he has been on a few diff narcotics-- hydrocodone, codiene, an I think methadone.

I would say go in an talk with your doctor and ask him what your options are and what meds he think would be right for you. wish u luck

 

[2muchpain]

so it's official-my doctors are crazy, mad, insane. i went to see my doctor today to tell her that the medication i'm on (which they changed me onto last week) is not at all sufficiant and i'm going slowly mad from pain and lack of sleep. so she told me that i need a higher dose of medication or something stronger altogether, but she doesn't want to be the one to prescribe it. so she has put me back to what i was on before my last change and told me i'm on a waiting list to go to a pain specilist so they can prescribe me something stronger than what i was on this morning before they changed me back down. if that does't make sense it's because it doesn't make sense. i have to wait weeks at the very least on medication that is less strong than this morning so a different doctor can up my meds. and the doctor said you need stronger meds but i'm going to give you weaker ones while you wait. nuts. all of them nuts.

 

[sweetbeatlvr]

that sucks.

i was going to discuss that matter (needing a little more relief from my meds) w/ my doctor next week.

hopefully she doesn't do that.

sorry you are having troubles w/ your meds. i know how much pain can wear on your mind and body.

 

[Rexeh]

so it's official-my doctors are crazy, mad, insane. i went to see my doctor today to tell her that the medication i'm on (which they changed me onto last week) is not at all sufficiant and i'm going slowly mad from pain and lack of sleep. so she told me that i need a higher dose of medication or something stronger altogether, but she doesn't want to be the one to prescribe it. so she has put me back to what i was on before my last change and told me i'm on a waiting list to go to a pain specilist so they can prescribe me something stronger than what i was on this morning before they changed me back down. if that does't make sense it's because it doesn't make sense. i have to wait weeks at the very least on medication that is less strong than this morning so a different doctor can up my meds. and the doctor said you need stronger meds but i'm going to give you weaker ones while you wait. nuts. all of them nuts.

Wow, that sounds very awful and is nuts indeed! If I understand your post correctly your new medication schedule you have gotten the past week is just too weak for you, but your doctor just says: "Yeah they are too weak, but I don't want to be involved because of <insert stupid reason here>." followed by: "Here is your old script back, just fight against your pain until the waiting list is gone over there."

...

...

ARGH!

I don't get it, how can some doctors or any other medical staff for that matter be so cruel to people who are placing their trust and most importantly their LIFE in their hands? Believe me I have met a lot of people who are very, very kind and who are willing to help you unconditionally when you have medical problems but like you I have also met the 'dark side' of the hospital staff so to speak, and it hurts me as well when I see someone getting all of their dreams, hopes, etc. crushed before their own eyes because people who SHOULD help us do not want to for whatever reason...

*cools down a bit* Ahem, what I meant was that you have a RIGHT to get medical assistance if you need it at that moment. I too didn't get good painkillers for a long while until I just kept going to the ER every weekend, man what was I glad to get those OxyContins and Codeine instead of being told to take a walk, ride my bike etc.

(The same doc who refused to give me those painkillers also knew I had Scheuermann's disease for FOUR &$&(ING YEARS before it ended up being Scheuermann's Kyphosis which I hate him for every day still. I could have gotten a life instead of this pain that greets me every day when I wake up if he was more competent IMHO).

I know you will get through these weeks, just like you have gone through the other ones as well. I wish you good luck, and stay strong m8.

My mouth is healing great, if not for those annoying stitches and inabillity to eat anything harder than ice cream. 5 weeks to go until I get my new teeth.

Peace o/

 

[LightTrailz]

Because some doctors just happen to like seeing your suffering and usually suffering in the eyes of some doctors = payroll. Why would they give you medication and not have you come back every month , or every 2 weeks or even everyweek and lose out on all that money that they need for their brand new mercedes , or their houses or even their own substance abuse problems.

 

[Cane2theLeft]

^I don't remember seeing you this cynical LT, how are you?

2mp- that just breaks my heart. I have been struggling with worse pain lately and I would much rather suffer than see other people suffer, but I have a strong idea of what you are going through. In the last 3 years, I've had doctors that were caring, sympathetic and responsive with their prescriptions and others that only saw my age and lack of substantive test results.

Whenever I would leave the hospital or wherever I would have literature in my hand about how the doctors had to treat my pain regardless of other factors and all these patients rights that I never (or rarely) received.

Hang in there 2mp, you have some hard times in front of you but unlike many other people I've met, there is a visible light ahead. I almost never advocate this, but have you considered getting some temporary street relief? I am always hesitant to advocate this but I'd much rather see you score some pills or even smack then see you suffer.

I'm always here if you need me- for questions, venting or whatever.

Much love 2mp and take care!

 

[2muchpain]

sweetbeatlvr that sucks.

i was going to discuss that matter (needing a little more relief from my meds) w/ my doctor next week.

hopefully she doesn't do that.

sorry you are having troubles w/ your meds. i know how much pain can wear on your mind and body.

thanks, i'm really suffering at the moment. it helps that you're all supporting me

Wow, that sounds very awful and is nuts indeed! If I understand your post correctly your new medication schedule you have gotten the past week is just too weak for you, but your doctor just says: "Yeah they are too weak, but I don't want to be involved because of <insert stupid reason here>." followed by: "Here is your old script back, just fight against your pain until the waiting list is gone over there."

...

...

ARGH!

I don't get it, how can some doctors or any other medical staff for that matter be so cruel to people who are placing their trust and most importantly their LIFE in their hands? Believe me I have met a lot of people who are very, very kind and who are willing to help you unconditionally when you have medical problems but like you I have also met the 'dark side' of the hospital staff so to speak, and it hurts me as well when I see someone getting all of their dreams, hopes, etc. crushed before their own eyes because people who SHOULD help us do not want to for whatever reason...

*cools down a bit* Ahem, what I meant was that you have a RIGHT to get medical assistance if you need it at that moment. I too didn't get good painkillers for a long while until I just kept going to the ER every weekend, man what was I glad to get those OxyContins and Codeine instead of being told to take a walk, ride my bike etc.

(The same doc who refused to give me those painkillers also knew I had Scheuermann's disease for FOUR &$&(ING YEARS before it ended up being Scheuermann's Kyphosis which I hate him for every day still. I could have gotten a life instead of this pain that greets me every day when I wake up if he was more competent IMHO).

I know you will get through these weeks, just like you have gone through the other ones as well. I wish you good luck, and stay strong m8.

My mouth is healing great, if not for those annoying stitches and inabillity to eat anything harder than ice cream. 5 weeks to go until I get my new teeth.

Peace o/

i'm glad to hear you are doing better! My doc has actually put me back DOWN to dihydrocodeine from morphine even though she says that i definately need more morphine at a higher dose or something else strong but she doesnt want to be involved so i have to mait for a PM doc appt.

2mp- that just breaks my heart. I have been struggling with worse pain lately and I would much rather suffer than see other people suffer, but I have a strong idea of what you are going through. In the last 3 years, I've had doctors that were caring, sympathetic and responsive with their prescriptions and others that only saw my age and lack of substantive test results.

Whenever I would leave the hospital or wherever I would have literature in my hand about how the doctors had to treat my pain regardless of other factors and all these patients rights that I never (or rarely) received.

Hang in there 2mp, you have some hard times in front of you but unlike many other people I've met, there is a visible light ahead. I almost never advocate this, but have you considered getting some temporary street relief? I am always hesitant to advocate this but I'd much rather see you score some pills or even smack then see you suffer.

I'm always here if you need me- for questions, venting or whatever.

Much love 2mp and take care!

i seriously feel like junping off a building at the moment. i won't but i'm just suffering so much. i wish i knew where to get suitable drugs on the street but i dont. i copletely dont advocate their use in medical problems as really it can fuck up your proper treatment apart from anything else but now if i could i would find a dealer rather than go through this. i've really considered walking in front of a car to get in the hospital for better treatment. i wont at the moment but if i knew for sure i have to put up with this for say another month, well i just cant.