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Chronic Pain MEGA Thread

A couple of years ago, I went off my meds because I was tired of the nasty little NP holding them over my head and basically beg for something I need to be able to live my life. Fast forward to March and the pain is so bad that I'm in surgery and out on disability and pain medication. This time I chose to go to a different pain doc..one that was referred by my internist, instead of going to the big one here that is connected by my ortho doc. You'd think I slapped them in the face in public. They can't believe that I would go to a different office. I'm so tired of all of this B.S. I've never failed a urine test,pill count or asked for my scripts early but I'm getting crucified over a decision I made about MY care. I'd like to go back to work in a month even if I am taking medication. Does anyone else feel like this or have been thru the same/similar experience?
 
Runtoparadise said:
^Think big G went through something like this.

Englandgz, where the hell are you when ur wanted?!?

Rtp
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As long as somebody gets it..lol. This new practice is great and quite honestly I'm good going back to work with meds..I think I'm in the minority of people that doesn't get tired from them. I guess I felt a little defeated by it all but I guess I gotta do what I gotta do to survive. It's a quite active job, no sitting a lot of movement..actually running at some points. As much as I hate it I can't wait to go back.
 
Ghetto Diva said:
A couple of years ago, I went off my meds because I was tired of the nasty little NP holding them over my head and basically beg for something I need to be able to live my life. Fast forward to March and the pain is so bad that I'm in surgery and out on disability and pain medication. This time I chose to go to a different pain doc..one that was referred by my internist, instead of going to the big one here that is connected by my ortho doc. You'd think I slapped them in the face in public. They can't believe that I would go to a different office. I'm so tired of all of this B.S. I've never failed a urine test,pill count or asked for my scripts early but I'm getting crucified over a decision I made about MY care. I'd like to go back to work in a month even if I am taking medication. Does anyone else feel like this or have been thru the same/similar experience?
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I'm experiencing something similar. I see a PM Dr and have no insurance. He treats me like I have the plague! He actually yelled at me at my last appointment bc I asked if my symptoms might be related to fibromyalgia!

I'm sorry that you're having to deal with a practice that treats you like you're their property not your own person!!

By all means, if you can tolerate work after your surgery go back. The longer you're home "enjoying" pills and free time, the harder it will be to get back to it!
 
Inso said:
Hello all.

I have SUNCT headaches (vary rare condition, super sharp stabs of pain up left side of face) and have now developed a permanent, never ending severe migraine on top of it. It all gets worse month by month so I'm praying they come up with an operation to kill them off. Otherwise eventually I won't be able to work/live independently.

I take a ton of medication which is slowly eroding my intellect and memory, just to function. It's pretty shit.

Cannabis has been amazing for the migraines though.
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I call it drug dumb. I know I'm fairly intelligent, not as much as I would've wanted for sure but above average IQ.

To think of how opiates have stupified me is depressing so I completely understand!!

I'm glad pot has helped your migraine. I wish I'd started off 4 years ago on pot instead of hydrocodone! That's a great decision on your part.

Are you able to do any kind of nerve block or injection for your condition? I hope they find something that is helpful to you!

Best of luck!
 
Moreaux said:
I am sorry you are having these headaches Inso. TBH, I had to look your condition up as I've never heard of this before. Have doctors been looking at surgery as an option? How long have you us the headaches, and is there anyway to try different medications? Is there a chance that this can resolve itself or is it just going to get progressively worse?

I can relate to medication affecting intellect, Xanax has rendered me stupid, and it's difficult living with a lesser intellect when you are aware of how capable you once were.
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There is one surgery that has been mentioned. It's pretty safe. It involves placing a small electrical device into the body and running wires up to the facial nerve. This sends electrical signals to reduce the pain attacks. It apparently works ver well on handful of paients who've had it here. It's not a cure, just a more extreme way to reduce the pain signals. Should be available in a year or two.

I'm on Lamotrigine and Duloxetine which have dulled the pain rather a lot, along with regular injections of Lidocaine into the nerve in my face. So the SUNCT is currently tolerable. I've had a long list of meds but these too have been most tolerable at the high doses needed. I've had SUNCT four years, exponentially increasing in severity the whole time. Migraines began late last year.

But I now have severe migraines and all the symptoms associated with those. This is a different treatment needed they have recommended Sodium Valproate for these. Thats a lot of drugs, it worries me.

My short term memory is shot to pieces by the Lamotrigine. I am soon going to have to quit my office sales job because my brain canno handle it. Looking to do some outdoor physical work instead. Huge waste of intellect as you say, however at least I will not be so drained all the time.
 
aplumgirl said:
I call it drug dumb. I know I'm fairly intelligent, not as much as I would've wanted for sure but above average IQ.

To think of how opiates have stupified me is depressing so I completely understand!!

I'm glad pot has helped your migraine. I wish I'd started off 4 years ago on pot instead of hydrocodone! That's a great decision on your part.

Are you able to do any kind of nerve block or injection for your condition? I hope they find something that is helpful to you!

Best of luck!
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Thanks. The series of injections mentioned above is a Multiple Cranial Nerve Blovk. They hurt like hell but very worth it.

The fantastic Neurologist I see will not give any patients opiates for SUNCT - they barely work and can cause more headaches in the long run. Also with Migraines taking opiates on more than 8 days in a month makes them worse!
 
Dam Inso, I'm so very sorry to hear of your condition. That must be like touture!! I'm glad cannabis has brought you some relief. My sister gets cluster headaches and she's been told to use shrooms to allievieate the headaches. Again, I'm so sorry you have this condition and thank you for educating me on it. Good luck to you
 
^Inso, I was going to ask if SUNCT was similar to cluster headaches or trigeminal neuralgia. Sorry to hear you suffer such pain.

Excuse my ignorance on your disorder, but if we're talking of reduced intellect ,- post concussion syndrome is up there with the worst of ailments!

It's awful to think something & have to write it down instantly or it's gone, or knowing the word you want to use but also are unable to reach into your mind to use it.

Having to diarise everything as well as setting phone reminders & having post it notes on the inside of my front door.

I also, was once smart enough to run a bank. Sadly those days are over...

Rtp
 
RTP..you have just described my life to a T. I have so many post-it's I could probably write out the Declartion of Independence and still have some left. They make fun of me at work because I carry a pad of them around so I can write something down until I can get to my "book"..sometimes I've got 5 or 6 stuck to me at once. I used to be able to spell and that's gone too.
 
^ Me also!! I get confused over 'there,they're, their' & similar words, cognitively, I feel I've gone downhill to around ten yrs old!

Even my drs have to tell me stay on track, not to go off on a tangent. My friends & even their children know to often prompt me when I'm making conversation & suddenly stop & have no idea what I was talking about...,

It's such a waste, & no one can tell me if ill improve. Post concussion syndrome apparently rarely lasts up to 12 mths,- but I'll reach that date in a matter of days.

Ghetto diva, what brought on your cognitive issues? Trauma, or long term opioid use? Something else?

Sorry to hear you're feeling like I am, but also glad to hear someone can understand what I'm struggling with!

Best wishes, Rtp xx
 
Runtoparadise said:
^Inso, I was going to ask if SUNCT was similar to cluster headaches or trigeminal neuralgia. Sorry to hear you suffer such pain.

Excuse my ignorance on your disorder, but if we're talking of reduced intellect ,- post concussion syndrome is up there with the worst of ailments!

It's awful to think something & have to write it down instantly or it's gone, or knowing the word you want to use but also are unable to reach into your mind to use it.

Having to diarise everything as well as setting phone reminders & having post it notes on the inside of my front door.

I also, was once smart enough to run a bank. Sadly those days are over...

Rtp
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It's in the same family of disorders as Trigeminal Neuralgia - The TACs. Somewhat related to cluster headaches too. It's similar sort of pain and symptoms to CH just 100s of few second long attacks a day instead of a few long headaches. CH sounds even worse to be honest.

Thanks Closeau!

I have a huge drawer full of leftovers of all the different pills I've taken over the years. I sometimes randomly pop a couple in the evening if the pain is really bad. Just had some Pregabalin and Codeine. Not really helping much but feels good hehe.

Because I'm such a dirty druggie I look forward to trying the effects of all the meds I take, even the non recreational ones. I'm getting Sodium Valproate soon which is specifically for Migraines, hoping that will kill them off a bit.
 
Moreaux said:
I am sorry you are having these headaches Inso. TBH, I had to look your condition up as I've never heard of this before. Have doctors been looking at surgery as an option? How long have you us the headaches, and is there anyway to try different medications? Is there a chance that this can resolve itself or is it just going to get progressively worse?

I can relate to medication affecting intellect, Xanax has rendered me stupid, and it's difficult living with a lesser intellect when you are aware of how capable you once were.
Click to expand...

This is interesting to me. Judging by your posts you're still pretty sharp IMHO. What from your intellect would you say is missing compared to your pre-xanax self? The thing that's missing for me these days is the memory that I once had. I can problem solve as well as I ever did, but I'll forget the most ridiculous of things practically daily and seemingly randomly. It's a short-term memory problem I think, it's all up there and being recorded long term. But unless I'm given a burning bright link to a memory or to-do, often times I'll completely forget. I work with very intellectual types and must come across a complete idiot at times.

Plus my lexicon got trashed, I think from MDMA use (that might have done for my memory too). I know the words are in there somewhere, but I have a hell of a time trying to pull them to the surface. Frustrating!
 
That's pretty hard to say, particularly when you add in the other empathogens like the APBs that I caned much later. Originally I was taking the pills from the 90s, usually 2 or 3 every week or two. They were things like apples and mitsis, probably equated to 0.3 - 0.5g every time. Things went on like that for probably 6 years. Then crystal became a thing, and I'd rarely take less than a gram a night. I probably did that a couple of times a month for about another decade. Then came the APB analogues that I took for a few years, again usually between 0.5-1g every time. That was far more infrequently, once every month or two. Up until a couple of years ago when I knocked empathogens on the head completely.

The reason I blame mdma is because I noticed the memory differences after a year or two of use. Of course, I was also smoking weed like it was going out of fashion at that point too, but I'm not convinced that thc/indica cause long term memory issues like that.
 
Damn, that is a lot of MDMA, I have to hand it to you! That is amazing you have been able to recover the way you have. You have done an amazing fucking job. You remind me of Frankie Wilde ;) %)

(and that is a compliment)
 
Hahaha! Yeah - I pushed the envelope pretty much every way you can think of, that's what comes of living in the epicentre of the party world for so long. I have many fond memories, but I'm pleased to say I'm much more content leading a pipe and slippers life at last. And you're right - most others who chose the same lifestyle didn't come out as unscathed. Slightly annoying absent mindedness is no biggie compared to what might have been. If you've seen my trip report in the TR forum (I gave it a woolley title like 'far too many drugs') , you'll see just how lucky I really am. I got the most kick ass guardian angel of them all.
 
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