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Opioids Lumbar pain

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ben2959

Greenlighter
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Dec 6, 2010
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I have a herniated disc at the S1 location in my spine. My PCP prescribed me Lorcet 10mg and sent me to a spine specialist. The specialist reviewed my MRI and said I needed surgery to prevent permenant nerve damage which the disc is pressing against. The Spine doc just continued the same meds my PCP Prescribed me. This medication is not doing anything close to subsiding my pain. I have surgery scheduled for next week but IDK if I can make it that long with the amount of pain I am in. So, my question is what do I tell my Spine doc to up my does without seeming like a med seeker? I know how aware doctors are of med seekers without pain attempting to fake injuries to get pain meds while leaving people with actual pain suffering. I just have no idea how to approach this. Help. Please.
 
Being honest with your doctors is the only thing that you can do, and I believe that your specialist, someone who I imagine must be very much familiar with the pain that his or her patients suffer from, will most likely put you on something a bit more effective. I would call up the specialist and just explain that you have been taking the medication as prescribed for some time now and that your pain has not yet abated.

EDIT: I mean, your specialist has seen the MRI and knows that this is legitimate issue causing legitimate pain. It isn't as though you waltzed into the office asking for medication without any sort of documentation.
 
I'm sorry but these types of threads are not allowed - even if you're not looking to abuse the drugs or use the doctor as a dealer, the responses to either are the same.

Just be honest with your physician and say that you're still in pain. With that said, be open to alternatives to opioids which have limited value in treating neuropathic pain such as yours. The medicines with the best NNT/NNH ratio (how effective vs. the severity of side effects) are anticonvulsants such as lyrica however they take a week + to really become effective for nerve pain.

I find lidocaine patches miraculous for this indication personally and there are virtually never side effects because it's just a patch that numbs the area where you put it and since there's no abuse potential, doctors are more likely write scripts for these. If you don't have insurance that cover medications well or aren't rich, they might not be affordable though as they're rather expensive (about $225 for 30 when I last purchased them a couple years ago).

Other options that have opioid-sparing effects that you might want to look into/discuss include strong NSAIDs, muscle relaxants, tricyclic antidepressants, etc.

It's possible the doctor will feel comfortable increasing the opioids but there are a lot of other options out there that many physicians would be more amenable to that can certainly help you.

Cannabis may be beneficial as well however if you're concerned about physicians testing your urine, I'd avoid this.

Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions.
 
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