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

[smokeymcpot42088]

Bruises are almost certainly unrelated to your opiate use.

If methadone doesn't work any better than tramadol than you need to try something new. Maybe Oxycontin or Opana. Careful how you ask your doc for that though.

 

[Eagleman]

I actually don't remember posting that. Sorry if it was nonsensical or totally off topic. Maybe I was half-asleep or something.

 

[LOADEDDOWN]

Hello

8)Hi , I am new here and a CP Sufferer. Ill be brief in my post or try to. First found this bye accident , I have a pain Doc and she prescribes pills very easily that I dont take or very rarely take .
Today she just prescribed me duragesic patches , But the reason I found this site is because she prescribes me Norcos by bottles I didnt even know exsisted!!!!! And when I say I have Norcos I mean hundreds LMFAO and thats over 300 easily. What I find disturbing and keep in mind I found this site by accident is that the trouble most of you go through to get pain meds (Opiods).... I am disturbed only for the fact The GOV seems to be trying to control the MARKET on these types of drugs and never really realized it till I was prescribed all this shit, I will add instead of me taking all this shit i self medicate with 6-8 beers and maybe 1-2 Norcos... I do this maybe 3 times a week I have a EXTREMEKLY HIGH TOLERANCE FOR PAIN but Pain Doc sees it different I guess and kicks off 200 pills a month and patches and wants to up doses on everything .... I have Lyrica out my ass Norcos Vicodins and some other shit. I am not her to brag I just think that most people are suffering wether addicts or in pain because the GOV wants control , I am not sure if this makes sense currently I am rocked on 1 Norco amnd 7 Phackenshurs(Beer) I was just wondering if most of you feel the same way . Thanks for any respones I shouldve also put that yes I am in some very serious pain but I can vblock it out better then most possibly plus the cold ones help me !!!

 

[LOADEDDOWN]

Id like to clean up my first post a little , I found this site looking into what all these dugs are that my doc is prescibing me. Id also like to say that is odd/wierd (In A Good Way)to see other people that are hooked on something I find not desireable, But I am sure some or all might say you cany stand beer . I think this site is fascinating to read all this stuff. Ive read in here for a few days and I cant figure out what plug it means ????

 

[Cane2theLeft]

Hello,

Welcome to bluelight and especially our lovely megathread.

Plugging is taking the pills rectally.

 

[Mr Blonde]

Id like to clean up my first post a little

Well you could use the edit button instead of double posting.

Welcome to Bluelight.

 

[Artificial Emotion]

Technically when does acute pain become chronic? Is it when you have been enduring constant or occasional/frequent pain for longer than a specific duration?

 

[LightTrailz]

^where did that come from? Was it in response to something?

I am sorry you require that, I feel your pain. It really sucks to need drugs to function. It frustrates the shit out of me when people call me lucky or something for being prescribed these drugs. I'd much rather not need them and what I am prescribed is insufficient anyway.

I more or less hate that as well , as long with the fact that when people eventually find out they all assume your their private little pharmacy and that for some reason just because they cant find anything or are being taken to the cleaners for rediculous prices im suppose to come through for them because "were friends "

What bullshit ...

Im glad my pain is such an amusement to some people.

 

[hexxx]

Technically when does acute pain become chronic? Is it when you have been enduring constant or occasional/frequent pain for longer than a specific duration?

Strictly speaking, when you have pain forever, I think. My current pain is very mild and the insurance won't put my pain meds in the chronic category - except for tramacet (tramadol + APAP).

But it's all semantics.

I had severe pain for about a year, moderate for about 6 months and now light pain for about 1.5 months. It should go away eventually - maybe some residual on cold days from the plates and pins, nothing severe (at least until I heal completely and have to cut my humerus in half to straighten it). The neurologist calls it chronic pain, so I take it most people mean long lasting pain.

I feel for all you guys with very long term pain, it can be the most depressing thing in the world. I'm only getting out and around now and repairing the relationships with my friends, who I didn't want to see when I was in that much pain - I can't imagine having to potentially cope with it for longer than I had. I had extremely severe pain in the beginning, I found that being mellow on weed helped as much as the stronger pain killers - especially for neuralgia.

 

[TheMatador]

It frustrates the shit out of me when people call me lucky or something for being prescribed these drugs. I'd much rather not need them and what I am prescribed is insufficient anyway.

I more or less hate that as well , as long with the fact that when people eventually find out they all assume your their private little pharmacy and that for some reason just because they cant find anything or are being taken to the cleaners for rediculous prices im suppose to come through for them because "were friends "

What bullshit ...

Im glad my pain is such an amusement to some people.

This is one of the things I hate SOOO FUCKING MUCH, people think were "lucky" to have pain pills?
Yeah maybe if your scamming your doctor, but when your a chronic pain patient there is nothing "lucky" about it.
I would trade back every pill I have ever taken, even every good time I've ever had with a pill just to have a healththy spine again, plus some

 

[Cane2theLeft]

Strictly speaking, when you have pain forever, I think. My current pain is very mild and the insurance won't put my pain meds in the chronic category - except for tramacet (tramadol + APAP).

The word chronic is often used to mean 'for the rest of your life' inside and outside of medicine but that is not the only meaning or how it is used referring to chronic pain. It is also used to mean 'long-term' and for chronic pain, it means pain persisting longer than the course of healing for a specific injury or disease process... or something to that effect.

I have seen literature saying chronic pain was anywhere from 6+ weeks to 6+ months... you can't put a specific number on it because its relative to the etiology of the pain as stated above.

Acute, or nociceptive pain is fundamentally different than chronic or neuropathic pain. Here is a good, concise explanation of the differences.

 

[CollegeoftheUnseen]

I've something decent for here I think. My sister is in charge of a private home health care network in Chitown. So she knows the routine. As so do I. I have 2 sources of chronic pain and severe insomnia to boot (from psych and pain). I have a slipped c3/c4 disk and PM docs around here won't do shit except for "the steroid shot," which is more than dreadful and some sort of shitty NSAID. They said "if you're in enough pain you'll get the shot." Which I did, but they don't last long, but it DID work - for the most part. I have leg nerve damage, where my reg doc will scribe Tram, but my tolerance builds to that stuff SUPERFAST! Like ZOOM!!! To get to the point. Scripts are a 2 sided coin like everything in life. Help vs. Dependency. NO DOCTOR should treat a patient like everyone else, it DOES take years for docs to relinquish pain meds. Remember they are monitored as well. My dentist told me he was on the watch list for Scheduled drugs AND Antibiotics. My sis said "forget it, you look 20something, you look minority, you're MALE. No way on strong pain meds. Live with it."
LIVE WITH IT. I guess...

 

[hooptie114]

Heyo everyone. I have posted in this a few times, and would just like a general consensus on what I might need to try next about my chronic pain.

Im in my early 20s and have had a buldging and herniated L4-L5 L5-S1 that recently partially ruptured and has been causing me pain for 7 years now.

I finally talked to a pretty good Doctor who tries to help me, but sometimes I just feel like she just doesn't want to help me sometimes? I don't know, its really strange, she has been a family doc of ours for a long time, and is knowelable about my conditions, and she thankfully prescribed 30 7.5 hydrocodone for my back.

My back always hurts. Pain meds help very little. I finally decided to go to Pain Management, and I have ranted MANY a times before about the absolute shityness in which they treated me. I got NO meds from them, and had 3 selective lumbar nerve blocks done to me, and thats it.

So now I am where I am. I don't ever want to go back to that pain clinic, as they NEVER followed up or even remotely tried helping me, I supplied clean UA's and they always treated me like shit.

I feel hesistant to go back to my doctor, as usually I call in my prescription for the hydro every month, but it really is not sufficent. It helps, say it brings my pain from a 8 to a 5, but I still hurt. Still have trouble sleeping, makes me depressed, everything.

What do I do now? I don't want surgery yet, I am way to active, and I don't let the pain get in my way of what I want to do on a certain day. So if I want to play tennis, fuck it, Im going to and just deal with the pain it will bring, because I can't waste my life sitting here doing nothing my whole life.

They all said only 3 nerve blocks a year, but now what? Should I just try to find another pain clinic? Maybe I should have a very serious talk with my doctor, as my insurance company recently contacted me I agreed to join their Disease Management Plan where they get follow ups on my issues and try to help me the best I can, and tell my doctor how I feel etc so we can discuss it.

I am scared of mentioning maybe more meds to my doctor, I just get nervous about that stuff, ever since I messed up my back doctors have treated me so, well, not sufficiently. No doctor should have any reason to suspect me of anything, I don't do illegal drugs, Im in good shape, ex-college athlete, working on getting my RN. I guess I should just suck it up and complain. Living every day in pain, arggggh@#$&(*@&GYF

Hi, I'm a newbie to this site but have been lurking and reading for many days. I just wanted to let you know that I dealt with exactly your problem. I am 31 and in my teens I was a fearless skier, which lead me to having persistent back pain throughout my 20's.

At 27 I thought I had something wrong with my hip, perhaps a stress fracture. After many xrays, I was told I was fine. Luckily after tearing ACL's in my early 20's I knew a great orthopedic surgeon. She immediately knew it wasn't my hip, but my back. Specifically L4 L5 S1. MRI confirmed me to have 2 ruptured discs and a pretty severe case of DDD in my lower back.

She referred me to another orthopedic surgeon who specialized in back surgery. I had every nerve block and steroid injection possible, even had a laminectomy. I was put on hydro 10/325 and flexeril.

Sorry about the rambling, I just wanted you to know that I felt your pain and it is agonizing. Nobody can understand the leg pain associated with this type of injury unless they've been through it.

The laminectomy was not successful in relieving any of my symptoms. That being said the next step is either fusion or disc replacement. Most doctors are reluctant to doing any of those surgeries on someone as young as yourself. Eventually I did get a spinal fusion at 28. It took 3 years to really get over the process and enough painkillers to choke a horse. Fentanyl, percocet, which of course lead to addiction.

The point of this in case I lost you *I think I lost myself*, is find a respectable ortho who specializes in spinal disorders. Be honest about your pain level. You may not need to have a fusion, a simple laminectomy could be your answer.

I'm sorry about your pain, try to stay positive.

 

[tg.mu]

I'd like some advice from you other CP'er please.

I am taking a range of drugs, including the opioids Durogesic patch (fentanyl) 75 mcg/h and morphine sulphate IR liquid (morphine for BTP, fentanyl for background pain.)

The problem is, however much I have my fentanyl patch dosage increased, it never offers full pain relief on "day three." If I take the morphine IR every four hours on Day Three, I still have less relief than Day One on the patch. (After it has kicked in.) Thus far, my GP has not wanted to let me change the patch every two days, rather than every three. So I'm considering changing the parches for ER capsules/tablets, such as morphine or an alternative. I don't find the IR morphine particularity helpful, so I'm more inclined to take a non-morphine ER opioid, such as oxycodone ER (Oxycontin,) if my doctor is in agreement. However, the other option would be to keep the Durogesic patches, and change my IR med, or have the dosage of morphine increased. I don't want to come off fentanyl and then regret it. My current med setup is 90% there, and your advice as to what changes to make to get my relief closer to 100% would be much appreciated -- and I'm well aware that attaining 100% pain relief is unrealistic, I am hopeful though that I can get more relief than I do at present. Thanks for reading.

 

[Pillthrill]

Uh my problem is I go through my Fioricet and Tramadol like Skittles and then I'm stuck suffering horribly by the end of the month. You think I would learn at some point...

 

[hexxx]

I'd like some advice from you other CP'er please.

I am taking a range of drugs, including the opioids Durogesic patch (fentanyl) 75 mcg/h and morphine sulphate IR liquid (morphine for BTP, fentanyl for background pain.)

The problem is, however much I have my fentanyl patch dosage increased, it never offers full pain relief on "day three." If I take the morphine IR every four hours on Day Three, I still have less relief than Day One on the patch. (After it has kicked in.) Thus far, my GP has not wanted to let me change the patch every two days, rather than every three. So I'm considering changing the parches for ER capsules/tablets, such as morphine or an alternative. I don't find the IR morphine particularity helpful, so I'm more inclined to take a non-morphine ER opioid, such as oxycodone ER (Oxycontin,) if my doctor is in agreement. However, the other option would be to keep the Durogesic patches, and change my IR med, or have the dosage of morphine increased. I don't want to come off fentanyl and then regret it. My current med setup is 90% there, and your advice as to what changes to make to get my relief closer to 100% would be much appreciated -- and I'm well aware that attaining 100% pain relief is unrealistic, I am hopeful though that I can get more relief than I do at present. Thanks for reading.

Dude, your lucky. I had complete w/d by day 3. And this was how I figured out what w/d symptoms where, before that I would be in agony, mostly sweats and anxiety but also pain, and not know why. Before any type of abuse took place. Only when a patch fell off did I manage to equate the feeling to the absence of opiates. When I told my doc she kept increasing the patch size. Eventually I said screw her and cut them in half. That way I had enough analgesia and pain relief. I find that you don't need such high doses for analgesia, severe pain was treated by a 25 at first, I was only bumped up after complaining about duration.

I was using brand name Durogesic see through patches, same as you. I know from the other thread we were discussing that you are worried about cutting patches, but it's what worked for me. Problem was that I was left with extra which I (eventually towards the end) started to use in a "not-as-Rx'd" way if you understand. Especially as the pain subsided and I wasn't too worried about tolerance developing.

You will find this problem (<48hrs of relief) is VERY common among fent patch users. Gel / non-gel whatever. There is only one brand that lasts for the full 72 hours and I can't remember the name, the only one available to me is the Janssen Cilag Durogesic brand. They are meant to last for 100 hours, whatever! On the 75's, the box I have in front of me says 12.6mg of fent / patch, so that would be enough for 168hrs if 100% efficient - obviously they aren't. After they are finished, they are still active. Just not effective.

In my case, I got the local Janssen Cilag representative involved and they started giving me free boxes of the stuff I returned! They are also dodgy, at least in this country and I felt they were more interested in getting me hooked than anything else but you might have a different experience. They did have to alert my doc every time I returned empty boxes so it wasn't like I was running wild. I was also using the 75 patch eventually for the last months and cutting it, at first my doc suggested it and then she didn't want me to.

Don't know why, I was the one who raised concern about the patch not having a uniform spread of fent on it and she said it should, so did technical documentation. I think she just was trying to get me off so she was trying to make it as difficult as possible for me to get them or work out a schedule. She was also weary of the pharm company's reps, I was honest with her and said they seem dodgy, she thought I was being paranoid but after dealing with them she wasn't too impressed to put it mildly. One of the things they told me is 25 patches are only for babies and small children (W....T....F!!!!!)

There are more than a few people who get 15 patches and swap every 2 days. It's not unheard of...

Good luck!

EDIT: Sorry... What is CP? Chronic Pain? Or a condition?

 

[discoburger]

Anyone experiencing chronic unbearable pain should pay attention to some of the work there doing with ketamine now. For some conditions it appears to almost totally reset your pain baseline, providing massive comfort with minimal doses.

 

[RainingDownOxy]

^^crazy, ive always wondered about this particular drug that is in at least my culture is considered a taboo type subject...

 

[pillpopper187]

26 male here

have been on painkillers since march 08 and benzos as well

have DDD of the thortic spine, 2 pinched nerves T5 T7


Pinched nerved in my L4 and two hernated disces in my neck

i've been on fentanyl 25mug/h since last september and switch my patch every 48 hours
also have been weening down on the valium, i was started on 40mg/day for muscle spasem and then i became addicted as i was on that amount for 5 months. I am now down to 8mg rxed from my pain drs office. And i get 120 5mg oxyirs a month which is'nt enough, i've been on 5s for the entire time after i switched off APAP

my family dr put me on 1mg klonopin/ 3 times a day for my anxiety and panic attacks. I've been on it for about 4 months now and don't bother to take the Valiums

i've been on benzos for over a year, and have went through fentanyl wd and oxycodone wd and it is a peice of cake compared to benzo wd

 

[tg.mu]

Hexxx, yeah I meant "chronic pain" by "CP." When I tell my doctors about the patch not lasting the full 72 hours, they increase the dosage. I have said to them, "I would prefer it if you would let me change the patch every two days rather than increase the patch dosage," but they say that they would prefer to increase the dosage. So maybe the next step is to increase to the 100 mcg/h patches?