Hello all. I've lurked a bit here over the last few months and decided that I should finally get an account and start posting. I'll try to be brief with my story and current dilemna. I am sure that many people come here, to this particular megathread out of desperation. I'm not desperate, yet. Just looking for a little guidance from people who understand:
In 2006, I had a thoracotomy to remove an abcess in my lung.
In 2008, I developed pancreatisis due to a cyst on my pancreas (I am not, nor ever have been a heavy drinker). Surgery to remove the cyst, followed by a second surgery a couple of months later as an abcess had formed near the sight of the pancreatic surgery.
Up until the surgery in 2008, I had only off and on pain from the thoracotomy. After the pancreatic surgery (well after the recovery period), I was in constant pain--all my lovely scars are on the left side of my body and there is always something going on---whether it be a massive abdominal cramp from sneezing vigorously, or the constant ache in my back and side from the thoracotomy. I found out from one of my doctors that 50% of thoracotomy patients have pain after thoracotomy and for 30% of those patients, the pain is chronic. I can only assume that all the damage that's been done to rest of my left side exacerbates the pain from the thoracomoty.
I have, over the last few years, been on some sort of pain medication almost non-stop. The only time in the last three years that I haven't been on narcoctic pain medication was when my pain doctor suggested I try Cymbalta for the pain and had me slowly taper off everything else. I felt like the Cymbalta worked for a little while, but after about a month, I was in pain again and dealing with the side effects from the Cymbalta--sweating, weight gain. Oh, and when I stopped taking it, the withdrawals were an absolute nightmare. Anybody here ever experience WD from Cymbalta? It's like being drunk, hungover, and experiencing PMS all at the same time! But, I digress.
My current regimen is as follows:
600 mg Neurontin (I tried more, but it started messing with my vision and made my legs swell)
30 mg Percocet (Hydrocodone--5/325 mg)
I was doing just fine on that until a few months ago, when I noticed that the percocet was really not doing much for me. I stupidly took extra and of course ran out. So every month for the last three months or so, I experience few days of withdrawals. And my regular doctor won't prescribe additional pills because he's obviously worried that I'll need more and more and there's no ceiling for tolerance. He referred me to a pain specialist, who I am going to see on March 7th. In the meantime, I've really messed things up good-- I am out of percocet until the 22nd (!) and suffering again from withdrawals. When I realized I would run out before I could get my next prescription, I did try tapering for several days so that the withdrawals wouldn't be so bad. It seems to have helped a little, but I'm not in great shape today. At least I know what to expect for the next several days. *sigh* I've read a lot on here about ways to ease withdrawal symptoms and I'm trying some different things.
My main question, I guess is what should I be asking for when I go see the new pain doctor? I was thinking about asking for something long acting like MS Contin (which I used to take and it worked very well) and someting mild for breakthrough pain. I'm a little leery of tryng Methadone, though I have read that it works well for chronic pain. Suggestions? Advice? Anything would be much appreciated.
Thanks for reading.
In 2006, I had a thoracotomy to remove an abcess in my lung.
In 2008, I developed pancreatisis due to a cyst on my pancreas (I am not, nor ever have been a heavy drinker). Surgery to remove the cyst, followed by a second surgery a couple of months later as an abcess had formed near the sight of the pancreatic surgery.
Up until the surgery in 2008, I had only off and on pain from the thoracotomy. After the pancreatic surgery (well after the recovery period), I was in constant pain--all my lovely scars are on the left side of my body and there is always something going on---whether it be a massive abdominal cramp from sneezing vigorously, or the constant ache in my back and side from the thoracotomy. I found out from one of my doctors that 50% of thoracotomy patients have pain after thoracotomy and for 30% of those patients, the pain is chronic. I can only assume that all the damage that's been done to rest of my left side exacerbates the pain from the thoracomoty.
I have, over the last few years, been on some sort of pain medication almost non-stop. The only time in the last three years that I haven't been on narcoctic pain medication was when my pain doctor suggested I try Cymbalta for the pain and had me slowly taper off everything else. I felt like the Cymbalta worked for a little while, but after about a month, I was in pain again and dealing with the side effects from the Cymbalta--sweating, weight gain. Oh, and when I stopped taking it, the withdrawals were an absolute nightmare. Anybody here ever experience WD from Cymbalta? It's like being drunk, hungover, and experiencing PMS all at the same time! But, I digress.
My current regimen is as follows:
600 mg Neurontin (I tried more, but it started messing with my vision and made my legs swell)
30 mg Percocet (Hydrocodone--5/325 mg)
I was doing just fine on that until a few months ago, when I noticed that the percocet was really not doing much for me. I stupidly took extra and of course ran out. So every month for the last three months or so, I experience few days of withdrawals. And my regular doctor won't prescribe additional pills because he's obviously worried that I'll need more and more and there's no ceiling for tolerance. He referred me to a pain specialist, who I am going to see on March 7th. In the meantime, I've really messed things up good-- I am out of percocet until the 22nd (!) and suffering again from withdrawals. When I realized I would run out before I could get my next prescription, I did try tapering for several days so that the withdrawals wouldn't be so bad. It seems to have helped a little, but I'm not in great shape today. At least I know what to expect for the next several days. *sigh* I've read a lot on here about ways to ease withdrawal symptoms and I'm trying some different things.
My main question, I guess is what should I be asking for when I go see the new pain doctor? I was thinking about asking for something long acting like MS Contin (which I used to take and it worked very well) and someting mild for breakthrough pain. I'm a little leery of tryng Methadone, though I have read that it works well for chronic pain. Suggestions? Advice? Anything would be much appreciated.
Thanks for reading.
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