Harm Reduction The Pain Management Megathread (Chronic and Acute Pain Discussion) v6

[Whosajiggawaaa]

Shoulder killin me today. so have ban been bad dose wise. several hundred mgs again. sigh. i have a feel im due for another surgery on my shoulder. it's starting to feel like it's almos like it was before last years surgery (he said every 2 years so this is a bit early) - hopefully it's just cos I changed a tyre on my car today (doing simple things with this shoulder has me in agony a few hours later).

 

[Erikmen]

^ive yet to try done. think ive tried pretty much every other strong and other strength opiate of any value tho and oxy has been the best for my bone pain. but maybe done would work although i hear it better for neuro pain. think we only get it in liquid here tho.

It wears off to quickly and the maintenance doses can be pretty high IMO/E.

 

[Erikmen]

Hi Pain Fam! I am pleased to report that since being switched from mscontin to methadone 5mg 3X daily I am walking on clouds! Not high, but my pain has vanished, I mean I never really worry about it anymore! I highly recommend getting the genetic test to find out which med will hit u hardest peace! cfzrx

Good to hear CfZrx. It's been a long battle!!

 

[Runtoparadise]

^I too sympathise at your situation with your mum as well as you watching her going through all this pain & bullshit concern over bullshit doctors.

Cancer + coughing blood + potentially fractured ribs,- I'd push to get her a hospital bed. However, I appreciate it may not be that straightforward in your country.

I completely hear you on taking extra oxy to cope with your mental & emotional load, you've got a lot going on dude! Hell, I used to live off 400mg oxy just for a regular day.

God knows how I (as the only visiting family member too), I found the inner strength to sit on the edge of dad's hospital bed as he deteriorated to the point he couldn't even speak & was so confused & agitated the drs had to ask my permission to restrain him to the bed.

Just be careful you don't overdo the oxy, last thing you want is to go through an acute wd!

Confuz- good for you! Glad the 'done is still wrkng well for you.

My PM says the genetic testing isn't quite reliable yet, but hopefully will be in the next five yrs. Seems to be helpful for some, such as yourself & another poster did have it done too..

Whosa- you mention bone pain, it's a killer. That's my main source of pain and it's mainly right through the bones of the entire length of both legs. Though I get flare ups of neuropathic pain, that randomly come & go with no rhyme or reason.

Methadone is also the only opiate/opioid avail here in OZ that I haven't tried. I worry about it's super long half life & ability to accumulate in the liver and not be excreted,- & my fondness of self medicating. Also that you can't take benzos with it. Where would I be without my Diaz :/

SKR- I'll try to send it now xx

Wishing you all peace of mind & heart, & a little less pain as each day passes,

Rtp

 

[DixiChik]

Erik...I find that's the case with Oxycodone for me. It hits hard, but doesn't last. The rebound pain seems almost worse than baseline. I just don't want to get on that hamster wheel of chasing relief. I truly need ER med that doesn't sedate me into a comatose state. I have to be up, sharp and highly functional.

Sorry for those who are hurting. Whosa, the tire change would definitely check the box for aggravating shoulder injury. Your high doses of Oxy scare the hell out of me. RTP, really...400 mg per day?

The more I read, the more convinced I am that there are no real answers for long-term pain management. However, if one is terminally ill, there should be no limits for pain relief.

 

[BeachBum4u]

EHowever, if one is terminally ill, there should be no limits for pain relief.

Nothing makes me madder than hearing of situations where terminally ill patients don't get the meds they should have with practically no limits IMHO. Hell, these folks are freaking dying and some of them are at death's doorstep now! The people responsible for denying these folks the meds they have every right to should be frequently and repeatedly flogged!!!

 

[SKR]

Don't know how you do it Dixi, they don't make em like you anymore. I've got staff that will have a day off for a sore toe let alone the shit you put up with. Oh to have your fresh receptors, the 170mgs of oxy I just took will barely touch my pain unfortunately, if I had no tolerance I just may fall out....which would be great apart from ruining my wife and sons lives for a while. They are the only reason I am bothering to take in oxygen and exhale Co2.

Hugz and drugs for all my pain pals, take care you lot!��

 

[Runtoparadise]

^Darling SKR,
Please don't even let those kind of thoughts go through your precious mind. Have the ADs stopped helping again?

"There's always a way, baby", was what my recently deceased father would say as a mantra, & it helped me many times do what I had to do, or find the help I needed, he even drove me twelve hrs to see an internationally renowned rheumatologist.

I've PMd you re: recent players of games & the Neverending hoops we jump through!!

Dixi,- yes you're amazing. I don't imagine there'd be a pain clinic near you, but my local one runs an (apparently very successful) three wk course on living with chronic pain without any meds.

Unfortunately I've been informed that at the moment the general feel is I'm not ready to do such a course as I definitely won't be giving up any of my pain meds.

What about this Zohydro(sp)? It's not available here but it's a ER version of a weaker opioid if I'm not mistaken. I haven't heard of anyone on it yet, but that may not make you drowsy.

Good karma folks, love yourself & look after yourselves.

Rtp

 

[Whosajiggawaaa]

it's not that straight forward at all.

the only option left is me assisting her. it's the only merciful solution here.

 

[DixiChik]

Nothing "amazing" about me...never claimed to be, but thanks anyway.

Pain Management just hasn't worked for me @ soon to be 2 full years of trying. My pain simply isn't being "managed" any better than I can do myself. Don't think I need a class on how to live with chronic pain without meds. Ironically, I think I can TEACH the class, as I'VE LIVED IT for decades.

SKR...So sorry for your pain, my brotha. Your wife and child NEED and WANT you in their lives. Stay strong for them. Can you supplement your meds with heat/cold compresses, massage and/or TENS?

Those dumb fucks in the hospital didn't concern themselves with treating the UTI (IV Rocephin) while I was inpatient. I mean, the IV was pushing the banana bags and Pepcid, so why not Rocephin every 24 hours? NO...That makes too much sense. Instead I continue to battle the bladder infection via oral Cipro. My flanks are killing me, on top of everything else.

On a positive note...Wreaths with red ribbons are hung across all of the exterior front windows. Our tree is up and decorated, as of 2 a.m. I've gotta admit that I considered smoking some weed beforehand. I refrained because I knew I wouldn't be able to find my ass, much less my decorations.

 

[SKR]

Nothing "amazing" about me...never claimed to be, but thanks anyway.

Pain Management just hasn't worked for me @ soon to be 2 full years of trying. My pain simply isn't being "managed" any better than I can do myself. Don't think I need a class on how to live with chronic pain without meds. Ironically, I think I can TEACH the class, as I'VE LIVED IT for decades.

SKR...So sorry for your pain, my brotha. Your wife and child NEED and WANT you in their lives. Stay strong for them. Can you supplement your meds with heat/cold compresses, massage and/or TENS?

Those dumb fucks in the hospital didn't concern themselves with treating the UTI (IV Rocephin) while I was inpatient. I mean, the IV was pushing the banana bags and Pepcid, so why not Rocephin every 24 hours? NO...That makes too much sense. Instead I continue to battle the bladder infection via oral Cipro. My flanks are killing me, on top of everything else.

On a positive note...Wreaths with red ribbons are hung across all of the exterior front windows. Our tree is up and decorated, as of 2 a.m. I've gotta admit that I considered smoking some weed beforehand. I refrained because I knew I wouldn't be able to find my ass, much less my decorations.

Hi Dixi, I do find hot compress on my lower back followed by a massage and then repeat with the hot compress to work pretty well while I'm doing it. The relief of that pain in that way is just as effective as meds, but it's just not doable to sit there often holding the compress in place if you have to work and run after kids unfortunately.

I haven't bothered with my TENS unit for a while now but probably should on the lower back.....The thoracic pain is untouchable with TENS and Hot/cold compress, drugs, massage, physio etc Errgh. And as RTP said a million times - how the hell are you supposed to do all (Or even half) the things PM want you to do if you have a job and a household to run? When am I supposed to get to all these appointments? It's madness, I need to be on a disability pension to get it all done but no way that's happening. Even posed this question to the PM psychologist, and he said "well if that's what it takes", I just can't accept that BS.

 

[Runtoparadise]

Well Dixi, I guess thats a good point.. Unless pain docs deem you necessary to be on strong pain meds, then they're hardly going to be pushing you into multidisciplinary pain programs.

I simply said "amazing", as so frequently you have much to say about your pain even though little, if anything ever seems to change re: your pain or your options.

Rtp

 

[closeau]

My pain dr moved me back from Opana ER crap to MS Contin which never worked either but she put me on a high dose and between that and the Dilaudid I'm doing better pain wise than I have in awhile. She gave me a choice between MS Contin or fentanyl patches 100mc but I didn't want that dam fentanyl shooting my tolerance thru the roof. So MS Contin it was. 60mg X 3 day. That might not be a lot to some people but considering I started at 15ng x2 day that's a lot. My pain never gets under a 6 on scale but hasn't shot up in last couple of weeks. This is important to me cause y'all on this thread know about my mom passing and if I was in terrible physical pain it just woulda made it worse. I am worried cause 7 days before my appt I took 30mg of oxy I had leftover and researched it and it said 3-4 days in system but it showed up in my urine. My dr is really cool and has made changes and let me slide a couple of times with THC in system but I'm scared I broke my contract. I think sheyll be ok with it considering how much pain I was in but I'm really nervous. We have another pain clinic here but it's ghetto as hell. I may have to beg if it goes wrong. I love this thread and all of you and every one of you be safe and well. Lata?

 

[gmlifer]

Well as usual I ran out of my meds early and didn't manage to save any for my appointment. It's going to bite me in the ass one day maybe even this time. Maybe it's time for me to find a different way to cope and get away from the pm doc. Have any of you ever told your doc the truth about your intake and if so how did it go. So aggravating that I can't seem to control myself. Y'all have a good one and closeau I hope all goes well with your doc.

 

[BeachBum4u]

Well as usual I ran out of my meds early and didn't manage to save any for my appointment. It's going to bite me in the ass one day maybe even this time. Maybe it's time for me to find a different way to cope and get away from the pm doc. Have any of you ever told your doc the truth about your intake and if so how did it go. So aggravating that I can't seem to control myself. Y'all have a good one and closeau I hope all goes well with your doc.

You may not be in a position (or want) to make a serious plan to never again run out of your meds early. Believe me, the cons to it do not outweigh the pros, which is when it's time for my next appointment/ refill of meds, I "always" know I have the right amount of pills: period, end of sentence. And that is a very comforting thing to me and my brain. However, the cons come with giving up a level of control of your meds. This is where I don't know if your situation could make it work. You'd need a caring and understanding significant other to dole them out and most importantly, not play any head games, control/power trip games on you. You get the pills every morning, no questions asked. And if you decide getting the day's supply works better for you to get them before bedtime, she needs to go along with your request. As long as you're not getting more than a one day supply, she'd need to do as you say. No arguing or but I don't want to....you need to rely on this person without reserve.

About 8 months ago, I got sick and tired of doing exactly what you're doing. I'd run out of my meds anywhere from 1 to 8 days early, depending on how often I needed to hit the bottle up for extra needed relief. And frankly, once she figured out what all my pretty regular sicknesses where all about, she was pretty fed up too. So, I handed over control of my pain meds to her and my meds are in a safe. My wife now comes downstairs every morning with the day's pills in a bottle for me. So now on those days when I could use a little extra, I have to "deal with" it but again, the upside is I never have to worry about running out early.

I realize it's a big step to make but for me at least, it's been a God send and I haven't been W/D sick ever since I made this change. If it can't work for you for whatever reason, it's just something to consider one day maybe. If not, I wish you all the best getting through each month and hope the W/D's don't bite you too hard!

 

[Runtoparadise]

Gm- I also, (which if you've seen any of my older post you'll already know), ripped through my scripts.

Although the above poster has practical advice,I only did that with about four pills when I had an extremely important event coming up. I had someone hold them so I wouldn't be sick & wding for sweetchildofmine's special day a while back now.

Inadvertently I had to tell my PM that I'd been self medicating,- not in an ideal situation, after being hit by a car crossing the rd, & in the trauma unit with the anaesthetists not being able to figure out why the iv meds weren't helping my pain.

My PM wasn't too bad about it. I saw him a few days later though when I was feeling a bit better & we both were a bit upset with each other, as I'd been trying to get hold of him for three or four wks to talk to him about not being able to manage my oxy. Calling every single day, even multiple times. Asking if there'd been any cancellations, if he could call me back... Nada

Obviously he was upset as we have a really great r'ship & he was pissed I hadn't told him about these endless cycles of great pain relief (extra), then wds. Although, again if you've seen many of my older posts you'll know that I got by pretty fine using lyrica as a cushion,- though this doesn't work for everyone.

He wanted to reduce my dose, to what it was meant to be, 200mg oxy, but get me off the good stuff.

Methadone tablets were a suggestion, but I didn't want to go there. As was Bupe patches, but they didn't go high enough to come close to an equivalent dose of oxy, & I've tried all the other options so he referred me on to a sub dr who has had me up to 36mg subutex (usually only for breast feeding mothers, I'm not). He recently called me to come in for an appt at short notice, & we're gonna try split doses of 40mg.

What's your r'ship like with your dr? What are you taking med wise & what for? How do you manage the wds?

Rtp

 

[Shain77]

...Well friends, I had 9 cortisone injections 10 days ago and it seems to have worked. I wasn't holding out much hope for these TPI's, but I'm really surprised. I do understand that cortisone is a slippery slope, but for the relief I'm getting it's worth it. I did just have a really crap weekend of WD's though... I really don't know how you high dose folks do it. Coming off 2 years of 10 mg Oxyneo, 5 mg percosets and t4's is no picnic. I was really kicking myself for not getting one last set of scripts last week. I think I've had the worst of it though, I don't find myself standing outside the docs office this morning......

I do have to add that the TPI procedure is terrible. Kind of like self guided torture. Hope my next ones are a long way down the road.

Here's to a pain free Christmas all. Best of Luck

 

[DixiChik]

It's always uplifting to read success posts from my CP peeps. SO happy to hear that some of you have found RELIEF...whether through med adjustments, changes in meds, injections or implants. I'm encouraged by the good news, especially at this time of year.

SKR, I hope you're doing okay. Yea, I understand that those "comfort strategies" are not a sustainable "constant" in our crazy busy lives. I've learned a hard lesson that if I don't take care of me, I can't take care of others. So, take any opportunity to gift yourself a deep massage via PT, or heated rice pak, or even a heated massage chair...in conjunction with your meds.

The holidays take a toll on the healthiest, happiest of folk. The expectations (of self/others) can drill down deep on those of us who struggle to get through another day...every day.

 

[BeachBum4u]

So, take any opportunity to gift yourself a deep massage via PT

I am just wondering if anyone else ever had this issue with, especially Deep Tissue massage. So, there was a time when I was able to set aside a budget for weekly massages with a very good masseuse in town. Although I'd usually choose to have a softer type of massage therapy, everyone once in awhile she'd suggest a DTM, especially for my shoulders (which were trashed due to a motorcycle wreck). She said I had quarter sized knots along my entire shoulder region. Now let me tell you it really hurt for her to dig at those knots and to attain any progress on them whatsoever. Again, that's exactly why I typically choose something other than DTM (Call me a wimp; I don't care. It fucking hurt to all holy Hell). It jst got to the point where I'd actually have to take extra pain meds before AND a little while afterwards when things really started to SCREAM! The while time I was doing this, I kept asking myself "Isn't this supposed to help me reduce the meds I'm taking. Sort of like an alternative treatment?" Basically, down the road due to financial considerations and the pain I was going through, I put a stop to the whole massage thing but I always thought it was ironic with how things worked out. Has anyone else ever dealt with this or feel the same way? I'm just curious because you really sparked a memory Dixi.

 

[DixiChik]

BB4U...I absolutely get what you're saying, my brotha. Often times the treatment can prove more painful than the disease! As for my spine pain (cervical and lumbar), traction was most helpful for my neck in my 20s. I slept in 16 lbs. of cervical traction for 8 weeks. Nowadays, I don't think I'd risk it on this "mid-century" neck of mine! I have considered the inversion table to relieve pressure, but with my bad luck it would crash and totally cripple me!

The type of massage must be tailored to the specific needs of the individual. Your description of the initial agony is SPOT ON. For some, it "hurts so good". For others, it can ramp up the spasms. My PT followed up with warm moist heat and tens unit. As you said, it's an expensive modality to maintain. I can't afford it since my insurance changed. I can no longer afford the myofascial release massage either. It "hurt to fucking Hell" too, as it was meant to break up (loosen) adhesions in my abdomen/pelvis.

I have no doubt that the abdominal adhesions of Stage 4 Endometriosis continue to "web" my organs into one big mass (or mess). Recent scans showed blood-filled tumors on my spine as well. That's fucking lesions of this disease. Sadly, further surgery to remove lesions and adhesions will create even more ADHESIONS!

Sorry I sparked painful memories, BB4U...I'm not much into "alternative" as I've met many charlatans along this winding road of misery. One "legit" doctor suggested I visit her friend, who is an M.D. but now is full into centering his chi. For $600 dollar consult (no insurance accepted) he could help me center my chi. Oh, and I could view the artistic masterpieces he's created through his enlightenment at his ART institute. Yea, right...sign me up.