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

[Runtoparadise]

^Hard opiates for fibro lol... Opiates don't work for fibro, none of them, any good rheumatologist would tell you that. Gabapentin or lyrica is what really helps there. Tramadol has shown some efficacy there cos of the SSRI properties but not the convential ones.
See a rheuomatologist if you really want to get better and do what's right for your condition and not just to get high under the guise of pain relief. Excuse my bluntness but that is what you'd be told by any fibromyalgia specialist, would put money on that, my mom had it before she got cancer.


Yeah in SA. And yeah started it after a diff injury not the shattered shoulder ball and socket - a snapped humerus. By the time I shattered my shoulder I was already on 300 mgs of oxy +. It's slightly less now but still leaves a lot of room to be desired.
Hoping gabapentin will help me space out my doses.
Hopefully get my big OC rx filled (the insurance one, 120 pm) either the end of this week or next week. Have got 20 oc 40s and 20 oxynorm IR 20s to tide me by till then. 20 or so of each. my count might be a lil off maybe slightly more or slightly less.

I don't think this is a thread to offer your expertise in PM to another member as to what may or may not work for their pain especially as you've not personally experienced it.

Actually, it really bothers me that someone with a shoulder injury could even have an opinion on what helps Fibro.

When your entire CNS goes haywire & causes unrelentless widespread pain as well as musculoskeletal stiffness, joint pain, nerve pain, fatigue, mood disorders I highly believe that fibro sufferers are not to be laughed at!

It was a well respected nation wide rheumy that started me on 200mg oxy years ago for FMS. Not that that's actually my current diagnosis, but it's a neuropathic pain disorder nonetheless. I know, in my own case and many others, GABA meds just don't work.

As highly touted as pregabalin, neurontin etc along with a tricyclic is meant to work wonders, we, in the real world of PM know this doesn't work or we wouldn't continually be looking for more answers!

Otherwise, we'd all be happy with our lyrica & amtriptyline & there'd be no need for a thread such as this.

Really irritates me that some feel their pain is more worthy than others. Sounds as though you at least have surgery as an option & your entire body is not in pain unlike some of us.

Rtp

 

[Whosajiggawaaa]

^Hard opiates for fibro lol... Opiates don't work for fibro, none of them, any good rheumatologist would tell you that. Gabapentin or lyrica is what really helps there. Tramadol has shown some efficacy there cos of the SSRI properties but not the convential ones.
See a rheuomatologist if you really want to get better and do what's right for your condition and not just to get high under the guise of pain relief. Excuse my bluntness but that is what you'd be told by any fibromyalgia specialist, would put money on that, my mom had it before she got cancer.


Yeah in SA. And yeah started it after a diff injury not the shattered shoulder ball and socket - a snapped humerus. By the time I shattered my shoulder I was already on 300 mgs of oxy +. It's slightly less now but still leaves a lot of room to be desired.
Hoping gabapentin will help me space out my doses.
Hopefully get my big OC rx filled (the insurance one, 120 pm) either the end of this week or next week. Have got 20 oc 40s and 20 oxynorm IR 20s to tide me by till then. 20 or so of each. my count might be a lil off maybe slightly more or slightly less.

was a bit irritable there sorry. the oxy makes me cranky sometimes.

 

[Rachella666]

I'm on 400mg lyrica daily for psychiatric conditions guys, I was on 600 but am being weaned off, tbh I felt no relief from my fibro pain.

 

[Rachella666]

So oxy basically is a waste of time for fibro?

 

[Runtoparadise]

Thanks for the apology to Rachella666.

I know oxy used to make me cranky too, especially when I could no longer catch a buzz even with amounts I won't mention here.

You're forgiven, especially with such a quick response which I guess you could've taken either way...

To An above poster, sorry, it's been a long few wks & my dad passed away a few days ago. But...

Suboxone has in terms of pain relief been a lifesaver!

Well, technically subutex as I'm allergic to naloxone. I travel at least four hrs round trip to see this dr, but previously I was taking around twenty meds daily.

Now, 32mgs sub, (five takeaways), clonidine, Celebrex & Diaz. (20mgs daily, but it has been a tough time).

I know that all pain patients are manufactured to not go with sub or done doctors, but in the last ten
Yrs this one has been most compassionate & caring out of all the private drs ive paid to see! She's made inroads where others wouldn't & I even have her mobile number.

Keep hope xx
Rtp

 

[namnoc16]

The truth is nobody is sure what works for ones pain better then ones self. That's not to say some of us might get carried away and over medicate but that's a whole nother issue. A doctor can tell you this works for this and this for that but everyones body chemistry is different and being on pain meds so long myself I think I have a better knowledge then most doctors. It's trial and error when you go though the different meds and hopefully you come across one that works. I hope you figure out what works best for you Rachella666,if it's oxys it's oxy no one knows better then you including some dick with a lot of schooling!
RTP sorry about your loss ,losing a parent is difficult I hope you have strong support group and you can find some comfort!

 

[Shain77]

Saw my doc for my MJ script yesterday. I'm government registered and will be ordering my first batch later today. I'm still clueless on what to order. This is what the supplier has to say;

THC is responsible for the “high” felt from cannabis. Research has connected it to the immune system regulating, anti- inflammatory, and pain relieving properties of medical marijuana.

CBD has been connected to the anti-inflammatory, pain relieving, anti-nausea, anti-anxiety, and muscle relaxing functions of medical marijuana.

Their available strengths are in % amounts and are THC - CBD:

12-0
9-9
1-13
22-1
17-1
15-5
4-10

Any CP people have experience with this type of MJ scale? I think I'll post in the cannabis forum as well, but I love this thread and the honesty in it. I have not even had a sniff of weed for probably 10 years, and from some basic internet research I see that this med MJ is crazy powerful compared to the "ganja" we toyed with 30 years ago in high school and college.

For info, my base medical diagnosis is; Severe, chronic, post-traumatic thoracic back pain.

It tears me up to hear you guys with doctor problems. I get it completely. For years the docs and specialists I saw pretty much dismissed me as an alcoholic with a history of mental illness. Nevermind that it was a mis-diagnosis that put me into a life destroying spiral of SSRI / Anti-psychotic / Benzo medications. (With daily alcohol chucked on top as a painkiller / sleep aid)

I sincerely hope you all find that CARING man or woman doc that's gonna turn your life right-side.

Try to have a comfortable day.

 

[Speed King]

I don't know the first thing about titles or conditions or labels. I saw a pain doctor who, without using the word love,I will say like a lot. I went to an appointment with her with(due to our past history) with the attitude of " listen bitch "(pardon the rough words, but you get the attitude) and, with notebook in hand, laid it all out for her. Pain in base of skull that triggers (tension) headaches that are so bad, only Fioricet will abort them. Stiff and painful spine from neck all the way down back, with surrounding muscle in deep pain. Deep pain in pelvic area and hips that would wake me up in the middle of the night with severe pain. That pain would make me vocally cry out. Upper and middle back stiffness. Lower back pain that would radiate through buttocks into thighs, also severe. Joint, wrist, forearm pain that would seem to glow. Calf and shin pain.
There is how every single day was before PM w/opiate pain medication. I told the doctor that for instance, Lyrica (a great medicine) on a scale of 1-10 would hit a 2 for relief(I left out that it worked better at doses of 600mg staggered up to 1200mg on particularly bad days). I even told her amitriptyline was a 1-2. When an opiate medication was added to therapy, those other medicines would work in combination, way better then ever by themselves.
The Percocet was an excellent medication aside from the duration of action.Then I moved to morphine ER 15mg/2 times a day. It works, but light weight in my opinion. Equal analgesic my ass.
If I was given the Percocet as breakthrough and the morphine ER 15mg X 2 per day, I would plenty happy. That is a pretty tame PM dose of medication, IMO.

I am going to call my oncologist and ask her if my pain could still somehow be considered related to the cancer I had, or the chemotherapy, that could have fucked with my endocrine system, or quite simply my brain in general. If fibromyalgia is some pussy ass diagnosis, then its obviously the wrong diagnosis.

Ooh, I realized I was getting the " don’t fuck with me attitude " that helps so very well when dealing with doctors.
For the easily offended, " Pardon my French " . That's all I got for now.

 

[Whosajiggawaaa]

yeah oral morphine really does suck for bone pain ime.

 

[Speed King]

Sorry, but I must add something. So I went to this new primary care doctor yesterday right. The first thing she says is she don't believe in pills and shit. I'm like WTF? How can these people be doctors, but don't like using medicine. I think I must ask my folks what their problem was in not telling me to become a MF doctor, that got loads of money from doing light weight tests ad making referrals. I mean shit. Once she said that, I asked her if she was going to interfere with my on going PM treatment even after that bullshit line she gave me. She kinda changed her tone and said she was fine with it. I would of become a doctor in a MF hearbeat, if I knew this shit.

 

[Shain77]

Have to say that chemo can really fuck with your system for sure. My mom has been doing chemo cycles a few times a year for 7 years, and she has crazy nerve pain. she can't handle opiates at all (GI issues), but often goes on high dose lyrica and gabapentin. She describes the pain as a burning that moves from bone outwards. sometimes so bad in her feet she can't walk.

 

[DixiChik]

SO MUCH POSTED OVERNIGHT...

RTP...My deepest condolences for your loss. I knew he was very ill and you were struggling with his care, along with your CP. I didn't realize he had died. How is sweetchild? Hug her tight and love her through it for both your sakes. PM me if you need to talk.

Rachella...I'm sorry you're not getting relief, sweet. Pain is pain. Neuropathic pain has its own zip code, often hard to treat. Try, though hard, to NOT be discouraged. Soldier forward as your own strongest advocate. It's a ridiculously apathetic world we live in.

SK...I personally would try the route of your oncology pain doctor. As I've said repeatedly, my PM is a horse's ass. He could give less than a shit about my "health care". He's even said "I don't have time for you". Yet his office bills a total of $290 to basically write scripts. He won't put the effort into seeing me as an individual, with multiple medical issues. YES, he knows I NEED big gun pain meds. YES, he's more than willing to prescribe. NO, he doesn't care that those meds block my bowels and cause near death obstructions. He has NO CLUE.

Shain... I don't know what to suggest on the MMJ. There are others here who can make good suggestions based on experience. I too am looking at the possibility, if any, that MMJ can help with my pain. Some have suggested a 1:1 ratio of THC:CBD, for pain relief and mood lift. I obtained the first weed of my life (yep) and smoked some (yuk). It made me silly and shit-faced, which was wonderful for a lazy Saturday afternoon spent on our deck. It felt SO GOOD to have no stress or worries. However, the pain was still very obvious and I would never be able to function professionally in that state.

I'm listening to your conversation and look forward to (what I hope) will be great results for you, friend. It should not be difficult to get the info and guidance you need, as yours is legal MMJ issue. Your questions should be answered by the dispensary. I am flying blind in a state where it's not even legal. I'm trying every way under the sun to obtain the "drops" or "tincture" to try for pain. So far...no luck!

I feel such empathy for your mom. I also had chemotherapy in the 90's, which has been confirmed to have ravaged my bones. The pain is crippling, as you know. Bless her heart, I understand the GI issues caused (or exacerbated) by opiates. That's the "boat" I'm sinking in, as well.

namnoc is right in that pain is individual, as is relief. It's not "one size fits all". What works for one (or not) does not necessarily for another. PM has caused me horrid stress and grief with no relief. Oxycodone is not the answer for ME personally. But then, MS Contin and Fentanyl didn't work for me either. All 3 are lifesavers for many folks.

I have severe inflammation from abdominal adhesions and disease. I need (maybe MMJ?) anything really to bypass ulcer-inducing episodes in my gut. That's why I want to try MMJ in sublingual or edible form. I think we all should have the right to find what works for our own bodies.

My PM told me up front "I no treat pelvic pain. I treat your spine/bone pain. Pain is pain." Well, no it isn't always that simple. Mine certainly isn't. My entire anatomy of my insides is a fucking train wreck...not only derailed, but DOA...especially my digestive system. I don't "process" meds the same as others. My bowels literally shut down with opiates. It's not so simple as "eat nuts, seeds and raisins". It takes an IED to move my bowels WITHOUT opiates...so just imagine! TMI, but it has to be said.

I personally would prefer to "fix" the injury/disease that causes CP. I've tried multiple times to do so. This is as good as it gets for me...full speed downhill from way back. I do the best I can under impossible situations...and then some. Those 3 words are important.

IF I can help...Please let me know. Sometimes it lessens the burden to purge. I'm here, FWIW. I care.

 

[Speed King]

So oxy basically is a waste of time for fibro?

depends

IMO, No. I feel that a lot has to do with the other things you are doing to help yourself out. I am currently going through this exact same thing. In my case, different medicines help along with exercise, and in my case hospital ordered rehab with people who walk you through exorcize. I am in the midst of this now.

 

[Speed King]

The truth is nobody is sure what works for ones pain better then ones self. That's not to say some of us might get carried away and over medicate but that's a whole nother issue. A doctor can tell you this works for this and this for that but everyones body chemistry is different and being on pain meds so long myself I think I have a better knowledge then most doctors. It's trial and error when you go though the different meds and hopefully you come across one that works. I hope you figure out what works best for you Rachella666,if it's oxys it's oxy no one knows better then you including some dick with a lot of schooling!.
RTP sorry about your loss ,losing a parent is difficult I hope you have strong support group and you can find some comfort!

Agreed. Nice post. Rtp am also sorry to hear about your loss.

 

[ShroomySatori]

I'm under prescribed, it's a huge problem. I'll be confronting my doctor about it. I need to. I need a larger script like I need food and water. I'm nervous. I seem to get the best results when I am not nervous or appearing desperate, though. But that's exactly how I'm feeling. This is life or death to me. The way things are going though I will run out in a few months and I can't even think about what would happen if I did, I don't think I'd make it through a morning without ending my life to be honest. It's a shame that I have to feel so uncomfortable when it's in the nature of the drug to develop a tolerance after a few weeks of use let alone the years I've been habitually using. First and foremost I need to get the fuck off oxy ir and get on oxycontin. It's like how I'm prescribed longest half life benzos for my chronic panic attacks (which I have from suffering so much, from the years of torture it's like PTSD essentially). And how shit like xanax is useless to me. Oxy IR gives me ups and down, it's retarded. I need a steady dose in my system, I need stability. But like I'm prescribed the weakest opiates in existence past codeine it's insanity. I have enough for a pain free morning if I take my daily amount all at once. What about the rest of the day? Sorry I just got fired from yet another career job because of my spine problem and I'm PISSED about that. It's another scar burned into my memory. Everyone hates my guts whenever I get a job because they don't understand that I'm not stupid and unqualified. I'm just constantly distracted by agony in my spine. Until I get my oxy 40, there's not even a point applying for more work. I'm bedridden most of the day. You can do anything in your 20's, right? Best years of my life gone to utter waste like I'm a 90 year old man. I don't know what I'm gonna say or how I'm gonna say it but I will fight for that oxy 40 like it's life or death.

 

[Runtoparadise]

^ Hey dude, I'm sorry you're having such a miserable time.

I don't have much to offer atm as I'm consumed with grief after quite suddenly losing my father.

I've said previously on this thread that I used to feel like going to my PM dr was like standing before a judge & jury. That I felt powerless & had no control over the outcome. That was before I came to the realisation that he was actually on MY payroll & I was expecting him to deliver some sort of Service. We then developed a great r'ship.

So sorry to hear you're nervous about talking to your dr. Certainly you should be on a long acting opiate, with IR for breakthrough for chonic pain.

My advice, talk with you dr as a person, not an authority figure. Let them know your quality of life is suffering & If they can't offer any new ideas or meds then ask to be referred on to a doctor of higher calibre.

Someone who specislises in your sort of pain, (sorry, I don't know what that is), & has the knowledge & expertise to manage your condition so you're able to hold a job & maintain some quality of life.

Be firm, show that you mean business...have a benzo or two to quiet those nerves

Best of luck,

Rtp

 

[Shain77]

Shroomy,

I get your anger and frustration bro. The advice i would give you is to be straight up with your doc. One of your other posts mentioned your doc was pretty cool and understood your situation. For sure go in with the 'quality of life' mantra. I was getting by with quite a big script for T4's and percoset, but it was doing nothing for long term pain at all. I keep a good relationship with my pharmacist, and she suggested that I ask for Oxyneo ER. Sure enough, my next appt He gave me a 2 week trial and it is FKING great. I started getting almost a full nights sleep and not being so irritable right away.

I would advise not asking for "oxycontin' by name, it was banned in Canada in 2012. Also, you might want to rethink being "pain free". For most of us, that ship has sailed.

Good luck.

 

[ShroomySatori]

I sincerely thank both of you for the advice. Thanks so much.

I always dose extra benzos, since you can't really trust a desperate and panicking person. I specifically want Oxyneo ER. Those are abuse proof right? Like you can't crush and sniff them? I wouldn't be doing that anyway - I quit sniffing anything whatsoever a long time ago. I used to have a bit of a heroin habit doing it that way but now that I'm in PM I don't fuck around with anything but what I'm prescribed (and I happened to have a huge stockpile of those same meds when I got in, but that stockpile is now dwindling which I why I have to act. I'm never buying anything illicitly again, ever). I completely agree with this 'breakthrough pain' terminology - I don't have experience with extended release apart from getting them a couple times and crushing them up. But that wouldn't be the point if I had them consistently. I'm just thinking there might come I time that I have 'extra pain' for some reason and then you wouldn't want to dose ER. So I'd want my percocets, but on top of that like a 20mg Oxyneo ER, or a 40mg one (I'm assuming those are the doses they come in?).

It won't be hard to believe that my tolerance is up. My dose has never been raised once before and it has been ages. I'm going to compare how valium is so much better for me than when I was prescribed xanax, since it's so much smoother and less ups and downs, dosing once a day instead of like 4 times, getting too much anxiety relief then an anxiety rebound... I think it's a good analogy to make... ask if there is a version of that for these pills I'm taking. Mention my tolerance is way up too. I'll just say that they must have developed something like that because it would make so much more sense if I had a smaller, more consistent dose in my system than having almost too much relief for too short a time. I'll say that I actually read in the news that they developed something called Oxyneo to make it abuse proof and if that is extended release oxycodone. Anyways I will be very high on both valium and oxycodone at the time, because that is when I am the chillest and most reasonable, intelligent, and trustworthy.

The type of pain I have is like a pinched nerve or something, extreme agony at one part of my spine, not lower back pain, mid back, a million things will make it worse and only one thing makes it better. I can't handle feeling it for even like 5 or 10 minutes without just freaking out, it's horrible.

I guess I'm having a miserable time, yeah. I am fairly miserable I guess. Not really now, I'm just worried that I'll run out of my extra percs if I don't come clean to an extent. 15mg of oxycodone is what it takes for me to be completely pain free for a few hours and I'm happy then. Obviously not mention I'm already taking 3 to 4 times as much as I get. Just that the relief isn't there.

Because when I initially mentioned I was already taking them he/she said "see the problem with that is I don't know how much you're taking now, or where you have been getting them" but I was still luckily prescribed and that was a long time ago. I'm just not going to say the same shit because I'll lost trust.

Actually should I just say that the pharmicist mentioned Oxyneo when I was talking about my meds, and to ask my doctor about it? And I'll say that I made the same connection between xanax and valium and this is what they told me to ask about. That sounds pretty cool to me, but I can't stop there. I need to say all the things about my quality of life. I barely ever have sex with my girlfriend anymore, all we do is oral sex since my back hurts so much (lol, like they are such a chill doctor I wouldn't even feel uncomfortable saying that), I got fired from another career, I'm not even applying for jobs because I know I'm setting myself up to fail, I can handle working 2 hours a day at the moment. And the main thing is that I have to plan my day out based on my pills. Ok... appointment at 5... take pill at 4... dinner at 9 with parents... need a pill at 8... I'll have to feel like shit all afternoon... like really emphasize that it's just not working. And how my panic attacks are just gone, I don't have anxiety anymore, it's not fucking my life up like it used to, because I'm on a long half life med for it, I haven't had a panic attack in months, and I can even do psychedelics again, which I had to quit taking for years but which are absolutely a fundamental component of the core of my being, my mental health has improved since I started taking them again. Obviously not mention the psychs. Haha. But I've been taking a pile of them and the first thing I thought on my first trip back, well coming down from it when my pain was surfacing..man you really need to talk to your doctor about this.

I've consider keeping it to 30mg a day or tapering down to 15mg. But I'm just not functioning and it's not even tolerance. That was never enough. I'm not getting anything done, I'm laying around bedridden most of the day. I've thought about this a lot, and I want to raise my dose a bit and get on ER with IR for breakthrough pain.

Fuck I'd totally take lumbar or lower back pain over this though. Thoracic or middle back pain is just hell. I'm rigid as a board like my body just won't budge, I still do a lot of yoga though. My spine is so fucked up, I honestly don't know what I could have done... I'm still getting diagnosed.

I'm really lucky to have a doctor who still prescribed me even when I said I was already using. But I'm not going to fuck around with his/her trust now. You know what the funniest thing is. I got urine tested right away my first appointment. I wasn't expecting that, and I had smoked a few puffs of opium immediately before going. I was really stoned on opium. But I came back clean, does that make any sense or what? Maybe they just recorded that I was clean. I was laughing my ass off though, because I came back clean from benzos too, and I am definitely not clean from them. I think I was on klonopins at the time. Maybe they mixed up the samples and someone else got screwed over. Haha.

 

[Whosajiggawaaa]

jus got back from the pharmacy. Insurance paid for my 120 oxycontins (early!!!!). Saved me some nice cash (oxycontin is expensive - specially in that quantity). Even the pharmacist was surprised they paid early, but she was stoked for me, they like me there which is always good.

WOOT WOOT!



not gonna burn through them fast like i usually do. gonna try use em as I NEED them.

 

[ShroomySatori]

Jesus that makes me drool like a salivating dog. Can you say opioid porn. I'd be having a field day with those, I'd be the happiest person in the universe you lucky fucker. I'm admittedly jealous. Congratulations though.

Like I seriously wouldn't be able to stop grinning wildly if I were you. God I'd be licking those packages like a sweet clitoris.