life in pain sucks and so do the docs trying to manage it!

I know it is scary. I am convinced that one of the cortisone injections caused more harm than good. Worked for 3 weeks then pain came back about 5 times worse. Some other effects I get is it throws my blood sugar out of wack. I got bizarre infections, couldn't regulate body temp and was nearly impossible to stay properly hydrated. Finnaly got a migraine that would not die for 2 days. The meningitis is a huge scare. Also the shots can damage muscle,nerves and bone at the injection site. It also puts you at risk for tumors. There are people who get great results with the injections. But the doctors do down play potential

Trysonwood yea If you question or refuse the injections they will take it as a sure sign you just want drugs. God forbid you should have concerns about a surgen sticking a needle in your spine and have the nerve to ask questions so you can be an informed. My first doc was like that which is why he had to be fired.

Anyway, I decided to have a conversation with my doc. I was not going to be rushed. To my surprise things went very well. He is going to do another MRI to see if anything has changed. Also agreed that a 7 out of 10 at best with pain in the 8-10th range most of the day means my pain is not being managed. He did adjust my meds a bit. Once the tests are done he is going to try a different combination of meds to see if I can achieve better results.

 

I'm glad to hear you're making progress. Yeah, chronic pain in the 7-10 range is too much to expect a person to deal with. Mine is 5-6 on average, and that's medicated and living a very restricted life. 7-10 all day every day would get me down.

 

Well they finally switched my oxicodone at 120mg
6times a day to actiq(fentanyl lollipops)I take 9 a day at 1600mcg each
Along with 4 100mcgs of fentanyl patches every 48 hours,neurontin 800mg 3times a day,cyclobenzaprine 10mg 3 times a day,cymbalta60mg a day
Klonopin 1mg 3times a day,trazadone 300mg at betime along
With seroquel 150mg at bedtime.now with all this my pain went down
From a 10 to a 5 but now about 6months is the lollipops pain is up to a 7.
Better tab a. 10 but 5 was great for me.they tried switching me to tithe strongest med they make but insurance refused because no generics

 

Damn, that's a lot of meds. But the one on there that scares me is the Seroquel. I was ripped off once and got that instead of Vicodin. I thought I'd been poisoned, I didn't know what it was. When I was finally able to think again, which was about 24 hours later, I looked it up on a pill ID site and found out that it was Seroquel. Damn, that was scary.

 

many doctors are unable to even SPELL 'palliative'!

 

Seroquel I use to sleep Along with trazadone
It helps to a degree.the lozengers. Work the best
Buy my body gets. Used.meds. To fast

 

Well, I take 50mg of Trazodone for sleep, and it works fairly well. I try not to take it every night though.

 

I can barely sleep with 300mg trazadone and 150mg seroquel

 

I could barely wake up with that much, lol.

 

Hea happydude 7-10 pain was unbearable. Led to some unproductive thoughts. But docs are working fairly well with me. Think a big part of my problem is I didn't b enough. They are still not sure what to try next yet. My body just can't tollerate the cortisone shots. They are allways a crap shoot anyway. The dangers far outweigh benefits for me now. Surgical options for back and neck injuries just aren't there yet.

Been doing a lot of meditation for sleep and pain management. It does help. Its how I delt with things before my injuries. Also looking into how I can improve on natural healing techniques. I know I can't be 100 % again but everything helps.

I got the flu then bronchitis so I have been more sick than usual this month. I have done a lot of thinking. I have a more positive outlook on life. I am not going to be defined by my illness or injuries anymore. I am going to get back to living again. I have injuries and limitations but that does not mean I can't live life. I just have to be more creative and figure out how I can do things.