Anyone else on the DU with chronic pain?

[RedTail Wolf]

I have it from 7 failed back surgeries. The new laws coming from Washington giving the FDA and DEA more and more powers over Doctors. Some of us need strong meds to make it through the day and be productive people.
I was wondering if there ate any fellow sufferers here.

Another fight I am always in with this Govt!


RedTail Wolf

[Cuban_Liberal]

1. My s/o.

He suffers from a degenerative form of arthritis. So far, NSAIDS and surgery have worked, except on those REALLY bad days.

[luaneryder]

2. Yes

same here, back and neck for over 20 years. I'm service connected thru the military for my back yet they want to give me Tylenol. The "pain" doctor at the Durham VA basically told me that it was all in my head and to have cookies and milk at night to help me sleep. Private phsycians have been up front about not being able to assist me with pain because of the DEA breathing down their neck.

[Auntie Bush]

3. I don't have pain but I need a controlled substance.

I have terrible insomnia and have been taking Ambien for about 6 years. I live in fear my Dr. will take me off of it because the DEA
is breathing down his neck too. If I can't have Ambien I will hardly ever sleep again. I used to live on bed rest and a few min of shut eye each night. I consider that pain!

[Metatron]

9. An alternative to Ambien, just in case.

And, of course, I'm not a doctor - so this has just been my experience. I was prescribed Ambien a couple of years ago. It did nothing for me. After trying a couple of other sleep medications that didn't work, my doctor prescribed a very low dose of an old-school anti-depressant called Remeron purely because of the drowsiness side effects. I swear within an hour of taking half a pill, I would go right to sleep and sleep all night long. It really changed my life!

[wicket]

4. Yes

I have endometriosis and use holistic methods of managing pain.

[Cleita]

5. Arthritis.

I take over-the-counter medication. The prescription stuff is too expensive.

[Piperay]

6. Constant neck and back pain

due to scoliosis. I see a chiropractor regularly which helps, if I didn't I don't think I would be able to function at all. x(

[Metatron]

7. Yes, I do.

I have fibromyalgia. Some days are worse than others. Stress makes it all worse. I currently take nothing for it (but will again when I have health insurance). I'm insane about researching all the meds my doctor prescribes. About four years ago, I warned her about negative reports regarding Vioxx and explained why I wouldn't take it. Selfishly, I felt quite vindicated when it was taken off the market!

[Susang]

11. I have CFS/FM

Sucks don't it? ;-)

[Metatron]

12. It DOES suck!

:hug:

[seraph]

8. Yes.

I've always had trouble getting enough drugs to kill the pain.

Difficult in a country with parochial and puritanitcal attitudes towards medicine.

And they say we're advanced....

I say, bullshit.

[AuntieM1957]

14. Those Damn Puritans!

If only one could legally roll a joint!

[thatgemguy]

10. Chronic pain sufferer here

Lumbar area of spine, failed back surgery from 1991, aggravated by a fall in 2003. I live with constant severe pain daily.

I'm presently getting treatment from a pain clinic in Pittsburgh and receiving a prescription for morphine to help manage.

Of course, to receive the prescription from the clinic, I had to sign a drug policy agreement, and submit myself for random urine drug screening.

It sucks to have to submit myself to a piss test to receive medical care!!! What has happened to my country?

I don't even want to begin to rant about Ohio Workers Comp, and their (Mis)Managed Care System.

My doctor wants me to choose between an implanted morphine pump, or an implanted electrical spinal cord stimulator before my next visit.

Anyone with experience with either of these devices???

:mad: :mad:

[Al Dente]

13. No, but...

I have a freind who has it and she says it is horrible. She has gotten so used to it that it isn't noticable to other people, but she can't do so much that she wants to do. She is seeing a doctor who is studying it and may have a cure, which is really awesome. Anyways, thats all I know. Peace

[RedTail Wolf]

15. A site for Chronic pain folks

http://p197.ezboard.com/bchronicpainforum

They are good people and understand what every day with pain is like.
Luckily right now I am in the care of a good pain clinic with good pain management practices, not a stick shop. It's a helluva a thing in the USA when the DEA and insurance companied think they know better than trained Doctors! Another fight I am always fighting" The "real war on Drugs" the one against us the patients! Glad I'm not alone here! Nice to hear from all of you.


RedTail Wolf

[Awsi Dooger]

16. I developed sciatica two months ago and it can be agony

Sometimes I literally can't move. Many times in late September thru mid October I had to kneel down and then slowly turn over until I was sitting on the floor, even in public including six separate times during one grocery store visit.

I hurt my left lower back hitting golf range balls in September. The pain moved down my left side over the next few days, from my back down my butt to my leg, especially lower leg, then into my foot. Now my foot stings all day and is numb in some places, especially high on the instep near the base of my big toe. Rest, heat pad and specific exercises don't seem to have done much good. I also have occasional pain in the sciatic nerve in my butt and leg.

[Sugarbleus]

17. Wow...interesting thread. 16 replies already... YES, I too have

Chronic pain. I have deteriorating Osteo Arthritis in BOTH hips, protruding disk in upper middle back, a plantar facitis in one foot with a mild neuropathy in both feet.

I have a mild narrowing of vertebrae: stenosis, which causes spasms in my back and numbness in leg. I have a generalized arthritic inflamation in my tail bone and extreme stiffness also. Nothing wrong with my upper body or hands so far. *knock wood* All of these cause chronic pain DAILY. I can't stand sit or lie down for any appreciable amounts of time before the searing pain starts.

I'm virtually housebound and gaining weight. I have a couple other medical conditions that do not cause pain.... Taken all together my life has been diminished significantly.

My doc/NP has been pretty good to me in terms of getting all these things diagnosed ...after 20 YEARS without health insurance! But she never sent me to a specialist and I don't know why. Now she's gone. She left the clinic and went elsewhere...just found out :(

I've known that docs are reluctant to give pain killers because of the new "war on drugs" shit so I didn't ask for any for a couple years. Finally, my pain got to where I was crying out in pain day and night. Pain would keep me from sleeping many nights. I couldn't MOVE to do one damn thing or step down out of the back door, so I started taking hubby's meds*...a little bit at a time--didn't want to take his nor find myself addicted with no personal resources. I stealed myself and asked for something. She gave me darvocets!! They help a wee bit but hubby's Vicodin help much better. I was going to go in and ask her for something stronger--willing for her to watch me so I don't get carried away--but SHE LEFT!
*(hubby sees a quack who gives him pills but doesn't take care of his other medical problems...go figure)

Now I have to reaquaint myself with one of the male docs there and START A RELATIONSHIP ALL OVER AGAIN! No wonder some people hit the streets for their meds! It's torture.

Furthermore, I don't know why I wasn't recommended for hip replacement.. Maybe because I use medicaid? Maybe because I'm hefty and not a candidate since I haven't been "active" for awhile? Maybe because they don't care? Maybe because they think I should wait until I"m old and gray? <---dumb idea BTW. NO ONE would bring it up; I was a bit afraid of surgery at first myself. NOT anymore!

I don't like the idea of being habitualized with narcotics..but I don't like BEING IN PAIN EITHER!

Ultimately, NO medicine can take all the pain away and leave you functioning at the same time. Eventually one becomes "tolerant" to the drugs which means some might be tempted to take "more". I just live with much of my pain, BUT I'm NOT willing to "white knuckle it" completely. Pain meds for me, take the "edge" off so I can move around and do life.

I have a friend who has had several surgeries for Arthritic related conditions. She had superb insurance and caring physicians. She's getting Morphine, norcos, and many other things. She finally had to stop working...even though the surgeries worked to some degree, arthritis is an ongoing disease, continuing to attack her body in other ways plus her pain med use made it impossible, dangerous even, to continue to work. She lucked out with caring physicians, unlike me and some of you.

What a freaking outrage that we should have to be afraid to ask for pain relief in the 21st century!!!

[RedTail Wolf]

20. See website I listed

Sometimes a member can direct you to a real pain doctor near you!

Good luck to you all,

RedTail Wolf

[bluetrain]

18. My spine was shattered a year and a half ago.

I've been in relentless pain everyday since then. I quit taking the meds because I couldn't think on them and they altered my mood so that I was abyssmally depressed and started corroding my stomach. I've learned to block out the pain most of the time and to move very carefully. At least I can think again.

If you don't have one already, find yourself a good physical therapist.

[ProfessorGAC]

19. Yes. Pain From MS

It's a drag. There are days when i wonder if i can go another 20 or 30 years like this. (I'm 48.) Other days, i can just block it out. It's ALWAYS there, i just handle it some days better than others.
The Professor