I had more pain after the surgery than I had had before the surgery. I had to take "medical retirement". The pain was unbearable and I was ready to call it quits. I was on Lyrica, Neurontin, Morphine and a few others I don't remember now -- and they weren't helping.
Lyrica is an awful drug!! I started having memory problems -- I couldn't even get through a sentence before I forgot what I wanted to say or which words to use. When my husband started to notice it too, I started looking into Lyrica and found out it is a drug used for seizures. Pfizer was sued because all the studies about Lyrica's use for pain were falsified. One of the side effects is blurred vision. What it actually causes is atrophy of the optic nerve that can result in permanent blindness. I couldn't get off it fast enough!!
Several things saved me. I found a Physiotherapist who was also certified in Auricular (Ear) Acupuncture. It's the weirdest thing -- very different from regular acupuncture -- but it works!! I was able to get off most of my meds.
At the same time, I found a pain specialist who put me on Hydromorphone Contin (Dilaudin). It took awhile to adjust to get the dosage right, and he was great at helping me. We're now discussing Marijuana oil for break through pain -- will try this after my next appointment in January.
I also found an Osteopath who specialized in Cranio-Sacral Therapy. Like the Ear Acupuncture, it really helped settle the pain down. I still do the Acupuncture from time to time when I have flare-ups, but I haven't been back to the Osteopath in a few years.
The fourth thing that really helped was a 6-week Pain Management Course I took at the local Rehab Hospital. It helped me deal with all the psychological issues related to severe chronic pain, grief and loss. It also helped me to change my life style -- to feel okay about saying no I'm not up to it today, I need to go lie down and sleep a bit, etc. The big thing they taught us was about pacing -- how to plan my life to minimize and work around the pain. How to schedule my time so that I would take frequent breaks and have no more than one pain-worsening activity on a given day. For example, on the days that I had to wash my hair -- which aggravated the pain -- I wouldn't schedule in changing the sheets on the bed, or grocery shopping that also worsened the pain. It made sense, but it was -- and still is -- hard to make the changes because I still want to believe that I can do everything as I could before. When I overdo things now and end up with more pain, I realize that I shouldn't have done so much -- so it does help me to keep trying to pace myself as I feel so much better when I do. In the end, I do accomplish more -- it just takes a little longer than before.
I still have good days and bad days, but definitely more good than bad. I'm never pain free, but I'm able to manage it better and have a better quality of life. The constant pain is exhausting and sleep often eludes me at night. I've learned to take naps during the day and not feel guilty about it.
The other thing we learned was to accept that chronic pain isn't going to go away, so jumping from doctor to doctor looking for a miracle cure is just wasted effort. When I have limited energy, far better to spend it doing things that make me feel better than on futile pursuits.
I noticed someone else mentioned digestive problems. Is this common? I get a lot of heartburn now and when I get over-tired I get so nauseous -- often end up vomiting. I'm wondering what the physiology behind this is. Does anyone else have these problems and understand why??
The other thing I've noticed is that my body doesn't regulate temperature as it used to. I'm always feeling cold. Sometimes I get a prickly feeling and my skin is cold to touch. Does this happen to anyone else? I understand that it's because of spinal cord damage.