Medication question

[chickiet]

Thanks to all of you for the feedback. This once again exemplifies that we all respond differently to different meds. I will just have to see how it all works for me.

I've found that Lyrica gives me more side effects than the Neurontin did, but I think the pain is less (but it's hard to remember sometimes, since there is a fair amount of time between the max dosage of one vs. max of the other). But the pain is still there, so I'm sure there will be a next step on the meds...

John - I admire your perseverance on the no meds concept. I don't think I could do that - definitely not now.

[cindylee]

Hi...I too try not to do many meds because I just don't handle them well. My doctor doesn't want to put me on anything that will have to be increased in dosages because I will have pain the rest of my life. I take a low dose of Lexapro and Naproxen. I have tried taking Vicodin but it gives me nightmares and stomach problems. It did wonders for the pain though. Neurontin makes me too dopey to do anything. Everyone is different in their reactions. It's hard to find something that works for you. You just have to try and find something that has the least side effects and takes the pain away as well. anyway, that's my two cents worth. Cindy

[Oscar Medina]

I'm presently just trying to get rid of the Tramadol after having taken it for the last three years. I was offered Neurontin and Lyrica. I never took Neurontin, but did try Lyrica while taking Tramadol. I couldn't sit up straight for the next three days. It was hard to wake me up. It's a strong medication! Even after cutting it in quarters, it put me to sleep all day. I immediately stopped taking it. My decision to take or not to take additional medication is always based on my level of pain. If you can take the level of pain you have without the medication, by all means, do not take any medication. Taking the medication is always gonna bring you a whole lot more trouble in the future, as you can see. Stay in control of what you take. Don´t let the doctors just push medication into you. good luck!

[Joel]

John:
So, why are you subjecting yourself to this? I would at least give some med like Lyrica or neurontin a try.
Joel

[wobbly1]

John,

I know why I tried the drug free approach- you see, many of us young men were taught that pain is weakness- some type of personal failure. My sports club used to have a sign that read " Pain is merely weakness leaving your body. " I really thought this was true, and that I was going to beat all of this by friggin toughing it out.

If you want to try that approach, cool. It took me a bit to figure out that my illness wasn't a personal failing.

Oddly, many pain Docs treat you like they are doing you a favor. They have this cute little term, seekers. They think that if you are asking for pain control, you are or may be becoming an addict. Jerks.

Remind all of your Drs. who works for who- and take a strong stance when it comes to your body. You are in charge, but you also have to accept what forms of relief you can.

I had three years of blinding pain, with no meds, attempting to prove a point. What do you think my quality of life was??

[Joel]

Right on, Wobbly. I'm with you 100%. Make it as easy as possible on yourself.

[john8888]

Wobbly has my “no medication” motivation figured out perfectly. I wanted to see if I could make it to the top of Everest without oxygen despite the pain.

I am only 13 weeks after surgery. I have not yet made it to "base camp" compared to Wobbly’s “three years of blinding pain, with no meds”

Until I started to read these posts I had never heard of any of these drugs. It had never even occurred to me that there were such things.

I have no doubt now I will need these medications but some strange voice keeps telling me to see how long I can last.

[Joel]

John:
Yeah, and who were all those guys that Krakauer wrote about in "Into Thin Air"? How many of them would have lived had they just turned back or gone to get more oxygen? Are you working out? Or have you decided to see if you can make it without that too? I really wish you only the best, but I hate the thought of you suffering like I'm sure you are. But hey, maybe the pains aren't all that bad. Only you know the answer.
Joel

[vickie]

I'm impressed by people that can live with the pain without meds I know I couldn't do it. I agree about pain docs that is why I switched to a new one. I do not like being made to feel like I like taking drugs, the pain sure as h*** wasn't my idea and I'm sorry if I could get rid of the pain with no meds I would but I can't so I won't.
Yesterday when I saw my doc I had finally had it with everyone, family, friends, doctors I told her exactly what I expected from her treatment, not that I expected to pain free I know that won't happen, but I expect to be treated with respect, to be listened to, and to be treated with understanding and compassion and in return I would do the same for her. I'm tired of doctors that think they are doing you a favor by seeing you and if you need pain control you must be some kind of drug addict.
My last pain doc who was a PA for an orthopedic would not listen to me that the methadone she pushed was no longer working and I didn't want to take them anymore, I wanted to either give up or try something else. When she wouldn't listen I took it upon myself to throw them away unaware that she was going to ask for a UA when that came up clean she told me I was selling my methadone for crack or herion, and that since I couldn't afford the more expensive drugs she would normally prescribe (I was in the donut hole of Medicare at the time) couldn't afford to pay my bills (let her live on 700.00 a month and see how far that goes) she wouldn't see me anymore. My neurosurgeon had a fit and sent me to this new doc who I like and get along with. I think anyone new to the pain clinics and docs need to let them know up front that we expect the same from them that they expect from us.
Vickie

[john8888]

Joel

There is nothing positive I can recommend about the no meds approach. Simply put it hurts most of the time and it is really nasty at night when I move a bit and wake up with a zap. The mornings are a low point as I wake up each day as a 100 year old man with a new list of hurts.

I am doing all of the exercises the therapist had given me over the weeks in a gym each day with as much “quality” as I can muster. Some days I get it all done in 2 to 3 hours but today it took me over 5 hours as I had both the nasty pain and dizziness.

The weird thing is that the pain is changing and relocating as the workouts and time progresses. Every few days things change. A few weeks ago my feet felt like dead numb claws. Now they have some feeling and I am more nimble but it is like sandpaper between the toes. On the plus side I can now walk a bit more (i.e. I can now go 300 steps before total system failure and a few weeks ago 150 steps was my max). Parts of my upper body that were dead and numb are also coming to life and do they ever hurt!

I think the one thing this forum has drilled into me is that we are all different. I have learned a lot form reading all the different approaches here and I am now less likely to just push though it.

Vickie

I know first hand now that this pain we all feel is real and nasty. In the old days (before surgery) I would run long distances and the “wall” was nothing compared to 10 minutes in our average day. I think that most of the doctors could not imagine what this is like. Keep up the good fight.

John