HI JENNY, I FIGURED I WOULD WRITE YOU OUTSIDE OF VIC'S THREAD SINCE THAT IS DEDICATED TO HIS INFO and i did not want to get it off the subject ...
i was one of those who did not use meds for the first few years. i downed lots of ibuprofen and actually still do at times.
as far as my medications, when, i first got out of the hospital, and did not know why i was having such pain, i tried vicodin, tylenol with codeine, percocet and i'm not even sure what else, but i was not happy with the effects of the any of narcotics at all. i was nauseous, and i was tired all the time, and i got jumpy from most of them and did not find the difference in my pain level all that much different. so i just dumped them all in the toilet and used the ibuprofen for a long time. i finally, after having read a bunch of RSD information, told my doctor i would try neurontin and we decided that 400mg three times a day was the best does for me, and that is what i have taken for years. i also take tranxene. i started taking it for pain attacks, but found that it worked perfectly for those horrid night leg cramps, and so when the panic attacks stopped, i continued to take the tranxene at bedtime. then i had taken trazadone for the pain and also the depression, and it worked well but i lost the ability to feel when i needed to urinate and did not like that so much, so i stopped it. it did help with the pain but the side effect was too much for me. i also tried cymbalta and almost died from it. i felt superb and pain free and floating on it, but by day two i was completely unable to anything but sleep and it took me several days to get over that. it seems it dehydrates me because my liver does not process medication for some unknown reason. i also tried vioxx and had a build up of edema in my upper body and ended up in the hospital getting a CT scan. i also used ultram for breakthrough pain for a while, but again, it made me nauseous and jittery, so i gave up on that. so as you can see, me and medications don't work too well. i also take a bp med and a heart arrythmia med. oh and one time i also tried a mixture of lidocaine and a few other meds in cream form and it helped, but i got such a skin irritation that i still have scars from it, so as i said, me and medications are not good together. and i see a therapist who makes it unnecessary for me to take any antidepressants!
i take a multi vitamin, c, e, b-complex, and bete carotene too.
i use heating pads alot and elevate my legs on and off thoughout the day. so all that being said, now, i must say one thing, please do not say 'just' an LPN. i worked with some absolutely wonderful LPNs in my years and one is still a very good friend, and i was her maid of honor 10 years ago, cane, brace, and all ... so that is a good friend indeed. she was my partner on a very busy surgical post op floor, and we ran it all night as a team. and i always make sure she never forgets how important her position was and still is.
joan