Hello,

I too was diagnosed 5 months ago with pn, but had the pain in my feet bad about 8 months ago and when the pain first came on, I couldn't walk for a few days. I could only walk on the sides of my feet. Let me tell you, it was too difficult to take care of my 4 year old. Thank God for my parents and for my husbands job letting him change his hours for a few months.

In November my doctor put me on the Fentanyl patch and like Melody said, it was a life saver to me. I felt no pain. Not only did I have feet pain, but my lower back went out on me too........ so to not to have to feel that pain to was terrific. But yes, you do have to watch out, eventually I had to increase the mg about a month later and I was getting a side effect from it. It was like an elephant was sitting on my chest. I could not stand it, but tolerated it until mid Jan. Like a dummy, I took it off cold turkey and had the worst withdrawl symptoms from it. Don't ever do that unless your doc knows about it. YIKES!
As soon as the patch was out of my system I could feel every little pain in my body. OUCH!! Unfortunately the patch worked for a few months and that was it. I am now taking Cymbalta and Lyrica and haven't had any bad side effects with these. I still feel the pain, but it is not as intense. I also or my husband massages my feet for me and that seems to help alot. Plus when the pain gets too bad I take tramadol. I also take ambien for sleep. It's a shame, but I have to have sleep medicines, otherwise I wouldn't be able to sleep because of the pain.

I know what you are going through because this has taken a toll on our lives as well. My husband has been very supportive and has tried to get me help. He can't stand to see me in so much pain. The stress I think landed him in the hospital for about 5 days. He had double pneumonia.

I just hope and pray that your husband can find some relief from the pain. It is so horrible to be in constant pain 24/7. Keep us informed, it also helps to talk about it.

Take Care,
Michele