I work hard to try not to have to take pain meds for a few reasons.
- I'm either allergic to or highly sensitive to the meds prescribed for our condition, so many meds have been now been ruled out.
- I want to avoid further complications from the side effects and long term use.
- I want to try to keep my cognitive abilities as clear as possible.
This does not mean that I don't take pain meds, I just try really hard to manage without them.
My basic pharmacological treatment is the lidocaine infusions every couple of weeks. For now this drug seems to keep the monster at bay with the least side effects. I can go for many days without having to take any pain meds when I'm getting my lidocaine regularly.
For daily maintenance will I employ a number of different tools to manage the rsd depending on what is going on, my stress levels, weather conditions etc...
I have to keep it moving, keep warm and remember to breath. Pacing my activities really helps me to manage things.
Learning to say no has been a huge lesson for me.
Right now I am going through a very high stress transition in my life and have not had a lidocaine infusion for 5 weeks now. The whole left side of my body in engaged in the pain dance.
For days like today I have Tylenol 3's and Oxycontin 5 mg, typically 5 mg is all I can handle. Tonight I opted for Oxycontin and currently have my left leg and arm wrapped in heating pads with my foot on a hot water bottle. A hot spa bath sounds good about now.
I also take oxazepam for sleep daily.
MsL