Lisa,

I was just going to mention massage, relaxation and meditation and gentle yoga. I see you have most of that covered.

One way to get massage is to get PT w massage as part of the plan. I don't find it as good- they can't give you a whole hour of massage but they can give you some and are trained.

Can you tell us exactly how much of what you are on- especially the baclofen?

ANN

Hello Ann. I'm currently on 1200mg Gabapentin for nerve pain, 120mg Cymbalta for nerve pain, 10mg Oxycodone for pain, 40mg Baclofen for muscle spasm, 100mg Trazadone for sleep- all of which are not effectively giving relief of symptoms. My insurance will only cover an eval by PT- not continued treatment. I have seen 4 different therapists in past 5 years- all with diff recommendations, dx, & advice. They seem like pretty genuine people that want to help w/ the info they are given. I don't mind going cause it's part of the process- they all have given me "at home" exercises to improve muscle function, coordination, dizziness, gait, etc but I have yet to find an exercise that has benefitted me worth the energy exerted. I am trying to stay positive because I truly believe that there is a lesson to be learned from everything as long as we look deep enough to find

Also, I split the Baclofen dose- 20mg 2x daily. Have tried it all at once & this way seems to be better as I am splitting doses of all meds at this point

So sorry your going thru so much pain. Im suffering from alot of nerve pain and spasticity also. You seem to have a whole pharmacy going on there. Too many meds at once can interfere with each other. When my pain got worse, my neuro upped my meds but that made me worse. I was taking 80mg baclofen daily and 50mg amitriptyline daily. I was having worse problems. He decreased the baclofen and added tizanadine for the spasms. Much better. I currently dont take anything for the nerve pain, so Im muddling thru the pain as best I can. Easier said then done tho. Im not big into taking alot of pills, never have been. But I take them religiously to avoid being in too much pain.

hi lisa,
i'm also sorry you're going thru so much. unfortunately meds are tough. so much of it is trial and error and up/down with doses. then, when you're on so many it's difficult.

the main thing is that you have a good pcp (hopefully an internist) that listen to you, believes you and validates you. then you have a team approach (with you as the leader) that can work.

do you have a neurologist? did you have an mri? do you have any positive tests for MS?

i'm on a lot of meds also. i'm also on a pain med and my pain dr does random urine tests. that's typical of what drs do when giving pain meds. they know you're a legit pt and not abusing.

i hope your dr can tease apart what will help you the most.

Thank you everyone for your thoughtful responses! I am so grateful to have a platform to come and talk about all of this with people that understand what I'm going through. It has helped me so much! Hope you are all well today and hugging your loved ones tight after all of the senseless violence going on this week

Sorry to hear what you're going through. I also have the same symptoms, have taken the same meds that you are taking, also with no luck. The only thing that's worked for me is Requip (or Ropinirole) for spasms. For nerve pain, sometimes I use over the counter Neuragen from the diabetic section at Walgreens. Hope this helps. Nora