[QUOTE=DanP;660334][COLOR="Blue"]

For Roxie: I suspect he fears the DEA more than he cares for his patient(s).

*** Amen, brother! That has been my experience (although I have my doubts that the morphine cs I take (60 mg. daily) has any effect)... once I am through this week (not quite as bad as last week) I will start the process of finding a new primary care physician (she only last month referred me to the pain management program).

Hi Roxie.....I feel for you as I too have that pain at the 10 level everyday & nothing seems to work for relief. I have had my PN for .....it will be 9 yrs. this coming Aug.. It has progressed so badly in the last 24 months that I am in bed pretty much full time now. We have tried every med under the sun plus epidurals & nothing has worked.

Today I'm back to the Neurologists, been seeing him a yr. & we just keep trying different meds. Meanwhile I have suffered like hell with this pain just getting worse & worse. Today I am going to get a spinal tap & another nerve conduction study. I'm going to ask him about the patches & see if I can try those.

Good luck Muffy. I hope you will soon find a really good doctor who will truly work with you with a genuine interest in gaining control over your pain. I urge you to be absolutely honest with the doc and never exaggerate the level of your pain. Your doc must be able to believe in you and this works both ways resulting in mutual trust. Once this trust is established I believe there is not much the two of you can't accomplish.

Your doc has an arsenal of pain relievers and it's mostly a question of finding what will work for you. Patience by you and the physician plays a big role as does titrating the meds for maximum results plus giving the meds the time to work and your body the time to adjust - all of which can take several days to two weeks or more. Many meds may have to be tried so hang in there, think positive, and believe a solution will be found and never ever give up.

I've now had this PN crud for 22 years and since trying the Duragesic Patch on
9 Jan 02 my life changed. My constant chronic 7 to 9+ pain levels from my knees down have been reduced to a modest 2 to 4 which I have come to virtually ignore. I am now 78 years old and enjoying life very much. Once a pain med is found for you then the same results can be yours. Again, hang in there - 'cause there are better days ahead.

Thank You Dan. I fear we are really going to find a pain med. I been on approx. 50 different meds & nothing has worked. I worked with a pain management clinic prior to this neurologist. This is neurologist #2.

He did not do the spinal yesterday but he did a nerve conduction study that sent me spinning. Its been a year since the last one & man this one hurt like hell. I still can't stand up on my feet. Really riled things up in there.

My cpap machine was acting up & I was not using it so I got in trouble for that. He said the gov. is coming down on all these cpaps that medicare is paying for & people are not using so he will not go forward in treating me with pain meds until I start using my machine again. So we have another sleep study set up for the end of this month & then we'll try the patch. I sure look forward to that working. It would be great if it does.