Hope they can put him into this program. Maybe one of his docs can provide samples in the meantime...

Boy, our health program (?) needs fixing...

Cathie

Elec...,
Mega doses of Lyrica may not be all that effective.
It Zeroes out at a certain level and is no more effective than the lower levels.
Same with Neurontin, but Lyrica seems to work better than
Neurontin at lower levels.
I take the current accepted max (my doc won't 'up it')
200 mg 3x day = 600mg/day. I was taking 4200mg/day of Neurontin
before switching.
Your past income should not have any thing to do with qualifying
for help, if you currently have no income and no health coverage.
It may take some effort to qualify for SSDI.
SSI may be denied- but there are people & companies out there
to help you with this.
They know you don't have any money and are set up to help
people like you.

Thanks Mel that was great,i have a friend who needs that Program.
And i could not think of it. E i hope you make that phone call,it's a very
good start.

Another friend went in the hospital thinging she was insured,they must of as
well. They admiitted her,then a Social Worker came in to tell her insurance
no longer good. Well all she could think is i have to leave,how will i pay
for the time i've been here. Of couse she started crying,i know i would.
The Social Worker said i think you need help and so does your Dr. She got
her on a 3 month program for SSI.Even if you have worked,this is used
to get back on your feet. And i'm sure the hospital wants to be paid. I
don't know what state your in but tell Mel she find out. You are out of work
you are ill,you have a Dr. to prove it,it's not alot but your meds,should be
paid for,if you need food stamps,she said that was more paper work.And
please tell your Dr. you need samples they have them.

But call that No. And thanks again Mel. Please stay in touch. Sue

No problem. If the guy is not familiar with the internet, I'll be glad to do any research he needs.

Took me all of 5 minutes to get this information.

I hope he makes the call. No one should be in that much pain and have no recourse. And I didn't know they give you SSI to get you on your feet.

Never heard of that one.

I gather there are programs out there that help people but people have to figure out a way to get to the programs!!!!!!

Melody

" Can you get temporary Social Security disability or SSI benefits ?

The simple answer to this question is that Social Security disability and SSI benefits are not short-term disability programs.

Social Security requires that you have to have been unable to earn a substantially gainful income, or that or you expect to be unable to do this for twelve months, due to a mental or medical condition, before you may be potentially entitled to a social security disability or SSI benefit.

Additionally, disability claims usually take time to be processed to a denial or allowance. If your disability claim is denied at the initial level (first filing), then you will have to appeal the decision. The appeals process usually takes a considerable amount of time, with no guarantee that you will be found disabled.

However if you have been awarded Social Security disability benefits, there is nothing in the Social Security regulations that would prevent a disability beneficiary from receiving disability benefits because of a medical or mental condition, and at some point returning to work. In fact, Social Security offers many incentives to encourage disability recipients to return to work. "

http://www.ssdrc.com/disabilityquestions1-13.html

Seen it happen here and he has a good reason for not working,and yes
there is a program here that does it. And yes Mel that was a poor choice
of words. Sue But it's a pain free day first time in awhile. Mel never
stop posting you have a job right here.

I have heard that Lyrica is not supposed to be effective at higher dosages but in my case, if I don't take at least 1,500 mg it is not enough to knock down the pain. Anybody know if there are any countries where you can get Lyrica OTC? (Thank you ALL for your very helpful info). Social security is still processing my appeal. I did get temporary dissability from one of my former employers, but had to attempt to return to work when it ran out, and was fired after 1 month from the new job with no reason given. I have not had any luck finding compassionate people who realise that I suffer from agonizing pain except for on this forum.

I'm probably being bitter but when you got fired after a month...it was probably because they figured it would happen again, not to mention the medical you were costing them, if you had insurance. I had the best paying job I've ever had. I was working as a spinner in a yarn factory (it's actually thread but they call it yarn or some such nonsense) over 10.00 per hour and looking at two more raises up to almost 12.00/per hour in the next couple of months. I had carpal tunnel which the job aggravated so badly that I had to go to the doctor. I simply couldn't stand it anymore and the pain was only getting worse. I showed up at work on a Sunday night with the brace the doctor gave me and they fired me on Wednesday morning. It was less than 3 weeks before my 90 day probationary period was up. They figured they would have to pay for my surgery and lost time/wages. They didn't realise I still had Medallion. The dummies.

Jobs in this area are very scarce. Good paying jobs.....that pay enough to live on....are mostly non-existent. I was blessed to have found that job at the time that I found it. The bottom line is always the almighty dollar and most places put that above everything - the bottom line.

i know the pain your going through. i have trigeminal neuralgia, and so many times i thought the same way as i couldnt deal with the pain, but then I rememebered the saying. suicide is permanet, pain, etc is not. with the right amt of medication you will be ok. go to a specialist, and keep on till you get the help you need.Its awlful to be in pain all the time, but you need medicine that can be spread out to last many hrs, so you don't lapse without any. this is how i deal with mine, and the medicine is spread out. I pray you don't do something like suicide. also pray to the Lord and I will also pray for you as im sure others on here are doing.

I will never forget what happened when got Bells Palsy.

It was Palm Sunday of 1995. I thought I had a stroke, but I got to the ER and the doctor said "you have Bells Palsy" I said "I have WHAT??? and he explained you get it from a wind or from, as in my case, my diabetes.

So I went home, went to a neurologist who told me I would have to have an EMG on my face to determine damage. YEAH, RIGHT!!!

So that night, the pain on the left side of my face, drove me up the wall. I remember calling up the doctor saying "please, please give me something for the pain. The doctor explained that certain nerves are in the face BUT IN BELLS PALSY NO ONE HAS PAIN SO IT MUST BE IN MY HEAD. This was a doctor-on-call when you can't reach your regular doctor.

I almost killed her. This was 1 a.m. and my face was in PAIN!!

I prayed for two weeks and all the Bells Palsy went away. I went back to the neuro and he said "Oh my god, you don't need an emg". I said "believe me, I would have never gotten one anyway".

I was VERY LUCKY!!!!

mel