The only drug the pain management doctor suggested was Nortriptyline, which my Neuro could have easily added. Plus, it will take 2 to 4 weeks to work. It makes me feel spacey and drugged up during the day and I'm only on 10 mg. He also is working on a topical compound that I have not received yet. Frustrating because the pain is overwhelming most of the time.

Cliffman

I don't have any experience with pain mgmt. dr's because I've stayed with the first one I saw because I liked him and his staff so much.

I agree with you that your neuro could have gone through those types of meds with you before sending you to pain mgmt. I'm sure you have told them how bad the pain is ?

Maybe he's ultra conservation on starting pain meds ?

I don't get 'high' on any of my pain meds except when I first started the 5 mcg/hr BuTrans patch and I was pretty 'high' for a few hours.....my daughter and son in law thought it was funny But after that it never bothered me again.

I actually used this forum when I was talking to my pain dr about something new I could try. I think there are a few on here that the combo of Morphine ER and oxycodone works well for them. He totally agreed with my suggestion.

My opinion is (for what it's worth) is that he start you out on 5 or 7.5 mgs of oxycodone or hydrocodone and see if it will work for you. As we all know on NT everyone is different but you won't know unless you try it out.

If he keeps on like this you may have to look for another pain mgmt. dr as frustrating as that can be.

I've heard the compound creams can work very well. I only tried the one with the pepper stuff in it sold at the drugstores but I would not even feel the heat of it. I'd just slather it on until I realized my feet were worse instead of better. That may be because I have to use ice and not heat on my feet.

Debi

Hey my friends

First......my experience the last 3 weeks after reducing my BuTrans pain patch from 20 mcg/hr to 10 mcg/hr.

I put the 10 patch on on a Thursday. Didn't notice any change until the next Monday when I started getting sick (sinus/earache). When Saturday came I was in the dr's office with a fever and feeling pretty bad. Dx was sinus/ear infection and he prescribed an antibiotic. Over the next week I honestly thought I was going to die a day or two when I was hurting so bad.

So the first 2 weeks I have no idea what was withdrawal and what pain and feeling badly was coming from the infection.

This past week. Infection has mostly cleared up and I'm feeling ok. The pain has been sharper and I've had more pain in my arms than usual. My mouth/teeth were also hurting me more than normal.

When I saw my pain mgmt. dr yesterday I had been on the 10 patch for 3 weeks and 4 days.

He prescribed me extended release morphine 15 mg and reduced my oxycodone from 3 a day to 2 a day. He explained that the morphine is much stronger than the BuTrans patch......I thought it was the opposite. We decided I would take my patch off this morning and take my first new pain pill.

He also said I need to take the morphine as close to 12 hours apart as I can. I've set my cell phone alarm for 9 am and 9 pm everyday to help with that. He said it might take a few hours for the first pill to kick in and not to take an oxycodone until I see how the morphine is working.

Well that's where I messed up ! I did take my patch off but I am so use to taking my morning pain pill that I FORGOT and took the morphine and the oxycodone. Stupid me !

I asked my daughter to keep checking on me today to make sure I'm ok. I'm sure I'll be fine but will not do that again ! A stupid mistake like that could really cause some bad problems I'm guessing.

I'll give it a few days and report back on how this is working for me. I'm hoping it will give me more relief than the BuTrans patch was.

I had a meltdown last Wednesday night. I rested more than normal that day knowing that we were going to dinner that night. I was doing well until we came out of the restaurant and by the time I got to the truck I knew I was going down fast. BUT......we wanted to stop at the new Wal-Mart Market as I had not been. So........Christina pushed me in a wheelchair/cart and we were in there less than 30 minutes. By the time we got to the truck I was in tears....tears because the pain had climbed to an aggressive 8 and tears of absolute frustration !

Why can't I go to a sit down dinner out and a short trip to the market ? I don't think that's asking for much is it ? Then I felt ashamed of myself as I know there are many out there much worse than I am

Thanks to all who are following my SFN journey. I really appreciate the support and love I get from everyone here on NT.

Debi

Oh Debi,

I know this is hard, but you can do it and I certainly hope you have enough pain relief with the morphine pill.

You may want to journal your pain levels over the next few weeks, just so you can accurately tell the doctor what you've been experiencing. Also make notes on your activity...as it may relate to your pain levels.

Just a thought.

Hoping to get a good report form you soon.

Hi Debi,

Swapping pain meds is a worrying event. You have the concerns that the reliability of your old med will be missed and there are always the possibilities of new side effects. Then you have to remember dose times and wait for a therapeutic dose to be reached.

However, I am sure you will get into the swing of things rapidly, and will soon be experiencing greater pain relief. Just take things extra easy for a while and clock-watch as meds time comes around. Please be careful regarding taking extra meds, perhaps put them in another place. It is something I have done on many occasions, normally double-dosing due to extreme tiredness and forgetting I had already taken everything.

Here's to low pain,

Dave.

Hi Debi

Hope the changes with your meds are smoothing out now. It's good you had someone on hand to keep an eye out when you doubled up. As well as writing down pain levels it may help for a few weeks, until you get into the pattern of your new doses, to write down what meds you took and when. That way if you're uncertain if you've already taken a dose or can't remember what time you took it you can look back.

All the best for ongoing improvement in pain.

Today is the first day I've felt like getting out of the bed.

I don't know if it was taking off my last 10 BuTrans patch on Tuesday morning or starting the ER Morphine at the same time but.....I had a terrible week.

I had the weirdest feelings in my head until I woke up this morning. If that feeling had kept on I don't think I could have handled it. I was grouchy, exhausted, my feet were freezing (rare for me) had to stay in bed and was just absolutely miserable. I could not stay up for more than a few minutes at a time.

I had to have my cancer follow up CT scan on Thursday morning. Ever since I've lost Bubba I have a really hard time going into any medical facility. Thursday was not any different. I cried as I had them remove him as my emergency contact and just seeing his name and cell # on this screen just killed me.

The rest of Thursday just got worse in how I felt.

I stayed in the bed all day yesterday.

Then ! Lo and behold I woke up this morning feeling pretty bad but not really noticing that 'weird' feeling in my head. As the morning wore on and my meds kicked in I started feeling better. I got up, showered and actually Put make-up on ! WOW that is major for me.

I need a stove and I am so sick of asking my kids to take me places that I set off on my own to Home Depot. I was on my feet for 2 hours and when I got to the car I was still feeling ok.

Drove home and went straight to bed.....so scared that I had messed up badly by staying on my feet that long.

It's not 6:45 and I still feel ok. I can't hardly believe it and my 'head' actually feels clear and I can think straight.

It's just my first decent day since I started the ER Morphine but I pray I'll wake up tomorrow and feel like I do today.

I would feel so blessed if this new med works for me. Come May I'll have been down and out for 3 long years. I want a piece of my life back. I want to get out of this bed. I want to CLEAN my house !

Thank all of you that read this. I'll update in a few days.

Cross your fingers for me and say a little prayer please

Debi