Joint pain. HELP!!
 

Getting ready to go see the pain management doc. I have to say I am so tired of being broken. I get that I have to live with the pain. I get that I am broken and it is not healing. There are 4 discs that have herniated inward and are lodged into the 4 broken vertebrae and there is not a darn thing we can do about them. SO yes, pain is expected.

However... I keep getting joint pain like you would not believe to go along with the back. Morphine didn't work now I am on some oxymorphone which is also not working. The problem being that my body processes the meds too quickly thanks to my zombie thyroid being overactive again. Neither of these drugs has done a thing for the joint pain.

The Voltaren worked great for a while, now I am taking 4 times the original dose and I still cannot sleep at night because no matter how I lay something hurts.

Last night it was the right hip (no shocker I have torn hip flexor and bursitis), my knees were locking up, my back hurt. There was just no winning. I finally fell asleep (thanks to the super extended release ambien mixed with pain killers) and I woke up with my back and my knees screaming at me.

SOrry so long. But does anyone have a magic pill or ointment or other treatment that helps with joint pain?

im sorry you continue to struggle. here are a few things that help me. Sometimes nothing helps. sometimes a few tricks make it bearable to fall asleep.

heat. a heating pad or electric blanket help the muscles relax

a warm/hot bath. Relax in the warm water. Epsom salts do help. Baking soda makes your skin feel great.

Meditation. Fake it till you make it. Meditate and focus on feeling your muscles relax. even if they are not listening. Force your mind to feel them let go. This is best done after that warm bath.

muscle rub creams. Bengay or tiger balm. Many names to choose. They do help if you lay down and let them.

Massage. I have a hand held vibrator massager. I allow it to help the muscles to let go.

A TENS unit. I got a wrap around belt for my tens electrodes. its like a belt you see on those workers in Home Depot, but you can drag it up or down as you see fit. The electrodes do deep stim of the muscles and that helps.

Sleep! sleep is huge! Sometimes I will take any pill that will make me sleepy enough to nod off. xanax or a muscle relaxer or even my pain pills just so I can refill my cup.

Last but not least is avoidance of those things that trigger you. Carrying a child on your hip. Groceries or laundry baskets on your hips dont help. DONT cross your legs! it throws your back out of aignment. Find time to lay flat and stretch those muscles. Do daily yoga or stretches. it really helps.

oh yea, chiropractors are amazing for me. Some folks get no relief, some folks get great relief. For me, I will keep going because it works.

Feel better! :hug:

Be careful mixing all those pills, Legzz. We want you to wake up, ya know.

I tried something called Salonpas for my tendonitis in my elbow. I've even put one on my side/back this morning after I twisted it trying not to stumble up a stair on the patio. Ouch!

I hate taking meds and will try anything else to relieve the pain and avoid taking the pills. I still have my whole prescription of Lorezapam minus one pill. It helped me sleep but made me feel so out of it. I hate that feeling.

Have you tried something like IcyHot patches?

Thanks guys. Oh how I miss my Chiro. He won't touch me since I broke my back. He was great he used to pop my shoulders and hips back in when they would start migrating to places of pain. I wonder if I can get an utlra sound massager for cheap. It worked on my hip. So far nothing else is helping.

Stupid pain management doc changed my appt to the 18th and didn't bother to let me know so that was a waste of time. Man, that guy gets under my skin. Ever since he let me run out of Morphine and made me fight for a week to get the new meds because the scripts he wrote were either no longer being manufactured or my insurance wouldn't cover it. I no longer like him.

Going to try the tens unit tonight followed by the myoflex stuff I used when I first hurt the hip.

I really liked the lidocane patches, but my insurance wouldn't cover them...yet they had no problems paying for morphine. Go figure.

Sending you gentle healing hugs and prayers..:hug:

dear leggsalot
 

I remember you being kind to me before my surgery. I am so sorry you are hurting with your back. I was told nothing could be done to my neck to correct it more. However six years later, when one was folded on top of another,(there is a name for that) they did indeed do the difficult surgery. In my case I took meds for six years fully thinking I would live in horrible pain for life. I was told I needed the surgery and found a good dr. 8 months later, I am doing so much better. Gosh, maybe I would have to hunt around. My pain dr. was the one who wanted me to have the surgery. There was no med. or infussion that helped for long. I belive help exists, or a combination of meds. that will help you. Don't stop trying. ginnie:hug:

hi Legz,
sorry you are still in such pain :( can't offer much except to say the astaxanthin I got (4 mg a pill) has eliminated the arm pain I was having and seems to be helping my husband (have him on 2 pills a day) who has degenerative disk disease, arthritis, and numerous back problems.

hope you feel better soon :hug:

The end of the story?
 

I'm digging up this old thread whilst on my search for pain management tips and wondering, Legz, did you ever find relief and what happened next?

:)

Leggs FELL while walking her dog and almost ripped her foot off her ankle! Its been horrible and painful and she is now in a cast, and riding a wheel chair. They have her on big boy pain meds now, and since the surgery to reattach her foot to her ankle with screws, pins and the like she is really miserable. Will tell her you asked for her. Perhaps she will drop in.

Hi leggs
 

I am sorry to hear you fell, and the injury that happened to you. You are still in my thoughts, and I have not forgotten about you. ginnie:hug:

So sorry to hear that. If that happened to me they would have to put me down. I broke my foot once. Well actually chipped off a piece of bone in my foot. I caught the heel of my shoe in my pants cuff and fell down the stairs. I was miserable with a cast up to my knee. I'll be praying for you. I hope it doesn't get too warm because the sweat inside the cast can get nasty. I hope the pain meds work and doesn't cause additional problems.

OMGoodness!!!:eek::eek: Poor Legz! I will keep her in my prayers and hope for a speedy recovery for her.

Thanks for letting us know, Dej.:hug:

Thanks for telling us Dej.:hug:

Leggs, you poor little sweetheart. What a nasty thing to have happen.:eek:.. OUCHY!! I guess MS is not enough punishment.:mad:

How is everything else going on in your life? DSO, DD, Stupid Dog:D?

I've missed you a lot. Don't you know that this is where you come when you are hurting? WHATSAMATTAWHICHU?

Healing thoughts and prayers are on the way. Feel better soon.:hug::hug:

I told her you were all asking, but she is kinda medicated, and more than a bit grouchy, so she said is best to just say thank you and she will wander by when she can. its been a horrible ordeal on top of everything else. The pictures were gruesome! made me cringe.

OMG!!!!! Legz!!!! You poor thing!

I feel a bit bad to have dragged the thread up now, but all the same, healing thoughts and prayers coming your way. Get well soon. x

She fell again, and split open he incision. its infected anyway she said. so, she went off to get it closed. She has been thru the wringer lately.

She said to say hello, but she is up to her armpits in crocodiles and it will be a while before she can stop in.

Hi dejibo
 

Keep telling leggs we all care about her. I am so sorry that happened to her. ginnie:hug:

The exam revealed that her new screws are crooked and pulled out, so she will have to have the surgery REDONE! she is upset and it will take another 12 weeks to recover. They are talking about slapping her in a rehab place to force her to GET OFF THAT FOOT! when she is at home, she has children to watch, a husband to care for, and a house to run with animals that need her. So...it continues.

Oh Dejibo, no....
 

What did leggs do, get up too soon? I can't believe she has to do this whole thing over again.
I face having my foot rebuilt, tendon transfers, archilles, post tibial, all of it. I will be off my foot like that too for many many months. No weight bearing at all for three months. I will have pins, and plates in parts too. I am scared to death.
I am sorry this happened to leggs. How did the re-injury occure? Did she really get up on it? all my best to you and to leggs ginnie:eek::hug:

Poor girl.:( So sorry!!!:hug:

Shocked at the terrible misery. It seems inhumane that she has to care for husband and children with that condition. Hard to imagine.

I had a great healing of a broken kneecap two years ago. I feel down the steep stairs at my nephew's house in Seattle, where I was staying, trying to find a way to stay in Seattle.
I had a cast foot to just below crotch for 3 months, and the break healed perfectly. The misery was from the nastiness of the doctors and the rehab people. A different kind of misery. I ended up having a TIA from the stress in the first place, and was put in an excellent cardiac hospital, and then into a good rehab place, finally. The surgeon was very skilled---he told me how lucky I was to have him--but he was one of the nastiest people I ever met. So to each his own type of misery.

Hi mariel
 

I don't care much for doctors that are so full of themselves. I know there is talent with surgery, but that kind of attitute makes it difficult to get along with a doctor like that. Hope you are doing OK. I am thinking about you and leggs today, Dej, too. ginnie:hug: