Ulnar nerve damage, and pain relief help??
 

Ok so this is a follow up. My left arm, (in elbow) was damaged form a bad venipuncture(blood draw). My doctor put me on Gabapentin 100mg 3x's a day and short term Tramadol 50mg 2xs a day for pain relief. The Gabapentin did help a bit with the pain, but the side effects are SO severe that I had to quit taking it. The side effects were interfering with work and home life to a huge extent. The Tramadol doesn't really help the actual pain just muddles my brain so it's not quite as intense. It's changed from the stabbing burning pain to a constant and i do mean CONSTANT intense throbbing achy tight feeling pain, that I can not ignore. I'm finally get a new script of tramadol for pain today after a week of calling doc to get help. But, I know it's just going to barely mask to problems! I have started taking a Vitamin D and Glucosamine and chondroitin vitamin regiment for the past 3 weeks......they've had -0- effect for pain relief. I am starting to reach the end of my rope. I don;t know what I can do or ask my doctor. I don;t want to be "drug-seeking" but should I try and see another doctor? My PCP doesn't seem to be understanding my level of pain and extreme exhaustion in dealing with this pain............HELP. I seriously can't take this much longer......

Any help or advice is much appreciated!

you might try Lidoderm patches. Has your doctor offered them?

No, He hasn't offered them. I had to stop the Gabapentin. It really did seem to help with the pain but the side effects made my job almost impossible, and very difficult in caring for my 7yr old. He only prescribed tramadol 50mgs but cut the dose in 1/2 basically gave me 14 pills that have to last 2weeks. It's not cutting it with that dose, and only truly helped with the gabapentin but I couldn't function. The soonest appointment I could get in was 11-30 and I'm trying to get a referral to a neurologist. Maybe I can get some REAL help. My current doctor doesn't seem to get how this is a CONSTANT pain. I will NOT take an anti-depressant when I'm not depressed. But am willing to try other anti-seizure meds but not when they have side effects that are as bad as Gabapentin was for me. I will ask him about the patch thing though. Maybe after a nerve conduction test they will have a better treatment plan. All I know is I CAN'T take this pain much longer!
Thanks for your suggestion

Any advice until doctors appt?
 

I was wondering if anyone had any pain relief ideas until my doctors appt in 11-30-12 The Tramadol is laughable at best for making any real difference in mobility or daily doings. I've been icing but can't do that 24/7 :( I really am hurting and just kind of don't know what I can do.....

I haves pinched nerves at wrists and elbows in addition to my other neuropathies. The first flare up was the worst, I really do believe that you get used to this level of pain, crazy as it sounds don't automatically assume it will always be this bad.

The more accounts like yours I read the more fortunate I feel that gabapentin not only helps me, but also that I have few side effects. It certainly doesn't cover all the pain, and I take oxycodone, 7.5 mg every 4-6 hours. It does allow me to get some housework done. I am not working and can't imagine doing so in my condition, but I am still homeschooling my youngest.

If tramadol doesn't help at all than oxycodone or other opiates may not either,
but they are often very helpful, and they are very safe drugs, with a long history. I agree with you about anti-depressants. They have far more side effects than many opiates, but they are often combined with opiates and anti-seizure meds for chronic pain.

They use very low doses of antidepressants for pain. They work differently at low doses for pain, than they do at higher doses for depression. If you are taking them at low dose for pain, they are not an antidepressant for you, they are a pain medication. Many medications get classed by their first usage but then get used for other purposes, so I don't think you should worry that anybody thinks you have a psychiatric illness just because they give you a low dose antidepressant. And that just shows how the stigma of psychiatric illnesses lives on too, that someone will not even take a low dose of antidepressants for pain for fear of the stigma. Wow. I wonder if bipolar people ever don't want to take anticonvulsants for their illness because they're not epileptic and don't have neuropathy? I doubt it. In fact the Gabapentin is an anticonvulsant so maybe you should worry about people thinking that you are epileptic? Sorry, as a person who suffers from depression, I'm just trying to make a point here. My point here is that just because you are prescribed an antidepressant, doesn't mean you have depression, just as getting prescribed anticonvulsants doesn't mean that you are epileptic.

I don't think either of us referred to not wanting to take them because of some stigma- half the country is on anti-depressants and opiates are far more stigmatized. Your post, Krista, was very informative, but most of us with chronic pain know how they are used for it. My experience with trying Effexor was horrifying, my pupils were so dilated I was basically blind, so I am just not interested in going there, just like some people cannot tolerate gabapentin. I have also seen what admittedly much higher doses have done to my sister's personality, and it scares me. If they work for you that is all that matters, but as my pain is tolerable with opiate therapy alone I do not want to add drugs unnecessarily. Incidentally, I have struggled with very deep depression with suicidal ideation since childhood (mine was a nightmare) and opiates have been found to be effective in cases of long-standing depression. They certainly help me.

But afraid to take them because of some stigma? I feel like a drug addict every time I get my prescriptions filled, and I am considering switching to methadone, which is worse. I am not afraid of what anyone would think of an anti-depressant.

I never said I didn't want to take it because of a "stigma", or people thinking I'm depressed. I don;t want to take it because years ago when I weas with an abusive ex-husband they put me on an SSRI (Lexapro), and it made me suicidal. I had it be the reverse of what it is supposed to help with. I could care less what people think of me because of a medication I take. I never said I was worried people would think i'm depressed because I'm not. I haven't been since i divorced my Ex-husband.

Sigh.... I just wish there was something else I could do. Not medication wise until I can see a specialist. I ice it and coat my arm in icyhot which is a very temporary relief. But it doesn't matter what I do it just hurts. If i don't use it it hurts. If I use it it hurts more......any nurses out there if a patient complains about a needle hurting during an iv placement.....remove don;t keep fishing around for 10 mins trying to get the vein then another 5 trying to force the catheter through......any other tips are welcome. I'm getting B12 supplements tonight but any other tips are welcome :)

Also i don;t know if i should start looking for a Pain Management" doctor or wait until I see the neurologist:eek: this is beginning to feel like the start of a very long road......

If you are experiencing a lot of pain, I would look for a PCP or pain management doctor. In my experience, and that of several of us here, neurologists do not like to prescribe pain medicines, and they do not see you often enough to manage narcotic prescriptions which must be written out and given in person.

I think I might try to find a pain management Doc. My PCP doesn't seem to be understanding my level of pain and how it of effecting my whole life. I'm sure you all know how hard it is to sleep with nerve pain raging away...and I would GLADLY take The neurontin/Gabapentin but the side effects made the day to day even harder....I need something like THAT with a minor narcotic type pain reliever I think i would be able to manage fine...but I was a very cranky tired ZOMBIE on the Gabapentin....and the tramadol i just don't think is strong enough.

Emily - I don't know what state you're in, but have you tried medical marijuana? I'm in CA so it's accessible here. My docs acknowledge I'd be taking more gabapentin as well as needing other things for specific pain if I didn't have it. For me it helps me come home from work and be able to function for a few more hours, cook dinner for the family, get the things done around the house. It'll help me sleep if my nerves are really bugging me at night. I'm able to feel good enough to deal with my daughter's issues and needs, and be able to have fun with her when we have free time. But I do have other pain issues, as well as migraines and anxiety.

You commented on my post the other day. I've been taking a third 300mg dose of Gabapentin after work for the past few days. Not feeling much relief with that third dose, but not being able to come up with certain words started again, I know it'll fade mostly (that's my biggest side effect, word loss). I really don't know what else to do either. If I didn't have to work, I could smoke a little throughout the day and not load myself up with pharmaceuticals. I don't really get "stoned" when I'm using it for pain. There are different kinds out there that'll help with either getting your butt up and functioning, to being able to sleep and all kinds in between. My docs here are totally on board with this treatment, they just keep asking me to eat it (which I do sometimes, I have stuff to make cookies when I get home) or to vaporize it. But alas, I'm that breadwinner and would never go to work "medicated" (which is why I'm saving that extra dose of Gabapentin for after work, I need my brain).

I have had to take Percocet once in my life, about a year ago for the burn that caused my nerve damage. I was completely addicted within 10 days. Tried to not take one and I was in full withdrawal. Horrible stuff those pain pills! But they worked for the pain. I wouldn't ever take it again unless I had the worst of the worst in pain. I have gone to a pain doc a few years back and all he wanted to do was fill me up with pills, as well as physical therapy that made the pain worse. I have never found a "pain" pill that works on me, without addiction issues or without upsetting my stomach too much. Even too much ibuprofen will upset my stomach. I'm a lightweight.

I have tried MJ (not prescribed lol) and it does help but I have the same problem, as I work FT, plus being mommy. I eat it in cookies before bed and it will help but only sometimes. The last few days my pain has been off the charts. Nothing is truly helping. I just got off the phone with a pain management doctor....WOW. This guy sounds great. I explained my back-story to the receptionist. Injured never from veni-puncture and been over a month. Hospital taking care of bills eventually, but little money and -0- insurance right now.I was transferred RIGHT to the doctor. I mean i actually talked to the Doctor right then and there!!!! I have NEVER had that happen before. I go to a low-income clinic where it takes at least a week to get an appointment and even if you just have a question for a Doctor you have to schedule an appointment. I even have to wait 2weeks for an appointment JUST to get a referral to a Neurologist.

Well, when I talked to this Doctor he said the pain meds my PCP have me on is a ridiculously LOW amount. Which is 50mgs of Tramadol every 12 hours. But I was only given 14 pills to last 2weeks. This doctor also said I should have seen a Neurologist WAY before now. I actually have a SAME day appointment the day BEFORE thanksgiving!! I just about cried! To actually have someone CARE that I'm in CONSTANT pain and want to DO something about it! And not in 2 weeks but today!!! I'll post later to let you know what he says/does **I'm doing a gimped happy dance***

OK, I guess that was a misunderstanding. But you can see how I got that impression? You said your were in terrible, constant pain but would not take and anti-depressant when you're NOT depressed, like it was, I don't know, some kind of insult to you or something. But, fair enough, if that's not what you meant, I stand corrected now. Sometimes writing alone for communication can cause misunderstandings.

Lots of misunderstandings coming across in this thread. I have been on Percocet of various low dosages and frequencies for years, and have no addiction issues. I have taken several sabbaticals fom my meds with no problems to eliminate them as a cause of other issues like allodynia.It is not responsible to scare people off of something that can really improve their functioning and quality of life. Physiological addiction is unlikely to happen in 10 days if medication is used for pain relief.

Emily, if you have any questions about opiates check out the book Chronic Pain by Dr. Jennifer Schneider.

Saw the new doctor!!!
 

So finally something was actually DONE! He did several nerve tests for felling and a nerve conduction test. Found autonomic dysfunction in left hand whole hand is about 10 degrees cooler and clammy. And have been diagnosed with CRPS complex regional pain syndrome. down side lengthy healing process upside curable:eek:

Great news Emily!

new from doctor
 

Also, The Ulnar nerve was damaged from the turniquit (? not sure of selling) it had been FAR too tight and left on for to long and my radial nerve was damage in my elbow and hand. I have lost about 70% of feeling in the top of my hand and 4th & 5th digits... we're not sure how long it will take to get that back or if it will fully recover or not. so a little bit of wait and see left