Chronic Pain and Painkillers
 

I have Chronic Pain. I have lumbar radiculopathy and spinal stenosis, and suffer daily with spinal and lower back pain. I am also Diabetic and have peripheral neuropathy in my legs and feet. I currently take Percocet for the back pain, and Lyrica for the peripheral neuropathy. I don't know what else
to do to manage my pain. It appears my Pain Management Doctor does not
want me to continue taking Percocet, even though I do not take it every day
and certainly don't take it every 6-hours which is how it was prescribed. I
am on the highest dose possible for the Lyrica which is 300mg twice per day.
Is anyone else experiencing this problem ?

Hello Pionus: I'm sorry I cannot reply to your concern. :Noooo: However I noticed this is your first post here on NT. So... welcome to NeuroTalk! :welcome_sign: I have a ruptured disc in my lumbosacral spine that impinges on the sciatic nerve. So I have sciatica. However I have managed to stay off of medication for it & I do not have neuropathy. I hope you are able to find the answers you seek here on NT. :)

concussion
 

[I too cant stand the pain - taking iburophen for 5 months - am diabetic. Endocronologist said it is messing up my kidneys so I backed off and now am in more pain. scheduled for trigger point injections and my insurance company doesn't feel like paying from a rear end car accident. I could scream - out loud ! brainy

Pionus,
I deal with spinal issues, as well as spinal stenosis. I also deal with PN, especially of the legs and burning ankles/feet. My PM has prescribed Percocet, along with Oxycontin which I take daily. I have been using these meds for the past few years. I tried Lyrica some years ago which did nothing for me except felt like bugs were crawling on my legs. I only took the Lyrica for a short time. A few years ago I had a series of Epidural injections but they did help me.

Unfortunately, because of the opioid epidemic, there has been many issues for doctors prescribing opioids. Tho I have lowered my dose a bit during the past few months; still take at least 2 Percocet daily,(prescribed up to 4 per day) as well as the Oxycontin which is time released. The Oxycontin is prescribed twice a day which I do take daily. Even with these meds, I still deal with pain; but they do at least make life more tolerable.

What, if anything, other than the Lyrica, has your PM suggested you take to manage your pain??


Gerry

Hello fellow chronic pain survivers! I know at times we don't feel like a survivor. I'm currently using morphine and Lortab 10's for break through pain which I do take as directed. I'm, like all of us, living in a world of pain. My prescription insurance is messing with me right now about covering my Ex's. For years I have used Burtrans 20 patch for pain...Life is so good! I don't know if any of you are using them, I highly recommend them!

Tamiloo,

You mention you are currently taking morphine and Lortab 10's for break thru pain. You appear to be recommending the Burtrans 20 patch which you had taken for years. What caused you to change from the Burtrans patch to the morphine and Lortab??

Thanks,

Gerry

Have you heard of hydro massage therapy? It really helps in the body pain relief. Do try it once for your pain.

Sourced from Facebook- an excellent read and a journalist looking to present with dignity the side of chronic pain sufferers. Admin delete if not allowed or move to a more relevant site.

https://www.facebook.com/chronicpain...55902173834114

Chronic Pain Info shared a link. - Chronic Pain Info | Facebook

I relate so much to your message. I am going thru the same type of thing. I have CRPS/RSD, and have been COMPLETELY taken off my pain meds. And I am now living my life in a bedroom with my foot elevated, 22/23 hours a day 7 days a week. This is no way to live.** I do no intedn to suffer thru what I went thru the first 2 years I had this condition and it went undiagnosed. EVREY Dr in the State of Michigan is petrified to prescribe pain medications.

I am no an addict. I am a person who went from attempted suicide, to having a PART of my life back. But it has been stripped away from me again in a very cruel way, as I did Nothing wrong. My Dr and other Dr's here and Michigan have came right out and told me they are scared to prescribe them. Pain Management more so than internists.

If anyone know a Dr in Michigan that is knowledgeable about CRPS and cares, even just a little, please let me know who they are. I just tried the Cleveland Clinic. And AFTER I made the trip down there, paid for there outrageous hotel accommodations and seemingly had a plan I place (they were going to try an SCS or a pain pump) they called this morning to let me know my insurance will not accept them. This is something they should have found out before I wasted 3 months getting in to see them. CRPS is horrible, and I wish it upon no one. But the Dr's I have come to see, either don't know anything about it, or just don't care.

Hello CRPS and welcome to Neurotalk. I, like you have CRPS in my foot and have to spend most of my time with my foot elevated. I am in better shape than I was just a couple of years ago after the Cleveland Clinic helped me by implanting a DRG stimulator. It's been a game changer for me and has allowed me to get into physical therapy for a couple of months. I'm now able to walk short distances with a cane, but still find that I need to keep my foot elevated most of the time. I have tried a number of doctors here in Michigan with none of them giving any success towards living with reduced pain. I had no problems finding doctors that were willing to prescribe painkillers for me but they provided little relief if any. If you live near Detroit, I can provide the names of a few doctors that at least gave it their best shot with me, but I was a rather difficult case that even the Cleveland Clinic had a hard time figuring out. I have tried several different treatments for CRPS including spinal cord stimulation, ketamine infusions and of course a multitude of different medications before getting to where I am now. Currently what is working for me is:
DRG stimulator
Low dose Naltrexone
Terazosin
Trileptal
Cymbalta
Vitamin C
High CBD medical marijuana
I still have my bad days and still have to take things easy but at least something is helping. Of course everyone is different. What works for me might not work for someone else.

I was going to try and PM you, but I don't see that option anywhere. I would appreciate and Dr information you have VERY much. The Cleveland Clinic is not an option for me because of my insurance. I did visit them 2 months ago, and they advised an SCS or Pain Pump. But, as I said we have since found they cannot preform any procedures. I abstained from pain medications for nearly 2 years. Then I finally gave in, mostly because my PCP advised it due to my potential mental state for having been in such pain for so long. But her practice has decided to no longer prescribe pain medications, so I have been taken off of them after 6 months, of what seemed like having a life again.. I was on a low dose, but it at least allowed me to go to dinner occasionally with my wife, or to a movie with my son. Now, I am back in bed all day long. I am desperately seeking a Dr for help.

I have tried everything on your list except Terazosin. Of which I will have to look into. My list of attempted medications (non-opiate) is around 14. I have only been on the 1 opiate medication, which has been the ONLY thing that has helped over the last 2 years and 4 months. Other than Lyrica, which helps with desensitization. Along with 7 different injections, all of which either did nothing at all, or provided little relief for a day, or less.

I would certainly appreciate any direction you could me regarding some potentially helpful, or compassionate Dr's. I look forward to your reply. Thank You.

I believe you need a minimum of ten posts before being able to pm anyone. I am not sure of the regulations on posting doctor recommendations so this might get deleted. If it does, I will email them to you.

Dr. Honet out of Bloomfield Hills helped me the most. He does both scs and pain pumps if that is the right route for you. He works out of an office called Neuro Pain Consultants. You will have to look them up because I doubt I am allowed to post phone numbers here.

There is also Dr Deogun out of Sterling Heights. His office is called Chronic Pain Institute. He is a small office and only treats through medication, but if something is helping you, he is willing to continue to prescribe it.

Those are the only 2 in the state that I was able to find that were able to help, they just weren't able to help me enough.

I hope this helps you.

It's absolutely fine for patients to recommend doctors here to other patients. :)
(Only doctors promoting themselves isn't allowed)

CRPS just a few more posts and the PM system will open up to you. (It's part of our anti-spam features to protect members from being inundated with PM spam)

Thank you so much!! I will immediately look into both of them!! Hope is a great thing, and you just gave me some, so again, Thank You!

Opiate Use -Long Term
 

Your diagnosis is quite similar to mine, PN, cervical / lumbar stenosis with traumatic injury to c-4 thru c-7. I used opiates for 15+ years until sedation became worse than my issues. After weaning myself over period of months I'm now taking 3200 mg gababentine, 90 MG baclofen, and 6 MG ropinirol daily. PN pain is constant but tolerable although chronic "uncontrollable severe" leg cramps occur too often but eventually pass.
I work around the pain / unpleasantness, try to stay optimistic and grateful for every day.

HGH and Chronic Pain (Back and more)
 

I'm 81, have lived with chronic OA back issues for over 60 yrs, went thru a terrible hip replacement almost 10 yrs, left me with more pain, whole right side of body is a mess.

I do not want heavy duty pain meds, especially oxy, had them a couple times after surgery and could not wait to get rid of them.

Don't want pain pumps etc....so have learned to live with what I do. For the last few yrs at least since hip replacement and knee infection I have been taking 2 ibuprofen every 6 hrs...this keeps things manageable for me. I don't see myself being pain free....but manageable yes.

About 7 months ago, thru my daughter, a homeopathic transdermal HGH gel came into my life. After a few months on it, I found I could reduce the 2 ibuprofen to 1 every 6 hrs and that's where I am now for a couple months....this is gold to me.

Research of HGH Therapy for Chronic Back Pain Treatment

If you want to know what I'm using, ask me. There are SO MANY HGH products on the market and I can only speak for this one I'm using.

This product is quite new on the market and has gone viral on facebook. My daughter found it there. I'm not on FB. Many say it only gets better with time so who knows maybe I'll end up pain free at the year mark or so.