ok figure this out.. my employers comp carrier requested a hearing to make sure they were paying me enough????? doesn't make sense.
also my atty was on vacation and I got some yokel Ive never met before. I was told by my atty,s office that this guy was fully up to date on my case. as I shared my fear with their office. they said he was good and knows whats going on with me.. so I go in with my wife and kids(unfortunately sitter got whooping cough) and the atty fill in came up to me and said" why are we here today" I said I don't know carrier requested this hearing. he said " no problem.. did you bring your medical records".. hello I spend so much time and moony out of my pocket to make sure all of my attys have my complete medical history and record.so we go into hearing and all of a sudden my atty is speaking and answering (someones ) question. all i see in the room is my wife. my "atty", the court recorder typing dude whtevr.. but i hear a woman's voice. so I ask whats going on. and "MY"atty tell me to shut up... ok real fun now . then I hear another voice. and low and behold I notice the TV. it had a man in it. apparently I was in a video conference /hearing. never saw that one coming.. so I wanted to know what was going on. and this guy who said is representing me said shut up again. to me and my wife, ok I've had it now. I said I wanted to understand now.. so he started to explain but only a little.. by this time I am so angry and confused and in tons of pain(with pain level is raising with my anger) I didn't expect that. by the time my 5 minutes of a hearing was up. I nearly passed out. some one had to catch me before I fell over..instant tears came to my yes because of the pain. finally he did what he called his best to explain that what ever happens in this that I will only come out the winner.
OK still don't understand why an insurance carrier would intentionally put themselves out on a limb to .. do the RIGHT thing.. all those covered under comp. I'm sure you understand. so now Im scratching my head. in regards to carrier.. and really ****** regarding atty. I can't wait till my atty gets back from vacation.. this guy will NOT represent me again... whooooo! that was a lot to get off my chest. thanx all.. AGAIN!!!! lol

If they've been underpaying there could be massive penalties depending on your state's WC laws. The sooner it was addressed, the less money they'd owe. Just a possibility.

I am not sure of why your wc carrier would request a hearing either. Sounds like you went through the mill today though. I am sorry you had to go through this. I would of been upset myself.

Do I understand correctly; you are only on trazadone and Lyrica for all this pain????

Some years ago, because elavil made me groggy in the a.m., the doctor I was seeing for pain, at that time, put me on trazadone.(trazadone does not make you as groggy in the a.m.) My primary care doctor had given me some blood work and was concerned about my low white blood cell count. I read up side effects of trazadone and one of them was "low white blood cell count". I asked my primary doctor not to do testing and I would ask the pain doctor to discontinue the trazadone and put me back on Elavil. My blood cell count returned to normal. Also another side effect that had worsened for me since being on that med, was additional agitation, irritability, anxiety, hostibility, etc. I know all meds have side effects; but these were too much for me to ignore.

I have since had additional surgery spine, peripheral neuropathy. Much cronic pain and am going to a different Pain management. I do not like taking the narcotics; but without them, I would not get thru each day. They do not remove all the pain; but at least can have some sort of life. When in severe chronic pain, you are not addicted; but dependent on them to control the pain.
For sleep, I now use Ambien CR. I at least get 6 hrs. of sleep with no pain. The regular Ambien did not work long enough and had to go up to the Ambien CR to get a good 6 hrs. sleep.

Lyrica worsened my pain. Many on Neuro Talk have had their Lyrica discontinued because of insufficient help with their pain and in many instances, as in mine, increasing the pain.

I sure hope you are getting better Pain management than just these two meds which are not sufficient for the pain you describe. Proper Pain Management can at least make your life more bearable. You will not be able to do the things you did in the past; but at least lead a life with less pain, thereby making you a better person to be around.

So sorry about all this going on with the attorney, insurance problems.

(Gerry)

Painman, I feel ya brother. I deal with every single thing you’ve mentioned, and even those things I’m sure you may have left out. Okay, for a moment of humor… just be glad you don’t also have a “that time of the month” to go with it all.

All kidding aside, I am truly sorry you’re having such a rough day. I too grieve for my former self. And when pain is at an absolute maximum, I also get very short and sometimes just down right angry with anyone I encounter. At a later time, I spend moments with those who are in the wake of feelings I may have trampled, explaining my case, apologizing, and seeking forgiveness.

I think my RSD is much like yours in that it is in my legs (started in one, then spread), and has more recently gone every and anywhere it damn well pleases. And like you my wrists are now weak too. My senses are definitely affected too e.g. my ears are very sensitive to sounds/noises, especially sudden noises, my eyes seems to be failing at record speed, and water when RSD is at its worst (not just crying, but watering). And don’t even get me started on health care or lack thereof.

I am self-employed (what little I can do any more) and could no longer afford the $1k monthly premiums. Can’t qualify for disability due to my self-employment and some work credit BS. So yeah, I’m a new addition to the “system” and boy that’s just working out kickass for me (not). Seems I will have to prove my RSD to my new primary care doc before he will refill any pain meds. I mean never mind the 3” think stack of med records I recently gave him. I guess it’s just too much trouble to read, and probably wouldn’t matter anyway because he says I’m out of his scope of practice and we’ll see if I’m approved to see a specialist that he is trying to refer me to. <sigh> Oh, and did I mention that the hospital nuero dept that I am trying to get referred to has just had a flood of new patients with the shooting that happened in my town (Aurora, CO Theater shooting). Don’t get me wrong, those folks (mostly young adults and children) need help, but I feel sure they are a little overwhelmed right now.

I have five, yes five children, a husband, a grandchild, two dogs, a house w/ yard, a couple of friends, and a business to try and keep up with. It is an epic fail right now on every level. It is really hard for my youngest (9 y/o) daughter. She has never known day that I wasn’t like this, and doesn’t really understand when she sees me cry in pain. I have spent a lot of time asking “why God, why”. Then I came to the realization, why not me? I am not sure of all the reasons, but surely there must be one.

Anyway…. Hang in there man. Your wife and children are counting on it. Get some rest if you can. Tomorrow is a new day and perhaps a different view.

It is pretty hard to get a primary care doctor to prescribe heavy duty meds. Even the surgeon that did my spine surgery would only give me pain meds for a short time.

I did have to go to a Pain Management Sepcialist to handle the pain situation. Leg,feet, ankles burning with PN, as well as severe spine pain. He is the one that has prescribed all my pain meds...Oxycontin, Percocet, Vallium. Had a failed spine stimulator trial, as well. My Pain doctor has taken care of this area of my life.

I do have a primary care doctor for my throid, blood pressure, etc. but he would never prescribe these meds. I would think you would have to see a Pain Management Specialist as well.

Chronic pain is awful. My children are grown and there is just my husband and myself. I do feel guilty because hate to complain and know his life has been affected too. Can't imagine having younger children to care for as well. Hope you get care, at least to lead a little better quality of life.

(Ger)

I take oxycodone.(maximum daily allowed), elavil, the new one. vimovo for anti inflamitorant and stomach liner, lyrica,(now 2x a day at 200 mg each, amrix, for muscle relaxant, plus my migraine meds furicept. (wich didn't work before RSD why the dr thinks it will work now I have no idea. and I have altered my diet to almost eliminating red meats, increase greens,, garlic, (fish.. ) tuna, nuts and other high omega foods. (I still can't stop eating ice cream. thats too cruel..
and (vrae) I too had a landscaping business before RSD.. no longer!!
this beast totally changed your identity. hobbies taken away. as far as doing.
but life does move on. day by day right now as Im sure you all do the same.
.. I had PT today. they sent me home because they could see the pain. they did stim, tried to stretch but where ever they placed their hands caused me more pain so the opted to say.. we did enough for today. well lets see what tomorrow hold for me

Are you taking Oxy ER and/or IR?

Oxycontin is time released, Oxycodone(percocet) is usually used for pain that breatksthru even with the Oxycontin. Although some prescribe the Oxycodone
by itself. I take 60mg's Oxycontin every 6 hrs. for a 240 mg's per 24 hr period. Some insurance companies will prescribe only twice a day so my Pain Doctor prescribes 120 mgs every 12 hrs and allows me to break it to every 6 hrs. As mentioned previously, the Oxycodone (percocet) 7.5mg-523 I take up to 4 a day for breakthru pain.

I also have migraines and take Imitrex. It has been a life saver for me. I get the 50mg size and cut in half to make it 25Mg's. It cost the same for 50mgs or 25mgs. This way (they come in a pack of 9) I get a total of 18 by cutting in half. I take one at the start of migraine and if needed, in a couple of hrs. take the other half. Usually the first 25 mg. works. I also take the Ambien CR (12.5mg) to sleep thru the pain at night. The Ambien 10 mg didn't work after 4 hrs; even if I added extra. The Ambien cR has a time release that distributes and amount later and I get 6 hrs. of painless sleep.

A good Pain Management Specialist can give you a higher dose, if needed, They are very concerned about people looking just for the drugs so I am subjuct to at random urine test. I think it is a good thing and most necessary . The Pain Managemen doctors have to be cautious; but understand pain like none of the other doctors do and most will only allown a low dosage.

I wish you the best and hope you can get help from someone that truly understands pain. I had a failed pain stimulator trial. I do not want to try again. Onces was enough for me.

It is sad the way our lives have change; but once I learned to accept the new status of my life, I was better able to cope with this. The first couple of years were very depressing and just didn't want to be around anymore. Again, wish you success in finding the right doctor.


(Gerry)

The oxycodone is just oxycodone. no er or ir. and as for the migraine meds the furicept is one of the last on the list of meds they can prescribe for it. I tried imitrix when I was 18. regular furicept when i was 13. they tried naprelan, napraxin, isocit, and so on and so fourth. the furicept is furicept with codeine. (it used to put me to sleep so i could ride out the pain asleep) now. it does absolutely nothing.. no relief no sleepy. nada. so migraines are mine to deal with as naturally as possible. but I am always on the cusp of full blown migraine. This beast called RSD. just when I think I am learning to deal. it spreads or the flare gets worse. fir almost a full week I am using 2 canes .and have been couch bound. sleeping in my bed (or laying) seems to just aggravate the beast. as for right now.(dinner) first and last meal of most of my days.(how am I still gaining weight???)