yeah unfortuantely i dislocated my shoulder at work and went on wc, about a year and a half later the wc claim was dismissed because i have a "preexisting condition". i had subluxed my shoulder in the past and had some rsd flare problems sso i had to see the doctor for 4 months, but i had no previous dislocation so i am not to sure how it they came to that conclusion. anyway my insurance was through work and when the wc claim was denied and i hadnt been to work since the day after i got hurt my insurance dumped me. i got social security disability but the medicare doesnt kick in until the beginning of next month, so i have to pay for my scripts...thanks mom and dad. its definitly a little depressing to go from living on my own for years to relying on the rents. oh well i guess i am really thank full that they had the ability to help.

I have been on gabapentin for a few months with no improvement in pain. I am almost off of it after tapering down. I'm trying to get on amitriptyline but am having a hard time becuase of side effects.

I am interested in Lyrica but if neurontin was of no help to me is it likely that Lyrica won't work for me either?

-Suzanne

Hey wakegirl and Desi,

After my 1995 spine and back injuries (that also led to my RSD), it was obvious from the start that the 8 to 10 propoxyphene I had been taking for a previous spine injury wasn't going to be strong enough. I talked with my pharmacist about which pain drugs offered the biggest bang for the buck, and she told me that mg for mg, hydrocodone is about 7 times stronger than morphine; that 7.5mg of hydrocodone was about equivalent to 50mg of morphine.

I believed she was telling me the truth, and it didn't hurt that my pcp had already written a scrip for it, so hydro made sense to me. Since then, I have reached the point where hydro isn't enough: The mfg warns not to take more than 50mg a day, and I needed more than that. My neurosurgeon switched me to 40mg of oxycodone and 30mg of hydro daily.

I find that 5mg of oxy gives better relief than 15mg of hydro, and is enough to keep my pain pretty quiet, as long as I don't do anything at all. I learned to stop doing things after I figured out that all of my attempts to fight the pain and keep walking only made me weaker and in more pain. My formal surrender came when I began using a power wheelchair to get to the bathroom; I was falling so often I was risking an even more serious injury.

Anyway, these drugs control my spine/back pain, but don't seem to have much effect on the RSD pain (which we know doesn't respond well to opiates), so the quantity I take is too low to help with your awful pain: But if my pharmacist was right in saying that hydro is 7X stronger than morphine, and if my experience with oxy gave even greater relief, I suggest thinking about one of these two,

Work comp pays for it, but my monthly scrip for 240 oxycodone only costs $45.00, and that sounds like more bang for the buck than morphine (which has been around so long it should be dirt cheap). I hope you will give this some thought...Vic

Hi
My PM prescribed me with Gabapentin and to be quite honest it did nothing for my pain, however everyone is different. My PM took me off it a while ago because he thought the Gabapentin was causing me "Balance Problems" but it wasnt. Write back and tell us how you get on.
Good luck
Pain free hugs
Alison
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