Doc

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You're a doll. Not only do you have the gift of wisdom, you always give me a badly needed chuckle at the right time.

No responses from posting at both locations. I spent the day combing the internet and have decided not to go with the pump, regardless of make or model. The procedure is more invassive than I want to deal with. There are various reasons why I don't feel like I am a good candidate.

The pain is just unbearable but I will just have to learn to deal with it. I am running out of steam after 30 years of this BS. I have been so reluctant to have another sched.II increase as I live alone and now fall at least twice a week. With the infamous Medicaid cutbacks, I am receiving less and less Home Health assistance. I agreed to a bedtime increase but am remaining at the same level durring the day. Hopefully, I will get a bit more rest and that might improve matters a bit.

Everyone agrees that I am not safe, living alone. Yes, I have a lifeline button and use it as needed if the fall involves hitting my head or a seizure. The kids don't have room for me and I am not ready, mentally, for a govt. subsidized nursing home. I just can't chuck my belongings and move into a semi private room that is smaller than my living room. I stayed in one for five months for intensive PT about ten years ago and it was pure hell. I felt totally stripped of my privacy and self respect. Forgive the complaining. Hugz to one and all.

Getting your adrenal hormones tested (pregnenolone, cortisol, testosterone for starters). The adrenal hormones have a lot to do with pain & stress, and how (well) we handle them.

Testosterone? For women? YES. Women make, and need, testosterone too - just in much smaller quantities, and being too low in it can definitely effect how you perceive & deal with pain.
http://www.practicalpainmanagement.c...-pain-patients

Both longterm chronic pain and opioid medications can deplete and suppress these adrenal hormones, and pain, left untreated, can have even more dire consequences.
Google: effects of untreated intractable pain

I don't ask that anyone take my word for this. Check into it. Talk to your doctors. I've posted the pertinent article links here:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread156416.html
(To skip the off-topic posts, just read the first and any I posted that are titled Update)

This therapy is working so well for me I want to scream it from the rooftops! It is not a cure-all nor does it end pain, but it can make the pain and coping with it much easier by up to 1/2. Some patients have been able to decrease their medications by up to that amount, but realistically, I think it would be better to expect less and take what comes.

"You can learn to live with it" and "You’ll just have to tough it out" are two of the phrases NOT to say to peoople in chronic pain.
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/post840028-5.html

Doc

Keep blowing your horn about being tested for various hormone deficiencies. I found my pain doc (physiatrist) when he picked me up on his case load when I was put in the local physical rehab hospital 12 years ago. He tested the various levels and found me low in testosterone and several others. Getting that corrected helped the pain somewhat but certainly improved my mood. I was able to go off of antidepressants at that point. I now have complete bloodwork done every three months. Pain patients need a doctor who is current, well read, and has a big bag of tricks.