so some of you guys know my story, but long story short I blew my back out last July 2012 at work (L4-L5) went through the process and ended up having surgery December 20,2012 when all conservative measures didnt stop the pain and numbness an bc the disc was completely pushed in on the nerve root. I had the surgery an felt wonderful for the first 16 days after surgery, pain was mostly gone, however still had numbness due to the damage. well after the 16th day ive had horrible pain and numbness mostly in the (R) leg. u guys know the throbbing, cuting,stabbing,numbness, pins an needles, and short circuit feeling...anyways ive had 2 MRI's and a CT scan which have been disputed between the radiologist and my neurosurgeon. the radiologist says theres a reherniation and my dr. says no its scar tissue. Ive had 2 ESI, with no relief an finally having a myelogram this coming tuesday. which im praying will show him something. I know i have DDD and foramenal stenosis....
my problem is i work in the health care field an I'm so adimit on staying on the lowest does of pain meds i can manage with....i went from percocet 10/500 3 times a day down to lortab 5/350 an back up to 10/500, im so adimit on preventing a tolerance or any of that an i try to stay on what will manage my pain the best. now the pain has gotten so bad that ive been in the ER twice this month with pain so bad i was in the fetal position in tears an i have a relatively high pain tolerance....they ended up sending me home with percocet which worked wonders again. I try to be my own advocate with my dr. but now he is saying he doesnt want to move me back up all bc I MADE the decision to drop my dosing. How can i make him understand my frustration and pain. He says he believes me but bc i made the decision it doesnt feel i need it, which makes no sense..... ALso im on neurotin 100 mg 3x a day and soma 350mg 3x a day.......sorry for such a long post, im just mentally and physically tired of this pain and numbness day in and day out it never ends! Would i be better off asking him to refer me to a pain specialist? I live in KY and he is in TN bc they are the "best" in my area......just lost on what i should do. Any info and ideas would be greatly appreciated!!

Your doc is an idiot. He SHOULD have you on a long-acting opiate. Instead he puts you on medication with "tylenol" in it, and tries to fry your liver!

Ask him about a long-acting medication, such as MS Contin, or OpanaER. These last for about 8 hours (they SAY 12 hours, but they DON'T last that long) so you don't need to take as much. Also, you should be on a higher dosage of Neurontin (I hated that stuff - it made me loopy and I gained weight due to water retention). Only 100mg of Neurontin isn't going to do much even if it is 3 times a day. You need more than that. Lyrica is better. And be careful with the Soma -- that stuff is AWFUL to come off of. Plus it's addictive.

I HOPE he will listen to you, but he sounds pretty stubborn. I hope and pray he isn't going to keep you on the Lortab or Percocet, etc. You need to get away from the stuff with Tylenol in it.

Best of luck ~ Let us know what happens, will you PLEASE? I'd really like to know. Believe me, I understand how it is after surgery and having the pain come back with a vengence. I had 2 OPEN surgeries, and the same thing happened to me -- my surgeon told me "you can't have pain cause I "fixed" you." HUH??? What an idiot. Anyway -- keep us posted. God bless. Hugs, Lee

Leesa, to answer you about the neurotin I definitely agree, I was originally on lyrica, however my insurance would NEVER approve to pay for it....they tried an tried to get it approved whike they were giving me samples....so he just switched me to neurotin, last month, I assume just a starting dose, I dont really feel much different with it, I can tell it helps a little with the nerve pain but not much, so far I havent had any adverse effects of it, so hopefully that will stay that way! An the soma I have heard horror stories of it, but it definitely help with the spasms I have in my back, it has been about the only thing to stop the spasming in my lower back

Hey Fireman ~ VERY few pain patients get addicted to their pain meds. There is the physical dependency, as you noted, but that is a WHOLE lot different than addiction. There's NO comparison.

Also, like the others said, I don't get the disagreement between the Neuro & the radiologist! This Neuro must be a real arrogant S.O.B. if he thinks he can read the films better than the radiologist! You need a 2nd opinion - or a 3rd, LOL

And Soma did help me too for spasms. In fact it was the ONLY muscle relaxer that I tried that worked -- and I tried a LOT of them. But it sure was difficult to come off of. I weaned off, but I still had withdrawal symptoms about a month later.

You sure have had your share of troubles, Fireman. I sure hope that you can get some relief soon! Being in THAT kind of pain is awful !! I pray they can give you some relief and FAST! You can't live like this! Please keep us posted, will you? I know everyone would like to know what happens. God bless and PLEASE take care! Hugs, Lee

Hey! I feel your frustration to a "T". I suffer from chronic neck, shoulder and arm pain daily/nightly for the past 9 months. I won't go into it but I will talk about my struggle with pain control. There is nothing I hate more than popping pills, NOTHING. I feel guilty and I'm scarred of becoming dependent and building up a tolerance and fear what it is doing to my liver. Up until a couple weeks ago I would only take my pain meds when the pain would become unbearable, but then I would find myself reaching my max dose b4 a 24hr period would be up (to get control of it, and back to a comfortable level), and then I would be all oh I feel fine so I wouldn't take anything then the vicious circle would repeat itself. I did this over and over, can't tell you how many times. My Dr finally put me, two weeks ago, on Morphine slow release capsule 30mg 2 to 3 times a day. This is all I take now. One tiny pill in the am, one at around 4pm(this one I only take if I'm being super active and my pain is worse) and then one b4 bed. As long as I stick with it I feel good enough to function (takes the edge off but never takes all the pain away)...except I made the mistake yesterday of thinking "oh I feel great, maybe my neck is getting better" so I didn't take any yesterday and boy I'm paying for it now, but I'm sure you catch my drift...and I'm rambling...sorry. I'm sure you know all this as per your line of work.

I'm sure you will get control of your pain, just (as hard as it is) keep working at it and stay strong! Only you know how you feel and you need to make your Dr listen to you and if he won't, go find a new one!! . I've learned this the hard way, and I've been through 3 GP's over this last year but I've now got one that is working for me and who cares. I wish you the best of luck, this is a real shitty situation that we are all in, but if you truly believe "I will get better" you/we all, will! You also need to BE KIND TO YOURSELF!

** also want to say that I had a CT done (it showed some things,mild, but definitely the cause of my pain) then went to see the neurosurgeon (waited anxiously for weeks) get there, then he tells me that my CT looks completely normal! I said "but what about the two bulging discs and the one herniated one and the stenosis and the this and that...he looked at me and said "that's just one persons opinion, I'm the specialist and I'm looking at your CT right now and I'm telling you your neck is fine"........what a douche bag...anyways, I started crying, my husband got embarrassed and it was just one big stupid appointment...lol. I am now searching for another specialist...hard when you live in a small town. I wish you luck with pain treatment and with finding a cure! Pls keep posting as to how you're making out!! Hugs, Cali

well went an did the myelogram today. wasnt too bad at all minus the ringing an pressure in m head for a few minutes, which they said is normal. so when i set this myelogram up, my neuro told me he would look at it that day and give me a call an let me know what he saw etc..... well finally received that call an he wants me to come into his office monday(soonest i didnt have to work) to look at the results and so he can explain it....idk whether to take that as good news or bad news....lol....since he wouldn't say a word on the phone, he said i know i said i would tell u but it would be better if i showed you.....blahhhhh so now i gotta sit and ponder for 6 days.... on a brighter side when he called he did say 1) he has already sent all my info to a pain doc. to get me closer to home an diff. meds etc....which is a total surprise and he went a head an moved me back up to oxycodone until i get in to see the pain doc. so hopefully SOME relief will be here soon, since he has to mail me it bc ky won't let him call it in(figures right) but atleast i know ill get some decent relief til i figure out the next steps..... thanks for all you guy's concerns and prayers, definitely much appreciated! now to ponder what could be on the myelogram...lol!

In your geographic area, you are going to be hard put to get adequate care for your pain. Def. req. a referral, good luck.

Hi Fireman,

Good to see you back!! --- I agree with Lee on pain meds. Im really wondering why they disagree so much---- scar tissue and re-herinations are vastly different ---at this point with this amount of pain-- I think I would get the scans to another set of eyes. Im sorry it really blows your in this much pain taking you to the E.R . I dont care spinal pain is the most mind numbing pain. I totally get it and understand morphine before my surgery wouldnt touch my pain level. I understand with the job u dont/can't be that doped up either --plus with nerve pain I find very little relief with pain meds personally. I still would like you to get to the root cause. I know your trying --sometimes it may takes another surgeon consult to find out what's really going on..I would NOT even tell him about conflicting opinions on your scans--- just take them in and see what the new Doc says. Somethings not right ----and you know with your job its going to make it very difficult to function too long-in this kind of pain. Im really sorry to read this post--- and was wondering how thing were going for you. Keep me updated. Again Im sorry your in this much pain.

p.s I hate to say this but sometimes Fusion is gold standard --is that out of the question --did dr say? I remember u had lam and form right?

I'm curious which Neuro you went to, I'm seeing one in Nashville next Monday, I'm not going to deal with an arrogant Neuro like that. Dude, why would a NS argue with a radiologist, that's what they do. Best thing I would imagine to do would be get a second opinion from another radiologist and another Neuro. I also opted to cut down on my pain killers until one night I couldnt handle it anymore... I'd set your pride aside and get something to manage the pain until you know what's wrong..IMHO

Leesa i totally know what you mean, however I have seen SO much with addictive nature and even the dependence really worries me. BUT at the same time I know what you mean about the tylenol and how it wreaks havoc on the liver....I guess its a wash either way....lol...I pray I can just get off of it all with no pain one of these days.

An yea I know here in ky they have ALL dr's scared to death of writing any opiates out of fear of losing there license, its insane what they are doing here...however im lucky that my neuro is in nashville TN, so that kinda helps in a way...

Mg thanks for the response, yea I totally agree that I may have to search for a 2nd oppinion, im hoping he finds something on the myelogram tom, if not im finding a 2nd oppinion cause I know im not crazy! An your right about taking things with the job I do, generally I try to make it through the 24 hour shift without anything just bc of the "possibility" something ever happens, but I pay for it afterwards the next day for sure! Im thinking about looking into finding a neuro down at vanderbilt in nashville, since they also have a wonderful group of neuros