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Posted 7/22/2005 1:04 AM (GMT 0)
Hello- I am a 56 year old female with advanced osteoarthritis in the hip - this is combined with a degenerative disc disease.  The arthritis has disintegrated the left socket holding the femur in place and I need hip replacement surgery, however, there is an 18-24 month waiting list for this type of surgury.  I am currently on 200mg of Orudis and tylenol #4's for pain.  Does anyone else know of anything that can kill this kind of pain.My doctor says the only other things are demerol and morphine which I refuse to even consider.  He is quite old and hopefully there are some new treatments available he is not aware of.
Posted 7/22/2005 2:02 AM (GMT 0)
Hi and Welcome to HealingWell,

I have Osteoarthritis in my left hip.I hate to hear that you are haveing problems.I was on Demerol and all so on Duragic pain patchs and it worked really well.I only had to use the Demerol for break through pain and that was about every three day's when I would have to change my pain patch.

Have you ask to be referd to a pain specialist?I will be seeing one in September to see if we can't get my pain under control some what.my new Rhumey has sugested hip replacement and right now I just do not want to have such a major surgery.

My pain gotten better for awhile but here latley been having a lot of pain and the pain med that I'am on (Lorcets 10-325)just is not cutting it any moore.I have an appointment Monday with my rhuemy and am going to see if we can try something different untill I can see the pain doc.

I did want to point out that if it comes down to having to take one of these pain meds that you mentioned demerol stay in you alot longer than Morphin does.Morphin is a short acting pain med to were demerol is a longer acting pain med in wich you would not have to take as much of.

When I was on Demerol and the pain patch,it worked wounderfull and yes I was very concerned with getting addictive to both of them.When I was doing better as fare as the pain goes I ask my Doctor to take me off of them and whent to Locets and I had no problems comeing off either on of them.

I'am sure that some one will come along that will bwe able to help you moore than I'am able to but I'am glade that you found us and please feel free to ask question,vent we all do a little of every thing.

Let us know how it goes.
Curley..........
a.k.a.Mela..............
Posted 7/22/2005 3:09 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you so much for your reply- you have given me some hope - I am going to ask to be referred to a pain specialist but I doubt if family doctor will agree- he seems to think I should just learn to live with it and it is so hard. I really need a new family doctor I think but there are none here accepting new patients. I was on a steroid for awhile and I have gone thru the cortisone shots also. Thanks to the steroids I gained a lot of weight and now have to fight to get that off before surgery and with the pain as bad as it is I dont know how to do it,-- Hope you have a great day tomorrow and thank you
Posted 7/22/2005 4:20 AM (GMT 0)
Dianne Hi,

I can totally relate to the weight thing,I was on predy for all most a year and gained all most a 100 pounds and boy is it hard to to get it off.I can remember telling my doctor that it would havwe not been half as bad gaining this weight if I could have at least had the joyment of eating my self up to this weight.

I'am just now able to get a little of this weight off has lost 10 pounds.As far as your doctor telling you to live with the pain yea right.When I first got sick (i have crohns)the first GI I had told me that he did not prescribe pain meds because people with crohns do not hurt well I never whent bact to him again.

I told that GI yea right you may have the degree but I have the pain and how in the h*** could you set there and say that when you have never had a cronic disease?well never got a reply it just shows his igranace .So if you are having alot of pain tell your doctor and if he does not listen then see if you can't find one that will.Take care and talk to soon.

Curley............
a.k.aMela.............
Posted 7/22/2005 4:36 AM (GMT 0)
welcome dianne,

my heart goes out to you! i feel you are on the right path in considering a pain specialist...he may probably Rx a combo of things.

i know many people are hesitant to take heavier narcotics. i have grown tolerant to all OTC pain tylenols, nsaids, and now even tolerant to darvocet. i suffer extreme pain with frequent trips to the ER for IV dilaudid or morphine. which only eases the pain.

for bad days i take round the clock morphine/ dilaudid and it has kept me some days from bursting out in tears when the joint pain is so tremendous. i understand people's fear of addiction and ill side effects .... but it is an option you should talk over more with your doc. it may well be a life saver for you! i know how hard extreme chronic pain is. wanting to throw myself through the window sometimes! it is hard....and hard doesn't even begin to describe it.

how many tylenol 4's do you take per day? do they provide ANY relief at all anymore?

i am here for you and am willing to do any research or question asking for you if you need.

take good good care. :-)

sincerely

erin

Posted 7/22/2005 4:40 AM (GMT 0)
oh, do you take the pain meds throughout the day? or only when needed? i ask because it is shown (and we do it in the hospital too) that for bad pain it is better to take the meds BEFORE the pain gets soooooo bad. so perhaps an every three to four hour schedule might bring some relief? let me know more about your case. am thinking of you
erin
Posted 7/23/2005 12:41 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you all for your replies. It is good to know I am not alone in this. I have a dr appointment next thursday and hopefully can communicate with him a bit better but he schedules his appointments five minutes apart and that is not very long to try to get thru to him. I take the tylenol 4 first thing in the morning as soon as I get up and from then on maybe one or two more a day. He only allows me sixty a month. Even if I could get pushed up on the surgery list it is impossible for major surgery right now- I have a husband fifteen years older than me who has severe advanced COPD and has been in and out of hospital with heart failure and I do all the driving and day to day things. My doctor says I am very depressed and that I have to fight that myself- he allows me a 75ml Elavil at night to get a little sleep but have had the same dose for about fifteen years so they are useless.
I am trying to lose the 120 extra pounds I am carrying around because it has raised my blood pressure and my body is not used to the weight but it is hard to do without some form of exercise and I am lucky to stand ten minutes some days. Sorry for the long whine- hope you all have a good day tomorow.
Posted 7/23/2005 9:09 PM (GMT 0)

Dianne,

Welcome to HW. Boy, you have alot on your plate.

First of all, no to don't just put up with depression and work through it. I know of no one on Elavil for depression. Maybe its an old one, my son was on it at night for migraines, they tried me on it too, but I had a severe reaction to it. This was years ago. There are too many fairly new antidepressants out there, you have to find the one that works the best for you.

Secondly, no you don't have to live in pain until you can have surgery. If you are bad enough to need surgery, then you are bad enough with pain that you need something strong to get the pain under control. Please get into a good pain mgt dr as soon as possible. Please discuss not only the pain issues, but the depression problems as well. A good pain dr will take care of this.  Also, the chill pills helps the pain too. I am on a chill pill, its saved me in many ways. I recently had a morphine pump implanted.

You need a whole new set of drs and I hope you can get them. Hugs, Susie

Posted 7/24/2005 11:59 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you for the encouragement.  I had not realized how behind the times my doctor was.  I live in a small Nova Sotia town and we have a severe shortage of doctors so changing is not a question.  There are none within a hundred miles accepting new patients.  I wish I knew how to bring up some of the useful information I have gained here without sounding like I am putting him down.  He is very touchy and hates being questioned.  I feel now that I am suffering thru each day when there is help out there but he is too set in his ideas to look into something new. I am praying he will refer me to the pain clinic in the city because this is getting harder each day. 

Hope you all have a good day today!

Posted 8/10/2005 11:31 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Dianne,

Have not heard from you in a while. Hope you are doing ok. Please update us on the referral to the pain clinic. Sure hope you got it,

You are in my prayers,

flopsie
Posted 8/11/2005 12:56 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you for asking Flopsie- it has been a very bad couple of weeks.  My doctor told me that I would have a 24 month or longer wait to get into the pain clinic--it is the only one that serves two provinces but I don't think he would bother fight very hard to get me an appointment.  I fell thru the deck about six weeks ago and hurt my left leg and now have nurse coming every day to check on it.  We just moved here and landlord did not know deck was rotten and my one leg went thru.  Of course this had to be the left side where everything is located.  I cannot remember the last night I have slept more than two hours. 

  I have had my two granddaughters the  last two days - they are my sons little girls and he was very sick a few years ago and had a tumor removed and now is in a lot of pain and has pain in the same place and we are waiting for a scan tomorrow.  I am very worried about him and have another son very sick in Alberta plus a daughter having surgery on friday.  If I did not have ulcers think I would try drinking.  ( not seriously) but the stress is getting to me.  Feel like running away and hiding where no one can find me, most of all this idiot I live with.

  Sorry for the vent--you will learn not to ask

  

Posted 8/11/2005 3:07 AM (GMT 0)
I am glad I asked, you need to vent, it does help to be able to rant and rave when you need to.

I am so sorry you have so much going on in your family right now.

I hope all of your children will be ok. I also am sorry to hear about your leg. Hope it heals quickly also. I just can not imagine that long a wait to get into a pain clinic. Guess your system is diffferent than ours. I know some of us have difficulty getting a doc to refer us to clinic, but when they do, it is usually not a long wait.

Just know that we care about you and you will be in my prayers. Your HW family will be here when you are able to return and update us again.

Wishing you well,

flopsie

Posted 8/11/2005 6:13 AM (GMT 0)

Hi Diane,

Am wondering how you are. Oh, the last thing you needed was a fall on that deck, good grief.

I would like to encourage you to consider some of the narcotics for pain. Do not worry about addiction, the reason I say this, when a person takes them for true pain, we don't that high or buzz or whatever you want to call it. I was on oxycodone 10mg plus a 50mg dureagesic patch. Yes, I could get out and drive and go the store, dr, whatever I needed, I was not loopy. I know peeps react differently as well. Usually they start you on a low dose and gradually increase it if needed. I hate to hear and know you are severe pain.

You can come here anytime you want to vent, we all do that. But, we are all here to encourage each other as well. We understand pain like no one else. Gentle Hugs...... Susie

Posted 8/12/2005 6:14 PM (GMT 0)
Advertising is not allowed on this forum. However, you are welcome to post any questions or comments you may have, pertaining to your disease.

thank you

Post Edited By Moderator (Flopsie) : 8/12/2005 1:08:59 PM (GMT-6)

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