HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Can't Stand The Constant Pain...Hope Tuesday's Appt With Pain Doc Helps

Support Forums
>
Chronic Pain
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
12
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 2/2/2009 11:51 PM (GMT 0)
Sunday was just another day of agonizing nerve pain in my legs, feet, arms, etc. Then a night of restlessness and pain...But wait!! Here comes Monday morning!. New hopes for some relief! The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and my pain is worse than ever. I can't take this all day every day and night. Obviously the combination of MS Contin 130 MG 3 times daily and Percocet 10 MG 4 times daily has failed miserably. If someone told me a year ago that I would even be on Morphine, let alone that I would get NO pain relief from morphine, I would have thought they were crazy. Tuesday is my appt with the pain doctor. He'll either put me on Fentanyl patch, or Oxycontin, depending on if the insurance company will approve the Oxy. I've already had another series of nerve injections, which didn't help at all. Now he wants to try a series of Facet block injections, which I've had done in the past with no pain relief. I'd like him to try Radio Frequency, which I've heard helps many people, although it may have to be re-done in 6 months - 2 years. If I could have some relief for 6 months, I would do almost anything. He's also about to send me to a nerosurgeon, or othopedic surgeon for surgical evaluation. I've already had 23 operations, including my knee (11 times) and the upper extrmity nerves (11 times), so I'm really not looking forward to more surgery. However, I'd try it if the doctor feels it might help me. Well that's enough feeling sorry for myself for today. I'm going to take my pain medicine and hope that it gives me even the slightest amount of relief. Reading these posts, I can't believe how much pain there is out there. Maybe tomorrow will be better for everyone.
Posted 2/3/2009 3:44 AM (GMT 0)
Jimmy; I am sorry that you are in pain my brother. It is horrible that we have to spend these days like this and I can feel your pain. Believe me I know what you are going through right now cause I too am in so much pain right now I could scream. My legs are screaming so loud that I think they have a voice of their own tonight.. I wish they were down to a dull roar like my back...that I could deal with but nope no luck its like someone is taking a wrench and twisting each nerve in my leg until it is tweeked to the max. I hate it so bad. I made the mistake of having a bowl of ice cream before I took my meds tonight and that screwed up my medications so now they aren't kicking in for at least another hour. My topamax and Lunesta is supposed to be taken on an empty stomach and I forgot of course. Anyway.....wish you felt better...warm and soft hugs bro.

Scarred
Posted 2/3/2009 4:40 AM (GMT 0)
Jimmy,

I'm sorry to hear that things aren't going well for you. Pain is such a horrible monster, it really consumes you. It is both mentally & physically exhausting dealing with it day in & day out.

I've been having a real bad time lately as well & am counting down the days till I see my doc on Friday. Today has been a nightmare for me. I took a nap this morning, (don't ask me how I managed to actually fall asleep through the pain, that was something of a miracle) & I know that I was crying in my sleep because I was in so much pain. I dreamed that someone was cutting into my eye with a knife, because that is exactly what it felt like.

I hope you can work out a new plan with your doc tomorrow & finally start getting some more relief!

Skeye
Posted 2/3/2009 10:01 AM (GMT 0)
drjimmy,

I hope you can stay away from surgery. Doctors might do surgery to make money.
A doctor told me this! But, of course, many of us have guessed at it. Surgery
sometimes gives a little relief ~ but it's often not long lasting. Oh, the price
that is paid. It sure doesn't sound to me like you're feeling sorry for yourself. I
think most of us just tell the tip of iceberg of freezingpain. It's worse than you can
say. Right?

I'm thinking about a pain pump. My doctor has been kinda harping at me to get
one. I'm realllllly afraid of it. I have the fear because I think if any more pain
is put on me I won't be able to take it. Understand? I was reading at a book
tonight. It was written by a doctor and it's free and can be downloaded. In this
book the doctor says that before you get a pain pump be quite sure that you can
continue taking your pain pills if needed. I'll be talking to my doctor about that.
I'll try to find the address of the book tomorrow. There's all sorts of stuff in there
that would be of interest to many here.

Skeye: When we fall asleep like that, it's kinda like passing out. I do it. That
was some nightmare you had! I hope you have a better tomorrow.

Scarred: That wrench twisting is ... oh ((((((((((Scarred)))))))))

I had a hard time breathing right today because of pain. I wasn't having a heart
attack or anything. It's just that I kind of held my breath. I'm always afraid the
pain won't let up.

Remember ... The medicine WILL help. When it gets close to med time, I panic.
Panic makes it worse.

Oh... I hate night time.

Pamela
Posted 2/3/2009 10:13 AM (GMT 0)
Enough to give ya a panic attack Pam????? Its already giving me one!!!! I've been dealing with these leg pains for the last four days straight with no let up and the relenting pain is about to drive me straight to the kookoo farm with the little men ready with the white jackets!


Gentle hugs


Scarred/aka me
Posted 2/3/2009 8:52 PM (GMT 0)

Jimmy, i suffer from nerve pain in my foot as a result of a lawnmower accident.

I recently had the radio frequency treatment, and im so happy to say that it has worked! If you have a chance to try it, you should.  I still continue to take percocet for other pain in the foot, but the bulk of nerve pain is almost gone....it's been about 4mo now and im thrilled.

Good luck with your appt and i hope you will be feeling better soon!

Posted 2/3/2009 9:14 PM (GMT 0)
Jimmy,
I hope that your appointment today leads you to some relief from your pain. One thing though, RF is usually done when they've been able to locate the nerve causing the pain through other methods - epidurals, nerve blocks, etc. Then they know what nerve to apply the treatment to. Otherwise RF would be a shot in the dark. And nerves grow back, so it's not a permanent fix. But if it can work for months or even up to two years, it's sure worth it. But you want to make sure they've located the source of your pain first.

Good luck today!

PaLady
Posted 2/3/2009 11:13 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks to all who responded.

Pamela, I'll have to talk to my doctor about the pros and cons of a pain pump. I realize that surgery needs to be an absolute last option, and of course I would get numerous medical opinions before considering it. I'd like to check out the book you're talking about, when you're able to find it for us.

Shannon, that's GREAT to hear! Congrats. right now 4 months of partial pain relief sounds awesome to me.

PaLady, yeah I know the key is finding theexact nerve that's causing the pain. I've already had several epidural steroid injections, plus 2 nerve injections. Soon, I will attempt the Facet Block again. The doctor said he would locate the exact source of the nerve pain before moving forward with RF. Thanks. Actually I had to postpone my appt with the pain doc because of icy roads. I'm now scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday) morning. I'll report what happens. I hope everyone gets a little relief (or a lot of relief) tonight. byeeeeeeeeeee

Eric
Posted 2/4/2009 9:19 AM (GMT 0)
It's called The Intractable Pain Patient's Handbook for Survival
by
Forest Tennant, MD, Dr.PH

I couldn't find it tonight!
I can't type right now.
But I do hope you find it.

He describes the difference between Intractible Pain and Chronic Pain.
Chronic Pain can be a migraine that you have twice a week. You can go to work
but it's very difficult.

Intractable Pain is with you all the time. Working would be extremely difficult
or impossible.

I have Intractable Pain. Can't turn my head to drive ... more.
Posted 2/5/2009 2:02 AM (GMT 0)
Wow Pamela, I just read some info on IP...it sounds horrible. I have daily, debilitating, disabling pain, but I'm not sure it would rise to the level of what I read about. How do you get diagnosed with IP? Is there a diagnostic test? Is there any cure?

Eric

Posted 2/5/2009 2:08 AM (GMT 0)
I saw my pain doc today. He is taking me off MS Contin and prescribed Oxycontin 40 MG. Is that considered a low dose? However, the insurance company is busting my chops as usual and I'm waiting for "Prior Authorization" between my doctor and the insurance company. Hopefully I will be able to start the Oxycontin shortly. We also discussed Radio Frequency and he wants to proceed with that too. I have an appt for 2 weeks and we'll start the first treatment. He says it's a series of 2 on each side, starting with the worse side (Very hard to figure out which side is worse, they both suck bad). So, we'll see if I get any relief from the combination of new medication and the RF. Meanwhile, my pain is horrible today. Byeeeeeeeeee

Eric
Posted 2/5/2009 6:17 PM (GMT 0)
Sorry about your pain. I also suffer very severe nerve pain, I also believe morphine is not a great option for nerve pain. 40mg oxycontin is a pretty small dose if only taken once daily. I personally think you need to get methadone in there somewhere, it's the most effective painkiller for nerve pain IMO. I take a Methadone/Oxycodone combination 5 times daily along with amitriptyline at bedtime. I think fentanyl might be a good choice instead of the oxycodone, but again I think it needs to be combined with methadone. Ive also been told that the radiofrequency is effective for pain in the back itself but doesnt work as well for pain down the leg. Good luck.
Posted 2/5/2009 6:59 PM (GMT 0)
I just wanted to wish ya good luck with the RF ablation procedure, had one done
last August had three whole days of relief then WAMMO, but I'm not the norm
had 2nd RF ablation done in November and well went down hill as that
created scar tissue which inflammed the fibro, which then irritated something else
and had more pain than I started up with, so for me I wish you much better success
and I truly mean this in a good way, so prayer for ya..
Keep us posted as we'll be with you through this, so your not alone. get those ice packs ready...
Lots of soft hugz.....
There is a better procedure out there that could help, but insurance says it's too new so
we gotta continue jumping through the hoops..Look this up it might help you as well (percutaneous disc probe by Stryker)
it was approved by FDA in 2003 yet insurance can play the game of "It's experimental"
soft hugz...
Posted 2/7/2009 9:28 PM (GMT 0)
Nikolai, thanks for your thoughts. I have tried methadone previously and had a bad reaction to it, with little to no pain relief. I know that it helps a lot of people, but unfortunately, it's not for me. When it's approved by insurance, it will be 40 MG 3 times daily for 2 weeks. After 2 weeks we will re-evauluate and increase if needed.

Charteux, I'm sorry your relief was short lived. I also have problems with excessive scar tissue formation, so I hope it won't be a problem following my RF. I checked out the info you talked about. Pretty interesting.
Posted 2/8/2009 12:00 AM (GMT 0)
Jimmy,
Just wanted to wish you the best with your RF procedure. I just had one 3 weeks ago & it is starting to kick in and really help with the pain. I had a previous one done on my neck and it lasted for many years. My current one was for L5 & S1 - 10 lesions, 5 on each side - 2 each for L5 and 3 each for S1. It is helping with both my low back pain & the pain shooting down my right leg.

I'm not sure if I have the same problem as you with the scarring, but I do tend to get keloid scars & other painful scarring often that irritates my nerves. I never had any problems with painful scars from the RF, though. There's no cutting so I think that helps.

It's worth a try to see if it works for you. Both times the post-op pain was fairly substantial so make sure you have meds to take to manage the pain. I did mine without sedation so I'm not sure how much of a difference that makes, but I would still think you would want to have medicine available to you if needed ... oh, and lots of ice packs. :)

take care,
frances
Posted 2/9/2009 10:04 PM (GMT 0)
I just heard from the insurance company. They won't approve Oxycontin 40 MG 3 times daily, but they will approve for twice daily. My question for Oxycontin users, do you take it twice a day or 3 times? I'm currently on MS Contin 130 MG 3 times daily and I'm hoping this dosage of Oxy will be adequate. Well at least they approved it. I'm on my way to the doctor's office to pick up the new prescription.

Eric
Posted 2/9/2009 10:24 PM (GMT 0)
I take percocet 4 times a day. Im sorry for your pain.
Posted 2/10/2009 1:46 AM (GMT 0)
Well, just when I thought my insurance company couldn't surprise me any more, they have sunk to a new low. After waiting all week for prior authorization for oxycontin 3 times daily, they faxed my doctor's office, telling them they would cover twice daily, but not 3. So my doctor's office called me and told me to bring back the old paper prescription and they would give me a new prescription for twice daily, which the insurance company approved. So after an hour's driving I bring the newly approved prescription to CVS. After waiting a half hour, CVS tells me that it still needs prior authorization! no no no I tell them, I already took care of all that. We have the approval from the insurance co. CVS tells me that it won't go through and that it still needs prior authorization. My pain was already off the charts because of all the driving and waiting around I had to do. Well I felt my heart pumping real hard with frustration and my pain level shot even higher. I went home and called the insurance company for an explanation, but they just confirmed that I would have to start the whole prior authorization process over again! So now I have to call my doctor's office in the morning and waith 48 - 72 hours for approval. Maybe then I'll get a chance to see if Oxycontin will touch the pain. I'm so tired of this crap.

Eric
Posted 2/10/2009 2:08 AM (GMT 0)
Jimmy, I have a question. Since the ins will not cover 3 Oxy's a day. Why can't your dr increase the dose with the two pills a day? You sure are having to go thru alot of crap just to get a prescription filled. It just does not seem right.

Susie
Posted 2/12/2009 6:01 AM (GMT 0)
Susie, thanks it isn't right that people have to battle their insurance companies every step of the way when the doctors prescribe a medication. The insurance companies are money grubbing scumbags...They are at the low end of our society morally. Actually, jst today my insurance company decided that I had suffered long enough and finally approved my oxycontin. Of course it's only 40 mg twice daily, istead of 3 times dail as the doctor wanted. In 2 weeks he'll evaluate whether it's helping. If not, he will raise the MG and I'm sure I'll have to battle the insurance company all over again.

Eric

Posted 2/12/2009 6:12 AM (GMT 0)
Yep, Insurance companies don't ya love to hate em...The Love/Hate battle is ever continueing...
Love that they cover doctor visits, hate it when it takes over a week to get a medicine approved and
then it's outta stock...
Love it when they cover procedures, only to find out it's covered after the co pays and deductible
and so hate them again...
Arn't we so lucky? makes ya wonder...
Hope the Medicine works for you Eric and that you are able to get some relief..
lots of soft hugz....
Posted 2/12/2009 11:22 AM (GMT 0)
jimmy ...

Why doesn't the dr. prescribe 3 oxy's twice a day. You, of course, would take
them three times a day.

I think that's what Susie meant. It's very late and I should just shut my eyes and
put my ear on the pillow. I'm getting dumber by the second.

I am sorry you had trouble.

When you have chronic pain, it just rains on you more. Why is that?
Pamela confused
Posted 2/12/2009 9:43 PM (GMT 0)
Pamela, that would be great, but the doctor only wants me to take 40 mg 3 times daily. With the insurance company only approving 40 MG twice daily, he still wanted me to start at 40 MG. In 2 weeks, if the pain is still bad, he will probably increase it to 80 MG twice a day, or 3 times if the insurance company allows it. But since the people at the insurance company aren't in pain every minute of their lives like me and all the other chronic pain people, they sit back and allow what they want to allow. Thanks for your thoughts and advice and I hope your pain is a little better today/tonight. Byeeeeeeeeeee

Eric

Posted 2/14/2009 2:18 AM (GMT 0)
I've been on the Oxycontin 40 MG twice daily for 2 and a half days (5 pills total) and 2 things have started. I'm usually a big sweater...When everyone else is comfortable, or even cold I'm sweating on a regular basis. However the sweating has increased greatly in the last 24 hours. I soak 1 shirt, so I put on another shirt and withing 30 minutes to an hour it's soaked again with sweat. Then about 3 hours ago (7:00 PM) i started having involuntary arm jerks. Like i can't controll it. A very uncomfortable feeling builds in the arm/arms and then all of a sudden I must straighten out my arm...usually it happens with little or no assistance from me. Like I look like I'm having a seizure or something. I hate this feeling...I can barely type. Has anyone else who's on Oxycontin had either excessive sweating, or involuntary arm jerks? I['m about to call the doctor, but i wanted to check here first. I've been on Percocet for over 12 years and Oxycontin in percocet without tylenol and in coltrol release form, so I can't see how I'd have a reaction when Percocet never bothered me. Any ideas?

Eric
Posted 2/14/2009 3:42 AM (GMT 0)
Jimmy,
Please call your doctor or at least your pharmacist soon! Those are not good side effects to have, and you need to have your doctor decide if he wants you to stay on the medication as it's prescribed.

PaLady
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
12