Please help!

First I'd check your insurance company website or call them to find a Pain Management doctor in your network, that is if you have insurance. If you don't have insurance maybe your family physician can suggest one. You will probably need a referral from your doctor anyway.

After finding a pain management doctor call them to see if they do procedures & prescribe meds. Some PM docs only do procedures. Hopefully someone can refer you to a good doctor but if not I hope the info I've given will help. That is how I got my pm doc and he's been a keeper from the first time I saw him. I got lucky, sometimes you have to try several before finding the right doctor for you.

Sounds to me like you need an MRI of your lumbar spine to find out what is going on there to be causing the radiating pain in the legs. Before my fusion surgery the pain was so bad when trying to sleep that I wasn't getting any sleep. My doctor prescribed flexeril, a muscle relaxer. Not only did it relax the muscles it also made me very sleepy. That was the only way I was getting any sleep. I still take a muscle relaxer now but it took alot of tries until I found one that didn't knock me out during the daytime.

I hope you find a good doctor soon. Maybe try sleeping in a recliner! Oh, yea, I also use tramadol but I take 100mg 3xday but I am ok'd 4xday for bad days but I always take an anti-inflammatory along with it. I use tylenol but some people prefer ibuprophen. My doctor suggested I take them together. Just keep an eye on your max doses for these and eat food with ibuprophen.

         Good morning Shawnaci!

             I would like to welcome you to the Chronic Pain Forum! There are several of us here with back pain, so you're not alone on this. Feel free to join us for the long/short haul, and we will be more than happy to support you.

      As I read through your indroduction, a couple things of concern stood out to me, and maybe it's because we just don't have enough information.

       So!...you have had this back pain for about a year, and your Dr has not done any test, such at CT scan or an MRI?...and he is scripting you pain med's? Typically a Dr will want to know the cause of a patient's pain, and will order test to find this. They may help you out with temporary pain med's and such, but will generally shy away from the long term pain med approach until information confirms the root causes.

      Also, it would be rare for a PM to take on a patient, without first reviewing the most recent scans. I just do not believe they will treat you without this...and if they do...then turn around and run away as fast as you can.

      If test comeback showing a disk problem in the lumbar area...or any area for that matter, they will usually start with PT first, followed by possible injections (possibly Epidural)...and then if that fails...there are only a couple of options left. Surgery, Pain Med's...or live with it. If you happen to wind up in the PM management program...there may be a lot of options for you, so don't give up hope.

      I recently had a review with my Dr, and he has submitted me for consideration of a Pain Pain Pump. I will start that process right away. It can take several weeks, if not months, to get through this, and many hurdles to get over before it may become a reality. Just because he is requesting this does not mean that I will wind up with one. At the moment I will have to be patient, and live with the upgrade of med's he has put me on.

      You have been wise to find this site, and I encourage you to be active with us here. We have some lovely members eager to help. Of course, we accept support as well! :)

     At the moment...I'm at odds with your Dr with the information you have posted here...however, we are not Dr's and this is derived from my own experience, and several others here on this forum.

       If you could please give us a little more information, it may help us understand your plight a little better, so that we may share better directions for you to seek.

          It's great to have you here, although we are sorry for the reason. Pain can be very debilitating and lonely to say the least. Please hang around with us...as there are benifits greater than just seeking information. Information can be very helpful...but many have found that companionship in numbers here can be soothing in its own way.

      Take care, and we hope to hear from you more.

       SE          

 

      Well...it sounds like he may be starting where the biggest complaint maybe? Remember you will be your biggest advocate when it comes to getting the care you need. Once the MRI is done of the brain...and if it comes back normal, then be persistent with the back problems.

      Again most Dr's will be very careful giving pain med's until they know what the root cause is. Then they may have the option of fixing it, if possible, or treating the pain.

         Let us know how the test go, and good luck to you!

      SE