Opiods or Surgery?

When my pain started suddenly 6 1/2 years ago I went to many teaching hospitals
and credible places to find doctors of all kinds.

One offered surgery. But for the most part the doctors told me to not have surgery.
They offered Opiods & nerve medicine. (Methadone & Neurontin)

I have a bend in my neck that most doctors seemed to want to avoid. C3 & C4. I
have a lot of shoulder and spine involvment because of Scoliosis.

Methadone is a heavy-duty pain medicine. After that, my current doctor seems to think
a pain pump would be the thing for me to use.

It's confusing to me when I talk to someone who has had many surgeries but does
not take a strong medicine to keep their pain from going off the charts. When I first
started out with pain medication, I started on Vicodin.

The more I read ... the more I think that maybe I should have taken my search for
medical care even further.

Maybe I'm just writing this today because I awoke with terrible pain. It has gotten
better despite medication.

pamela dear...... i can't comment about the pain pump but i promise you there are meds far beyond methadone! i was on it for 2 months with no luck. i was switched to oxycontin & having much better success, though i think i am close to tolerance & will ask for a new level next visit. my drs flat out told me when i started it takes awhile to get the right medication for you. (3 years ago) there are many, many, many more choices. i like to think i would have tried everything before surgery like that. that is a major deal & a lot of people i have talked to have not had success. post a thread on here about getting a pain pump. are you seeing a neurologist or a pain specialist? i have not seen a neurologist but i know for a fact that my pain drs can prescribe higher dosage meds than a regular dr. if you are comfortable where you are thats great....... but i don't think i get that feeling from you from the posts i have read from you. do you need a referral to a pain specialist? i just think there are many better medications out there that can help you. ms contin, oxycontin, norco, oxycodone, dilaudid, morphine, patches.... the list goes on. i have 2 mottos.... it helps to know EVERYTHING you can find on your illness & constant vigilance. i have asked my drs about "ever getting better" or pain free. thats not going to be possible without being medicated without functioning. there is a chance of daily living with minimal pain issues. please promise me to at least research the possibilities of other medications. and we are here to help with your searching of knowledge. there are some great resources on here. i can only tell you what i have been through & everyone is a different story. ask anything you want & we will try & answer. and remember- constant vigilance! ((lots of extra hugs)) you WILL get through this!!!

Yes, it was 'Hel' going off. Horrid. The problem?
It wasn't helping me very much, so I needed to go off of it and on
to something else.
I'm not going to say I almost died going off Oxycontin ... but I'm not
sure why I don't say it.
P
Many other doctors and pharmacists thought it was the demon drug.
It cost a lot of money. Much much more than I could pay. My doctor
fought for me to get it from my insurance and he won.... bottom line:
It wouldn't do me any good at all.

A lot of people find it helpful but it's one to be careful of.

My severe issues started five years ago; I was 30.  Looking back though, I had chronic migraines since my first pregnancy (age 21); and FM symptoms, too.  I started on Vicodin when I first got sick, too.  I was very active before I got ill.  I homeschooled my kids; ran a private school for homeschoolers; worked in Children's Ministries at church; had many friends.  The first 18 months or so that I was illl, I still held out hope that I would be completely healed and return to my previous life.  So did most of my support system (friends, family, etc.).  After about three years, it was clear that life was different for me now.  I probably will always have health issues and chronic pain.  Many people in my life couldn't make this transition w/ me.  When I couldn't go out anymore, talk on the phone, give much at all to the relationship - things changed.  It left me really questioning my "true" relationships...  I still am struggling w/ this one.  I find myself not really wanting to put myself out there (not that I really can anyway) because of my experiences. I've tried a million things to deal w/ my pain issues.  I'm actually going to get more trigger point injections next week, and maybe another nerve block.  I've made lifestyle changes; tried alternative things; etc.  But meds, for me, are the biggest thing that make the difference between me crying and being bedridden to at least being upright.  While the opiods help, the one drug I couldn't live w/out is my muscle relaxer.  I have severe muscle spasms and this helps more than the pain pills. The one great thing about methadone is that it is cheap (inexpensive).  Ohhh, the money I've spent on medications.  It's a nightmare for so many people.  Well, those are my late night ramblings; More later, Tina

Pamela, my own mother gets on me about my pain medications simply because of the public's view we are all junkies. i was watching days of our lives today (i know.... i have been hooked since i was 12) anyhow, one of the characters is starting to show a pain medication dependancy. yeah here we go. and they have already shown him as having a dwi & possibly killing someone. i think i am going to write them a long letter. i just laughed & popped an oxycodone. my fiancee got a kick out of that!!! lol. probably bad humor. ;) i take zanaflex as well, i think it works pretty well for muscle spasms. occasionally if its bad i will take a soma. i keep a 2 week supply just incase it bothers me in my sleep. as for the fibromyalgia, i am currently on lyrica & cymbalta- with some success. there is still that morning & ouch factor when i am touched. i live in tampa & there is always a stude program going on- they have one right now for fibromyalgia & constipation from pain meds. i almost signed up for them (i have never done that before but i would assume they are safe) the good thing is maybe there is some new hope coming!!!! hope you have a great night- always a pleasure chatting with you. -Shannon ((hugs always))

My friend Pamela, if appears that maybe you did not try your muscle relaxers out, the Zanaflex? Listen if you have this bend which I assume is the scoliosis, you can bet your bottom dollar you have spasm. Do you have any pain into your shoulders? Is there a particular reason you won't try your muscle relaxer out? I do wish you would give them a try, what if you had medication sitting right there that may help you and you refuse to take it. I know you have anxiety issues which will cause a person to tense up even more, which can lead to muscle spasms. I just hate to think you may have a medication right at your fingertips that may afford you some relief and you won't take it. Thats really sad. Have you ever wondered how much your pain contributes to your anxiety issues?

Surgery is not for everyone by a long shot. I have seen many successful neck and back surgeries back in my working days. The key to any surgery is finding the best dr out there. Its a two fold thing, the dr can only do so much and then the rest is up to the patient once they are at home and following the instructions to the letter. I saw many people overdo it because they felt so much better after surgery and of course that always knocked them several steps back. A person also has to have their head on right when having any kind of surgery. If a person has a negative attitude towards surgery then, most likely that person will never do well afterwards. Also, if a person has waited perhaps too long to have a particular surgery, then the odds of a total success are not as great. Its like anything else as far as surgery goes, you talk to one persn and they say they did great, talk to another and they will say it was a disaster. One thing in my own personal opinion,  is its not to the patients benefit placing all this hardware in people. You are trying to trick the body into accepting foreign material that is not suppose to be there. Very high odds of the body rejecting this hardware. I have seen too many people having to go back in for surgery for hardware removal, once they did that, they felt so much better. So, that says something for all of this hardware they are putting in people.

It all boils down to finding the right treatment that you respond to the best. What may work for one may not work for someone else. The same goes for medication. People react differently to meds and metabolize medication differently. Its pretty much a crap shoot when you start on the medication bandwagon.

Hope everyone has a LPD. But with cooler weather coming in its hard on these bones,lol. Hugs Susie

Hi All,

There are several issues I'd like to respond to in Sandi, Susie, and Mom's posts. I'm going to keep
this short and come back to them.

Sandi, you have really been through it. It sounds like you're doing well despite it.

I don't know a thing about Opana but will look it up. My pain doctor advocates for me to have the
dang pain pump. It's frustrating. He isn't willing to try new things. I will ask him about Opana.

I have moved a lot during this time of having chronic pain. I have found it unbelievably difficult to
find the "perfect" doctor. I don't think I'd know it if I found it. I have had some extremely bad
doctors. Doctors who may have slept through the chapter on intractible chronic pain. Scary doctors.
Mean doctors. I hear about them too on the forum. Makes one shiver in their boots.

For the most part I just make do with how things are. They could be worse. I know that for sure!
Sometimes I think this pain just is what it is and I should learn acceptance better. Other times I shout
it out and come to the forum and learn stuff that I could't learn from any book on the market or
any googled space.

Thank you all for being there. Wonderful. Really.

Pamela

Post Edited (Pamela Neckpain) : 11/21/2008 11:51:48 AM (GMT-7)