Pain Management Community

Keeping a journal is always helpful. Continue to be honest with your doctor. It is important to only take the medication as prescribed. Changes can be made in the future if need be. Encourage your doctor to continue the evaluation as to cause and potential treatment options. It sounds like you are doing everything right. Good luck.
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I can understand where you are coming from. It took me a long time to find a doctor that would actually listen to me when I spoke. The doctor I found understands that every patient is different, and every patient reacts differently to medications. He has me an Dilaudid because Vicoden and Percocet made me really sedated, and didn't really help the pain at all. The most important thing is honesty and openness on both sides. I always call his office before taking my medication differently than prescribed. I call his office if a new medication is not working. I bring my medication to each appointment. This way the can do a pill count, and verify that I am not using more then prescribed. If he switches me to a new medication, I give him any left over pills of the old medication. Anything you can do to show you are trying to follow the treatment plan, and all gestures off openness will help. As long as the doctor is trained in pain management along with training in prescribing opiates, she will understand that people react differently to medications. Another suggestion is to ask her to be switched to some of the newer tamper resistant medications.

I would not recommend suffering for a couple of months, I would be very honest with her.Treat the pain just as you would any other symptom.

I would also suggest keeping a pain journal, at least until you have good relief. Write in what time and the dose of any meds that you take. Score your pain on a 0-10 scale a couple of hours after taking pain meds, and at least three times a day. Write in other things that you do for pain, like ice packs, hot soaks, exercise, stretching, etc. That way she will know you are trying other things too.

Take care, Annette

i know what you mean i've been pushed off to a few different doctors in the last few months none will presribe me anything more than lorcet 10/650 it barley effects me im not tolerant and its not my weight i don't wight much it just does work for my pain this time when i told my doctor its not working i was told ( i don't know what to tell you my hands are tied ) yay don't give up though

Hi cjh,
I'm sorry to read that you're not doing any better than when you last wrote.
When do you see the rhuemotologist?
Have you given any thought to asking your PC doc to refer you to a pain management doctor?

go in 2 days and everytime i ask my doctor the slightest question she says my hands are tied talk to you ( witch ever sp first comes out of her mouth ) so im stuck right now

Have you been keeping a journal?

Just an idea, but perhaps you can print out this entire conversation and ask her to read ir.

Ask her why her, "hands are tied, " and if this still is so, if she will refer you to an MD whose hands are not tied.

How are you today?

what does, "witch ever sp first comes out of her mouth" (sic) mean?

Your initial posting says a lot that your MD needs to know about your situation: that you find her unapproachable.

ment specilst (sp) printing out the conversation might be worth a try no i haven't kept a journal i plan on asking for a referal to another pcp/md or to a hospital in a larger city thats what they had to do with my little cousin that had opsclonus myclonus syndome

I didn't see this post you wrote before I replied to another of your postings also a few hr ago.

That sounds like a great idea. I would urge you to get your family involved, especially since you have a family member who required specialist care.

Where do you live?

Let me know if you'd like my email address so we can talk more about things that may not be posted publicly. I'd like to address some further family information that I do not want to disclose here regarding Jordan, my step-son who died in Sept.

If you'd rather not, that's okay. After all, I am fifty-two years old, but I am an RN and have four children of my own plus Jordan, my fiance's son who died two months ago- lots of experience helping my children with things like this. I just don't want to "go there" publicly, ok.

I am hopeful that you're going to get the help you deserve- just hang in there, cjh, okay.

Beth H.

Keep being honest, there are good doctors out there. I've been living for ten years with a major back injury (12 fused vertabrae) and I can tell you that Hydrocodone works about like you described it. If you are in severe pain it just pushes the pain back a somewhat. You need to work with the meds and learn about pain and accept it and try to dis-associate it. A good pain PHD is also invalubale if you can find a way to pay for it. Most insurance companies have limited coverage for PHDs, but if you can prove it's for medical treatment and not counseling they may pay for it.

Books on pain, pain logging etc are also invaluable. You need to be in the driver's seat. As I said I have 12 fused vertabrae and a crushed spine (but no nerve damage) and I work full time and am a father and husband. Every minute of every hour of every day is frought with pain, but with moderate usage of pain meds (hydrocodone and methadone) I live a successful life.

Pain sucks and if you have chronic pain it likely won't go away so you need to teach yourself about how your body works and what pain is. I recommend readin a book called Pain, The Science of Suffering by Dr. Patrick Wall.

Good luck

Tim

I have been dealing with pain "management" for almost 20 years now and in my experience it continues to erode day by day. Pain is a symptom of a medical condition, NOT being properly treated, even if the only viable treatment is pain relief.
My "illness, disorder, condition, whatever" will never get better, it is never going to reverse the ongoing damage, it will never be cured by surgery, in fact sugery is needed to fix the limbs supporting the primary problem. I cannot function as a person, a woman, a mom a friend, you get the idea right?
But with the proper balance of pain medications and other types of therapy, I can function, I can do simple things like cook and clean and go to the store, be really involved with people I love and like because I don"t have a heavy load of pain on my shoulders.
Twenty years ago Dr.'s knew this. They knew and understood that pain meds are a reality and life supporting therapy that otherwise makes people useless.
Today because the "'''''War on Drugs"""" is being lost, the goverment is involved in our Medical care folks! A clerk is deciding what you need and EVERYONE is a drug seeking criminal that does not need medicine at all, but is a addict.
Truth is there will always be people who abuse anything---drugs legal or not, work, sex, vioence, shopping, eating, anything to excess! But not the legitimate medical patient who is in need of medicine to help manage a physical medical illness and should be treated as such.
What does the oath say "I will do no harm" well, I for one am being harmed, am unable to live my life the best and fullest way I can within the limits of my physical problems with the proper medication I can do a hell of alot more than without!
Yes I have quit talking medicine for pain for months at a time, done all the other therapies, had a knee replaced, taken the shots and clean out sugeries and so on and none of that worked. Everyone agrees on my medical condition, knows what must be done and passes it along to the next poor doc, because they are afraid to treat their patients to the best medical solutions! They are being made to feel like pushers!
Talk about creating a enviroment of fear and distrust with the one person you are leagally and morally supposed to trust, they have done a fantastic job of utterly destroying that solace for the people of this country and that is a sad, sad, situation!

TO ALL THE WEARY PAIN SUFFERS OUT THERE ! I KNOW THE DIFFICULTY OF GETTING RELEIF . I HAVE HAD 8 BACK SURGERY''S 4 OF THEM FUSION'S 2 OTHERS TO TAKE THEM OUT BECAUSE OF STAFF INFECTION'S ! I GOT HURT ON THE JOB SO I GOT JERKED AROUND EVERYWAY THAT YOU CAN THINK OF . IF YOU ARE NOT RECEIVING THE TREATMENT THAT YOU NEED ASK FOR A PAIN MANAGEMENT CLINIC. I TAKE MONTHLY DRUG SCREENING AND ALSO A PILL COUNT . BUT IT'S A SHAME PEOPLE HAVE TO LIVE IN TOTAL AGONY FROM PAIN. IF WE WERE A DOG OR CAT THEY WOULD ARREST THEM FOR ANIMAL CRUELTY ! IF THIS COUNTRY HAD A STANDARD FOR PEOPLE AS THEY DO FOR ANIMALS IN PAIN WE WOULD NOT EVEN BE HAVING THIS TOPIC. I STAYED BED RIDDEN 8 YEARS IN A WHEEL CHAIR FOR 6 1/2 ALONG WITH BEING PARALIZED FOR 6 MONTHS .BUT JUST TAKING DRUGS IS NOT THE MIRACLE CURE A COMFORT SELECT HAS BEEN GREAT FOR MY BACK ALSO HOT TUB THERAPY. IF YOU ARE BEING GETTING THE RUN AROUND WITH WORKMAN COMP GO AHEAD AND GO TO COURT WITH THEM AND HAVE A JUDGE TO MAKE SURE YOU GET TREATED LIKE A HUMAN ! CALVIN , BLACKSBURG ,S.C.

I can empathize because I've been there. First, drop the weight, it is killing you. Hydrocodone is a ,very good drug but don;t expect miracles if you are going to carry such weight .Be up front with your Doc and she may be willing to try various things Your options include hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxycodone,morphine, oxymorphone, ssri inhibitors,ssnrl inhibtors, gaba inhibitors, and even nsaids might work. You & your Doc will have to work together trying these drugs alone and in combination. Over time you might hit the right combo. In the meantime, you can try rubbing in over the painful areas any of the following: lidocaine gel, voltaren gel, castor oil,or oil of wintergreen. A solution is out there and stay away from surgery. It will only exacerbate your condition. In dealing with your Doc, be forceful and determined. Good luck.

I could eat Hydrocodone (Vicoden) all day like candy and it would not touch my pain. For someone else, it could seem a miracle drug. We all possess our own unique body chemistry, which reacts to pain medication on its own basis. Your doctor should comprehend this. As long as you are honest with your doctor, you should never be afraid to discuss or request anything.

There are dozens of medications for chronic pain. But, the best results occur with a combination of several different medications, including: 1) a long-acting pain medication (Fentanyl Transdermal, Oxycontin, Kadian, etc.), a short-acting drug for breakthrough pain (Hydrocodone, Oxycodone, Fentora, etc.), 3) an anti-depressant (to inhibit the reuptake of Seratonin) and 4) an anti-convulsant (for neuropathic pain). Many physicians, especially pain management physicians, comprehend that real long-term effectiveness relies upon this combination of drugs that deliver efficacy via different mechanisms.

P.S. I'm not suggesting that you go back to using marijuana. However, I've read several recent studies that prove the efficacy of marijuana (THC) for chronic pain. It serves many pain patients very well. The legal THC medication is called Marinol (Elan Pharmaceuticals). It was designed to treat the nausea and weight loss resulting from chemotherapy. However, many physicians prescribe it off label for chronic pain. The natural form of marijuana is now available legally via prescription in 15 states (and the list is continually growing). Your physician should display more concern about her patients pain than losing her license to the DEA.