I’ve brought issues with my back up here before, I’m not trying to re-hash... I’m just curious what you chronic pain sufferers do for relief. I just had fusion number two in July and I’m miserable still. Can’t sleep at night from pain, etc. I’m seeing a new pain management doc Monday so there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Anyway, what do y’all do for relief, relaxing and sleep? Here’s a pick of what I’m putting up with.

30-60 mg of Oxycodone every 2 hours during awake time.

Yep, I’m doing the Oxy thing also. Problem is it’s not stopping the pain much.

You might work with your doctor and try other opioids. What works for one may not for another. I did a lot of experimenting before settling on Oxy, with Ultram on hand for the inevitable breakthrough pain.

Also, what dosage of Oxycodone are you using?

I know that the opiates help with the pain but guys, please be very careful with the oxy's!

quote:

Originally posted by acidjazz:
I know that the opiates help with the pain but guys, please be very careful with the oxy's!

I am, trust me. I cringe every time I take these meds. I’ll be off
Of it as soon as possible.

@kkina. I take 40mg PRN, which I suspect is not enough... I’m a *big* guy.

I'm a little Asian guy, about the size of Yoda, and I take up to 60 mg Oxy on a bad flare-up, like I just had. That is admittedly a massive dose, but that's simply how much it takes to kill the pain. Even 30 mg is large, but that's my regular maintenance dose.

Maybe you can try mixing pain meds, like I do. That way you can keep individual doses of different drugs lower. I've "cocktailed" as many as 3 meds together.

Right, not a bad idea kkina. I’ve been writing down questions for this new Doc.

Three spine surgeries,2 rods, I feel you! Please be careful when mixing and going to the “max” with these drugs. I don’t want to read threads about opioid overdose Sigforum style....... I never took them (as I have a VERRRY addictive personality. How I made it through it, I’ll never know. Best of luck and there IS light at the end of the tunnel. Have you tried CBD oil? I got to the point where I ALMOST went opioid. Good luck.......

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sybo,

Have you tried Nucynta? My girlfriend took that for a while, it helped her. As for me, none of that stuff really works, if I'm in enough pain to need it, the pain will usually win over the drugs. I did try her stuff for a day or two when I hurt my back, it seemed to work better than oxy or percocet.

Thanks for the tip Skins... I’ll ask my new Doc about Nucynta tomorrow. BTW, what I was getting at with this thread was ideas to help with pain.. not drugs per se. Music, swimming etc. What seems to help *you*.... cause I need ideas!

I started cycling. That and good anti inflammatory to go along with the pain mess. I started on a hybrid bike going a couple of miles at a time. Now I ride a road bike 75-90 miles a week. It's my drug.
I blew my knee this week so idk what will happen. Get MRI this week.

Mine was neck and shoulders. I ended up dropping the opioids, focused on rehab and for pain management used ice mainly to numb / provide alternative discomfort. Took opioids on occasion and over the years built up an unhealthy pain tolerance.

Last 6 years undertook multiple surgeries and lost a lot of weight, got fairly fit. That combo vastly reduced my pain. Big changes in my life but alternative was pain maintenance and that was no kind of option.

Good luck, chronic pain is awful and those that have not experienced cannot understand, which is a type of pain in itself.

Chronic pain flat out sucks. There is so much difference between people and how they react to different stimuli that it takes a lot of experimenting to find your happy place.
TENS units, acupuncture, PT, LOTS of ice packs, hot->cold or cold->hot contrast therapy, (which is much easier on a limb than the back) the list goes on forever it seems. And it's hard to be objective to which combo really works better or not because you're not an independent observer, YOU hurt.

Losing sleep is a huge red flag. This can grind you up more than the pain. (as if you needed anyone to tell you!)
A rested person can deal with a whole lot of shit, a sleep deprived one will not...and the cycle feeds itself.

I wish you luck.

I don't feel your pain. Man, you've got some damage.

I'm not in any pain, but I always thought should something like that occur to me, I'd be self medicating on a doobie-a-dose.

Good luck, man.

The more I move, the less pain I have and the longer it takes for the pain to return.

having my self to do the exercise for me certainly helps.

Doobie dosing is amazingly helpful.

Good luck to you.

I referred someone on another forum to an Upper Cervical chiropractor. He has only had a few adjustments, but is very satisfied with the progress. You can read his comments here:
https://forum.snipershide.com/...4288-c1-chiropractic

I replied to his thread with an explanation of why realigning the C1 area is so critical.

Started having back pain as a teen Fist surgery at 32. At 63 Gastro doc advised stomach lining ruined through a lifetime of asprin and its nsaid cousins. Cannot take nasaids anymore. Pain doc went through several rounds of treatments injecting stuff into lower back with some short term success.

Have you tried nerve electronic ablation?
Had some luck with nerve ablation. Pain doc pushes needle into lower back and using radio waves, burns the sheaths off of certain nerves. It provides varing degrees of relief for some time. It’s one option that may help.

I’ve had to use muscle releaxants and opioids since my 20s. I,ve always tried to use them sparingly. Build up heafty pain tolerance according to my RN wife.

After ablations stopped working 3 years ago, had 3rd back surgery. This one was pretty brutal for an old 66 yr old fart. Then, had a couple more rounds of ablations which seem to hold massive pain at bay. I have opiods that Use sparingly and seem not have have developed tolerance. Been doing this pain stuff since my 20s and am damn careful with codiene and hydrocodone. I have a good pain doc whose clinic urine tests its patients to try to avoid abuse issues. Periodically everything goes south and I have a massive pain incident that requires opioids.

I hate using them and I guess My negative association with them has helped prevent a positive association. They cause constipation and I’d almost rather have the pain.

Be careful my brothers! Be vigilant with the pain meds. Chronic pain eats at your mental health and can really drag you down.

We've come a long way in regards to spinal stimulation over the past two years.
The old days of 'buzzing' and unwanted stimulation in other parts of the body are gone. The new machines modulate the pain without the side effects. And they are much better today in regards to axial back pain than they were before, not just radiculopathy.
The new high frequency, dorsal root ganglion, and BURST stimulators may be something you'd want to ask a good pain doc about.
We've performed a lot of research and have helped to develop these newer stimulators. If nobody in your area can do this, holler at me via email and we'd love to see you.