Thanks for the words of advise and encouragement guys, it helps. The pain is just damn near intolerable at times since this last fusion that was done because of severe stenosis at L2-3. Over the years I have pretty much tried it all at one point or another. @ Agony, thanks for the advise...although I have had two spinal cord stimulators installed (once a Boston Scientific unit and most recently a Nevro unit). Both gave marginal improvement in my pain. The neurosurgeon removed the Nevro unit during the last fusion in July. I may PM you anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by kkina:
30-60 mg of Oxycodone every 2 hours during awake time.

Jesus, you're taking around 300mg of oxy daily? Or is that just when you're in intense pain? I was prescribed that after a very bad motorcycle accident and can't imagine taking that much and functioning.

My bulging disk just started asking up again...

it pushes against a nerve to my left arm

not sleeping well

The last time it took three series of goop in my neck to make it recede...

I will be calling the Chiro tomorrow to try and get this under control ASAP.

Last time the doc asked me what brought me in...I told him I was drinking about 1/2 fifth of booze to get to sleep and stay asleep, as oxy wasn't working...

He said opiates don't work for nerve pain...

I can't imagine what the OP is going thru

Last time they put me on Gabapentin (some kinda nerve blocking voodoo) good stuff

Chronc pain can be a tough nut to crack. Having dealt with a few folks with that kind of hardware, I feel for you.

Opiates are tricky - your brain will down regulate opiod receptors over time. This means you're sometimes on a spiral of taking more and more drug with ever diminishing effects.

Some things that are now being recommended for acute and chronic back pain (in no particular order): chiropractic, massage, some forms of behavioral/cognitive behavioral therapy, acupuncture, TaiJi/QiGong, physical and/or exercise therapy. You can google 'American College of Physicians back pain recommendations' for the report that has a more complete list.

Last piece of advice: try things in combination if you can - like chiropractic and massage or exercise therapy with acupuncture. Sometimes it takes coming at the problem from a couple different angles to get the results you need.

Very good guys, thank you again for the ideas and thoughts. Things are at there worst two times of the day it seems...waking up in the AM. I’m horribly stiff and sore from lying in bed overnight. Number two, at night when I should be asleep. It aches and I get these horrid spasms of and on all night. I’ll dose off for an hour, maybe two if I’m lucky. Makes it very hard to get deep sleep. I’m really keeping my fingers crossed that this new pain management Doc will be able to help tomorrow.

See if you can get gene-site testing done to figure out which pain meds will work best for you

It is exactly as it sounds....by running a genetic profile of you they can figure out which medicines will work best

Unfortunately for me, the answer was really none of the above. I've always told doctors that he pain meds don't work as well as they say they should, and when they worry I've been on a lot for a long time I am always warned about withdrawal, and how it will suck....and I just stop, and have no issues

Well, as it turns out, I don't process any pain meds very well.

The down side is it takes a lot to do what most people only need a little to accomplish

The upside is its really, really hard for me to get hooked on them because of my body chemistry

It basically confirmed what I've been telling doctors for years. I always laughed when offered Vicodin. Said I'd rather have Motrin. And lo and behold, Vicodin hardly touches me, but simpl NSAIDS like Motrin and naproxen actually work better for me


I saw someone suggest nucynta which is a synthetic. I tried that, and it damn near killed me. Call it an allergy, or whatever, but I took it for two days and on day 3 was in the emergency room with loss of cognition and symptoms that mimicked a PE and MI. Got the medicine out of me and back to normal. So just be careful. I'm lucky my wife was around because even though I knew I needed to call 911 I couldn't remember how to dial it. When I got to the ER they asked if I had ID and I knew I had my drivers licence in my pocket, but couldn't make myself say "driver's license" no matter how hard I tried. If I'm honest with myself, it was probably the scariest thing I've been through as an adult..I knew what I needed to do, and what I needed to say, but it's like my body wouldn't listen to my brain.

Good luck

I have had two spinal stimulators both with mild success. I fractured 3 vertebra while serving in the Army. I think most of my current pain comes from the massive amounts of scar tissue the last two doctors that had my open both said they have never seen scar tissue like that before. My current RX for paid is 60 mg morphine and a 15 mg morphine twice daily and 7.5/325 hydrocodone as needed.

Been enjoying back pain for 30 years, had one surgery and the doc says no more! Today 5 mg of Valium is just enough to let me sleep and play head games with my pain. Friend was a hypnotist and taught me how to work with it. He is gone now but I can still make it work without his coaching me.

If the pain gets ahead of me Hydrocodone really works well.

quote:

Originally posted by cmr076:

quote:

Originally posted by kkina:
30-60 mg of Oxycodone every 2 hours during awake time.

Jesus, you're taking around 300mg of oxy daily? Or is that just when you're in intense pain? I was prescribed that after a very bad motorcycle accident and can't imagine taking that much and functioning.

Closer to 400. Basically, if not doped up, I automatically have severe pain. It's like I never walked away from the car wreck. I have to take that much to function.

There may be hope. Lately I've felt strong enough to take a regular martial arts class, and I find my body is naturally releasing enough endorphin to help with the pain a significant amount. Also, the migraines stopped completely about a year ago, and that's the one thing worse than fibromyalgia.

quote:

Originally posted by kkina:

quote:

Originally posted by cmr076:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by kkina:
30-60 mg of Oxycodone every 2 hours during awake time.

Jesus, you're taking around 300mg of oxy daily? Or is that just when you're in intense pain? I was prescribed that after a very bad motorcycle accident and can't imagine taking that much and functioning.

Closer to 400. Basically, if not doped up, I automatically have severe pain. It's like I never walked away from the car wreck. I have to take that much to function.

There may be hope. Lately I've felt strong enough to take a regular martial arts class, and I find my body is naturally releasing enough endorphin to help with the pain a significant amount. Also, the migraines stopped completely about a year ago, and that's the one thing worse than fibromyalgia.[/QUOTE

I really hope you find something that works for you, that blows my mind. I can't imagine what you're going through.

Some of you have been through hell, worse than I have. This is some of what my body has endured, am I am pretty much pain free. However I cannot run on hard pavement, but was a long distance trail runner just a few years ago.

1. Broke L1 vertebra into 53 pieces in a mountain bike accident. Had a 3 vertebrae fusion, a surgery scar 16", and spent a year recovering.
2. Damage L4 disc doing something stupid when I was a boat mechanic. All the nucleus was lost and I needed a second surgery.
3. Was hit by a car while standing on the side of a road, as the vehicle had stalled. Spent 11 days in hospital, casts of both legs, and a year recovering. Witnesses were shocked that I lived.
4. Was riding my bike on a road, hit by another car, flew 12 up in the air and 30-35 feet away. Landed on my head, all the witnesses were sure I was dead.
5. A few other bike accidents, about 8 broken bones, and had a bad fall onto the side deck of a boat, almost died. Despite all those injuries, and smaller ones as well, I was able to run 30+ miles a week trail running.

I attribute my recovery to having C1 realigned every time I needed it. I take no meds.

quote:

Originally posted by dry-fly:
Thanks for the words of advise and encouragement guys, it helps. The pain is just damn near intolerable at times since this last fusion that was done because of severe stenosis at L2-3. Over the years I have pretty much tried it all at one point or another. @ Agony, thanks for the advise...although I have had two spinal cord stimulators installed (once a Boston Scientific unit and most recently a Nevro unit). Both gave marginal improvement in my pain. The neurosurgeon removed the Nevro unit during the last fusion in July. I may PM you anyway.

We haven't had much success with the Nevro unit. Boston makes okay stim, but the new Abbott BurstDR is giving our patients significant relief. The success rate is high, ~90% so far. I'm seeing patients who I never thought would get relief with a new outlook on life. It's worth a shot.

Well as luck would have it, not going into work today. Been in progressively worse pain this weekend to the point I barely slept and can't move my neck.

Hopefully my doctor will see me today. I'm thinking message and muscle relaxers should do it. My issues luckily are not chronic. As soon as I get spasms to stop pain goes away.

Really don't need and can't afford this now. Fuck.

Let us know how it goes if your doc can squeeze you in today.

I use a combination of cycling, inversion therapy (don't laugh, it really has helped me), electro-stem, and deep tissue massage. The deep tissue massage has had a significant impact to the point where I can't believe I didn't know about this before. Again, maybe this won't work for you, but it's what I do for my chronic back issues. Hope you get some relief.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 94hokie,

I guess I am extremely fortunate, occasional doobie dosing and CBD oil for me. I’m not in a wheelchair and my pain is something I can live with. What choice do I have.. I’m just not doing the opioid route. As some don’t know this about me,I self medicated with alcohol for many years. What a downward spiral that was.

Chronic pain is something that unless you’ve experienced it you don’t understand the depths and the severity....... Best of luck to all of you!

I know two people with with chronic pain that recently received their MN Medical Marijuana cards. They were taking daily opiates, tylenol and ibuprofen. After experimenting with a few variations of strains and doses they take no longer take any pills. For one with chronic joint pain it was life changing.

quote:

Originally posted by isthatasiginyourpocket:
I know two people with with chronic pain that recently received their MN Medical Marijuana cards. They were taking daily opiates, tylenol and ibuprofen. After experimenting with a few variations of strains and doses they take no longer take any pills. For one with chronic joint pain it was life changing.

I did MM for some six months. Didn't help. I know that it's very effective for some people. I was just not one of the lucky ones.

quote:

Originally posted by kkina:
Let us know how it goes if your doc can squeeze you in today.

Saw the doc, got anti-inflammatories, mild pain meds, and muscle relaxers. Left there went to chiropractor. Already feeling much better, hopefully some ice and rest will get me back in tomorrow. Work can't afford to be with out me right now, we already have one recovering from a bike wreck and another taking a week off to get his personal life in order. Plus I just used 20% of my vacation for the year for the doctor visits today. I get five days off for sick or vacation.

I wish I something more to offer than wishing you all the best. I can hardly imagine what that degree of pain must be like to deal with on a regular basis.