Very depressed over pain.

Well, I just got back from visiting the neurosurgeon. It feels like I'm more confused now than when I went in. It sounded to me like he was telling me that there is not much wrong, except a need for increased muscle strength. I think he said the problem was "postural." I responded with "That doesn't really make sense to me." He replied with, "Then you need to see another doctor."

This doctor seemed pleasant enough, initially. There has got to be something really wrong with me, personality-wise, that I manage to elicit such responses from doctors.

I guess the message is that they are not going to be drawn into some debate. That shouldn't surprise me.

He says the numbness in my fingers (#4 and #5) probably has nothing to do with my spine. I believe he believes that, but I don't.

I just have seen so many doctors be so wrong.

One good thing came out of it. I will start getting physical therapy soon. He said that would be the first thing to try regardless of what was causing the pain. So I guess it worked out okay.

I have to start remembering not to argue with doctors. Once they give their opinion, that's it. They are not going to kick it around with you.

I left there disappointed, but many I learned a larger lesson.

I think I go in hoping that things will be explained to me in an illuminating way. Maybe that is expecting too much. He's a surgeon. Once he see's that there is nothing wrong with me warranting surgery, then he probably figures it's time for him to move on. He said, "I've got other patients to see." I really wish I had someone to bring with me to doctor visits. I think they get away with not being very respectful when there is no witness. My boyfriend's mobility is so impaired that he can not come with me. I'm alone, and that is just that.

He asked about my psych meds. I'm thinking that it is a mistake to even admit to taking psych meds. I told him I have a lot of anxiety about my neck. At that, he smiled broadly, seeming to say, "That's a lot of your problem."

On the paper I got, it says Diagnosis: cervical myofascial pain. I'm supposed to go back and see him again in May.

I am so sorry you got one of those kinds of docs. Remember that when I capitulated to my pain doc and said yes to surgery the first one I went to was an arrogant *** who told me I did not need surgery and sent less than 5 min with me. The second surgeon listened, clearly read my chart before seeing me and took an X-ray that showed very clearly that surgery was the only option. I let that first surgeon keep me from seeing the second for almost a year.

PT is a good thing to start with though. They can be a good resource if things do not improve.

sidestepper, your experience is very valuable for me to hear about. I won't be so down on myself, now, figuring that I provoked this reaction.

I looked up this doctor's credentials. He is not a neurosurgeon. He is not an MD. He is an OD (doctor of osteopathy.) I know that some people have put great trust in ODs and have good things to say about them. I tend more toward orthodox mainstream medicine. I'm just not experienced with, or particularly interested in, "alternative" medicine. Maybe this guy wasn't the best representative of his type. I just kept thinking that his manner was so odd. Also, he was all about posture and muscles (which are important) and seemed to think my problem had nothing to do with my cervical spine. He said the bones (vertebrae) will go back to normal when I get PT and strengthen my posture. That is just nuts. The shape of my spine is changed (not hideously, but altered) and it will no sooner go back to how it was 10 years ago than my grey hairs will go back to brown.

When I looked up Principles of Osteopathy, I was kind of amazed at how differently that field looks at things. Like they don't believe that germs are the main cause of infection. They don't believe in vaccination. (I understand that having a poor immune system can be as important as germs in causing someone to come down with infectious disease. And I have always suspected there can be a down side to vaccination.) Still, it sounds to me like Osteopathy is kind of far out there.

I read that the typical DO may have only the equivalent of a BA or MA degree. I thought it was so odd that this guy had trouble pronouncing some of the medical terms I put on my intake sheet. Plus, he didn't know what one of my meds was for. I read that DOs sometimes don't even study pharmacology.

I am interested in anything good anyone can tell me about DOs. I made be over-generalizing based on one encounter.

. DOs ( not ODs) are not considered alternative medicine ( chiro, accupuncture, homeopath, etc.)
I agree you are probably right but it's not to say that it won't help none the less

DOs are doctors of osteopathic medicine, but they are one of the medical professions that have changed over time as evidence has changes (unlike Alt. medicine). I know a few osteopaths and they have been educated very similarly to MDs and don't follow the some of the original principles of Osteopathy you listed above. One of them even mandated that I get a flu shot (influenza vaccination) in order to cont. to work.

Not true. From Medline plus ( National institute of health) " Like allopathic physicians (or M.D.s), osteopathic physicians complete 4 years of medical school and can choose to practice in any specialty of medicine. However, osteopathic physicians receive an additional 300 - 500 hours in the study of hands-on manual medicine and the body's musculoskeletal system." There is a reason that DOs can be primary care physicians, surgeons, prescribe meds etc. They have been sufficiently trained and have accepted an evidence based approach to medicine.

For the most part DOs are a lot like MDs with a little different outlook and some people prefer them for that reason. I wouldn't write off all DOs because you may not have liked what he had to say. Some of the best doctors I know are DOs. Here is the medline link. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/e...cle/002020.htm
I hope this helps . I'll try to get back to you with some more info

-Chrain

Thank you very much, Chrain. As I've done more research, I've learned that some of what I read last night was not accurate in describing modern DOs. I'm glad you posted these corrections here, not only for me, but to properly inform anyone who might glance at this thread and be led astray with wrong ideas. This is PC, at its best.

This DO is hooking me up with PT (for sure), which my MD said would be the best thing for me . . . though he (the MD) seemed to keep failing at arranging the referral. I probably should be more grateful for help from wherever it comes. Had I known the guy was a DO, I wouldn't have even kept the appointment. So through kind of a comedy of errors, maybe something good will emerg. It was equally unfair for this practitioner to have had to talk to a client under a total misperception. He never misrepresented himself and probably thought I knew he was a DO. No one intended to mislead me. I can go to both my MD and the DO and see what helps. My MD hasn't done such a great job. It took him 5 months to get around to looking at my X-rays, which I assumed he had already done. His response, then, was to hook me up with Vicodin - which I absolutely love . . . perhaps to my peril. The DO walked in with the X-ray and MRI reports in his hand. Need to give credit where credit is due.

I am slow at accepting things unfamiliar to me. I may just challenge myself to try. Life is complicated and I don't want to be "splitting." Mining for wisdom involves digging through a certain amount of baloney no matter where the ore is. I remember when I didn't believe in psychiatry. (I'ld hate to think of my life without my antidepressant.)

If you are up to the challenge, here is an article about central sensitivity. It commonly occurs in chronic pain conditions. In fact it usually has more to do with "chronic pain" than the initial injury itself. http://www.instituteforchronicpain.o...-sensitization . Let me know what you think.

-Chrain

i have a degenrative bone disorder and had my neck fractured.it has been two years since my surgury and i am still in so much pain.when it gets unbearable i use heat and breathing.i was on those pills lotab for a year and will never take anything like it again.there are other ways to dealthan those so addictive pills.

I'm sorry, christy, that you've had such a serious problem with your neck. Lortabs are the same as what I have. (hydrocodone) Yes, they are very addictive.

I'm wondering how the heat is working for you. (I haven't tried that yet.) I've had some help from ice or frozen cold packs.

I am on hydrocodone/acetomiphen 500/7.5 for my pain in my hip from an accident, and i don't think i could handle it if i was ever taken off of them by the doc, as i've had such terrible reactions when I even missed 1 pill at a certain time of day. Did anyone here ever get off of hydrocondone?

avlady, I'm sorry you are dealing with such pain on a chronic basis. I'm sure there are people who have gotten off hydrocodone, but it gets much harder the longer it is used. In the past, when I'ld taken it for a dental abscess, I didn't miss it when the dental problem was solved and the pain gone.

Now, that my pain is actually less than a dental abscess, I am noticing the euphoria more. For me there is definite euphoria after taking 10 mg of hydrocodone. (I guess that becomes less as tolerance develops.) You may have tolerance, if you've taken it over an extended interval of time. That would mean that you'ld experience withdrawal, if you stopped. The way to prevent, or minimize, withdrawal symptoms would be to gradually reduce the dosage toward zero.

A lot of people are hooked on hydrocodone that they get legally with a prescription. Doctors understand that you will eventually get habituated (hooked) if you take it long enough. For people with serious chronic pain that is considered okay. It is okay, I suppose, as long as you don't get suddenly cut off. With laws changing, I get afraid that could happen.

There are those who insist Obamacare has nothing to do with it. Btw

Yes its horrible here. My MD, as all MDs here have joined to not jump through the mandated hoops which insults them... I went 6 months without pain med scripts and went at times without, going to urgent care center ( if the ins co wants to play games then let them pay $3000 for a visit instead of $200 for a script). And also rationing what was my hurricane supply...

I had to see their doctor first. ( whats that sound??? Quack quack quack)
He said he would inject my joints and put me on a mega vitamin and Id be well... This after 26 years of documented physical causes of pain other than some joint discomfort...

My own MD insisted I see a certain pain specialist MD and since I am grandfathered in under old and good care worker comp rules ( of which I had to remind my own attorney). I see him now.

My main concern is they only allow him to treat the pain from my neck and back. ... Okay well. All of it is from that one way or another... But he doesnt want to push yet

Ive insisted he gather old MRIs before putting me through flexion xrays ( sure to cause a pain flare). Since what he's looking for now may have been documented tears ago. My records are too numerous for easy reading.

Anyway. Unfortunately chronic pain and depression go hand in hand... A constant battle that ebbs and flows, waxes and wanes A key is to realize that when back in the pits of despair all is not lost, its "just" another part of the process.

Thank you, (JD). It does seem, now, that the vicious circle of chronic pain and depression has got me, also, in a vortex that just continually pulls me down.

I'm sorry for your on-going struggle to get the treatment you need to have the quality of life that is possible, if you could just access what should be available to you.

I have doubted, myself, that so-called "Obamacare" is what's really driving this complication of pain treatment.

I was referred by my family practice clinic to go to a "neurosurgeon" who turned out to be a doctor of osteopathy. He referred me to a physical therapist. It seems to become referral upon referral now. I just despair of ever feeling good again.

I was on long acting pain meds plus hydrcodone/acetaminophen 10/325 a short acting pain med for close to two years before my surgery. I was on various hydrcodone meds for years before that. I went off both ahead of schedule. I did wean down going to lessor amounts and down to the 7.5/325s and cutting them in half and increasing time by hours. I was worried about the possibility of withdrawals but did not have any problems. I did find myself much more tired and needed to build up strength. I think I may be more sensitive to pain than I was before but that could be because I am still in the recovery stage of surgery. I'm going to be using a Tens unit for pain instead of medicine which I'm looking forward to. Once I'm pass the 6 month recovery stage I can use anti-inflammatory's to control the arthritis pain.

Reach out your arm through the side of that dark swirling mass and someone will grab it.... I'm in the same swirl ..perhaps we will meet... but if I get out first, I'll grab your hand