[rainbow8]

It's 6 months since my nightmare started and I can't stand it. I'm seeing many doctors for sciatica, a blood clot in my leg, weakness, and pain. I am weaning off Gabapentin so my leg pain is worse. I just got RX compression stockings and they hurt. I get about 5 hours sleep, wake up at 4 and can't go back to sleep. I'm dizzy right now but it hurts to lie down. My rheumatologist and PCP want me to get the nerve test that you get electrical shocks on my legs. I had that for my arms a couple years ago. How do people endure pain? I can only take Tylenol because I'm on warfarin. The Gabapentin helped but I can't stand side effects. I feel like I don't have a life anymore! Can anyone relate?

I've been battling with chronic pain and I know how tough it is for you to wean of meds that work...a bit. The only thing I know to work without the need to medicate is a really long shower. Warm baths are good to if you don't mind topping up with hot water every so so.. heart packs work to, just as long it's not placed over the area of a damaged nerve..so it's said.

I'm not talking Lyrica because it gives me a undesired result in high doses. So I'm stuck with Tramadol regardless also of its unwelcome withdrawals, worse than coming of oxycodone in my opinion.

I also smoke weed from time to time, but not for it's "high" even though it's a bonus, but makes me binge eat.

I know you've probably heard it a hundred times, but stretching on a daily ritual does help and can be a life saver.

Only the suffering know it's not psychological. Have you tried those massage joints? I'm going to go at least every pay day and start a swimming regime very soon, but my mental health has diminished over the last 8-10. Years.

I think the trick is to try one thing at the time to see what works for you. You will regain most of the strength after your body finds another way to deal with these times.

We're wired that way.

[Wild Coyote]

Hi Rainbow8,

I have dealt with chronic pain for many years.
I was also on blood thinners for 3 years.
My rheumatologist and my PCP both agreed/recommended I go on morphine for the pain, especially because I could not take NSAIDs while on blood thinners. While morphine can be helpful, it really does not touch inflammatory pain.

It does sound like you need testing you've mentioned. Are you able to get it?

I have found a topical very helpful for arthritis and for nerve pain. It is called Penetrex. It is available through Walmart, through Amazon and through Penetrex.com.

Another topical some people like is called "lidocaine." It is available at 4% concentration over-the-counter. It is available by prescription at 5% concentration.

There have been times when I have used both of these topicals when in severe pain. The Penetrex works on inflammation (thereby quieting the pain) while the lidocaine works on numbing the pain temporarily.

I have also, at times, had a compounding pharmacist make a topical pain reliever. It was very effective and very expensive... much more expensive than either of the other topicals I have mentioned here.

I am mentioning these from my own experience. I am not a health professional.

I hope I have mentioned something which might be helpful to you.
Please keep posting.

Blessings,

WC

[Candy1955]

Me, too. I am on anti-inflammatory, nothing else, just Tylenol but not much of that. I believe this relentless pain is in part responsible for my depression and anxiety. BUT all the above suggestions do work to different degrees. Am going to invest in a hot tub if am able. Don't give up.

[skatkats]

Chronic pain! I have degenerative disk disease and that sciatica is hell. I had a partial discetomy when I was 22 and that relieved the pain for years. 30’s came and I was doing general labor work and inflammmed more disks. Latest MRI shows a small bulging disk. Ortho wants to do surgery with pins and screws, I just had a cervical fusion in my neck last year, two plates and six screws....... it was with that our lose use of my left arm. Recovery from that surgery was miserable hell to say the least. So many pain pills and I dont want to be taking pain pills the rest of my life and I refuse to let them cut me in my lower back. The only way I have been able to deal with it is ibuprofen which in large doses is no good. So I have that and Zubsolv, the new suboxone. That is the only way I can deal with the chronic pain is buprnorphine. You have to go to a suboxone clinic to get a script. Generally the visit is $200 then the meds......if no insurance you are screwed as a month supply costs at the very least $700. This is the only thing I have found to deal with chronic pain and the medication is EXTREMEMLY addictive. Once you are on it for a period of time and you want to come off........expect hell. Other than that, it does work. Expensive as hell without insurance. My script is $10 per month w/insurance plus the $200 doctor visit. Otherwise, $200 + $700-$900 for the monthly script.

[Travelinglady]

Oh, my. You are really going through it. Can you try some of the things the other folks recommended? I'm so sorry you are struggling and hope you feel better soon. I think there is hope, though.

[unaluna]

I wonder if one of those sensory deprivation tanks would help? Just because they are so dense with epsom salts, and i think they are easier to get in and out of than a regular bath tub. Maybe lying there weightless for an hour would help, mentally and physically.

That is awful, not being able to sleep. That is the only thing that has gotten me thru the last couple of weeks of my knee trouble. I feel a little bad that im not doing ANYTHING (except t), but doing anything makes it worse; doing nothing makes it better. So i dont really have a choice.

I went to t on tuesday, by the time i got there, i was in such pain, i begged him to help me wrap my knee in an ace bandage i had just bought. He wasnt happy about it, but he did it. Poor guy!

[Wild Coyote]

Originally Posted by cmar_cmar

Chronic pain! I have degenerative disk disease and that sciatica is hell. I had a partial discetomy when I was 22 and that relieved the pain for years. 30’s came and I was doing general labor work and inflammmed more disks. Latest MRI shows a small bulging disk. Ortho wants to do surgery with pins and screws, I just had a cervical fusion in my neck last year, two plates and six screws....... it was with that our lose use of my left arm. Recovery from that surgery was miserable hell to say the least. So many pain pills and I dont want to be taking pain pills the rest of my life and I refuse to let them cut me in my lower back. The only way I have been able to deal with it is ibuprofen which in large doses is no good. So I have that and Zubsolv, the new suboxone. That is the only way I can deal with the chronic pain is buprnorphine. You have to go to a suboxone clinic to get a script. Generally the visit is $200 then the meds......if no insurance you are screwed as a month supply costs at the very least $700. This is the only thing I have found to deal with chronic pain and the medication is EXTREMEMLY addictive. Once you are on it for a period of time and you want to come off........expect hell. Other than that, it does work. Expensive as hell without insurance. My script is $10 per month w/insurance plus the $200 doctor visit. Otherwise, $200 + $700-$900 for the monthly script.

I am sorry you suffer, too.
Have you tried acupuncture?

WC

[Gus1234U]

since you mention it, WC,, i had excellent results with acupuncture for back pain; and used it to quit smoking and had wonderful psychiatric side-effects~
sadly, insurance doesn't cover it, and neither does my income, so i have developed a non-invasive home practice (don't think i'm crazy, it works!), that i call "energy-puncture".

how it works is: i sent a ray of energy into any painful area, often the surrounding areas, and other nerve cluster areas (joints, etc). i let myself believe that the pain is being drawn out by that energy, and replaced with comfort. it is a practice that improves with use.... but i hope someone may find it better than merely laying and suffering with no idea what to do~~

[Wild Coyote]

Originally Posted by Gus1234U

since you mention it, WC,, i had excellent results with acupuncture for back pain; and used it to quit smoking and had wonderful psychiatric side-effects~
sadly, insurance doesn't cover it, and neither does my income, so i have developed a non-invasive home practice (don't think i'm crazy, it works!), that i call "energy-puncture".

how it works is: i sent a ray of energy into any painful area, often the surrounding areas, and other nerve cluster areas (joints, etc). i let myself believe that the pain is being drawn out by that energy, and replaced with comfort. it is a practice that improves with use.... but i hope someone may find it better than merely laying and suffering with no idea what to do~~

I certainly don't think you are crazy!
I find energy medicine fascinating!


Wc

[rainbow8]

Sorry I never thanked everyone for your help. I'm in such pain tonight! Usually 2 extra strength Tylenol and Benadryl get me to sleep. I took the Tylenol at 7:30, 3 hours ago, and Benadryl at 9. My foot aches as well as thighs. I used Biofreeze too. It seems to work better than lidocaine but not helping now.

I have to call the pain doctor and maybe go back on Gabapentin. I can't take this pain anymore! I'm having nerve tests on my legs Friday. I don't know what good that do but rheumatologist wants me to get it.

I can't take much because I'm on warfarin for the blood clot. I probably did too much today. Cleaned out a dresser drawer and also worked on a painting. Standing up of course. I took a hot shower and have been in bed almost 2 hours. Maybe I'll listen to a meditation for pain on my phone. Or get up and walk around. I could take another Benadryl since I only took one. I don't know how people stand chronic pain. I can't!

[unaluna]

(((Rainbow))) wow. My ts son (a young man) had some kind of back surgery a while ago, i guess it musta been something like this, an injury.

Do you know if there was like one precipitating incident? When i was a young newlywed, the early mr luna had enthusiastically picked up one of his nephews and "threw his back out". He went to a chiro who i now know, but certainly didnt at the time, was a real virtuoso. He saw the chiro once and that was it. I think he even went to his old osteopath pediatrician who didnt help him at all.

Are you doing the stretch where you lie on your back and hold one knee at a time to your chest? I finally got back into doing those this morning, and i was surprised that i felt the stretches in my butt, and when i got out of bed, both my knees felt better. Take care

[rainbow8]

Originally Posted by unaluna

(((Rainbow))) wow. My ts son (a young man) had some kind of back surgery a while ago, i guess it musta been something like this, an injury.

Do you know if there was like one precipitating incident? When i was a young newlywed, the early mr luna had enthusiastically picked up one of his nephews and "threw his back out". He went to a chiro who i now know, but certainly didnt at the time, was a real virtuoso. He saw the chiro once and that was it. I think he even went to his old osteopath pediatrician who didnt help him at all.

Are you doing the stretch where you lie on your back and hold one knee at a time to your chest? I finally got back into doing those this morning, and i was surprised that i felt the stretches in my butt, and when i got out of bed, both my knees felt better. Take care

Thanks for being awake and answering, unaluna! No, the doctors say it's "just" aging. My PT said exercises weren't helping. Insurance won't pay for more PT. She said I could try those exercises though. It hurts SO much!

when my back pain acts up especially I feel that way.

yesterday was just a whole lot of ow

nothing gave me relief and I told someone to make it stop... even though I know they couldn't, they were in the US and we were talking online

[theKow]

i had sciatica and something called complex regional pain syndrome. i was bed ridden for 2 years totally unable to walk. i would drag myself to the bathroom. lost 100 pounds from vomiting anything i ate.

the doctor had me on 120mg oxy lr x2 a day with 5mg oxy ir for breakthrough pain. needless to say, my life revolved around my meds. with luck i would get 2 hours of tolerable pain, if i didn't move and no one touched me.

to say it was hard would be an understatement. the only way to describe the pain would be to imagine you were on fire and someone tried to put it out with a rake.

i took that electrical test 3 or 4 times. i have moderate nerve damage in both legs and lost some basic reflexes. that was from the sciatica. the crps is just one of those things people don't understand. it could come back. it might not.

the following years was spent learning to walk again. the muscles atrophied and shortened/tightened. i was left with a severely impairing crouch/lean to the right, and was unable to stand upright. the pain of stretching out was bad, but not as bad. i still lose my balance frequently and walk into things.

i guess what got me through it was the idea of impermanence and transition. the idea no matter how bad things might be, they would change. i also began to hate my body for betraying me. my mind and body sort of seperated. my body felt the pain, my mind didn't, or didn't have to. the imposition drove me forward and through some unbearable moments that had me crying and puking.

i wish the best for you. for me gabapentin (a late addition to my treatment) capped the pain. so while the level will made me puke, it didn't escalate endlessly to the point my teeth would hurt and the bed sheets were like lava.

little victories. little dreams. day-to-day. spot small kindnesses and make your world tolerable by finding something, someone, anything, that makes being bearable.

[theKow]

ps. it's 2018 now. i finally weened off the last of my opiates in feb of this year. i no longer need a cane. there is some residual pain from the sciatica that tylenol and lakota take care of in the colder months. today my daughter gets married and I will be able to walk her down the isle: sober and without a wheelchair/cane.

there is hope. believe it. live it.

[TishaBuv]

Enjoy your daughter’s wedding!

I’m sorry for all who are suffering in pain.

I have chronic pain in my neck from arthritis. I don’t want to take pain pills because I have digestive issues, too, and they’ll make it worse. So, I just suffer and try to keep it moving so it doesn’t atrophe. I woke up with it throbbing, even giving me a throbbing headache.

PC posting helps

[rutro]

Rainbow8 I feel for ya brother. I've been in this same boat more or less. Wanted to call Dr.Kevorkian but they pulled his ticket. I have thought of taking a dose of 9mm pain medicine more than once, just knowing I can stop it if it gets too bad helps me make it another day....

[MDDBPDPTSD]

In terms of sleep see if you can get an antidepressant that has a sedative effect like trazodone or seroquel. That might allow you to get some rest at least. You might have to play around with the dosages or even switch the medications out to see what works for you but, it’s a worth a try.

[unaluna]

Have you tried changing your shoes? I changed what i wear around the house this week because they got wet, and my knee improved a LOT.