Nerve block....

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Nite, I think I have been off pain meds for 3 years now (except for really short term use) ...most narcotics like oxi will not work on me unless injected and the freezing that dentists use has no effect on me either...so I agree with your in spades..
 
grassy said:
Nite, I think I have been off pain meds for 3 years now (except for really short term use) ...most narcotics like oxi will not work on me unless injected and the freezing that dentists use has no effect on me either...so I agree with your in spades..
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Ian, unfortunately my Mom experienced this a few years back. They just werent working good enough anymore. She suffered for around 6 months and started on them again. She still has pain,functions ok most times and takes them on a PRN basis. 4 back surgeries but no more. She hasnt the option unless a very high chance of paralysis.I as you know suffer from this to. Been good as of late but not/never be the same. Degent.disc disease we all get unfortunately with age. Its how it progresses is the ***** part. I have a better out look and understanding in regards to my patients i see in the ortho clinic now.........Pain SUCKS
 
I also know what it's like to suffer back pain. I had my first surgery at 29 where I was told we don't usually see backs like yours until 60 plus. Nothing worked for me, therapy, injections, I've had about every procedure you could think of without any improvement. I finally had L5 S1 fusion surgery and I have to say it's the best move I ever made! I had a very good surgeon who I trust completely and I think the man is a miracle worker! I did exactly as he said following the surgery and will admit it wasn't easy but worth it! Was in the hospital for three days and was told I would be on pain meds for 8-10 weeks when I got home, I quit the pain meds after 6 days and was walking 5 miles a day after 4 weeks. It's hard to believe after having my spine bolted together I would be doing that good in such a short time. Getting up and walking the day after surgery was the worst pain I've ever experienced and it scared me a little but the doc said if you listen to me this will go well and it did. I'm 43 now and have been doing great for three years now. My back still hurts some and there are things I can't do anymore but it's a lot better than it was and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Most people are scared of fusion surgery and rightly so, it's a big deal, but I feel it has more to do with the skill of the surgeon and a person's willingness to do what he tells them they have to do in order for a positive outcome. Maybe I just got lucky but any how you turn it I'm way better than I was and I'm thankful for it.:)
 
451Cuda said:
Have you tried an inversion table? Won't fix the underlying issue but can help you cope day-to-day.

The one I bought and I love it:

https://www.teetertv.com/?page=Page::features
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Have one....not much help for me. Am going to start using it again...just to see if helps now...

Nite Moves said:
Ink, one of the problems of long term narcotic use is your body gets so accoustom to it it stops working like it should. Has any of the Docs mentioned a fusion?
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Thing is if I try to stop the narcotics the pain level goes thru the roof...to me that is an indication they are still doing something....As to fusion....I spoke with the doc about it a while back. That is actually how I ended up at a surgeons office...Was told that with how much deg. disc disease I have if they go in and start fusing things it is going to be a non-stop process. Doc has told me that for now I just need to learn to deal with it. As the days go by the pain level seems to be decreasing....perhaps it is just because I am getting more accustomed to it?

Will be talking to the doc today about Beta Blockers. Not positive about this but I think my doc in AZ had tried a few of them on me....and I had a near constant cough. I do know I had a hell of a time finding a blood pressure med I could handle....I have a hard time with a lot of different drugs thanks to my mental health troubles. I am just a step or two form the "fight or flight zone". Have tried a lot of different meds over the years that trigger suicidal thoughts (more strongly/frequently than normal)....or will trigger a monster amount of depression...Have ran the gauntlet of sleeping pills....either they have a minimal effect, they put me in a semi comatose state or they trigger very vivid hallucinations.

When I was in AZ my doc tried to treat my sinus infection with oral steroids a few times. When I was on the varying dose I became instant a**hole by day 2. He tried a steady low dose a few times....took about 5 days or so before I was sent home from the Post Office....and told to not return until cleared by my mental health provider...
 
With what I have going on the narcotic type pain meds won't work as mine is nerve damage so.. BUT this isn't to say maybe in years to come I may need the old fashioned narcotic's for pain but for now.....I'm good. Now granted, when I got home just after the surgery, I was on Dilaudid and for pain for the open heart surgery it done well I wasn't "drugged" or un-able to drive on it and that's what I wanted, I wanted to be functional, I guess is the best way to say it, but also be not pain-free, but able to stand the pain from the surgery....I have to say out side of the nerve pain, I done well......BUT even a year later, I'm still not healed completely, as they further compromised my healing which on the "standard" surgery of the same, it takes about 6 weeks to 2 months this is why they choose to use the vein from the leg, and mine were done with my Mammary Arteries. As I don't have Diabetic Neuropathy in my legs or feet, and I sure don't want it!

I'll be praying for all of those here that needs some sort of relief, reading this, makes me feel as tho, I'm not alone!
 
When I first started having neck problems in 98 I had one and it lasted 2-3 yrs. Went a couple yrs. till it got real bad again and had another and it lasted less than a year. Each time you get them it weakens the muscles around the area I've been told. Due to the extreme pain I've went through in all area's of my back I have had several more just to get some relief even if they no longer last very long and since I'm diabetic I go through 2-3 days of real high blood sugar after getting them. That's a bad side affect of them if your diabetic.

I also take Gabapentin and it helps a little for pain but in my case it really helps prevent migraines, which I had 8-10 per month before. Now only have 2-3 and their less intense.

I've had 2 surgeries, C6 fusion which helped greatly with pain radiating down my left arm. Also had L5-S1 "clean out" surgery. Helped some with the pain radiating down my left leg, but not nearly as much as I was hoping it'd help. Hate taking Vicodin every day but it's the only way I can function. Like you I try to take a "Vicodin vacation" every year but the past year the pain has gotten so bad I can barely stand it. Sleep in the recliner a lot lately cause even the sleep number bed doesn't work anymore no matter what I have it set on.

BTW: Beta blockers are known to cause a cough. I was on a Beta blocker for a while but the coughing and phlegm got so bad I had to go off it.

Your description of your back problems sound nearly identical to mine. I wish you the best my friend. I know how it feels
 
Well that was an interesting doc visit...did not care for him one bit. Think he might have been a bit intimidated by me.....
Few of his patients have tried Gabapentin with 0 luck. He gave me a script for it. Wants me to start with 1 300mg pill prior to bed. If after a week I don't have any goofy side effects he said to add one in the morning. And then come in and see my regular doc.
We chatted for a few minutes about my mental health. He looked thru my chart...and said he would be surprised if I make it thru the first week.
He told me pretty much what my regular doc did on my last visit. There is no magic bullet for back pain. Go thru the progression of pt, manipulations, epidurals etc....He said with all the crap that is screwed up in my back he doubts anything short of fusion will be of much help....but he said fusion brings on its own problems.
He put in my chart that he thinks I need to go see a specialist. Going to have my wife call the surgeons office that worked on my shoulder to see if they have someone I can go see.
He did say that he agrees with my doc that the increase in pain I just had happen, based on the amount of swelling I have, is probably muscle related. He also agreed with the other guy that thanks to the stenosis & arthritis that this is more than likely going to happen on a regular basis. :wack:
Such is life....
 
Nite Moves said:
sorry to read all this Ink. Sounds like alot of blah,blah,blah to me. I hope in the very near future you get some relief.........Edd
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Sounded like blah blah blah to me as well. Took the Gabapentin last night. Feeling a bit out of sorts this morning, a bit dizzy and confused. Not going to write it off though. Going to stay on it for at least a week.

I had 5 surgeries in one year. Have had enough of them....which is why when anyone mentions surgery I say no thanks. Docs I have seen all say fusion is a viable option for me...just not yet. The surgeon I did see about it a while back looked at the films and suggested waiting until the discs in the area with the stenosis are all done wasting away this way he can go in and just fuse the whole area at once instead of going in several times.

I do have close to zero faith in any of them. While back I had a tearing sound in my shoulder area. Along with a constant pop and persistent dull pounding. Seen a doc, said I had a SLAP tear. Needed to be fixed. Wake up form the surgery....no slap tear, big bone spur taken out, snipped the last few fibers of my bicep tendon, which is what made the tearing sound. Said she did not touch the arthritis, said if she did it was just going to return. Year later, pop is worse then it ever was. So is the pain. Back to the doc. Film shows I have several spurs in the clavicle area. Have to leave them be, one of those areas that if they go into it the problem will only be worse. Second opinion said the same thing. So why the hell did they not tel me this prior to going in there? Same kind bs with the carpal tunnel, thanks to thick pads of skin and the scar tissue the pain has returned in both of my wrists. Doc said he will have to go back into both of them and remove the scar tissue and thin the pads of tissue out. Again, was told this AFTER the surgery. Smells like just a way to bleed Medicare/GEHA out of some more $$...
Sorry for rambling...
 
Hmm....pain level is greatly reduced with just one of those pills....Question for anyone who takes it....is this one of those meds that the more the better, to a point? Reason I ask is 1200mg has been mentioned earlier...
 
Ink,
I'm on 600 MGs of the Gabapentin, and at times take 900 MG as needed so I take a "extra" single pill only when needed if needed and it works well for me!

It to date seems to do quite a bit, and I don't get the fuzzy mind set, or forgetfulness anymore about a week of that and it had worn off. BUT I am told, I'm not on a high dose of it, either!

With that, you may be on others to add to it to make that crap more pronounced....I am not. I'm merely on one med for pain relief this being it, the Gabapentin. And Tylenol as needed too but I don't class Tylenol a true "pain" med now as its over the counter and well....... for general purpose you know....And a single baby Asprin a day for the heart condition but that too isn't a "pain" med, its a med that's a pain in my book but needed to live a normal life or as close to one as I can get for now....

Keep us updated on the back issues......
 
The pain relief from the Gabapentin that is....While the pain is not as bad a s it was prior to taking it I am also in more pain than I was a couple of days ago. I am taking 2 300mg pills, one in the morning and one in the evening. Not going to add a third one until I go see the doc and see what he says. What it has done is taken away the real sharp stinging pain. It now matches the rest of my back pain, that dull achy throbbing sensation.
On a different note I was visiting with my head doc on Thursday. I put my arms over my head to stretch out a bit and when I dropped them down my left shoulder popped. Peter was 10' away and he heard it and just cringed. Shoulder doc has told me that the popping sound it makes is from the tendons getting hung up on the bone spurs. When the release from the spur that is what makes the noise...
 
I've had 2 done on me and neither worked at all. I found out after my second surgery that there was a build up of scar tissue from these shots. I hope they work better for you than they did for me. As for my opinion Nerve Again..
 
I injured my back in a skiing accident in 1969 when i was 21. I have had 4 back operations and many pain blocks. I have never got a second of relief from a pain block. The only reason i let them keep trying was that i hurt so bad that i would try anything.
Fusion helped the most. I have a titanium ladder in my back held on with lag screws. I also have a electronic stimulator implant.
When the pain gets so bad i turn it on and it shocks me so bad that some of the pain is less. Advice to you young guys that think you are indestructible, be careful, living in pain is hell. My 67 fastback is almost rust free and i have most parts to finish but i can't do the work myself and i can't afford bodyshop prices to finish so it looks like i will have to sell it at a big loss. A least i had a lot of good times with my new 69 formula s fastback when i was young. Hope you can find some kind of pain relief. I get most of mine from prayer.
Stan
 
For gabba.. 3600 / day is max but I did 5600/day for 3 years...

talking about scar tissue...I have a lot around my sciatic nerve for my left leg...doctor solution..cut it out ! :)
 
grassy said:
For gabba.. 3600 / day is max but I did 5600/day for 3 years...

talking about scar tissue...I have a lot around my sciatic nerve for my left leg...doctor solution..cut it out ! :)
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3600mg/300mg=12....damn that is a lot of pills. Not going to up it until I see my doc towards the end of the month.

Seems like a lot of folks have sciatic troubles. Fellow I used to work with was in a head-on collision. Afterwards it was somewhat common to find Dave laying in the parking lot, under his car. The motion of getting out of the car would often trigger troubles....
 
Ink,
I take 3200 mg of Gabaprntin per day. ( works good, screws with your head, mass depression)
I take 1300 mg of Oxycodone per day. ( sometimes works, screws with your head and body)
I take 150 Mg of Tramadol per day. (acts like a supercharger for the other meds, seems to make them stronger.)
I take 40 mg of Celexa per day. ( a anti depressant to counter the Gabaprntin, doesn't work at all times).

Needless to say I feel stupid and the memory loss is no joke.
Getting the nerve blocker allows me to get off these drugs for a while.

If you want I will call you and try to share what I know with you.

Michael
 
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