Meds for chronic pain

bpreachers

bpreachers

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So my pain doc is a firm believer in the use of lortab for pain however I have been on this type of narco for damn near 2 years. It hasn't done much for me in about 6 months. Told them this during my last visit so they increased the dose by 1 pill. Still no difference. Had an appointment today and brought up that nothing changed so now they are putting me on MS Contin (time released morphine). Seems like overkill to me. Anyone taken this sh!t? I was more leaning towards just no longer taking a pain med and just dealing with it but this is what he felt was a better option. Any input/experiences are welcome.
 
I think the DoD's misuse of pain meds is going to far in many instances, kind of like your case where they keep upping and or adding. The problem is doctors don't want to listen to their patients when they say they want off the damn things! Hit up the VA and attend some of their pain management classes/groups to see what helps you especially if you want off of them.
 
Only things that help are massages (at 60-70 bucks thy are a bit cost restrictive) and my trusty tens machine. Today is my first day on the MS Contin and I am surprised that I really feel very little as far as sides you expect from narcos. However it has slacked off the neck/back/shoulder pain a bit.

Pain Management docs are all about throwing meds at ya. They can't accept someone wanting off pain meds because they feel it is a necessity. Granted they are helpful but I truly hate being basically drug dependant for the rest of my damnd life.
 
It's not just the DOD, and it's hard to make a statement that docs are going too far by not knowing an individuals circumstance. I've taken pain meds for over 5 years, 7 back surgeries, explain to your doc that you want to try life without pain meds, if it's a good doc they will listen. I've come off mine several times and never had my doctor push back and try to keep me on them. The issue isn't with those with chronic pain the issue is with misuse of these medications. If you can't cope with the pain I would suggest going with what your doc says and trying the extended release, you don't have to take pills all day and from being on a chronic pain forum they seem to do wonders for those that need them.

On a side note, I see that your pain is from spinal issues. I assume your doc is a pain management specialist? Talk with him about a spinal cord stimulator. I had mine implanted in January and it reduced my pain by 30%-40%. I still take pain meds but life is much more manageable now. Good luck

-Richard
 
I am having moderate success with the butrans patch, I wanted time release percocet, but after years on narc's doc suggested this would be a better step. Its still a narcotic, but since its a patch there is no "ride the wave" of pain management, the issues I have with it, is it does wear off a little towards the end of the week so i still keep norco 10/325 on hand for that but instead of 6-8 a day everyday on top of muscle relaxers/NSAIDS and lyrica now its typically days 1-3 no additional or just 1 pill a day in the am/mid day, days 4-6 2 pills a day, day 6-7 3-4 a day.

I am slowly getting back to being "me" as either my tolerances build for things or just pure self determination as I know I am not getting any better, I want a tens unit and then shortly after my 214 arrives I will be trying some "alternate" pain control even though I am morally against it, I am more against the volume of synthetic/stronger chemical im dumping into my body everyday.
 
TSgt Twitch said:
I am having moderate success with the butrans patch, I wanted time release percocet, but after years on narc's doc suggested this would be a better step. Its still a narcotic, but since its a patch there is no "ride the wave" of pain management, the issues I have with it, is it does wear off a little towards the end of the week so i still keep norco 10/325 on hand for that but instead of 6-8 a day everyday on top of muscle relaxers/NSAIDS and lyrica now its typically days 1-3 no additional or just 1 pill a day in the am/mid day, days 4-6 2 pills a day, day 6-7 3-4 a day.

I am slowly getting back to being "me" as either my tolerances build for things or just pure self determination as I know I am not getting any better, I want a tens unit and then shortly after my 214 arrives I will be trying some "alternate" pain control even though I am morally against it, I am more against the volume of synthetic/stronger chemical im dumping into my body everyday.
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. I wish I lived in a state where "alternate" methods were allowed. But sadly TN is against even oils and I can't lose my job just to feel better. Buying my TENS unit a few years ago, out of my pocket cause the military kept saying no, was one of the best investments I have made towards pain relief. My current Pain Management doc is all about meds though. So I am on MS Contin (for a 15 day trial, lortab 7.5/325 4 a day previously), 1200 mg of Gabapentin a day for nerve pain, and Zanaflex as needed due to tremors I have from nerve damage. Sucks but you live with what you live with I suppose.
 
bpreachers said:
@Weapons loader did tricare cover it? How was the implantation process? Any drawbacks?


@rlltd42 can't let a chiro near me. Too many possibilities for problems.
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It was covered by tricare, but it wasn't a short process, and I had 5 previous back surgeries prior to the implant. Most civilian pain management doctors perform the procedure although mine was done through a neuro surgeon. I would do a bit of reading on it and then have the conversation with you doc. There are no drawbacks to the procedure, except for the fact that it doesn't work for everyone, but if you are having nerve pain associated with your spine that is who it's for. It cuts my pain by around 40% and enables me to do things with my wire I couldn't before. I can now go shopping and spend the day out of my house while having cut my pain meds in half. I do set off the shoplifting alarms about half the stores I go into but I think it's a good trade off. There is a psyche screening prior to the procedure but I have nothing but positives to say about it. There's a forum out there called spine-health.com that has a forum specifically for this procedure.

Please don't automatically disregard pain meds because you don't want to be dependent. Without my pain meds I would be in alot worse shape then what I am. The key is to working with your doctor and finding the right medications. Currently I take Percocet, zanaflex(muscle relaxer) and gabapentin. Many medications will cause you to be physically dependent but if taken as prescribed they are very beneficial.

Also if you don't like your current doctor find another one, your doctor should always listen to your concerns. When you're dealing with chronic pain there aren't a lot of options but personally if I had it to do all over again I would have gone with the spinal cord stimulator earlier. I did have a post surgical infection that really sucked, I spent a week in the hospital and was on an IV for a month and a half, but the benefits still outweighed the negatives. I would bet that your doc also performs the procedure, you should ask him about it.
 
Its not a matter of not liking my Pain doc its just he is very pro meds.
 
MS Contin seems to be working better than the lortab alone was. Sadly it wears off after 7-8 hours instead of 12 like the packaging suggests.
 
bpreachers said:
MS Contin seems to be working better than the lortab alone was. Sadly it wears off after 7-8 hours instead of 12 like the packaging suggests.
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I'm glad to hear that and these are the things you should be relaying back to your pain management doctor. You shouldn't feel embarrassed or feel as if you're doing something wrong for taking pain meds. They are just another tool that is used to control your pain, those of us that have taken pain meds long term know that the side effects of feeling high wear off after taking them for awhile however the benefit of controlling pain takes much longer to wear off. Giving your doctor the feedback on how it works allows him to tailor a medication plan specifically for you, this can take a very long time. Many medications besides pain meds can cause physical dependency. Gabapentin as well as Ambien caused physical dependency for me, but not so much the narcotics. By far the worst to date has been Tramadol, I had crazy withdrawl from it and the benefit was very minimal.
 
I thought I was just strange on the Narcos not causing dependency. I can quit taking em for days if I feel up tothe challenge and have no issues.

However if I miss a gabapentin dose my head feels like it wants to explode.
 
How have you been feeling about it recently? Do you still get those explosive headaches? My doctor has been pushing me to switch but I am honestly not interested in dying of headaches the entire day (I used to have a great number of migraines as a kid)
 
I have to admit, the medications I'm taking are pretty scary. They tried everything in the book. Now, I'm on Methadone. Take's the edge off, but I always have this fear that I'm going to grow dependant on them. I hate taking the narcotics, but at the same time I hate being in chronic pain all day. Pro's and Con's, I guess...
 
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