MidlineNotFine
03-17-2007, 06:03 PM
Hello everyone,
Well, I saw my Neuro for a follow-up on Friday. CT Scan came back fine though there are some things for my GE Specialist to follow-up on. At the least, good baseline data for the future. Quickly recapping, I have recurrent acute midline abdominal pain. It's been becoming more chronic with the flare-ups.
My doctor and I had a good conversation. Per some good suggestions here, I agreed to try Neurontin. I will start at 300mg per day and move up to 900mg per day as tolerated. In the meantime we'll keep me on hydrocodone 5/500 to 10/1000 as needed (5/500 isn't always sufficient) and assuming the Neurontin works, we'll pull the narcotic slowly. Or, we'll can minimize it's use. Though I tolerate the hydrocodone very well (I hardly feel any side effects - little tired - and it really helps the pain), I realize through this board it will eventually not work as well. It also helps with my post gallbladder surgery IBS which has been nice. All that aside, I don't want to keep taking tons of Tylenol either. Advil/Motrin has always worked better but I can't take them anymore b/c of gastro sensitivity.
Anyways, I do a lot of reading on this board and it helps - so Thank You! Right now I take 2-3 5/500 tabs per day which doc says is A-Ok. He just said not to quit cold turkey when I'm ready to be off (I have a habit of doing that in the past!). He wants me to taper and stay in step with his recommendations.
So for now, I will not need to see a pain specialist but can stick with my Neurologist (who also treats me for sleep apnea and other sleep disorders). That's actually a relief. We've built a nice relationship.
Thanks again to everyone here for their posts. My pain affects my life but your insights have helped me stay level, positive, determined and open minded. It's been a real help and I'm sure it will continue to be!
MNF
Well, I saw my Neuro for a follow-up on Friday. CT Scan came back fine though there are some things for my GE Specialist to follow-up on. At the least, good baseline data for the future. Quickly recapping, I have recurrent acute midline abdominal pain. It's been becoming more chronic with the flare-ups.
My doctor and I had a good conversation. Per some good suggestions here, I agreed to try Neurontin. I will start at 300mg per day and move up to 900mg per day as tolerated. In the meantime we'll keep me on hydrocodone 5/500 to 10/1000 as needed (5/500 isn't always sufficient) and assuming the Neurontin works, we'll pull the narcotic slowly. Or, we'll can minimize it's use. Though I tolerate the hydrocodone very well (I hardly feel any side effects - little tired - and it really helps the pain), I realize through this board it will eventually not work as well. It also helps with my post gallbladder surgery IBS which has been nice. All that aside, I don't want to keep taking tons of Tylenol either. Advil/Motrin has always worked better but I can't take them anymore b/c of gastro sensitivity.
Anyways, I do a lot of reading on this board and it helps - so Thank You! Right now I take 2-3 5/500 tabs per day which doc says is A-Ok. He just said not to quit cold turkey when I'm ready to be off (I have a habit of doing that in the past!). He wants me to taper and stay in step with his recommendations.
So for now, I will not need to see a pain specialist but can stick with my Neurologist (who also treats me for sleep apnea and other sleep disorders). That's actually a relief. We've built a nice relationship.
Thanks again to everyone here for their posts. My pain affects my life but your insights have helped me stay level, positive, determined and open minded. It's been a real help and I'm sure it will continue to be!
MNF
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