rich1022
04-11-2008, 02:30 AM
Hello all,
I am new to this site but by no means new to pain. I was in a motorcycle accident 4 years ago that caused back injuries that are affecting me today. I have had severe headaches for the past two years on a daily basis, and in the past few weeks my back pain has hit an all time high. I have been on percocet, hydrocodone, tramadol, fiorcet, darvocet, celebrexs, skalaxin and a cocktail of other pain and nuero meds with no avail. Can anyone help me? When I go to the doctor I feel like they are looking at me like I am a drug seeker because by appearance I am a young and healthy young man. It has been days since I have slept due to the pain getting very intense when I lay down. It feels like a lightning blot going up my spine into my neck and normally ends in my head. There is also a burning/ dull pain in the area of my hip that gets rather intense. When the pain shoots through my back, my left arm tends to go numb; and when the pain is in my hip area the right foot usually gets a numb/ tingly feeling. Has anyone ever experienced these symptoms?
Thanks for your help
I am new to this site but by no means new to pain. I was in a motorcycle accident 4 years ago that caused back injuries that are affecting me today. I have had severe headaches for the past two years on a daily basis, and in the past few weeks my back pain has hit an all time high. I have been on percocet, hydrocodone, tramadol, fiorcet, darvocet, celebrexs, skalaxin and a cocktail of other pain and nuero meds with no avail. Can anyone help me? When I go to the doctor I feel like they are looking at me like I am a drug seeker because by appearance I am a young and healthy young man. It has been days since I have slept due to the pain getting very intense when I lay down. It feels like a lightning blot going up my spine into my neck and normally ends in my head. There is also a burning/ dull pain in the area of my hip that gets rather intense. When the pain shoots through my back, my left arm tends to go numb; and when the pain is in my hip area the right foot usually gets a numb/ tingly feeling. Has anyone ever experienced these symptoms?
Thanks for your help
Sponsor
Fabrashamx
04-11-2008, 04:22 AM
Hi Rich,
First of all, welcome to the pain board, although I am sorry you have need of us!
The problem most people run into when they become a Cper due to an accident at a fairly young age, is that doctors want to and are trained to see your problems as acute, thats is to say basically an emergency situation that should heal and have you back to normal in a relatively short amount of time.
To treat you for that, they usually prescribe pain meds, and ice or heat or rest and maybe a short stretch of physical therapy.
If you dont heal and get back to normal fairly quickly, or if other problems arise, they will usually ship you off to a specialist.
If the specialists cant find anything 'treatable', as in something they can fix surgically, they will boot you back to your primary.
At that point, hopefully you have a doctor that will look into pain management for you. more and more primary care doctors are doing this, but a lot of them just start refusing to give you more pain meds, and basically tell you to learn to live with it.
At that point the ball is in your court. you can insist on seeing more specialists, having more tests, but again all they will be doing is looking for a surgical solution, if they dont find one, back you go to primary.:(
IMHO, first you need to make sure there is not an underlying cause for your pain that needs to be treated and may in fact 'cure' your pain. It may come about as it did for a lot of us on here, either the surgery doesnt fix it, or they cannot find anything to even operate on and you remain in pain.
Then you have to go to your primary and ask if they will treat you as a chronic patient, if not, will they refer you to a pain management clinic, or another doctor who will treat CP? If the answer is no, keep looking, ask around, call teaching hospitals, and use this board as a support site, and possible guide to pain management clinics in your area.
The bad news is there is no one standard of care in CP. you could go to 4 places that all call themselves pain clinics, and find a huge difference in what they offer and how they approach pain management. You will eventually find the right place for you, maybe fairly quickly, so try not to be discouraged.
Hope this helps, I look forward to reading your posts and getting to know you better. There are some amazing people on this board, you have for sure come to the right place!
Your Friend, Fabby :wave:
First of all, welcome to the pain board, although I am sorry you have need of us!
The problem most people run into when they become a Cper due to an accident at a fairly young age, is that doctors want to and are trained to see your problems as acute, thats is to say basically an emergency situation that should heal and have you back to normal in a relatively short amount of time.
To treat you for that, they usually prescribe pain meds, and ice or heat or rest and maybe a short stretch of physical therapy.
If you dont heal and get back to normal fairly quickly, or if other problems arise, they will usually ship you off to a specialist.
If the specialists cant find anything 'treatable', as in something they can fix surgically, they will boot you back to your primary.
At that point, hopefully you have a doctor that will look into pain management for you. more and more primary care doctors are doing this, but a lot of them just start refusing to give you more pain meds, and basically tell you to learn to live with it.
At that point the ball is in your court. you can insist on seeing more specialists, having more tests, but again all they will be doing is looking for a surgical solution, if they dont find one, back you go to primary.:(
IMHO, first you need to make sure there is not an underlying cause for your pain that needs to be treated and may in fact 'cure' your pain. It may come about as it did for a lot of us on here, either the surgery doesnt fix it, or they cannot find anything to even operate on and you remain in pain.
Then you have to go to your primary and ask if they will treat you as a chronic patient, if not, will they refer you to a pain management clinic, or another doctor who will treat CP? If the answer is no, keep looking, ask around, call teaching hospitals, and use this board as a support site, and possible guide to pain management clinics in your area.
The bad news is there is no one standard of care in CP. you could go to 4 places that all call themselves pain clinics, and find a huge difference in what they offer and how they approach pain management. You will eventually find the right place for you, maybe fairly quickly, so try not to be discouraged.
Hope this helps, I look forward to reading your posts and getting to know you better. There are some amazing people on this board, you have for sure come to the right place!
Your Friend, Fabby :wave:
Executor
04-11-2008, 10:12 AM
Great advice by Fabby! I really can't add much other than that given your list of meds, it seems that you're on quite a bit. That in itself isn't a problem, but when I look at the specific meds, it appears to me your Doc is trying all he can to use low end / narcotic meds. To me, this is a sign that he really doesn't know what he's doing, with all due respect. Additionally, all those meds together are creating a cocktail that may be producing all sorts of side effects and ups and downs.....Further compounding your problem(s).
Fabby is right in that you need to be referred to a PM Doc. A good one will more than likely put you on a long acting (LA) med and then give you something for break through (BT). You may or may not all that other stuff. The more you can eliminate the better, IMO.
Lastly, try to ask to be referred to a real PM Doc...One that will use all the tools of PM...Not one that masks behind the title and doesn't write scripts. You will also need all your records from your accident as it's is the underlying cause. The back problem(s) will more than likely be easier to diagnosis for the obvious reasons. But the headaches on the other hand, are very tough to treat and won't turn up on any test or xray (more than likely). IMO, headaches can be one of the most debilitating conditions one can have.
Good luck, and hope you feel better.
Ex
Fabby is right in that you need to be referred to a PM Doc. A good one will more than likely put you on a long acting (LA) med and then give you something for break through (BT). You may or may not all that other stuff. The more you can eliminate the better, IMO.
Lastly, try to ask to be referred to a real PM Doc...One that will use all the tools of PM...Not one that masks behind the title and doesn't write scripts. You will also need all your records from your accident as it's is the underlying cause. The back problem(s) will more than likely be easier to diagnosis for the obvious reasons. But the headaches on the other hand, are very tough to treat and won't turn up on any test or xray (more than likely). IMO, headaches can be one of the most debilitating conditions one can have.
Good luck, and hope you feel better.
Ex
Arthr Itis
04-11-2008, 10:27 AM
Welcome to the board. Sorry you are in need of this board. I agree with the others, you need to get to a good Pain Managment program. In my opinion, you should get the pain under control then try to find the cause. Any number of things may be causing the headaches and all the rest.
Fred
Fred
cmpgirl
04-11-2008, 03:19 PM
Hi Rich: And welcome from me as well. The only thing I could think of was possible nerve impingement, causing the numbness and the shooting pain.
I have had that happen to me from several bulging discs over the years.
I also agree about the pain management doc. They generally have a much better understanding of how to treat chronic pain with all kinds of therapies as well as appropriate medication.
I wish you the best, and hope to see many posts from you in the future. Take care, cmpgirl
I have had that happen to me from several bulging discs over the years.
I also agree about the pain management doc. They generally have a much better understanding of how to treat chronic pain with all kinds of therapies as well as appropriate medication.
I wish you the best, and hope to see many posts from you in the future. Take care, cmpgirl
brianpain33
04-11-2008, 09:27 PM
I have been on percocet, hydrocodone, tramadol, fiorcet, darvocet, celebrexs, skalaxin and a cocktail of other pain and nuero meds with no avail. Can anyone help me?
It feels like a lightning blot going up my spine into my neck and normally ends in my head. There is also a burning/ dull pain in the area of my hip that gets rather intense.
First of all welcome to the pain management board. I am similar to you in that I am still pretty young (34) and don't look like I have anything wrong with me. It took me quite a long time(4 years) of going through several doctors, many medications, procedures, surgeries, etc. to finally get a doctor that was caring and understanding and NOT afraid of presribing LA narcotic medciations. However, it does sound like you have a lot of nerve pain and this can be one of the most difficult pains to treat. I know that you have tried alot of medications but here is the list of meds that can/should be tried for nerve pain:(BOLD ONES ARE MOST COMMON ONES USED)
Anticonvulsants - Topomax, Tegretol, Trileptal, Depakote, Lamictal, Dilantin, Depakene, Neurontin, Lyrica, Gabitril, Klonopin(even though it's technically a benzodiazepine)
Tricyclic Antidepressants - Elavil(amitryptiline), Pamelor(nortriptyline), desipramine, imipramine, doxepin(Sinequan), trimipramine, clomipramine
**very good at treating nerve pain & helpful with sleep so usually prescribed at night**
SNRI Antidepressants - Cymbalta, Effexor, Wellbutrin
**very effective for nerve pain & also depression that usually accompanies chronic pain, many people on these boards have success with Cymbalta**
Atypical Antidepressants- Trazadone, Ultram(tramadol),
Ultracet, Ultram ER
**good at treating nerve pain, tramadol also has a mild opiod quality to it so IT IS A MILD NARCOTIC**
SSRI Antidepressants- Paxil, Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa, Luvox
Opiod/Opiates- hydrocodone(Vicodin, Lortab, Norco), oxycodone(Percocet, Oxycontin, Oxy IR), hydromorphone(Dilaudid), oxymorphone(Opana), methadone, fentanyl(patch, Actiq), morphine(MS Contin, Avinza, Kadian)
**can be useful for certain types of pain especially when used in combination with other non-narcotic meds**
I would definitely think something is wrong if you are experiencing a HUGE spike in your pain. I would even consider going to the ER if it gets to a point where you just can't take it. At least they could do X-rays or even an MRI there possibly. Good luck and keep posting
brian
It feels like a lightning blot going up my spine into my neck and normally ends in my head. There is also a burning/ dull pain in the area of my hip that gets rather intense.
First of all welcome to the pain management board. I am similar to you in that I am still pretty young (34) and don't look like I have anything wrong with me. It took me quite a long time(4 years) of going through several doctors, many medications, procedures, surgeries, etc. to finally get a doctor that was caring and understanding and NOT afraid of presribing LA narcotic medciations. However, it does sound like you have a lot of nerve pain and this can be one of the most difficult pains to treat. I know that you have tried alot of medications but here is the list of meds that can/should be tried for nerve pain:(BOLD ONES ARE MOST COMMON ONES USED)
Anticonvulsants - Topomax, Tegretol, Trileptal, Depakote, Lamictal, Dilantin, Depakene, Neurontin, Lyrica, Gabitril, Klonopin(even though it's technically a benzodiazepine)
Tricyclic Antidepressants - Elavil(amitryptiline), Pamelor(nortriptyline), desipramine, imipramine, doxepin(Sinequan), trimipramine, clomipramine
**very good at treating nerve pain & helpful with sleep so usually prescribed at night**
SNRI Antidepressants - Cymbalta, Effexor, Wellbutrin
**very effective for nerve pain & also depression that usually accompanies chronic pain, many people on these boards have success with Cymbalta**
Atypical Antidepressants- Trazadone, Ultram(tramadol),
Ultracet, Ultram ER
**good at treating nerve pain, tramadol also has a mild opiod quality to it so IT IS A MILD NARCOTIC**
SSRI Antidepressants- Paxil, Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa, Luvox
Opiod/Opiates- hydrocodone(Vicodin, Lortab, Norco), oxycodone(Percocet, Oxycontin, Oxy IR), hydromorphone(Dilaudid), oxymorphone(Opana), methadone, fentanyl(patch, Actiq), morphine(MS Contin, Avinza, Kadian)
**can be useful for certain types of pain especially when used in combination with other non-narcotic meds**
I would definitely think something is wrong if you are experiencing a HUGE spike in your pain. I would even consider going to the ER if it gets to a point where you just can't take it. At least they could do X-rays or even an MRI there possibly. Good luck and keep posting
brian
rich1022
04-12-2008, 01:03 AM
Hello all,
I want to thank all of you for your support and advice in this matter. Up until last night when I saw this site and read the threads I thought I was the only person who was going through chronic pain without any improvement (which made me feel crazy because that's how I feel most people look at me in the medical world.) I feel better about taking this on and looking for a long term solution without feeling guilty about taking my pain meds. You see, I have had comments made to me concerning the amount of narcotic pain meds I take in order to find some level of relief. Even with the pain meds that I am currently on (hydrocodone, skalaxin, and celebrex) I am getting little to no true relief. I m going on 3 days with little to no sleep. It's amazing that you can start to feel like you're a wee bit crazy when everyone treats you like you are! Like I said before, I am young(24) so I look healthy and fit. It's like nobody beleives that the pain is as bad as it is. I will have to say that my wife has been wonderful and very supportive through this entire trial. Thanks again for the support!
God Bless,
Rich;)
I want to thank all of you for your support and advice in this matter. Up until last night when I saw this site and read the threads I thought I was the only person who was going through chronic pain without any improvement (which made me feel crazy because that's how I feel most people look at me in the medical world.) I feel better about taking this on and looking for a long term solution without feeling guilty about taking my pain meds. You see, I have had comments made to me concerning the amount of narcotic pain meds I take in order to find some level of relief. Even with the pain meds that I am currently on (hydrocodone, skalaxin, and celebrex) I am getting little to no true relief. I m going on 3 days with little to no sleep. It's amazing that you can start to feel like you're a wee bit crazy when everyone treats you like you are! Like I said before, I am young(24) so I look healthy and fit. It's like nobody beleives that the pain is as bad as it is. I will have to say that my wife has been wonderful and very supportive through this entire trial. Thanks again for the support!
God Bless,
Rich;)