SI dysfunction - Pain Management Message Board

injured betty · 06-22-2004, 09:16 AM

Does anyone know of an effective pain reliever or method of relief that I can suggest to my doctor for SI dysfunction? I saw him yesterday and he is convinced that is what I have even though an MRI and X-rays don't show anything. I am in excruciating pain in my groin area, hip and SI area. There is a huge, hard, lump there also.

Has anyone tried trigger point injections for that?

Patches? Yesterday he suggested Fentynl patch. I would need to use that aong with a strong laxitive.

Currently he has put me on a synthetic drug for pain but I have not started taking it reguarly. I tried them for a day and didn't really see any relief.

It seems as though the pain is deep inside of the joint. It is almost unbareable.

Just sitting for more than five minutes is almost more than I can take.

I can't find a pain management person in our area.

HELP!!!!!!

twisten · 06-24-2004, 09:14 AM

I also get this. I am told I get it because I have crohns disease and apparently there is some kind of a connection there between the two. Mine comes and goes though, it isn't continuous like the pain in my lower and mid back are. The SI I have also does not show on x-ray, again I am told that is common with crohns patients. I'm on MScontin and oxyir for pain relief now. I did have an injection for it years ago, before my crohns diagnosis and it did relieve it for a short time period. Now because of having crohns I can not have injections because of the steroids. My best pain relief was the patch but I had to go off of it for various reasons. If you need the laxative because of the patch it is actually the best narcotic to be on because it causes less problems with constipation than any other because the distribution is different. Hope this helps some. Good luck.

sgibson · 06-24-2004, 09:40 AM

I have used the Fentanyl patch for almost 3 years. My doctor put me on the patch because I have malabsorbtion issues. The patch works well for me and I have not had any trouble with constipation which is very important for me because I have had intestinal blockages and there is always the chance of it happening again. I only have about a foot of small intestines left and cannot afford another blockage in that area. I was concerned about the effectiveness of the patch at the beginning but I have found that they work very well. I hope you get some relief soon. Take care.

God Bless,
Sherry

Shoreline · 06-24-2004, 11:11 AM

Hi Injured betty, If your doc is willing to prescribe Fentanyl you have found a doc willing to manage your pain, No doc can guess what dose will relieve your pain. Not all pain can be seen on diagnostics either so you don't have to except the all in your head excuse. we all fall somewhere on a bell curve as far as lebvel of pain and medication needs.

They do make an SI belt which may help but it depends on whether your doc believes they do or dont, Concurent Chiropractic can also help SI joint disfuntion, some folks have had the joint fused but It's not proven succesful.There are hundreds of variations on surgeries when it comes to the spine, One doc may say lets run a bar from hip to hip and attach it your Sacrum to stabalize, Most of these types of surgery are not FDA aproved and not proven to be succesful or unsucessful.

There will always be a surgeon out there willing to cut on you. I would suggest starting with chiropractic and see if it helps. It's unlikely to do harm but no gaurentees there either.
Good luck, You do need to understand all the ramifications of using the patch or any long acting opiate, you do become dependet like many other meds,which just means you can't stop cold turkey, you have to taper off to prevent withdrawal. However dependence does not equate to addiction, If the meds improve the quality of your life and ability to function that directly conflicts with every discription of addiction.
Good look, Dave
This article will answer many of your questions
[url]http://www.hosppract.com/issues/2000/09/brook.htm[/url]
Cut and paste it into your browser

lastramy · 06-26-2004, 01:03 PM

Hi!! I am 39 and I have cerebral palsy which effects just my left side. I get around well but over the years my body has decided that compensating for all the muscle issues was enough so I started getting leg/back/hip.SI joint pain.
I have been to physical therapy on several occasions and that did help some. I take celebrex which reduces some of the problems, and I get massages when I can which helps several problem areas. I ended up getting an epidural injection into the SI joint area (cortisone injection) last April. I still take the celebrex too and I can say that my pain is reduced to almost nothing in the SI joint. I get occasional problems here and there but nothing like it was before.
If you think the pain is trigger point related you can get injections for that too or try a massage therapist.
I got my help from a pain management clinic by my home.

I hope this may have helped.
Lastramy