Can't find a med that works! Help! - Pain Management Message Board

Emilysmommie05 · 05-18-2006, 11:07 AM

Okay i cannot find a pain med that will work for me.
The doctor i work for is also my doctor since i do not have health insurance.
A while back in December i wanted to stop taking Vicodin because i thought my pain was better so i went to him and he gave me a med called Subutex to stop any physical withdrawals, but about 3 days after i started it i felt all the pain again since all the pain med was out of my system, so he put me back on the Vicodin, then it wasn't working so he switched me to Lortab 10/500 for a little bit and then i felt better so we switched back to Vicodin and we went back and forth for a little while and then we switched to Lortab 7.5/500 about 2 weeks ago and he gave me a 2 month supply 120 tablets, but the problem is they are not working once again and i want to switch over to something completley different like percocet or something which i have never taken but i am afraid he will not switch me because he just gave me that large script 14 days ago. I see him today to tell him it is not working and to get a steroid injection, I feel like he may be judging me in his head like i am an addict or something because i went to him once to stop taking them already.
He also cannot figure out where my pain is coming from, i have horrific back pain and ot feels like someone is twisting my hips off, and i have neck pain and my legs always hurt like i just ran a mile. I do not have fibromyalgia i had the blood test that is what he first thought and all my x-rays are clean except for slight spina-bifida, i have flat feet (no arch) and i think that is whats causing it but he does not think so, anyone else have this problem? ANd what med is the best for chronic pain, please help i feel lost!

tina76 · 05-18-2006, 01:39 PM

If he just gave you that script do you still have the meds? If you can show him that you still have the meds left etc.... then you would think that he would not have a problem changing the script if you gave those meds back to be disposed of. He may not want to do perc's but there might be something he is willing to try if the ones you have aren't working.

mefrin · 05-18-2006, 01:49 PM

Obviously your skeleton is out of balance; have you ever consulted a qualified Osteopath? Painkillers serve only to treat the symptom but not the cause. You would require to pay for treatment but it would be worth the sacrifice. Does the doctor know of any charity that might be able to financially assist?

ARANGER · 05-18-2006, 03:10 PM

Hey Emily,

The question about what is good for chronic pain is hard to answer for any particular person. Everyone responds differentely to meds. With any opiate type med like Hydrocodone (Lortab, Vicodin), you will build up tolerance and then require more of that med to get the same relief. It sounds like that is what is happening with you.

It sounds like you need an MRI to help diagnosis or exclude medical issues. I know said that you don't have medical insurance and an MRI can be expensive, but if you're having back problems it can be beneficial to see whats happening in your back. An xray doesn't show tissue or discs. It may show some narrowing of the spine or vertabrae but and MRI will show a lot more detail.

You mentioned Fibromyalgia and having a blood test and that you don't have it. There currently is no blood test to diagnose Fibro. Its a diagnosis of exclusion. They will do blood test to make sure you don't have something else like an autoimmune disorder, but as far as a blood test for fibro there is nothing yet.

As Tina pointed out with your current script, I think thats good advice. If you just got it 14 days ago, bring it in to show that you're not trying to get more meds from the doc. He can destroy them at the office and note it in your chart. This way he has the documentation in your file.

Hopefully you'll get a diagnosis soon. You may want to check with your doc and see what type of medical assistance programs are available. He may be able to get you in somewhere with a specialist at a reduced rate.

Good Luck. Hope you start feeling better.

kelsey1 · 05-18-2006, 04:03 PM

hello,
i am so sorry that you are in pain.I can relate i am going though a similar thing right now.I am at a new pm and he increase my dose i take 2 lortab 10 mg 3 times a day from what i was on from another pm dr (lortab 5mg 3 times a day).And the problem is that it doesn't work for 8 hours i also feel like i need to be on something stronger.At night and in the moring i feel so bad i start on a 10 on the pain scale after i take my meds i only go to a 7-8 in the moring,on the middle does i go from a 10 on the scale to a 5-6 and at night after work i take my last dose it goes from a 10 to a 7. So i can totaly understand .I went back last week and he wanted to still keep my dose the same because he said i had to get the meds in my sytem first and he also put me on sequeal 100 mg he said that would also help me because i would get more sleep.So i don't feel like i know him well enough to ask for something else.So what i am doing is keeping a daily dairy so he can see that its not working and hopefully when i go to my next appt next friday (i am going every 2 weeks intil i get on the right track)he will increase or change my meds. So maybe try somthing like that ?it can hurt.Good luck kelsey