I need some advice! - Pain Management Message Board

rich1022 · 04-10-2008, 11:30 PM

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

Fabrashamx · 04-11-2008, 01:22 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

Executor · 04-11-2008, 07:12 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

Arthr Itis · 04-11-2008, 07:27 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

cmpgirl · 04-11-2008, 12:19 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