davidc66

Hi mel, Nothing that your taking looks excessive. Most chronic pain patients take several meds to deal with pain, spasm and it looks like migaines are a problem too. At the level of meds your on your problablly wouldn't have a problem with becoming dependent on the meds.

If you have read about the long acting meds like OxyContin or MScontin "'morphine" Duragesic patches and methadone when we take these meds for an extended period of time you do become physically dependent, It's not the same as addiction it just means you can't discontinue the meds without tapering down the dosage. Dependence on the meds is what we trade for pain relief. It's a personal decision and only you know how bad you hurt and what it takes to manage your pain.

Neurontin is actually an anti seizure med that many PM docs use to treat nerve pain, Like radiculaopothy from a bulging discs and pinched nerves.It's also used to treat shingles and other types of peripheral neuropothy. If you don't have pain in your arms, "radiculopothy' all Neurontin will do is act like a sedative.

The two Pm docs that have treated me with long acting opiates had two different philosophies. The first would prescribe many aditional adjunct meds insteead of prescribing a large dose of actual pain meds. When I switched docs, my new PM doc upped the pain meds 50% and I was able to discontinue 3 of the adjunct meds that the first doc prescribed, Neurontin was one I was able to discontinue with a proper amount of opiates. So you really have to decide if it's worth taking 5 meds to keep your opiate intake down or just go with opiates and forget all the other meds that aren't proven to help but are believed to help.

Neurontin is an adjunct med, celebrex, if your problem isn't inflamatory may be a med you could discontinue if the proper level of opaites were prescribed. Some docs will prescribe everything under the sun except opiates, Is this better than being dependent on opiates, I guess if it works it is, But if your still looking for adjunct meds to make up for using a very weak opiate like codeine then you need to decide how to pursue manageing your pain.

Personally I think fewer meds means fewer side effects. Being dependent on morphine is an easy trade when the alternative is being bed ridden. Are you seeing a PM doc or an ortho that is following the bulge in your discs. Surgeons aren't well known for being empethtic towards pain or prescribing pain meds to treat a chronic problems. Their job is to fix you and send you on your way, If you continue to have problems Pain management is an option. It's also an option to prevent very invasive surgery with very iffy outcomes.

It's really hard for anyone to judge what is excessive by mearly stating the number of mgs of a particular drug. If your taking what you think is excessive but it's not managing your pain, in what way is it excessive. When I think of excessive I think of being medicated beyond the point of being able to function. If the meds allow you to function better and restore some quality of life then I don't see any excess.

I take 600mgs of morphine a day to manage my failed fusion, L1-S1, It may sound excessive but what is strong medicine to one person may not begin to touch the pain of another.We are all different. If your pain isn't being managed than something needs to change. You won't know if an adjunct med will help until you try.But many folks take Neurontin in adittion to long acting opiate meds and muscle relaxers and anti Depressants. Then you have meds for the side effects of all the others like anti anxiety meds and meds for neausea. Some folks require a stimulant to counter the sedating effects of all the other meds.

When it comes to pain, nobody can say what is excessive for another person. It may sound like alot but if the meds improve my quality of life rather than limit me, my doc wouldn't consider what I take excesive and neither should another member on the forum. Good luck, David