How Many Pain Doc's tell you this?? - Pain Management Message Board

Autumn Angel · 05-13-2003, 07:18 PM

Hello my friends...I had my first PM appt this morning. He kinda surprised me. I went in expecting everything I have heard on this board to happen...I expected a contract and him to by the book and suggest other things besides meds which I wish he would have but the way he explained my pain and the things they offer there and why made total sence.
He told me that I should be very careful in considering the TMJ arthroscopy that I THOUGHT and made others here think it would cure my pain condition or at least make it livable with Tylenol.
Well he told me today after a brief test I have alot of nerve damage on the left side of my face and head and said after 12 years of pain I will never be pain free even after surgery he even told me to consider very carefully even having it done as it may do more harm than good. He also told me after I told him everything I had done in 12 years for the pain that I am coping very well with it. He also said something very strange to me he said being on 4 percocet a day for the rest of my life wont kill me. I couldnt believe he said that...I told him my goal was to try and get the pain managable so I didnt need as strong a drug. But he says I have done well weaning myself from 20mg oxycontin twice a day with 4 percs for BT and 2mg dilaudid at bedtime down to 4 perc a day and thats all. I am off everything else and have been for 2 weeks. I told him I didnt want to take alot of tylenol so he wrote for OXY IR and Neutronin or however ya spell it lol
He said the neutronin would stop the shooting pains in my head. He said there is nothing else to be done and I can get what he perscribed from my Gp next month as he gave me enough of each for a month. Has anyone had an experience like this with a PM doc. Dont get me wrong he was great and nice and all but is that really all he can do? No Physical therapy what I was hoping for? Thanks for your replys in advance.
Autumn.

grizzk62 · 05-13-2003, 09:22 PM

Autumn angel,

I have missed your posts. You were one of the reasons that I was posting. I was going to quite posting myself for reasons I won't go into here. I'm so happy that you had a good experience with your PM doc. I too was frotunate enough to have a very similar experience. I'm also on OxyIR for BT pain. I find it to do a great job on the pain .I also can't take tylenol because of the HepC I got from my first two surgerys when I broke my back. I'm on methadone for my regular pain med instead of Oxycontin. I was put on Oxycontin first but found it wasn't helping that much and the side effects were'nt all that good either. But for some reason the OxyIR does'nt bother me. Just good ole pain relief. Well I've gone on long enough. Good to see you back and doing so good. Also if I have ever offended you with one of my posts, I am truely sorry.

Matt

[This message has been edited by grizzk62 (edited 05-13-2003).]

grizzk62 · 05-13-2003, 11:14 PM

Autumn Angel,

I forgot to add that I too di not have to sign a contract. But I can see the use for them and why some PM doctosr use them. He also recommended to me to not go ahead with the 5th surgery on my back, which the surgerys said that I need to further stablize my back and finish fuseing me from my thorasic level down to my S1. I'm currently fuse from L2 down with rods cages and lots of screws. He said that be keeping me out of pain that my activity would increase. Thus increaseing my stength in my back muscles hence stabalizing my back. I would have to agree. Since being out of pain has allowed me to exercise more and be more productive at work.I can now ride my bike for !hour each day I walk 5 miles everyday with my spouse. I have even lost wieght also being easier on my back. As I look at our two expriences there are alot of simularitys. Its good to see that I'm not alone in enjoying good doctors.

Matt

Autumn Angel · 05-14-2003, 01:11 AM

Hello Matt I am glad to see you are back. I did read that one post of yours and no I didnt take offence to it at all. I can understand you totally. I was led to believe by my oral surgeon that putting my disk that now resides in my cheek back in between the jaw joints were it belongs would take away most of my pain and then onto braces and a jaw alignment which entails breaking my jaw and putting it in place with screws all done from inside the mouth somehow. It would have taken along time to get everything done not to mention the physical therapy in between the surgeries. I exhausted every option before turning to narcotics. 10 years of NSAIDS which ruined mt stomach and I now take Losec daily for, splint therapy I went through a few splints because I am a night time grinder I am told but I dont notice untill I wake up in the morning with a pain level of 8 and cant open my mouth without snapping my jaw. I have learned to eat one meal daily at suppertime because chewing hurts so bad that if I ate during the day it would take me till bedtime to get the pain under control so I could function. I have lost about 10 lbs but I am now drinking those Ensures for breakfast so I get my vitamins. I am proud of myself for getting off the meds I was taking and learning to live with a bit more discomfort rather than be on alot of narcotics. The tylenol scared me the most though. And I didnt even know we had OXY IR here in Canada untill he wrote the script today. I am kinda scared about that neutronin though but he knows best so when I get it tomorrow I will start taking it and hope it works for the shooting pains I get in my head, behind my eyes and in my temples. I started taking an accounting course 2 days ago because I had to quit months ago because with my headaches and facial numbness I couldnt concentrate at school ( adult school). I am slowly trying to show my pain who is boss here something I was afraid to do before and I feel like I might be winning a little bit. He did tell me something else I never knew before and never associated the 2...he told me many CP suffers also suffer from IBS I couldnt believe it I thought it was just another condition I had I didnt know it could be a partner of chronic pain. Anyway I am sorry for the long post and thank you for replying Matt you are a very strong man you are determind like I am to have quality of life and you are winning the battle too. God Bless you and all of us here and hope to see you again here soon.

Autumn.

grizzk62 · 05-14-2003, 06:51 AM

Autumn,

Thanks for your post I was told also of the IBS thing. It explains alot LOL. I'm on neurontin as well. It is supposed to work well for nerve pain. And as far as I can tell it has helped. Congrads on getting rid of some of your meds. That is very good that you have been able to get by with less. I think you should do well with the OxyIR since you have taken the percs before. They will be alot easier on the liver. Again thanks for your encourageing words.

Matt

[This message has been edited by grizzk62 (edited 05-14-2003).]