NOTHING SEEMS TO WORK

By EDWARD OSLER Saturday, February 19, 2011

- A
- A
- A

I suffer from Peripheral Neuropathy. As I understand it, my nerve endings are DEAD and will not regenerate. I also have Chronic Low Back Pain, had a 3 disc laminectomy back in 1983. I also have sciatica, spinal stenosis, deteriorating disc disease and 2 compressed discs. I attempted a Spinal Cord Stimulator back in Nov. 2010 but it increased the pain instead of decreasing the pain. I have been taking 40-60 mg total of Methadone daily, along with Cholesterol, High Blood Pressure meds and Type 2 Diabetes controlled by meds only. All these problems are controlled by medication. While the Methadone controls the lower back, right hip, right leg and right knee pain it DOES NOT impact the Peripheral Neuropathy. That pain is do-able during the day but excruciating at night. I have taked the following all to no avail: MICRO VAS ELECTRICAL STIMULATION, ANODYNE THERAPY, ANALGESIC PATCH, LYRICA, CYMBALTA, NEURONTIN, MEDANX, CAPSACION OINTMENT, ETHYL CHLORIDE, BIO-FREEZE GELS AND MINERAL ICE.

My pain management physician wants me to think about having a Morphine Pump "installed" but taking everything into consideration, I am genuinely leery as well as frustrated and quite angry. In your opinions, do you think the morphine pump would work for me and will it impact the P.N.?

Eddie Lee Osler

gastric bypass and pain medication

Comments (5) | Add comment

Marion

2/22/11 5:48pm

Lortab, or percocet? I have many of the pain issues you do including neuropathy and those both work well for all of the above!

Tess the Mess

2/22/11 10:17pm

I am so sorry that you are in this kind of pain. I have similar afflictions and pains. The way you described your nerve pain sounds a lot like you may have the severe form of Restless Leg Syndrome, which is a misnomer by the way. RLS causes nerve pain to increase dramatically starting in the early evening. A severe RLS neuropathy attack can also be triggered by anti-histamines, ie., Benedryl, et al.

I have diabetic neuropathy, neuropathy from Fibromyalgia, and neuropathy from RLS. It has taken me the last couple of years to learn to differentiate what is causing a particular neuropathic symptom (pain) and to manage it appropriately.

That said, what works for me is two Aleve and 300mg Gabapentin first thing in the morning; mid-morning another 300mg Gabapentin, around noon I will take 1-Vicodin 5/500mg, 1-300mg Lyrica, and a sub-Lingual B-12 vitamin. Around 6pm I take another Vicodin and 600mg Gabapentin. About an hour before bedtime, I take 1 Vicodin, a 600mg Gabapentin, a Lyrica if I am really sore. This is an aggressive attack on the nerve pain. You must manage the pain prophylacticly to reduce the strength and amount of pain medication you take. It takes less medication to stop pain before it starts than to stop it after it starts. AND, don't let the doctors tell you that Lyrica and Gabapentin are the same drug. They are not. They are similar, but I can tell a disting difference between the two.

Good luck to you.

EDWARD OSLER

2/22/11 11:43pm

In a round about way, I wish I did have Restless Leg Syndrome. But I don't. As for the Gabapentum, Lyrica, et.al. these meds have been tried and the only thing that is accomplished is a steady decline in my checking account. As I previously wrote, I suffer from Deteriorating Disc Disease, have had a 3 disc laminectomy (L2-3. L4-5, L5-S1), have a compressed disc that prohibits Facet Nerve injections. Around May, 2009, I developed what was originally diagnosed as Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy (I have Type 2 Diabetes). But no treatments or medications worked for me. Two months ago, I was re-diagnosed with (regular) Peripheral Neuropathy. I have just finished my 7th treatment of MicroVas Electrical Stimulation. So far, there has been no improvement. What I do know is that at night, the pain is excruciating, my pain medication (Methadone) does not help the feet pain, and my feet are swollen. Mind you, the feet are notswollen at night. And the podiatrist? He prescribed Lasix/water pill to try to alleviate the swelling. I have a funny feeling that I can probably pee until hell freezes over but the swelling will stay consistent. Wait and see.

EDWARD OSLER

2/23/11 7:35am

I have suffered with chronic pain since my only back surgery in 1983. I should have gotten the hint when I was in the hospital from Sept. 29, 1983 until December 19, 1983. I had an auto accident. The x-rays showed ONE BLOWN DISC. In the grand scheme of things, no big deal. But the accident was the other person's fault and of course, the other person didn't have any car insurance. Spilt milk. The surgery was scheduled. My girlfriend at the time decided the NIGHT BEFORE MY SURGERY to tell me that she couldn't handle my problems. To say that I didn't handle that news well, would be an understatement. To say that I flipped out, well, the doctors brought in a shrink to make sure that I didn't have issues to warrant cancelling the surgery. Anyway...the doctors told me that I would be laid up for a week and I would be able to return to work in 10 days. Great!

When I awoke THREE DAYS LATER, the doctors came in to visit me. They proceeded to tell me the following: We have some good news and some bad news. I told them to give me the good news first. They told me that I should consider taking a lengthy vacation from work. The bad news? When they opened me up, they saw that THREE discs had imploded and that I was facing a lengthy recuperation. They thought that while they were "in there", they would fix the problem rather than keep to their initial prognosis and suggest that I have two additional surgeries. Wonderful.

Over the next couple of weeks, I would get pain shots every 6 hours. First, in one butt cheek, then the other. Back and forth. When they ran out of available space, they started giving me pain injections in my legs my upper thigh, which remain numb to this day. I then developed cysts in my behind which necessitated attitional surgeries. It was getting better and better. My roommates in the hospital would come and go and I remained.

I was discharged in December, 1983, just in time for Christmas. Santa gave me a great gift. A successful back surgery.

From 1983 to 1991, I was 100% pain free. No pain. Not even a twinge. Then in 1991, I started working at a predominantly African-American middle school in the worst part of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. From 1991 to 2004, I was physically assaulted NO LESS THAN SIX TIMES. This fiasco resulted in my suing the school system, receiving a settlement check, and being forced into an early retirement.

Between 1991-2004, I found myself literally addicted to every narcotic (one at a time) in the book. As of this writing, I have been on Methadone since 1998.

If anyone should be DEPRESSED, IT SHOULD BE ME. But I'm not. In 2000, I lost my wife of 12 years to a divorce. In 2000, I lost my mother to death. In 2004, I lost my job of 18 years to forced retirement and to being beaten up at work.

Between 2000-2010, I was alone and quite lonely. In 2008, I fell behind on my mortgage and lost my home in a short sale.

Then in March, 2010, I met my third and last wife, who gave me that much needed boost and literally restarted my life.

Considering everything that has transpired since 1983, I should have been holding a gun to my head and tetering on the finality of the situation. But death was never the answer. And depression was never the answer. The answer was always a sense of humor and the will to persevere. I always knew in my heart that things would get better. I never knew when, but I knew that someday it would. I just had to be patient.

My wife says that depression comes from faulty brain wiring. Maybe that's the answer. I don't know. I always believed that perseverence would out. I have to hold onto that belief. Otherwise, I would give up and simply disappear.

I believe that my mother would be a little ashamed of me if I simply gave up or gave into my pain. I am always in pain - in one form or another. I can only hope that one day, medical science will come up with an antidote to those things that hurt me. Additionally, if I simply give up or give into depression, I would miss out on what will happen tomorrow.

Nicoletti

7/11/11 2:57am

HI THERE.I HAD A SPINAL CORD STIMULATOR IMPLANT,ONE OF THE FIRST WITH A PARTICULAR 16 LEAD STIM MANUFACTURER. MY PROBLEM WITH THE UNIT HAPPENED WITHIN A 6 YR PERIOD,WITH CONSTANT BURNING. ONCE I HAD RELIEF AND I HAD THE DARN THING ADJUSTED BY THIER REP FROM THE CO. AFTER I HAD IT OUT ,EVERYTHING GOT BETTER. I BROKE THE CYCLE BY GETTING THAT OUT. IT ONCE GAVE ME FAIR PAIN RELIEF ALSO USING THE SAME MEDICENE AS YOU. MY DR. HAS SINCE TAKEN ME OFF THAT AND TRIED A NEW COMBINATION OF MEDS INC AMYTRIPTOLINE FOR SLEEP AND NERVE PAIN RELIEF. I HAVE BEEN SEEKING INJECTONS FOR MY LEG PAIN FROM A RADIOLOGIST. I BELIEVE I MAY AVE BEEN HARMED BY THESE BECAUSE OF THE INVASIVE TREATMENT BY UNQUALIFIED PAC'S! THE NEWEST TECHNIQUE WAS A CAUDAL EPIDURAL WITH NEW AND IMPROVED LASTING RELIEF! THIS I AM THANKFUL.THANKS FOR SHARING!

NOTHING SEEMS TO WORK

Ask a Question