two decades

By beanie Tuesday, March 31, 2009

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i have been in chronic pain since 1990!!

i had a botched cervical fusion (C-6-C-7) followed by two additional surgeries to correct the instability in my neck

a C-5-C-6 fusion (hip bone) and C-6-C-7 re-do as well as posterior wiring of my spine form C-5 thru C-7

i now have pathology at every cervical level as well as the top 2 thoracic levels

my chronic pain became acute pain about 6 months ago

i have gone through an intense 4 week pain management program and switched my meds

i had never taken an opiate for the past 20 years but now have introduced percoset

i no longer take neurontin or tegretol and heve replaced them with lyrica and ultram

i am still in tremendous pain and think my problem is in the "upper cervical" area...occipate thru C-4 which is not included in a cervical mri

my last mri (october)had pathology at every level but C-2 -C-3 had herniated disc,stenosis.severe facet involvement and on and on

i am a dentist who was forced to give up my profession

anyone out there with a similar story?

radiofrequency ablation

Comments (26) | Add comment

Karen Lee Richards, Health Guide

4/ 4/09 2:30am

Welcome to ChronicPainConnection! My personal pain issues are not similar to yours (I have fibromyalgia) but if you browse through some of the other Shareposts here, I think you'll find others with significant cervical problems. I admire the fact that you've been able to avoid opioids for so long. I'm sorry to hear that your pain has increased so much in the last month, though.

Another good option we have here for connecting with other people dealing with pain issues is our forum. There is an excellent support group in the forum called “The Daily Grind.” It's a great bunch of friendly people who chat with and encourage one another regularly. Just click on the current month and join the discussion.

http://forums.healthcentral.com/discussion/chronic-pain/forums/a/frm/f/1361017

(Note: If you've never been to the forum before, you'll have to register separately from your registration here on ChronicPainConnection. You can, however, use the same e-mail address and password if you like to make it easier to remember.)

We look forward to hearing more from you in the days ahead.

beanie

4/ 5/09 1:59pm

i am looking forward to hearing from other "long term" chronic pain sufferers!!!!!

i have been in chronic pain since 1990!!

i had a botched cervical fusion (C-6-C-7) followed by two additional surgeries to correct the instability in my neck

a C-5-C-6 fusion (hip bone) and C-6-C-7 re-do as well as posterior wiring of my spine form C-5 thru C-7

i now have pathology at every cervical level as well as the top 2 thoracic levels

my chronic pain became acute pain about 6 months ago

i have gone through an intense 4 week pain management program and switched my meds

i had never taken an opiate for the past 20 years but now have introduced percoset

i no longer take neurontin or tegretol and heve replaced them with lyrica and ultram

i am still in tremendous pain and think my problem is in the "upper cervical" area...occipate thru C-4 which is not included in a cervical mri

my last mri (october)had pathology at every level but C-2 -C-3 had herniated disc,stenosis.severe facet involvement and on and on

i am a dentist who was forced to give up my profession

anyone out there with a similar story?

beanie

4/ 6/09 9:23am

karen lee....i don't know if my comments have been properly posted

so far i have not received one response to my situation...would love to!!!

i'm confused...and in pain

beanie

Karen Lee Richards, Health Guide

4/ 8/09 2:38pm

Hi beanie – I'm sorry you haven't received more comments yet. Your Sharepost and comments are posted just fine. Your post will be included in tomorrow's "Sharepost Roundup" newsletter, so hopefully more people will see it and comment then. I'd also like to encourage you to visit the forum link I gave you in my previous comment. There are some long-term chronic pain patients who frequent The Daily Grind group there and they would love to have you join them.

deborama2

4/ 9/09 3:34am

Hi Beanie. So Sorry you had to meet us all this way. I am one of the daily grinders as well. It is a remarkable group where you can say as little or as much as you want. We are all experiencing some pain in one form or another. Mine is a botched surgery and as a result I have nerve pain. I am a nurse in ER and haven't worked for a year.

Come on over to the grind and join us. We would love to hear from you and more about you.

Hope to chat more

Deborama.

beanie

4/13/09 5:30pm

deborama

i posted a comment today

please read and comment

thank you so much and i am looking forward to chatting about chronic pain

only a fellow sufferer can understand what a daily grind we perserver

beanie

Betty Boop Too

4/ 8/09 5:00pm

Hello Beanie

I can see you've really had a rough go around with your chronic pain. I'm so sorry that you had to give up your practice. It was a very tough decision for most of us to give up our occupations, buisnesses, etc.

I'm unfortunately a long term Chronic Pain Patient too. I would like to invite you to join us over in the forum area at the Daily Grind. We are just a group of painiacs who convese with each other, share our difficulties, our successes and have become a great source of friendship and support for one another. If your interested, just stop in to say Hello and as each one of us stop in for the day or evening, you'll get responses to your post.

I'm personally just coming out of another really bad pain & Fatigue flare, so I apologize for not saying more at this time. After I was in chronic spinal pain for a few years, I somehow acquired Fibromyalgia on top of Everything and it really fogs my mind up when I have flareups.

I hope to hear from you soon, it's a plesure to meet you and Welcome to the Chronic Pain Connection. We are all very happy that you found us.

Betty

Chuck Murray

4/ 8/09 11:57pm

Hi Beanie,

I saw your post and thought I'd drop you a line.

I hate that you had to give up your chosen profession because of your pain.

I had to give up working in 2006 and it's been one of the greatest struggles I've

had to deal with. I've had chronic pain so long that I don't really remember when

it started, I think I know but, i'm not sure. After 34 yrs in the work force it's been

tough. But, as my friend Betty said in an earlier post. Stop by the daily grind it's

been reaaly helpfull for me.

Chuck

MetalMom

4/ 9/09 10:50am

I am so sorry that you have had to deal with the constant pain. Sometimes our spines are just not stable.

I have had a C4,C5,C6 fusion, and a L4,L5, S1 fusion, and a separateL3,L4 fusion. Since our spines are meant to flex, any time one area is fused, it puts extra stress on the adjacent vertebrae, which can cause more problems. I find that if I turn my head too much or do anything that stresses my neck, that things will hurt more. I keep my head as straight as possible as I sleep, and limit my head movement to reduce the stress on that area. Driving a vehicle does increase the discomfort, due to having to turn my head so much. My lumbar spine was fused 10 years ago, and then 7 weeks ago another vertebrae had to be added to the 3 previously fused area. This time, when all is healed, I will not bend or twist as much as I had been.

I wish I knew an answer to the pain situation. I basically take Tylenol and live with whatever pain there is. (Have had spine pain for 44 years, following an auto accident that was supposedly only "soft tissue" damage.) My body won't tolerate oral opiate drugs, and after my recent surgery, we tried the Durogesic (Fentinyl) pain patch for 15 days, which did bring me some relief.

I hope you will find a way to deal with the remaining pain, and that your spine will not deteriorate further. Hang in there!

beanie

4/22/09 9:49am

i forgot that you had a C4 thru C6

i too had three fusions C-5-6 (twice) andC6-7 and then the whole area was wired posteriorly......

since the three surgeries done in 1990 i have been in chronic pain from cervical degeneration

my latest mri shows pathology from T-2 up to C-2 (herniated,ruptured,bulging discs...stenosis...facet problems)

i recently have been experiencing more "acute" pain and it is getting harder to deal

i also sleep on my back with very little head movement and look forward all day long

hope to hear from you

beanie

Carolyn

4/22/09 10:32am

I think what can be so difficult, is that on the "outside" we look normal, and no one (except for another spine compromised person) can really understand the pain that lies beneath. I don't think that even the spine specialists have a clue as to how painful a bad spine is.......they care, but can't "know" unless they have experienced it for themselves.

Sometimes seeing a new doctor can give some better solutions to the problems in the spine.If you have access to other spine specialists, it might be worth seeing them to see if there is more that can be done to help with your pain. Also, is there a chance that some of the pain is from some type of arthritis? I have bad Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis, and some of the pain I have is from that. My Rheumatologist is working on getting that pain level down.

It is so hard to just live with constant pain and immobilization, and I hope that you will find a way to manage. I keep having to find a "new normal" for myself, and find ways to accommodate the limitations.

beanie

4/22/09 2:58pm

you are soo right on the money about "looking good" (normal) while at the same time in such intense pain!!

you are probably one of the only people who can understand this...i always say i am living two seperate lives at the same time...one to the outside world and the other to what is really going on in my cervical spine....i feel like a magician evry day havig to pull out a new trick to get by

there is a great new book out there called "body broken" by lynne greenberg...i saw her on g.m.a and she really looked good and sounded good so when diane sawyers asked her if she was in pain right now she replied..."yes,intense burning and stabbing pain" i knew this person was living my life ....i tried to contact her but she never got back...go out and buy the book

thanks for writting back

beanie

dockside

4/13/09 10:48am

Hi Beanie,

I have been in severe daily nerve pain for 3 years now in the lumbar area. Although our spine pain differs in location I can completely relate to your loss of employment and enjoyment of life. I am sorry that I have been so slow at responding to your sharepost but I have been going through a bad period which makes it difficult for me to sit at the computer.

I am very glad that you found the Chronic Pain Connection. I think you will find everyone here very friendly and supportive. I am part of the Daily Grind group which is a small group of people who share their daily life experiences with each other. It sometimes takes a while to understand who has what problems but we all have spine problems and pain 24/7 of varying degrees each day. If you would like to join us, please write back to me or to BettyBoopToo and we will guide you through the maze of the different forum groups.

I found it very difficult at first to open up to complete strangers about my personal difficulties dealing with my condition but I thank God that I found the group. I have been living alone for a year and a half now, since my marriage failed and I can't imagine how I could have managed without the caring people at the Pain Connection.

I hope you will write to us again soon so we can help support you with your pain.

All the best,

Deb (dockside)

beanie

4/13/09 5:26pm

hi dockside

i'm glad someone responded to my post!

i learned to deal with chronic pain for many years and then all of a sudden i relapsed into an accute situation

i decided to be pro active and went through a 4 week intense pain management program of physical therapy,a little phsycology training and a switch to new meds....and off of some of the old ones

i then transitioned into a healtha nd fitness center at the same location as the p.m.program and go at least 4-5 days a week

my pain level is still at an 8 and rarely goes down to a 6 (and never below!!)

sooo...i take percoset now 3 times a day,lyrica 150 mg. b.i.d., tizanidine 4mg. b.i.d., and 100 mg ultram es slow release daily

i still consider myself in manageable acute pain (one level higher than chronic) but still majorly struggle through the day

the only real relieve i get is lying flat with my neck supported by a rock hard neck pillow and a heating pad

i am NOT depressed and still get enjoyment aout of life especially from my exceptionally understanding wife of 40 years, two wonderful daughters and their husbands and my FABULOUS grandson jonah.....2 years old and a new granddaughter due date june 23rd

it really sucks living with intense chronic pain 24/7 but i try never to give in to it and attempt to look good everyday and complete at least one "event" a day

please everyone write back and i really look forward to actively chatting on the daily grind!!

beanie

dockside

4/15/09 11:31am

Hi again Beanie,

I do hope you will join us at the Grind. Chuck our lone male at the moment might welcome very much another of the same sex. Do you know how to find our forum?

I hope today is a good day for you.

Deb (Dockside)

beanie

4/22/09 9:38am

hi dockside

i still am not sure how to join your forum...

i think i signed up, but never hear from anyone

you can find my "story" posted on this site and i am curious about other people in my situation

the daily grind is painful and takes everything out of me

i can't believe chuck is the only other male on your site

looking forward to chatting

beanie

4/22/09 9:38am

hi dockside

i still am not sure how to join your forum...

i think i signed up, but never hear from anyone

you can find my "story" posted on this site and i am curious about other people in my situation

the daily grind is painful and takes everything out of me

i can't believe chuck is the only other male on your site

looking forward to chatting

beanie

dockside

4/27/09 9:01am

Hi Beanie,

I am so sorry that I haven't replied earlier. It seems that I am having trouble managing all the different ways people communicate and all the different emails. lol

To get to the Grind forum you go to Blue Tab (Connect) if you are at the main menu of ChronicPainConnection. A drop down box will appear and you choose Chronic Pain Forums.

This will take you to a long list of different types of forums. Scroll down to near the bottom (before TMG Forums) until you see OFF TOPIC, click on the right hand side on the blue writing Daily Grind Support group.

This will bring you to the last entry (posting). You can scroll up or choose past pages to read earlier writings. If you want to say hi, you have to login (at the top) or chose reply. This is where you may have to create a different login id & password.

Every month a new "page" is created. What I do is set a new favourites conncection and just click on this instead of going through the above.

The group grows and shrinks as peoples needs change. At the moment, we are only 7 people. It is easier to keep up with everyone when the group is smaller.

I do hope you will find us and join in. Everyone is welcome and I love your positive outlook.

All the best,

Deb (dockside)

beanie

4/27/09 3:40pm

deb

some of your descriptions of dealing with "acute" chronic pain are so right on

i honestly do not think anyone BUT a fellow sufferer can even approach the hell we deal with daily...

i would take several straight hours of some relief...never happens

like i said i have become acute within the last 8 monthes or so and am on a proactive course (thus chatting on daily grind)

i am lucky that i have a very understanding wife and daughters...

i am particulrly interested in the two level existance

outward "you look so good" to the unbearable pain within

this is what is getting tougher and tougher...keeping that smile on my face

beanie

two decades

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