come on now can neerve pain ever be controlled

Hi Kimmy

I suffer from nerve pain too. I got nerve damage in my left leg and now I'm getting the pain in my other leg. I am in pain all the time despite being on tramacet, amitriptyline, pregabalin and paroxetine. I go to a pain clinic but they haven't been able to do anything. I've got the option of amputation but I've been advised that it won't stop the pain. To answer your question, in my case, it hasn't been controlled. But we have to keep on going...there's always hope!

Chris

First off I am not sure exactly where your pain is located or what diagnosis you have been given. You did mention that a pain pump has been considered, and that is an option. I lived with back pain for several years and after my first surgery I was worse off than before. That led me to become very depressed and unable to function in simple daily activities due to the intense pain. I went through several Nerve Root Injections, with no success. I was told another surgery was not an option due to the build up of scar tissue. After about 2 years of this they finally decided to implant a neurostimulator in my lower back. I has made a world of differene in the pain I was havin in my legs. I can not get up and function in most everyday functions. I still have some pain in my lower pain in my back but I go in every few months for Nerve Root Injectios to address specific pain areas. In closing I would note that everyone is different , but for me this has helped me to be able to engage in life again, I will always have some degree of pain but now I can manage it alot easier. Search the web and become informed on options available and then go in to your doctor and see what might work for you. Good luck!

Yes, see your Dr.,

All I wanted to do was die, found out I had Peripheral Neuropathy, I take a combanation of Lyrica, Morphine and Hydrocodone, this is not good but i,m not in bed 24/7 and I can walk to the bathroom reather then crawl,

Find a pain Dr., you may need to see 2  or 3 of them, make sure your Dr. and the pain Dr. work togeather. 

Kimmy,

First let me say how sorry I am that you are in constant pain. I suffer from RSD/CRPS which is nerve pain caused by the Sympathetic Nerve System.

You may be making your nerve pain worse with the  ice packs. Ice is a definite no-no for me. I would discuss the use of ice with your doctor immediately. You may have better luck with the application of heat, which increases the bloodflow to the area and works to promote healing.

This is what Dr. Hooshmand and RSD expert has to say about the use of ice. It is a very reasonable argument and could apply to your case, since I do not know what is causing your nerve pain. 

"Puzzle 102 - Ice vs Heat

...On the other hand repetitive application of ice freezes and coagulates the myelin (fatty tissue insulating large nerve fibers) exactly like ice freezes and solidifies melted butter. As the ice freezes the large nerve fibers, causing freeze damage to the myelinated nerves, the patient develops sensory loss and pain due to permanent damage to the large sensory nerve fibers. This aggravates the RSD by adding sensory nerve pain of non-sympathetic origin to the initial thermal sensory pain of sympathetic origin

As a result, Ice provides total anesthesia and relief of pain for several minutes the same way as the hand becomes numb being exposed to snowballs in the winter. However, a few hours after the cessation of ice exposure, the pain recurs with vengeance due to reactive enlargement of blood vessels after the constriction of blood vessels due to exposure to ice.

This phenomenon causes excellent relief of pain with ice treatment followed by not only aggravation of pain, but damage to the nerve fibers adding sympathetic independent pain (SIP) to the original sympathetic mediated pain (SMP)."

http://www.rsdrx.com/rsdpuz4.0/001.htm

As the person above stated, I also suffer from RSD and ice is my worst enemy - so I would first suggest trying heat packs. I take a combination of Opana ER (morphine derivitive -time release), Norco (hydrocodone), Elavil (generic low dose at night only for pain reasons and for sedative help), and Topamax (generic also only for pain reasons). It took 6 years to come up with this combo and it may be that these drugs will need to be changed soon or the dosages upped but I have some quality to my life at least. I have some days where nothing really helps because bad weather, too much activity the day before, and who knows what can have an effect but I also have days where I can puch my pain down to a 4 out of 10. Considering that I used to tell the doctor that my pain was a 12 on a scale of 1 to 10, that's not bad.  I also had some luck with lumbar sympathetic blocks (injections done either with local or general anesthic on out patient basis). I had 3 series of 6 injections over the course of 2 years before the effects stopped working but while they were working the effects were almost euphoric. You need to find a good Pain Management Doctor. They are up on the latest drug combos and treatments for pain and they can make a big difference in the quality of your life. I went from not wanting to live anymore to having hope. I now feel that maybe some day anything is possible...

hello Kimmy, first and formost get yourself a good pain management Doctor and be expliced on how bad your pain is and it is ruening your life.

I am doing alot better since my pain  Management Doctor and i tried a few combinations untill we came up with this last one "Moreaphine,Gabapentin and a muscle relaxer 3 times a day and a Avinza 60mg twice a day. One way i can tell this is realy helping and thats when i forget to take my meds befor i was watching the clock.

I tried ice packs and heat but neither one helped so the only time i'm useing heat now is when i drive my van it has those electrical heated seats so i'll flip the switch over to get some heat on my back.

Good Luck and i'll see you in the forums

My advise is to find the best, youngest doctor as you will probablly not be able to change doctors once the pump is implanted as other doctors won't touch previously implanted patients...i've had several problems with mine & my girl friend has a post on this site - here's a summary:

I had  a failed l4-l5 fusion w/ hardware, surgery never helped w/ lower back pain or sciatica in left leg.  Took every prescription over 2 years; duragesic patches worked best 75 mg but had problems passing out w/ Texas Heat.  Did medtronics pain pump, significant relief w/ morphine.  Had pump implanted in 2004 and had great success but as I was adjusting up they increased concentration from 5% to 10% began to experience minor  nausea.  Dr. put lioresal (baclofen) for nausea - helped a great deal at first.  Then dr. forgot to put in on 1 refill; I had major nausea for 3 months until the pump was refilled & never missed the lioresal with the Morphine.  However at 7mg Morphine nausea started all day long...morning, night, noon w/ no relationship to eating - could eat but had nausea afterwords.  Had personal physician of 10 yrs do full workup, did every test & advised problem must be pump - Dr. replaced Morphine & Lioresal with Dilaudid - had major drug reaction, couldn't eat, lost 40 lbs in 2 weeks, bladder stopped, loss of bowels, fever & was hospitalized & pump refilled w/ saline drip for 2 weeks - presc. 30 - 120 mg Morphine daily until pump was refilled with Morphine only .05 mg daily at 10% concentration.   Was bedridden, increased pump 20% every week until 2 mg & went back to work - still major pain with sitting, driving, bending & no sleep; had to leave my job & been in major pain ever since w/ increased pain.  I'm upset I was not advised by my dr. that my specific pump was under FDA Level 1 recall (especially since I had problems w/ it over 2 years & constantly inquired about the condition of the pump & excessive adjustments increase the risk of pump failure) and second I  had a MRI to rule out cathadar problems - Dr. told me everything was just fine - no problems - When I go pick up copy of MRI for second opinion I discover there is a Lipoma of the Filiume over l4-l5 and I was never even told.  Dr. first advised wait 1 yr & f/u; then flopped & wanted to refer me out to another dr. asap for possible surgery - However Workers' Comp claims it is not related to the surgery????  I have spoke w/ Medtronics extensively & they advise my specific pump is not approved for Dilaudid, Lioresal or any other drug not Preservative Free - which I suspect could be a cause to my current problems.   Dr. prescribed neurotin & I started experiencing major tooth pain from jaw to top of head - worst pain ever - dentist diagnosed as trigeminale...Discovered site below on drug interactions & find several major drug reactions with past drug prescriptions - neurotin & morphine specifically.  Don't know about the possible relationship but I stopped neurotin & have not had trigeminale since.  So now, I have major lower back pain, difficulty sitting, riding, urinating/bowels after sitting and/or riding, major problems walking, very painfull; feel like something crunchy is in lower back and feels like walking on ice barefoot...very quick walk on toes.  I'm no drug addict, don't drink and used to enjoy life.  Now I can understand why some people become addicted to drugs, become alcoholics or even take their own life.  I'm very stearn on my philosophy on the Choice to Live or Die - I have a standing DNR; I love my Daughter & 4 yr old Grand Daughter but this is not living, it's a burden on others.  I Pray this 2nd dr. will help; it's a shame I have a pump and my dr. only wants to reduce & take out to avoid his liability - insurance company was told pump was not under recall when I personally verified by serial # w/ Medtronics and the FDA website - link below - beware serial numbers listed in batches & not by numerical order - so if your searching go thru the entire site to search for your serial number.  If my story helps only 1 person; then it's been worth the most horrrible pain I'm in now after 2 days of no sleep and constant yelling & screaming - help, help, help, help - desire to go to emergency room asap but they cannot help me with my problem.  I have to find out what is causing the problem rather than just treating the symtoms.

Thanks for reading my story and if you can offer any help or insite; please I would greatly appreciate you taking the time to send me an e-mail or refer me to someone who could help either with the medical, legal or ssi disab. or workers' comp problems associated with my case.  If you need a friend or just someone to listen...I'm almost bedridden for most of the day and have 10 years of going thru the process of Agressive pain mgmt, ruptured disc, failed surgery, major pain, prescription problems, pain pump problems & now dr. wanting to take pump out & discontinue treatement...after 10 years of treatment. 

If, by controlled, you mean get rid of it, then NO, it can't.  Not even with the pump.  I can tell you from experience it can be controlled as in it can be made to be as little an effect on your life as possible.  It sounds like you have not seen a pain specialist.  Please do.  They can help you decide how best to control your pain and stop it controlling you.  You'll have to see one anyway to get a pain pump so why not start now?

I can only speak for myself and what I've been through.  I tried the trial spinal cord stimulator and it did not work for me.  To date I haven't found anything that works on the nerve ittself.  I have a TENS unit I use on my back for the muscle spasms and that gives some relief but only to the muscles.  I have nerve damage from the hip down in my left leg and the knee down in the rigt leg.  I have been going through this for almost 7 years now.   I have been through every kind of therapy know to man and have taken numerous pain medications, many of which I am still on.  They tell me there is nothing left out there for me but to try to manage my pain as best they can with different combinations of pills.  I also have fibromyalgia which is basically a "side effect" of the chronic pain which only amplifies the whole situation.  All I know to tell you is to not give up.  The ice packs will help, and try to get your hands on a TENS unit.  It will give some relief to the muscle spasms.  If you can stand it try to find a licensed Massage Therapist, ones whose gone to school for at least two years and ask them if they are an intuitive.   If they look at you funny, walk away!  Some times they can help.  I hope this helps.  Keep your chin up and know that you are not alone!

Kimmy,

 I know too well about the ice packs,, i sleep with them constantly on my back, and during the day, i wear stick on heat pads on my lower back, Kimmy, have you ever tried Neurontin? I was just perscribed it, because, cymbaltal and savella,, omg, it was horribleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, the rheumatologist feels that i dont need to be using the fentanyl patch , or the hydromorphone, i asked him to try neurontin because i was on it one time before, years ago, and my pain level was extremely low, I was just diagnosed in september,and there is no way in h-ll am i going to try any new medications that just came out

 take care Kimmy, have a low pain day, linda