My wife suffers from chronic pain due to a couple of botched spinal surgeries along with both psoriatic and rheumatoid arthritis. The new doc here that she found doesn't like the fact she's on so much pain medication and is farming her out to a pain clinic. He said she's on "toxic" doses. Funny, her lab work was all normal. She's going to find another doctor. I won't repeat what she said here about this one. After all, this is not an X-rated forum! LOL Anyway, I know what chronic pain is all about and the lackadasical attitudes of doctors amazes me. The could care less and think it's all in your head. Every one of those bastards needs to experience the same things for at least 3 months or so. Maybe their attitudes would change then. Until then, as Unc said, "Good Luck."

 

I grew up with a friend who became a doctor (gastro). He said sometimes he has patients that are obviously there for no other reason than to get refills on their pain medicines; they DO have legitimate needs and are in pain to some degree. Others are new patients with chronic gastro issues that are very painful; the patients already know their diagnoses -- they just want someone to give them an oxy script.

He knows they are in pain, and as a doctor, he tries to act accordingly but sometimes the patients are ridiculous and he either says yes or no based on experience.
_________
I am NOT saying in any way, shape, or form that Rhea is not in pain; that is an indisputable fact. The question now is pain management.

Knowing the levels of the meds she is taking, he seems concerned--probably about long term liver damage. But he also realizes that he is not the appropriate medical professional to treat her -- so he is referring her to pain management specialists who are experts at managing this level of chronic pain.

I don't know what went on at the appt and it is none of my business. The point I'm trying to make is that, in the heat of the moment, the passion one has for finding comfort from excruciating pane can turn to rage simply because you expect outcome A but you get outcome B. So B can't possibly be right.

If he denied her refills on meds her body is physically dependent on, that's ver medically irresponsible. However if he lowers the dose for what he considers safety reasons, then you can't really fight him on that one. Does it suck? Absolutely. And I am sorry to know that as I type, she is in even more pain.

But he did refer her to pain management specialists. There may be a silver lining here, in that she may find alternate pain management strategies which were not in practice when the operations began and the chronic pain set in.

Hopefully the short term added suffering will be replaced by a comprehensive pain management regimen, developed and managed by specialists who do nothing else but that.

 

So, an update on my leg...

I've been exercising as often as I get a chance(a couple miles on a bicycle, with average speed targets), and I have found the pain to be receding... That's not to discount the fact that I now have a stool to sit on at work when my leg hurts... The numbness is still present for the first couple hours, but I can still push past it... I'm currently un-medicated, taking nothing at all, not even ibuprofen... The pain occasionally reaches 7 on the scale, but more frequently remains between not noticeable and about a 5... I still limp some, but I am plenty mobile enough to function at work...

I'm still concerned about the numbness/weakness that occasionally flares up though... Eventually going to get it sorted out, but other things going on at the moment unfortunately have to take precedent...

 

So, I've got an update on my current condition... I had an MRI about six weeks ago, and got the results... I've got a herniated disc in the lumbar region of my back, which is causing the pain/numbness in my leg... The neurologist said it would most likely require surgery to correct, and prescribed me some medication to help in the meantime... He also gave me a shot in my back(cortisone I assume) to hopefully relieve the pain a little...

Now, for the hard part of figuring out what do do from here...

 

I am just going to make a short answer here to this. Obviously I have not taken the time at the moment to read the whole thread, but based on your last posting I was standing in your shoes about 30 years ago and the option to exactly the same diagnosis was have a back operation or get worse slowly.
And it took me about 3 min. to decide that a back operation restored some form of having a decent life and I had it and do not regret the decision. Nothing is perfect and no solution restores the fact that yesterdays are gone and perfect medical condition will not be reached, but the back operation fixes the immediate problem and you get to live with results of the fact stuff does not work well and won't, but it will work better and longer with the back operation than with out it.
Good luck
And by the way, I still hurt but not as bad and I am still doing things I want to do up to a point and I can and by the way have lived with that.

 

Glad to hear they finally figured it out. I also suggest the surgery...my dads life is much better now that he got a surgery that actually corrected his problem

 

Best of luck!!! Sounded like nerve/cartiledge damage. You might even wan't to consult a chiropractor. Get an spinal allignment. A little tweak here, a little tweak there might do the trick. Bad posture over time kills the nerves and cartelidge because its possible a majority of your life something may have been out of whack. Hope its simple and you can go back to doing what you do. Meds do suck... I've been on Zoloft and a Valium mix whick nearly killed me... Now I'm all good on Venfelaxine, xanax and Mertazepine. Happiest and most productive I've ever been. Sleep is much improved without the A.M. fog and anxiety either. Best of luck!!!

 

Among the verbiage of the last post by Derf is some excellent and very serious comments that are not only well stated but obviously well said. And they should be paid very close attention to!
Wow!
Some serious stuff. Thanks Derf, those comments apply not only to this case but any case where discomfort and pain exist and may lead down this path.

 

Lol. My primary care gave the Zoloft valium coctail! I was like a zombie. 30 mg a day!!! I have ptsd and major depressive disorder. The xanex is crap, I agree so I barely ever take it unless the anxiety really kicks up. I was on Zoloft for about 3 month's and it did absolutely nothing for me. When I was on Zoloft and valium I was extremely unsteady on my feet. I'm an avid boxer and it killed my stamina and my game. Getting back in the ring this Wednesday for the first time since August. Got a different doctor and the combination of effexor xr and Remeron, known in the psychology world as "California rocket fuel" has been perfect without using any xanex. My opinion...and,everyone is different Valium is waaay worse than xanex. But this could be due to the dosage I was given. Don't want to go into to much more detail or steal a thread. I also agree that right now is not the time for chiropractor to do any alignment but they do have electric pulse devices that will relax the muscles in the affected area (once cleared by a specialist). Hope all is well everyone!!!

 

Bones,

Has the steroid injection helped?
How about the other med?