Pain meds

[taichi]

I am neeeding more pain meds to function. I am on 350mg of trammadol. I tried a low dose of loratab and my body rejected it. I was going to get off of the trammadol and try the loratab. My nl does not treat the chronic pain, so my gp said he would. Then after the reaction with loratab he doesn't know what direction to go to.
do you think I would better off with more experience pain mangement. I am at a loss. And getting off one med and starting another seems to be a challenge. Thank you for any help. I hope I have explained my self.

Barbara

[gunflint]

What do you mean by reject? A lot of people get an upset stomach from Lortabs at first. I know that I wouldn't do very well without it. Good luck.

[taichi]

I have problems with the muscles in my chest. The loratab made me short of breath, It seems most of thhe meds I try to take has the same affect. I tried to change dexilant to a less expensive drug for hital hernia. It was prevacid and had acute shortness of breath. I also tried Sevella and,several others. My Nl said it was the disease. Thank you for the reply.

[gunflint]

I do know that hydrocodone can slow your heat rate. I wish you well in finding relief.

[wendi]

You may have to go to Pain mgt and you will have to try and try one drug after another to see what your body can take since you have that problem as most if not many of the narcotics cause breathing problems. A pain mgt Dr that is good will work with you till you both get it right. But, there may not be one out there I'm sad to say since you have a rare problem. There are some new drugs on the market that are not supposed to cause respitory distress.

[razzle]

is your tramadol time release where you take it once a day ... if it is you might want to get reg tramadol , I take 2 50s 4 times a day

[marymac]

The only way I can get pain relief is to go to Pain Management once a month, for $150, then find a pharmacy that will fill them, which is sometimes like a scavenger hunt, then pay for them which is another bunch of $$$. My GP is not allowed to prescribe those meds. Has anybody else noticed Obamacare won't work for us??? The will accept me and my monthly money, but they won't cover anything related to the pre-existing for a year or more. What DOESN'T start or stop in the spinal cord???
So by the time I pay the doctor, and the meds, no way can I afford a monthly health care cost that does nothing. It is absolutely ridiculous. Anybody else in this position?

[taichi]

I tried the time release 300mg plus one 50mg of trammadol.
the time rerlease did not work. Now I'm on the rergular trammadol 50mg, 2 tablets 3xDAILY AND THEN i ADD ONE MORE 50. I tried 400 mg and I had a mini siezure during the night. Now I am going to half the lortab and just add it the trammadol and see if I can increase the lortab. If this does not work I may try the 400mg of trammadol again.
at this point I am just not ready for pain management.But I may have to get ready. Not any thing is easy with this disease. I appreciate everyones input.
this site helps so much since there is no way what so ever to describe this disease to any one.
again thanks

[June]

Why are you not ready for pain management? Sounds like you are REALLY ready. There is a much better chance that a pain management doctor could help you find a medicine that would help you. I hope you can get some relief somewhere. Good luck.

[birdlover3]

In my area most doctors will not write long term pain medications. I've been blessed with a good local PM doctor. I've had a couple of nurses that didn't understand about CM and SM causing so much pain, but thankfully they are no longer there.

I tried the time released tramadol & it did not work as well as the regular tramadol. Plus the cost of it was very high.

Years ago a NL put me on a med that was normally made for people with epilepsy. It caused me problems breathing & I feel for you. Are you able to take any vitamins and minerals? If so, Graybo and others here can help you find a few that will help some of your symptoms. If you use vitamins, please let your doctor's office know. Before my CM was activated, I'd have migraines due to sinus infections & hormones. I tried several prescriptions for migraines until I read about using chelated calcium and magnesium for migraines. It was a miracle for me. After that, I've tried finding safe, natural ways for anything my family or I have. We still have to use prescription meds, but we use less of them.

Good luck & may God ease your pain.

[taichi]

thank you, I know this has been discussed but I need to know about nerve blocks and steroid injections in your back. I am finally going to have my nl make me appointment. Is there anything I need to know what not to allow. My sm is total length of spine; I am 60 and very sensitive to drugs.I am on 350 of tramadol . I tried lortab and could not tolerate it.
what I want as many of you is to have little pain as possible and be able to function at some level. My limits now going to one store and get one item and home again to rest. My bed is becoming to be a comfort zone and that is not good.
I thank you always and know you may have difficulty in understanding what I am putting across.
Barbara

[razzle]

I am 62 and also sensitive to a lot . I take 2 50s tramadol 4 times aday and Keppra twice a day. Keppra is used for pain but also a seizure meds so maybe that's why I don't have seizure but never really did . I had jerks of the arms . they keppra stopped the jerks...

[birdlover3]

Have you started a new post asking about nerve blocks and steroid injections in your back? If not, you may want to. Hopefully someone with a large syrinx will be able to help you more. My syrinx is very small. Since the nerve blocks only help me a short time, I have some of the facet joint nerves in my spine cauterized.

Have you been to physical therapy yet? If not I wanted to let you know that my physical therapists knew about Chiari with syrinx. They told me I could do stretches that I could not feel in my spine or neck. Of course, you’re supposed to do NO STRAINING & you’re not supposed to pick up anything heavy.

I hope you find a doctor that is knowledgeable about a syrinx or one that will learn about it. Good luck & God bless

(Rox, I hate it when my shoulder jerks.)

[Jerry80871852]

Back several years back i was offered nerve block, steroid shots in my neck, but I refused, I don't want nothing such as that till last resort, its not that I'm scared o it, I just do not want to use it until its absolutely necessary.

I tried trammadol many years ago, it did nothing for me. i did take hydrocodone back in my posing days on here in the mid 2000's. But when I went on disability I left behind my insurance, so being as I was a veteran I started using the VA. When your on disability, that was in 2002, its next to impossible to pay for a health insurance policy, an the VA has worked out much better than medicare. No its not perfect, but its has not been bad either.

They offered me the nerve blocks or shots in the neck. For several years I've been on Methadone, & it has worked pretty good, along with Amitriptyline. I have had a few steroid shots, but not in the spine. They do help very much with my neck, which stays sore most of the time. But all of a sudden my sugar level was up. Since them I've had only one, & I had it only when it was quite bad. Generally with a steroid shot relief comes in less than 24 hours, & last several days. yet with them elevating my blood sugar, I want to stay away from them as much as possible.

Oh, I'm 66 heading to 67 come December. I've had two neck surgeries, one was a fusion for a rupture disc, the other was surgery for a protuding disc, in 2001 I found out I had Chiari, & here is the findings on the MRI I had in late 2001.

1. Post anterior cervcal fusion changes C4,C5,C6
2. Chiar 1 malformation with herniation of the cerebellar tonsils though the foramen magnum. In addition, there is a high-riding odontoid and combination of these finding causes focal mass effect on the base of the brain stem and medulla
3. Dis desiccation and posterior broad-base bulge of C3-4, effacing the anterior sac, causing mild to moderate central canal stenosis.

After this I had a Myelogram which showed bone spurs on C-6, which is behind the titanium plate & screws from when I had the fusion in Feb. 1999.

So far I’ve had no more surgeries since Feb. 2000, & I’m not much worse now than I was them.

And if I had surgery in 2001, it probably would have led to 3 surgeries, & one thing I've notices is when you have many surgeries on your neck, them there’s trouble form all the scar tissue. My NS said, “I can’t promise you it will help you, it may, it may not, & the problem is if we do one surgery, it will probably lead to 2 more, being as you have so many problems in your neck. Yet if we wind up having to do three, that in itself is enough to cause you even more troubles than you presently have, But I will do as you wish.” I thought about it, & chose no surgery at that time, to wait & see, & if it got much worse, go back to the NS & perhaps them things will show up better, tell what’s giving me the most trouble, them go from there. And I have no regrets.

I happen to come by tonight & look though a few topics & came across this one, & paused long enough to make this post, for whatever it might be worth.

[passmass]

I was on duragesic (Fentyl) patches for about 8 years worked well but I sweat a lot and affects effectiveness. Went from every 72 hrs to every 48 hrs and different mcgs.
A month ago I dropped the patches and started taking Avinza 30mg (time release morphine), Just went to 60 mg.
Working well for me I am not on rollercoaster from sweating patches off. I take hydrocodone for breakthrough pain.
Something new that helped me.
Passmass