Pain Management

[AD7N]

Lousy back!!! I had to go get a prescription filled and W5KUB called my name for the desk Ten Tec mic. Missed out again.
Burns are very bad. In 1988 I was in an explosion and spent 6 weeks in the hospital.

Rotate doctors til you find one that cures you. The ZED is a VERY lousy place for medical advice. Sure there might be suggestions, and venting is a good thing to do. But

You need a better doctor my friend.
Rotate til you find one locally that works.
Rotate through dozens of them til you get the best damn doctor available.
Fire your doctor
Settle only for the best.
You deserve it.

[K0RGR]

I suffered many years of torture thanks to my arthritic back, so I can relate. I had a different problem about 25 years ago that resulted in me being on high doses of prednisone and huge doses of NSAIDs for a very long time. In that time, I developed arthritis in a lot of places, but the NSAIDS kept the pain at bay. Eventually , a new doctor discovered I was buying ibuprofen by the case and determined that I was killing my kidneys, so they weaned me off them. Once the NSAIDs stopped, the pain really started.

Every morning was a little slice of Hell. I couldn't lay in bed for more than a couple hours without extreme pain, but it hurt so much to get up that I didn't want to. I went to several doctors and they all basically told me that if I found a solution to let them know because they had the same issue. Chiropractic did help, and still does, but not enough. Osteopaths are the best if you can find one.

Well, disaster eventually struck, and I ended up confined to a bed for several months. I expected the pain from my back to be unbearable, but something amazing happened. I found that I could sleep comfortably in a hospital bed with the head and feet raised just fine. I had tried sleeping sitting up in a recliner, and that didn't work at all. But the adjustable hospital bed worked amazingly well. It wasn't a cushy bed at all - in fact it was pretty stiff. But just raising my head and shoulders shifted enough weight off my spine to eliminate the back pain.

My wife inherited some money, and among the things she bought was a new adjustable bed for us with acrylic (NOT memory) foam mattresses. We have both slept like babies ever since.

When I travel, I put one or two big pillows under the head of the bed - that usually works for a night or two, anyway. In extreme cases, I've been known to sleep in the reclining bucket seat in the pickup truck, but that's not nearly as comfortable as a decent bed.

You might try making a big change to your sleep position and see if that doesn't help. If not, I recommend Celebrex if you're not worried about potential side effects - it's by far the best arthritis medication I ever tried, but I wouldn't stay on it for any longer than necessary. You can rent a hospital bed to try it out much cheaper than buying one initially. I've seen adjustable beds on sale for a small fraction of what we paid, too.

[WB2WIK]

I see the only nationally ranked hospital near you for this kind of work is one in Houston which ranks #17 in the country (not bad!): http://health.usnews.com/best-hospit...spital-6741960

Have you gone there?

[W5WPL]

I see the only nationally ranked hospital near you for this kind of work is one in Houston which ranks #17 in the country (not bad!): http://health.usnews.com/best-hospit...spital-6741960

Have you gone there?

Yes. And Methodist is where I am having my gastric bypass. I was also there in 1988 after being burned. When the burn unit in Indiana found out that was where I wanted to be transferred, they said great hospital and put me on an airplane 3 weeks after my explosion and sent me home.

[WB2WIK]

Well, it's ranked pretty well and should be a good place (never been there).

For neurosurgery, #1 ranked in the country is Johns-Hopkins in MD. I don't know Johns or Hopkins, but they have a good reputation.

[W5WPL]

Sorry for dumping on yall. After a few soma pills today, I'm able to at lest get out of a chair without screaming bloody murder.
I now return you to your normal nonsense.

[N1EN]

My XYL has a chronic pain condition from brain damage she suffered in a car accident. Basically, for the past 10 years, she's lived with a constant, frequently migraine-like headache, and random jolts of pain elsewhere.

Pain sucks. And, when actual relief isn't available, understanding what's happening, and being able to vent about are important aspects of coping.

One thing to ask about, depending on your condition, is neurostimulation. There's a lot of experimental work going on with the use of electrical impulses applied in different places to manage pain and treat other conditions. My wife actually has an implant in her skull that seems to do a good job at knocking her pain level down a notch or two, and in alleviating the cognitive and memory issues she had from the brain injury. We've met a few other people in the area for whom the stims have had miraculous results.

Re the 1-10 scale: my wife hates those. She'll give answers like, "today I'm a 6; before the accident I would have called it a 9; he" (point to me) "would think it's a 30-35."

[N6MEJ]

Rotate doctors til you find one that cures you. The ZED is a VERY lousy place for medical advice. Sure there might be suggestions, and venting is a good thing to do. But

You need a better doctor my friend.
Rotate til you find one locally that works.
Rotate through dozens of them til you get the best damn doctor available.
Fire your doctor
Settle only for the best.
You deserve it.

The very best advice on this thread thus far.

[W0AAT]

I have had back issues for years. In 2006 it finally put me on the disabled list. Had a laminectomy in 2009, that sort of helped for a year then the pain came screaming back. I have degenerative disc disease, all kinds of bone spurs and the back of my spine is calcifying between the vertabrae. Constant pain, not much sleep. My pain doc tried to do a neurostimulator trial implant and couldn't get the electrodes through the calcification. Now talking about just doing the implant with no trial and hope it helps. Lyricanhels a little, narcotics 4 times a day sorta dull it down. Overdid yesterday so I canbarely move today. Still need to live and get stuff done!

[N4BBQ]

Heavy doses of Narcotices 6 times a day since 1979 when a car struck me on an accident secene I was working ran over me and dragged me 190' under it

You're lucky to be still kicking after all that. Geez.