Meanwhile, a cancer patient was put on 5ml morphine (stomach, pancreas, etc. ate up, terminal) and the dosage was not adjusted for over one year. That physician got a slap on the wrist.
Personally, so far, my response to the pain is extreme hard labor - splitting wood, clearing land, digging a root cellar, non stop as fast as I can (steady) for as long as I can - endorphin level. My ‘dope’ is the primo stuff Big Pharma tries to copy. Mine is more pure, delivers on demand and has fewer side effects. Fewer, not ‘no’. Milk Thistle and Saw Palmetto help the liver and kidneys break down the harsh toxic waste created.
It’s working pretty well so far but one of the keys to success is identical to the use of pharmaceuticals as well as homeopathic remedies. In each case there is a race of sorts to break the pain spasm pain cycle as early as possible. This is why after injury your physician prescribes you take pain meds every 4 to 6 hours, whether you are especially painful or not. PspP cycle exacerbates inflammation (ie: pain, redness, swelling and heat). While inflammation is extremely useful initially, over time it impedes healing or a return to comfort.
When it comes to individual’s bodies, perceptions, and choices regarding themselves, I prefer each and every person enjoy the liberty of a sovereign. The only moccasins that fit my feet are mine and mine alone as are yours, yours alone. Walk or run in them as you will, that is your concern. I personally know people that could not face the day without large quantities of heavy opiates or barbiturates, they function quite normally from their wheelchairs. One having broken his neck over 25 years ago would no doubt die if he were to stop his doctor ordered drugs but if the script were taken away, he would prefer that than face the full pain of neuralgia over 90% of his body… Just sayin.
Goodness me this was a long time ago :) I have since had two surgical procedures for my TN and am on no pain killers, but there are times, only a few a month, where only morphine will help. And that's fine, won't get any sort of tolerance from that. I have my bottle of pills, it lasted from April to October. I found doctors, after moving districts, here are more helpful. Here we do not have the range of narcotics available that there are in the US. In saying that I did have a patient earlier this year who was taking 60mg oxycodone regularly. My eyebrows nearly shot off my head when I saw that on her drug chart. Her GP should not have let it get to that point, and on a drug a lot stronger than morphine. There is a fine balance between duty of care relieving pain and duty of care to minimize the risk of harm.
In September 2011, I started having pain in my neck. Once I got past my PCP to an orthopedist, I was given Percocet. In order to function without too much of a high, I took 1/2 of a 5-325 pill 6 times a day. I had a double discectomy & fusion in late January 2012. Immediately after surgery I was on half of a 10-325 several times a day and after about a month went back to half of a 5-325. I continued to take this dosage until about December 2012 when my pain finally went away. After that Alleve worked well. Everybody warned me about addiction, but once the pain went away, I had no trouble stopping the opiod. No sweats, nausea, etc.
In June 2015, I began to have pain down my arm and started another round of Percocet at the same dose as before. It works -- I have a herniated disc at C4. So it's constantly in my system. I am still able to think, work, and enjoy my life (although no alcohol, but I'm not a drinker anyway). And then the trigeminal neuralgia flared again (first flare-up was July 2014 and it took about a year to diagnose it properly). In the ER for a bad reaction to an anti-convulsant, the ER doc gave me Dilaudid. Knocked me out for a couple days until I got all the anti-convulsant out of my system but didn't get rid of the pain). ER doc said she didn't know what else to give me other than Neurontin. I tried the Neurontin but quickly developed a allergic rash.
I see a pain management doctor to obtain the opioid regularly. They will only give me enough for a month at a time. I must go to an appointment for a new Rx. I can't say that it works on the TN pain in my face very well. It works on the pain I feel in my neck and down my arm. What REALLY works on the TN pain is Elavil (amitritalyine). I only take 10 mg every night. I can often FEEL the TN TRYING hard to get me, but it is tolerable with the help of Elavil. And I have stopped crying because I hurt. So the benefits are two-fold.
For the worst days, when my eye feels like it's in a vice, Imitrex (migraine medication -- sumatriptan) saves me. I try to take as little as possible. I start with a half a dose; if that doesn't work I take the second half.
I'm looking forward to another appt w/ my neurosurgeon so I can discuss the possibility of occiptal neuralgia, which I learned about from this site. Thank you all so much for all the sharing of information. I am optimistic for myself, and I hope each one of us finds the solutions that we need. The biggest obstacle for me is being judged by others. I'm not a lunatic; I hurt. I have found the medicines that, for now, help me. I thank God every day for modern medicine! And now I thank Him for those on this site who are so willing to share to help others!
Awesome! I’m so glad your surgery was successful. You mentioned having a steady dose in your system constantly. Keeping that base level meets your pain as opposed to chasing it. It only makes sense that it requires a lower dose to combat P#2 or P#3 than to combat P#7 or higher. I would think if someone was lucky enough to be able to rely on opiates for breakthrough P, they’d want to take a low dose at the first inkling of an attack.
CindyLou said:
In September 2011, I started having pain in my neck. Once I got past my PCP to an orthopedist, I was given Percocet. In order to function without too much of a high, I took 1/2 of a 5-325 pill 6 times a day. I had a double discectomy & fusion in late January 2012. Immediately after surgery I was on half of a 10-325 several times a day and after about a month went back to half of a 5-325. I continued to take this dosage until about December 2012 when my pain finally went away. After that Alleve worked well. Everybody warned me about addiction, but once the pain went away, I had no trouble stopping the opiod. No sweats, nausea, etc.
In June 2015, I began to have pain down my arm and started another round of Percocet at the same dose as before. It works – I have a herniated disc at C4. So it’s constantly in my system. I am still able to think, work, and enjoy my life (although no alcohol, but I’m not a drinker anyway). And then the trigeminal neuralgia flared again (first flare-up was July 2014 and it took about a year to diagnose it properly). In the ER for a bad reaction to an anti-convulsant, the ER doc gave me Dilaudid. Knocked me out for a couple days until I got all the anti-convulsant out of my system but didn’t get rid of the pain). ER doc said she didn’t know what else to give me other than Neurontin. I tried the Neurontin but quickly developed a allergic rash.
I see a pain management doctor to obtain the opioid regularly. They will only give me enough for a month at a time. I must go to an appointment for a new Rx. I can’t say that it works on the TN pain in my face very well. It works on the pain I feel in my neck and down my arm. What REALLY works on the TN pain is Elavil (amitritalyine). I only take 10 mg every night. I can often FEEL the TN TRYING hard to get me, but it is tolerable with the help of Elavil. And I have stopped crying because I hurt. So the benefits are two-fold.
For the worst days, when my eye feels like it’s in a vice, Imitrex (migraine medication – sumatriptan) saves me. I try to take as little as possible. I start with a half a dose; if that doesn’t work I take the second half.
I’m looking forward to another appt w/ my neurosurgeon so I can discuss the possibility of occiptal neuralgia, which I learned about from this site. Thank you all so much for all the sharing of information. I am optimistic for myself, and I hope each one of us finds the solutions that we need. The biggest obstacle for me is being judged by others. I’m not a lunatic; I hurt. I have found the medicines that, for now, help me. I thank God every day for modern medicine! And now I thank Him for those on this site who are so willing to share to help others!
Some good point have been brought up. Obviously NEVER and absolute. I might offer a bit of explanation as to what is going on. The docs professional groups In the USA) have essentially admitted they do NOT know how to use Narcos except in acute situations. Its not surprise that 90% of world supply of Hydrocodone and nearly 60% od all narcos are used in the US as a result.
Just about every state has adopted prescribing limits for all but pain management specialists. They limit everyone else to 160 (it varies by state) morphine units per patient per year. Not wanting to deny those in need, higher amounts than that have got to be managed by a board certified pain management specialist. The governments ONLY involvement in all of this is(and again it varies by state) to establish as a part of the electronic records system a registry for narco scripts to prevent doctor shopping.
Its a tough change for folks who have been working with a doc for years. Ultimatley it will result in BETTER pain control for all. There have been more advances in the past 5 year than previous 105. I'll be the first to admit we STILL have a long ways to go.
I expect some hate back for this post but here goes. I think if a person feels drugs are the answer, they should be able to go to the drug store, show ID that they are legal age and purchase what ever they want + tax. The drug should be labeled with the purity content. If some thug steals that customer’s purchase, they should be able to call the police for help in recouping their losses. ALL, every last penny of the tax money should then go to health care!
I am on an opiate as part of my "cocktail" of drugs. I agree that opiates are given for lots of conditions. I also believe that some people just get addicted to things much easier than others. I cut myself down after all the addiction scare and had no problem. So many pain clinics have been closed some people will have problems finding the drug. My GP prescribes with the consult of my neurologist. Good Luck.
Have come to terms with the possibility of using pharmapoison but still fence sitting. Good to know there are still physicians out there that believe quality over quantity.