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HUGE SPACEKABLOOIE posted:I've had 2 herniated discs, L4-L5 and L5-S1 for the last 8 years. I'm 28. It started as just some minor aches and pains that's just kept escalating. The worst part for me wasn't the pain itself, it was the fact that it was constantly there. After 6 years of constant 24/7 pain I tried to off myself. If I owned a gun I'd probably be dead right now. I'm 35 and have the same herniated discs/nerve pain. People don't understand that it's not *just* having pain, it's having pain that is never ending. It exhausts you and wears you down mentally. I've been to multiple doctors and had all of the same spinal treatments. The median branch block worked, I was pain-free for about 5 days. That's the last time I was pain free and that was almost 6 years ago. Because it was a workers comp case, I was at the mercy of insurance approval and they only approved it the one time. At the time, I was down to working 24 hours a week (because of the injury) and couldn't afford to get the injections if I had to pay for it myself. TENS units are a godsend. I go through 9 volt batteries like they are nothing. I take an unholy amount of ibuprofen,Tylenol,and naproxen each day. My current doctor is "nice" enough to prescribe tramadol for me...50mg, 3 times a day. After 4 years of being on the same dose, she won't up it or even consider something else. She says I'm too young to be dependent on pain meds and I really shouldn't be in as much pain as I claim I am. It takes 3 or 4 or sometimes 5 tramadol to get my pain into the "I can carry on a conversation without growling and/or screaming at people" level. Since I have to take multiple, I run out of my pills halfway through the month and then my life turns into a living hell again. My doctor also prescribed Flexeril, which does absolutely jack poo poo to alleviate anything other than my level of consciousness. I save that for nights when even laying down brings me to tears. There is a pain clinic at a local hospital but they only accept patients through referral. My doctor won't give me the referral because it's not through her choice hospital. So I've doctor shopped. Most docs at that hospital aren't accepting new Medicaid patients, but if I can pay cash they are willing to see me. I support myself and 2 children off of $10/hour, so I can't afford it. Former friends avoid me because of my pain-related mood swings. The same ones who pop Norco/Dilaudid/Oxy recreationally. It makes me want to bang my head on some railroad tracks while a train is speeding over them. If someone told me "There is a pill that will drop your pain level considerably enough to make you function normally but every pill would take 3 years off of your life", I'd beat them and steal the pills. The depression that pain brings, the isolation, the anxiety of going places because it hurts to much to move and the potential humiliation of crying in public because of the pain means I go to work and come home and that's about it. I passed nursing school with a 4.0 GPA but never took my boards because I knew that I'd never be able to handle the job (I'm a CNA who got moved to medical records because of the injury). Ugh! Edit: Everybody I know has suggested marijuana use to help. The problem with that is, every time a "random" drug test comes up at work, my name somehow manages to get called. I'm desperately afraid of coming up dirty and getting fired, because I know how hard it will be to find another job that I can halfway handle. Absolute Evil fucked around with this message at 01:28 on Jun 2, 2014 |
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Jun 2, 2014 01:26
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Low Carb Bread posted:
As for the ami/nortriptyline, I was on wellbutrin 400mg bid and my doctor said she wasn't comfortable having me on both at the same time. I'd tried almost every anti-depressant under the sun and wellbutrin was the only one that helped, while having the fewest negative side effects. She didn't say what interaction could happen and now that I look it up, I'm not seeing anything.
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Jun 7, 2014 01:34
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