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Chronic Pain members - Welcome, please introduce yourself

Chronic Pain | Last Active: 2 hours ago | Replies (7075)

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@77montecarlo

My name is Monica and I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in 2007, have had C5-6, C3-4, and January 2023 had C5-7 fusion with 3-4 hardware removal.

Have also had L4-5, L3-4, and then 4-5 revision. My right ankle is fused to my leg bone (which required revision 14 months after original surgery). My gallbladder and most of my female parts are gone (1999 and 2009).

I have been on every pain medication over the past 20 years for Fibro maintenance and surgery recovery.

I welcome the opportunity to get to know people and information here. I will help others as I can.

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Replies to "My name is Monica and I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in 2007, have had C5-6, C3-4,..."

Sorry for the suffering you're enduring. I've had two spinal decompression surgeries - a drop in the bucket.

I have CIDP, with burning pain in my feet and ankles and have tried more medications than I can remember. You and @kathleenega have more than your share.

Amitriptyline helped my facial pain, and it seems to have cleared up. In 2017 I had a spinal cord stimulator implant for the neuropathy, and it was wonderful!! 80% relief! For the first year. From there it slowly lost its effectiveness and after 4 years, it was and continues to be hard to tell if it's helping at all. But I leave it turned on for whatever relief it does give.

Kathleen, have you had a sleep study? I had one years ago and when I got my CPAP machine I averaged 12+ hours of sleep per day the first month. I was very much sleep deprived. I've always used a full face mask, over my nose and mouth, because I've been a mouth breather all my life - that is until I had a deviated septum corrected. All of a sudden I could breathe through my nose. What a difference! But I still breathe through my mouth at night, so a nasal cushion is useless. I'm usually claustrophobic, and thought there was no way I'd be able to tolerate the mask, but I surprised myself. I guess my need for sleep trumped claustrophobia.

It seems that I've heard that spinal cord stimulators sometimes treats fibromyalgia. Maybe I'm remembering incorrectly. Lyrica was the first medication that actually helped my pain, but I ended up in the hospital with a reaction to it. Bummer.

My siblings have had multiple back surgeries and except for the decompressions, I seem to have dodged the family bullet. The decompressions were a direct result of a fall that caused compression fractures in the same areas.

So many medical conditions need research breakthroughs. And the day may come when it's our turn.

Jim