Re-Post: What are Your Favorite Anecdotes for Chronic Pain?

@loriesco Thank you. Yes, I am aware of the two ways of deadening the nerve. I have also heard of Intrasept ablation, which seems superior to the old RFA procedures. I do plan to ask my pain management person about all of this when the time comes. Thankfully I believe I have a good person to perform these procedures. He did his residency at Yale and then an additional fellowship in anesthesiology (and whatever) at Cleveland Clinic, which I'm told is useful for doctors who do these minimally invasive procedures.

Appreciate your help.

@loriesco Around two months ago I switched from taking hydrocodone with acetaminophen to oxycontin (I understand that's pure oxycodone) Controlled Release, along with some Percocet (the combination of oxycodone with acetaminophen). Correct me if I'm wrong about these distinctions, because I can't follow your pink and white pill references. The oxycontin 15 mg was grey and the oxycontin 10 mg is white. The other pills were always white. When I made this switched to the controlled release (CR or ER) is when I think I started having worse stomach problems.

I had thought that was a good idea because the oxycontin was controlled release and would get me through 12 hours instead of 6, and I couldn't get hydrocodone controlled release because it wasn't being manufactured at the time.

I am lactose intolerant and often gluten intolerant as well. Based on your suggestion I am going to immediately make the switch to taking Percocet twice a day to see if that makes a difference. If it does I'm throwing away the damn oxycontin.

Thank you so much for your input. You would think my doctor could have clued me in.......

@loriesco

Thanks for telling us about the difference between heat and pulse RFA. George's physical medicine/pain management group never gave us that information.

George's wife

@jackiet make sure you’ve seen an orthopedic surgeon for your lumbar spine. They take a simple x-ray and a good orthopedic surgeon will tell you if your discs are falling out of place. I had an amazingly successful lumbar surgery with all the bells and whistles. Unfortunately, everybody waited too long to get me to the orthopedic surgeon. After 20 years, my discs fell completely out, the bones grafted together and it squished the life out of the exiting nerve roots so they couldn’t regenerate after surgery. People put an Oogie boogie on surgery, but if they wait too long and they don’t have a good orthopedic surgeon they may not be able to fully heal.

@loriesco Oh dear. I understand and empathize what happened to you. But guess what? I will be 90 years old in April. Think I had better to stick to the minimally invasive stuff. I didn't experience difficulty in standing and walking until about 3 years ago. In March 2023 I was still walking around all over Paris. Can't do that any more. But am blessed for being able to do it for so long.

@jackiet

Sorry you have so much discomfort, and best of luck with your upcoming procedure.

Since you are exploring RFA, have you read the posts by others who have tried that? Some people don't experience much relief with that while others do. It didn't work for my husband, who suffers from lower back pain even after two spinal fusion surgeries. (He can't take oral opiods, so he uses pain strips that I place under his tongue. He also tried prescription pain medication administered through patches but he didn't like the patches.)

Sendidng you prayers,
'George's Wife

@jackiet the OxyContin is a time release pill (your gray one). I take the Percocet 10 mg which is part Tylenol. I’ve taken that for years without any trouble. But then two years ago there was a shortage so I was switched to the oxycodone 10 mg – the pink pill KVT brand it was fine but then there was a shortage on that and they switched me to a white pill different brand and I had trouble. I looked up the lactose and definitely there is more lactose in the OxyContin time released one like 70 mg compared to 44. And the pink one there’s no listing to see. There’s something called Roxycodone - that is the one without lactose. I haven’t tried it. It’s an oral suspension and maybe I should look into that. I generally take a half a pill every four hours and later in the day or at night I can stop and switch to Tylenol. But like I said, taking lactose pills, kind of solves a problem and the pharmacist told me to take it with food and not on an empty stomach. I had my genetic testing done and I inherited my lactose intolerance from both parents. It’s in my DNA from both sides. Not only that, but I seem to have a casein intolerance as well. Sometimes I will buy lactose free cheese and I’ll still get a stomachache. That’s when I learned that I was casein intolerant. I’m very good about eating a clean diet and when I get a stomach ache it’s usually some medication that doesn’t agree with me and they put lactose in it. Good luck!

@jackiet

Congratulations! What a remarkable achievement--reaching 86 and still being able to walk around Paris at that age! ...and it's amazing you know how to use a computer and navigate the internet. (Most of my friends in their 80s are completely tech-challenged and many can't even use a cell phone.) What is your secret?

Here's to you:

P.S. George has been in utter misery all day due to lower back pain, depression and anxiety. (He is 83 and has mixed dementia.) The only thing that make him smile is when I play French marches (like the one in the above link) for him. He taught French history at a university, was fluent in French and lived in Paris twice for several years at a time.

It seems this post took a turn somewhere. You were asking about coping mechanisms. Empathy and Humor work best for me. If I’m trying to diffuse a situation I find humor is a great equalizer. Many compliments on 20 years of CRPS and still finding humor there. Empathy is the big one. If chronic pain teaches us anything, it’s empathy for our fellow sufferers. The irony for me, my wife that can no longer deal with my chronic pain is divorcing me for being a narcissist. One that is totally devoid of empathy in any way.