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What Type of Doctor Diagnoses CRPS/Resource re: Treatment
Chronic Pain | Last Active: Dec 18, 2025 | Replies (19)Comment receiving replies
@tgbcolorado it must be awful. I have battled sciatica and severe back issues for over 20 years. I had a salon in a retirement community for 20 years and that only exacerbated the problem. I went out on disability at 63. Took 4 months on the first try with all the MRI'S and scans they had. I REFUSE to have surgery but right now I have mild neuropathy in the same places on both feet and thighs will get numb if I stand in one spot too long. It's hard to know what's back related and what's chemo related so right now I'm just rolling with the punches. I know I could not survive without my pain meds. I've been on hydrocodone for 20+ years. I can tell when I'm overdue for one, every 6 hours unless it's really bad then it's every 4, because the pain will start. I'll check and see that it's been 8 hours since last pill, no wonder. I am amazed you can go through this with no pain relief meds.
Replies to "@tgbcolorado it must be awful. I have battled sciatica and severe back issues for over 20..."
@carol1024
Hi Carol, I am sorry to hear about your pain and I wish I would of held off on surgery. The only way I control my pain is to do nothing but sit and work in a lounger or bed. I am considering the trial SCS because I HAVE to get moving, at least walk a couple of miles a day. I am so used to being active it depresses me. I have a wonderful partner, met him 3 years ago after being single living on my own. That was after a 25 year horrible marriage but two incredible kids who live close by and 3 grandchildren. That is what keep me going. I take 600mg Ibuprofen when I am going someplace, and were a back brace, usually a family function. Could not do it with my partner to hold on to. We all find our coping skills. Happy Holidays! tgb
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@carol1024
I am so sorry to hear that you have had to live with severe pain for the last 20 years.
I take motrin, once in a while. When my pain gets really bad, I sit on or sleep with a frozen ice pack. Most nights, I sleep by elevating my right leg on a tower of pillows, and I move a heating pad up and down that leg--from my hip to my foot.
When I am driving, I either stick a small, cylinder pillow behind my lower back or under my right thigh. When I go to the grocery store, I either use a cane or lean on a shopping cart; and when my sciatica is really bad, I wear a back brace and I bandage my right thigh. (Sometimes, I stick ice pads under the bandage and walk around with them pressed against my thigh.)
Hope you find something that works. I know that people take neurotin for chemo-related neuropathy.