@nycmusic The thing that helped the most was the pain pump I had implanted in me. It changed my life for about six months. Unfortunately, I have a congenital defect in my spine that causes degeneration in it faster than normal, so pain from further degeneration began to override the pump's effectiveness. Mine has a mixture of Dilaudid, Baclofen and Bupivacaine (kind of like a local anesthetic), though it did not have the Bupivacaine in it during the time of my best relief. It was added to help my pain when it got worse again. As I am sure you know, Dilaudid is a narcotic. However, the dose is low, and very little of the pump's medication gets into the bloodstream, though a little does, so there are some side effects but far less than taking them orally. My dose on the Dilaudid is 0.9mg/day, and the pump delivers medication constantly throughout the day. Also, there are other, nonnarcotic medications that can be used. I looked at Prialt (ziconotide), which is made from a snail toxin and, I believe, is more like a nerve agent such as Gabapentin. However, the potential side effects, such as psychosis, scared me since I cant take, Lyrica, Cymbalta and Gabapentin due to side effects.

When the pain pump began working less and because my Dilaudid dose was at the upper end of microdosing (max 1.0mg/day) I made my second attempt with implanting a spinal cord stimulator, but this time using paddle electrodes instead of the inline variety. That has helped some. Between it and the pump, and with walking and PT exercises, I am doing OK compared to a few years ago, but still am quite restricted in my activity and still get significant pain almost daily.

I am happy to answer any questions.