Chronic Pain members - Welcome, please introduce yourself

@toopie52 have you read The Way Out by Alan Gordon. I've have a horrible year and for the first time after adopting PRT I feel like I have some control and am starting to feel better. Yours may be all structural but from your description and your panic attacks/fright/flight, alot of your issues could be Neuroplastic related as it is a vicious cycle that keeps getting worse.

@badteeth I understand your feeling as you do. I am so sorry for all that pain. I pray you get some relief and comfort.

Hello, I'm Bj.
I had SI Joint fusion two days ago. The pain from the surgery is not bad but I have awful pain in my legs and arms. I scream when I sit down or get up. It's like all my muscles are on fire. Anyone else had this. I am taking hydrocodone every 6 hours and it's not helping. I'm new here, thank you so much. Yes, I did call the clinic but they have not responded yet.... it's Friday! 🙂

I am so sorry about these horrible side effects. Surgeon gave you pinched nerves. Keep calling. If not warned such possible effects get other doctors and a lawyer.

I am a 70 y/ o thyroid cancer survivor (onocytic ) 2+ years. I have arthritis in my left knee for many years due to having a broken femur from car accident many moons ago. That leg is shorter which has caused the arthritis. I also have rotator cuff issues and Achilles tendonosis,heel spurs and bursitis in right foot but that awful debilitating pain is mostly gone after getting PRP procedure. (A miricle) Unfortunately it didn’t help the knee pain. Knee pain is minimal except before precipitation. Right now we are waiting on a blizzard here in northeast, so my knee and calf pain is awful!! Probably should gave TKR but I have a busy work schedule and my house has many unavoidable stairs. There is one more procedure I will before surrendering to TKR It’s an injection but not synvisc. -something different but can’t remember by the name

@bjcobb I also recently had SI Joint surgery. I experienced pain in my arms as well. I attribute this to using a walker. Have you also been prescribed a muscle relaxant. I found that taking Flexeril first thing in morning and last thing at night along with my pain meds really helped. Force yourself to move around and walk with your walker about every hour as well. I was prescribed 1-2 Percocet 0.5 mg every four to six hours but called surgeon because I was no getting relief and he told me I could take three if needed. This was only for the 3 days post op. I am three weeks post op now and find the pain considerably diminished. Maybe once or twice a week i need to take 1 Percocet for pain. Hope this helps. This surgery has changed my life. No more throbbing pain all the time You will get there. Good luck

I am 75 years old, I had tkr of left Knee February 2 2023 and I continue to have tingling and burning! During surgery a nerve was severed and I have taken every type xray and gabapentin to no avail. I went to see a second opinion and ne had a hard time looking me in the face. He just brushed me off by giving me cortisone shot in the hip that did absolutely nothing. HELP anyone PLEASE??

@bjcobb Hello BJ, Marc here. I had a Lumbar Spinal Fusion done at L5-S1 about 3 months ago. Like you, I did not have major pain at the surgery site, but less than two weeks after the surgery I was getting the pain you describe as feeling on fire in my legs, from my hips to my ankles. This happened every evening, starting around 7pm and went all night. After four nights of this, I asked my wife to drive me to the ER to find out what I could do.

Long story short, I was prescribed Lyrica for my legs. My surgeon's PA wrote me a prescription for 75mg capsules to take three times a day. I took one capsule when I woke up, one around lunch, and the third about 6pm. This helped almost immediately, as the second night on the medication, I slept most of the night without the fire in my legs. A side-affect for me was actually sleeping better than I had in months.

Ask your doctor about Lyrica for your pain and see what they recommend. Good luck!

Hello everyone, Marc here, just signed up last week for this message board. I had Lumbar Spinal Fusion surgery at L5-S1 back in November, and my back pain was much less than I expected as I started my recovery. However, there is a second medical issue my doctors are still trying to figure out after the surgery did not get rid of all of my pain.

The muscles in my right flank/oblique area have been locked in a permanent spasm, and any physical activity, such as physical therapy exercises and stretches, causes these muscles to cramp, like having a calf cramp in your side. This has slowed my recovery down quite a bit, as I am not even driving yet 3 months after surgery, never mind exercising. I have a stick-shift vehicle, so using both legs continuously will create a risk of my right side locking up while I'm driving.

So, my wife has been driving me to my appointments, and I'm basically disabled at home, because I cannot do the simplest things around the house without having a lot of pain that the only relief for is laying on my back. I have very painfully sore heels from all of this laying in bed every day, and no one has any idea what is causing my muscles to permanently spasm.

Good luck, everyone!

I am an 80 year old male with a 12 year old constant throbing headache, recently diagnosed as a chronic migraine. it has previously been given several different diagnoses such as NDH, CRPS, Trigeminal Neurologia, Atypical Facial Pain, etc. Nothing seems to help it. I am currently giving myself monthly injections of Ajovy and one of my problems is I want to have relief immediately and I need to be more patient and give the meds more time to work. I have great hopes now and have promised my doctor that i'll not stop until she says to.
A new condition has come into play - just what i need - in that i have prostrate cancer and my prostrate was removed on Dec 23, just in time for Christmas. Now my PSA is close to zero. The cancer is not growing and i start radiation soon. I am optimistic for full recovery.
But for my headache, i'd fell pretty good. I have developed an number of self help things that help diminish the headache. (1) I use migraine caps (several purchased from Amazon) daily to relieve the pain. They stay in the freezer when i'm not wearing one. Problem is they stop helping when they warm up. (2) I have made some wooden sticks - pieces of wood shaped like a ruler that i use to put pressure on various places around my head, which seem to confuse the pain receptors and provide some relief when in use. (3) i am now using a CPAP machine which helps with the ability to sleep.
Any advice would be appreciated.