How do you cope with the pain?

Dealing with the pain is something that is so hard for us to do daily, but I have started taking turmeric 1000 mg a day and that has helped, I no longer do the oxy or hydro codeine tablets, I hated that when they started wearing off my pain got 100% worse, so I got off of them. NOW if I do any it is 1/8 of a tablet every two hours, the whole pill makes me mentally unstable so I cut them in half then cut in half again and do it again and then only take 1/8th of a tab. But the turmeric helped greatly. Also not eating foods that cause inflammation.

@debec
I take Kratom for the pain. It doesn't take much to help.
Long term use can damage the liver same as Oxy can but if you're hurting, you need to be able to turn to something for help.
Kratom is a leaf that's dried crushed into a powder.
Mix it with water or juice. Never purchase from a gas station but instead a reputable company online such as Kingdom Kratom.

@cgrove9 Thanks! Yes, I saw the news reports about Kratom from gas stations. Thank you for the information, so appreciated.

@barbarav1 I cannot imagine...

I have a congenital defect in my spine, misshapen vertebrae, been thru 15 back surgeries, quite a few steroid shots, opiates, the nerve agents, acupuncture, etc. I recently tried placental tissue matrix injections in both sides of my SI joint (where the spine connects to the pelvis) which, thanks to two fusions and being fused L3-S1, was giving me pain. The injections were the first thing that have me relief. It wore off in six weeks and I just had my second injections. Unlike steroids, you can have as many as you want and they are regenerative in nature. Like stem cells. I am told that the placenta tissue is ethically harvested from the placenta from live born babies with the mothers’ consent. The drawback is Medicare does not cover the medication, which, of course, is expensive, but Medicare will cover the procedure, go figure. You may try investigating those. They are given by my pain doc, so that may be another drawback for you.

@jcoleary When I did my clinicals in OB many years ago we obtained permission from mothers to freeze the placentas for various usage. All ethical. I have never heard of this but I would sure like to find a doctor who did this.

@cgrove9 I have Kratom but can find no one who will tell me what dosage to use. They just say try it out and see. As a registered nurse, that seems risky to me. I have Kratom that I bought from a very good vendor. No junk from gas stations. But even they will not suggest usage. I would much rather use that than the opiates. How did you figure out what dosage to use if you feel comfortable telling me? Thanks.

@joycelen Are you a doctor or a nurse? I was an EMT-Intermediate and worked ambulances in Colorado and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. My doctor is in Houston, and his name is Brian Mendoza Bruel. He is a nice guy and knows his stuff but the office staff is horrible. They don’t answer the phone, don’t listen to messages, don’t call back for days and one “medical assistant” did not know what an NSAID was, in a pain clinic! I stick with him because I have a pain pump, and it is hard to find docs who deal with them. You might try Googling for a doc in your area who does the injections. My research seems to indicate that it is not a rare procedure.

I've had two major back surgeries.I am fused from l2 down through S1. I've done really well for the first three years.And now, this past year, i've had pain and numbness in one leg. I've had 2 MRI 2 EMG in 2 steroid injections. Still, no one can tell me what is causing the pain. Gabapentin doesn't really help. Now I am being told the only option I have is a spinal cord stimulator. Does anyone have an experience with that?

@tkopkau there is a group here called Spine Health that incudes comments on SCS.