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Pain Pill Addiction and Neuropathy - Looking for Guidance
Neuropathy | Last Active: Aug 24, 2020 | Replies (73)Comment receiving replies
Hello @mom29907, I would like to add my welcome to Connect along with @rwinney and others. I'm sorry to hear about your mother's struggle with pain from neuropathy and the withdrawal from the pain pills. I also have peripheral neuropathy but I only have numbness. I do take supplements which help me and seems to have slowed or stopped the progression of the neuropathy. I posted my story earlier on Connect here: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/anyone-here-dealing-with-peripheral-neuropathy/?pg=42#comment-65985
Has your mother tried getting a second opinion? Just wondering if there may be a better treatment plan at a different pain clinic. Mayo Clinic has a Pain Rehabilitation Center that might be helpful - https://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/pain-rehabilitation-center/overview
Here's the Pain Management Handbook from the website - https://www.mayoclinic.org/documents/mc1459-02-pdf/doc-20078829
@artscaping and @jimhd might have some suggestions for you. Thank you for being an advocate for your mothers health.
Replies to "Hello @mom29907, I would like to add my welcome to Connect along with @rwinney and others...."
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@mom29907, Good evening. It is with some reflective joy that I see Connect members jumping in to help you and your Mom. We are not medical experts who diagnose and prescribe. I am an enthusiastic advocate of shared decision making. This means you and your Mom and her PCP or other clinician need to sit down and have a chat about the most appropriate and beneficial treatments for her, given her age, past addictions, and current state of wellness. All of us have lived the life of a patient or as in your case, also a caregiver.
At this point in my life with SFN (small fiber neuropathy), I have chosen to use only medical cannabis for pain management. There is no threat of addiction. There is no need for tapering on and off medications. There are few side effects.....and lots of product choices. The dispensary staff can often help with product selection and appropriate dosages. Many of our members have found sleep to be easier and pain to be milder. I don't think there is anything that will take away the pain from this affliction 100%.
CBT or cognitive behavioral therapy has been known to provide emotional support. I have not experienced CBT and yet have seen it work with friends and family members.
Of amazing help is restorative yoga, to keep the muscles stretched in a healthy way, and mindful meditation, that lets us learn how to train ourselves to stay in the present. The past is gone, the future hasn't happened. Mindfully, we can learn to live for now and practice self-compassion.
What kinds of activities does your mother enjoy? Would she be a candidate for a pain management course like the one at Mayo Rochester?
https://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/pain-rehabilitation-center/overview
What else would you like to know about? What else would it be important to know about your mother? Be safe. Chris