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Chronic Pain, alternative Treatment

Chronic Pain | Last Active: Jun 23, 2023 | Replies (178)

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@ctpaul

That's tricky in the sense that almost all pain relief products that I know of cause some drowsiness. I know several people (my girlfriend of 25 years, my younger brother, a cousin) who have suffered both acute and chronic pain from car accidents.
My brother was struck by a car while he was crossing the street, back in 1990. My girlfriend struck a telephone pole and rolled her car over. Three days later I got a call from the local hospital. My cousin - because of family problems - became a serious alcoholic. After 40 years of daily drinking, he was in constant pain from an inflamed liver and pancreas.

My girlfriend copes by going to a methadone clinic 6 days a week. They would have given her bottles of methadone to take home so that she only had to attend the clinic 1 day a week, but somehow cocaine shows up every time they drug test her. (It is a really sad relationship but after 25 years together I can't simply lock her out.)
My brother was getting prescribed opiates (OxyContin) for about 10 years but then the tide began to turn and his doctor decided to cover his ass by demanding urine tests once a month. When Mark consistently had his urine tainted by crack cocaine his doctor said: "Goodbye". Mark signed up with a methadone clinic but he gave them the same dirty urines, so he was forced to go 6 days a week to the nearest clinic, which was an hour away from where he lived. He had some money and began buying dope. In August 2019 joggers in a local park saw a car behind some bushes. When they investigated they found my brother with a syringe still in his arm. His last bag of dope was heroin plus fentanyl.

My cousin had started snorting dope around 2005. In the morning of 2008 the secretary for the family's real estate office called me. She told me to get to the office immediately. I lived only a block away so I got there just as the police were showing up. Anthony was dead on the floor of the office, his head sitting in a pool of blood. After the coroner had Anthony's body taken away I was allowed to scrub the floor clean. I could not let his father come in and see the blood. I suspect that last bag of dope had fentanyl mixed in, but I never found out for sure.
These 3 people probably could have stayed on prescription opiates if they stayed away from cocaine.

Anyway, due to my having no cartilage in either knee, there are days that I too, am in what I call "screaming pain". I don't want to use any form of CBD during the day - sometimes when using it - I see colors on the white walls and ceilings. It was fun during the 1960s and early 70s, but nowadays it is more annoying than anything else. So my CBD use is entirely after 6pm.

There are days tho, when I need to get some work done, and I have to self-medicate. My girlfriend keeps some extra methadone in the refrigerator for those times. So I do have some experience with it, and I can tell you that methadone works.

I have to be honest with you and say that, again in my opinion, most of the people on methadone could kick their habit in 1 week. Physically that is. Emotionally and mentally they have problems that keep them going back for more. While fighting the scourge of rampant opioid addiction, the State run methadone maintenace programs have become the largest dope dealers in the United States.

There is another form of relief from pain, which I have been reading about for 10 years or more. These are the TENS units. I don't have any first-hand knowledge of them, but there must be something to it for them to be on the OTC market for so long.

The following comes from: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323632

A transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) unit is a battery-operated device that some people use to treat pain.

TENS units work by delivering small electrical impulses through electrodes that have adhesive pads to attach them to a person’s skin.

These electrical impulses flood the nervous system, reducing its ability to transmit pain signals to the spinal cord and brain.

The same electrical impulses also stimulate the body to produce natural pain relievers called endorphins.

(In this article, learn more about the uses of a TENS machine and the research on its effectiveness.)
TENS units may help treat the following symptoms:

period pain
labor pain
postoperative pain
joint pain
neck and back pain
They may also alleviate pain that results from the following conditions:

endometriosis
arthritis
sports injuries
multiple sclerosis
fibromyalgia
painful diabetic neuropathy
spinal cord injury

Best of all they seem relatively inexpensive. Amazon has several of them on it's website.
Best wishes to you.

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Replies to "That's tricky in the sense that almost all pain relief products that I know of cause..."

@ctpaul I have 3 TENS units that I used to wear around the clock and they really do help with nerve pain. My sister however could not use them because they were too painful for her because I think of her fibromyalgia.
Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder that if I apply any pressure to my skin I can break out in blisters so using the TENS units became unbearably painful. Socks can cause me to have a reaction and if I let it go for too long I have to go on a high dose prednisone taper, which I am on again now and my body doesn't like steroids. For some reason, steroids do not help with any of my nerve pain (or any other pain for that matter).
I am so sorry to hear of all the tragedy in your life. You seem like you are a fighter but still compassionate to stick by the side of your girlfriend.
Thanks for the recommendation. Do you buy Delta 9 THC CBD in a gummy form?