Chronic Pain members - Welcome, please introduce yourself

Hi Finny, Thank you your very kind. But, no there isn't any that Im aware of. I looked on Google. They're in Florida, Ohio, etc. not anywhere near me. Ive been in so much pain it can become unbearable at times. People really cant understand how horrific it is to live in chronic pain w/o proper pain relief. Its barbaric. But, Im unable to do anything about that. As the DEA & such have threatened Drs over kids taking these same medications to get high on & overdose. In one fell swoop they took a fishnet & didnt take care to think about how this would affect the chronically ill that live/ exist on pain beyond explanation. Even thise with years worth of medical paper trails & tests! Sad yet true, thats what they did & what it created was worse than before they did it as a solution to stop kids from overdosing. The death toll doubled. Well, sorry I get angry over the suffering that should not exist! God Bless you! 🙏🏻😇

I can't find your original post. Where are you spasms at? God Bless.

I feel for both of you. I’ve been out of work on medical leave since January. I’ve been teaching for 20 years. I miss my students. Best of luck to you all.
Kat

hi,
'Down Under', sitting onbedge of bed, base of spine sore last few days, last night it is excruciating. So bad it was agony sotti g on couch and even worse standing. NEVER had this before! I do have arthritis just about everywhere, get sciatica, usually right but sometimes both last few months. Lower back been bad for decades, old injury thoracic, both shoulders rotator cuff, right still bad, happened in my sleep. Use pain killers as a last resort, so they still work if I need them (just codiene and paracetamol combo pill), valium rarely for anxiety events, or try to get muscles to relax, but not often, just one 5mg pill. But I've had to sit forward on couch all night, now sitting on side of bed scared to lie down in case the coccyx area pain gets worse. So bad I feel exhausted and can't stand it. Don't know what has happened? Somehow caught a disc? If I lean forward now (sitting up straight at moment) it really spikes, so... just don't know, local hospital are mostly idiots ( learnt caring for my dear mum, who finally passed Oct '21, gruelling process for her and me, Alzheimer disease, dreadful, on my ownbyrying to console her about the hallucinations etc, we shared since 2002, mum was 99 years, 9 months 9 days when she passed. Anyway, sorry for rambling on... I looked at a lot of post headings and I feel like a pathetic whinger in comparisonbto what many others are cooing with. I hope you all find relief and peace. As for me, this is the worst place for my spine to act up... sittingbup is hard, lounging back impossible as it is agonising. Don't know what to do? Pills not working, it's like I've been stabbed at base of spine... so, going to try to lie down on my side...see what happens... cheers and thanks if you lasted this long.

Hi, I am Tom from Canada and here is my introduction note about myself.
(I am aware that my medical problems cover more than on Support Group, but my chronic and severe pain is the most important issue for me):
I am 75 years old, and suffer from severe hemophilia (0% factor VIII) that is controlled by 2,000 units of Xyntha daily (no inhibitor). All my major joints, in particular my hip joints are damaged because of previous bleedings, I cannot walk or even stand up, and at home I use ceiling lift.
The pain in both hips has started to be unbearable around middle of 2020, and it has been increasing at fast rate. My pain management doctor was prescribing first Tylenol, then various types of Codeine, and most recently for each 24h, a single long lasting 10 mcg morphine, supplemented by 1-4G of Tylenol and 1-2 pills of 5mcg morphine.
The first CT scan report at the end of 2017 stated:
Severe OA changes in the bilateral hips with bone-on-bone eburnation and bony remodelling of the femoral head more featured on the right side,
The second X-ray report at the end of 2022 stated:
bilateral advanced hip osteoarthritis secondary to long-standing hemophilic arthropathy, a severe bilateral hip flexion contractures of at least 60 degrees. Both hips are severely arthritic and there is very severe osteoporosis involving the proximal femoral. We feel that it would be not in his best interest to proceed with a total hip arthroplasty. He does not ambulate but does transfer. He asked me if it would be easier to transfer following a resection arthroplasty. However, resection arthroplasty would result in superior migration of the femur and relative shortening of his already weak hip abductors. We do not really know if he would be able to stand to transfer after this type of the procedure. We do know that 85% of patients who have a resection arthroplasty or Girdlestone procedure are able to walk quite well. I did make it clear to them that I do not have an answer for them and the goal of surgery would be strictly pain relief. Obviously the ability to transfer remains very important in order to avoid a mechanical lift.
The latest X-ray report stated:
grossly comparable appearance of the severe bilateral hip OA characterized by extensive remodelling of the acetabula and femoral heads as well as subchondral sclerosis and subchondral cystic change. No acute fracture. Moderate degenerative change at the bilateral Si joints. The pelvic inlet is intact.
I believe that a Girdlestone procedure may relieve me from the pain but after that procedure I might not be able to sit and consequently I will be bound to the bed, which is not acceptable for me.

Currently I sit only for several hours during the day, and I am able to do almost nothing, and require full support of another person. Therefore I have been trying to find a specialist who could determine whether there is any kind of surgical procedure (eg. remove a part of the joint or the bone causing the pain) that would alleviate my pain and allow me to sit during the day and move in my wheelchair.
Unfortunately, in Canada the health system is 2-tier, with most specialists who work within no-pay tier do not accept patients who present the plethora of problems as I do, and if it happens, a typical wait time is 1.5-2 years. Other specialists who charge a large sum for the surgery focus on more healthy patients so that they mostly have successful results.
Please fell free at ask questions if you have any. I am looking forward to any suggestion...

@bloom3309 here: I have pain from spine and shoulder replacement. My question to the group is, has anyone found some improvement in your pain when adding prednisone (or other corticosteroid) to your other pain meds? Nothing ever whacks it down to zero, but I can get it from a 9 rating to a 5 by adding some cort to my tramadol/Aleve or hydrocodone regimen. It makes sleep easier.

God Bless You. I have arthritis in my upper spine with inflammation in the connective tissues around the area. This goes into muscle spasms which Flexeril helps with greatly. If I wake up with intense spine pain, I am going to have a migraine. There is a great connection no doubt. I have been in agony with this at times. I will be seeing a rhuematologist and another specialist in May. Hopefully, I will get some answers. Heat packs, Voltaren Gel, Epsom Salt soaks help at times, but, not always. The weather plays a big part in mine. I pray you get relief and some help.

P.S. Yes, prednisone taper helps greatly with pain, but, I don't want to be taking it on a daily basis due to the side effects. Have you tried injections in your spine? I have not and that will be up for discussion when I see specialist.

@covidstinks2023
Keep on keepin' on! 💪🏽

Have you tried pain patches? You can get them over the counter with lidocaine in them OR you can get the stronger ones from your doctor. I have not tried them yet, so stay tuned.....God Bless You!