Thank lin19 for your help. I will look into the group for Alzheimer's. I'm<br />
so sorry for your loss. I lost my dad to heart disease, he had heart<br />
surgery and never recovered. That was 15 years ago and I said miss him, he<br />
was my best friend. I have a sister-in-law with fibromyalgia and see how<br />
she suffers from pain and depression. When I was diagnosed with Lupus my<br />
Doctor gave me a lot of information to study and my husband and call to<br />
study, fibromyalgia is a cousin to lupus. They don't understand these<br />
diseases, they are called diseases because there is no known cures for it.<br />
Know they do have better treatment and it's no longer a death sentence as<br />
long as you take care of yourself and keep a positive attitude. It's a hard<br />
disease to find, you almost have to be in a flair up for it to be found.<br />
Thank you for posting me back and have a blessed day.<br />
<br />
salena<br />

HI in regards to worrying about using opposes there's is nothing wrong with<br />
going to a pain specialist and doing what you have to in order to get them.<br />
They are the best Dr to go to because they are going to make sure you are<br />
taking it safely. Overdosing and dieing from drinking or using other<br />
drugs will lead to death. A pain specialist will keep you from dieing. I<br />
think that's more important than keeping your Dr.<br />

One statistic no one follows is the number of chronic pain sufferers who have committed suicide because of inability to get opiods. It has been increasing. Even pain specialists are reluctant to prescribe ongoing opiods. I tried MJ but it was difficult to control dosage.
I'm a former chemical dependence counselor, educator and executive director. I know the dangers and never exceed dosage. If I become addicted, so what. I've been in constant pain since 1985.

If it keeps getting harder to get our necessary medications more of us will commit suicide. DEA really stuck it to us because they weren't making enough MJ arrests.

The group my doctor works with has set a 100mg limit. I had to cut my morphine sulfate contin in half. I hope they don't lower it any more, because it's already not enough.

I used to be concerned about my brother getting addicted to his pain medications. He has chronic back pain and has had lumbar surgery. Now that I have had outpatient lumbar surgery and am facing another major lumbar surgery with rods and screws involved, I understand what he was going through for years. I too was recently assigned a pain doctor (October, 2016) and am on pain medication. Right now I am taking Baclofen, 10 mg x3; Tramadol 40 mg x4; and just added Gabapentin, 300 mg x2 daily. I decided that it doesn't matter if I become addicted /dependant on the medications since my doctor said this will probably continue for the rest of my life.

I have have taken Oxycodone, 5 mg x4 previously for a short time, but it didn't seem to touch my pain. The pain doctor changed me to Tramadol, but I am beginning to have lots of breakthrough pain now, so I decided to try a topical pain reliever. I chose Capsaicin 1.5% due to a sample being sprayed on my hand at a store. I have used the rub for 3 days now, twice a day, and remarkably, it is working on the pain running down my right leg, to my knee, then to my ankle and toes. I have had constant pain in my knee and thigh in particular, and the Capasacin works great on it. It doesn't work on the deep pain when I try to go up steps or put any pressure on my leg. However, for what it does work on, I have tremendous relief from the constant excruciating pain I was experiencing. I can hardly believe no doctors have recommended trying this form of relief before.

Anyway, my point here was to say that I'm not worried about addiction anymore. I'm 68 years old and need some pain relief! My grandmother would really have appreciated it since she went from 5'7" to 4'11" after she broke her back. This was in the 1950's so I'm sure she never had meds and she must have endured dramatic back pain. In fact, after she broke her hip in 1966, they put in a pin to hold it together. In about 1985, the pin had worked its way through her muscle and skin and was poking outside before she reported it to her doctor. They did her first hip replacement at that point. I can't believe how much pain she must have been in with no medication!

There's a stronger Capzasin, higher strength. I have tried it, with not much effect. It was suggested by my pain doctor. Lidocaine does numb the neuropathy pain enough to get to sleep. The doctor mentioned a Capzasin treatment that's done monthly, I think, in the office. If the OTC helps, maybe this other treatment would give you even more relief.

Jim

So where and how does one get these? Especially the lidocaine topical.
And if they can be purchased online or OTC, what strengths do they come in?
Thanks!

Baclafen is a good muscle relaxer, gabapentin is a fair pain reliever for me. I'm on much higher dosage than you. I've had 17 neck and back surgeries from 1975 to 2 this
past year.

I found tramadol to be unuseful for me. I had terrible side effects. I'm unable to get morphine I need so I take extra strength acetaminophen with the Baclafen and Gabapenten. This reduces the pain but doesn't fully take it away.

I use meditation and relaxation techniques to help with the meds. I developed fibromyalgia and autonomic peripheral neuropathy as results of the trauma of the surgeries injuries and broken back and neck. I fell several times in the past year resulting in ruptured discs and two broken necks.

@nanke99 I bought extra strength Capzasin at WalMart and onlline, which is cheaper. Lidocaine 5% cream is rx and very expensive.

Jim