Chronic Pain members - Welcome, please introduce yourself

Jeri, i can relate to your degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis and scoliosis as I have all 3 myself. I just had outpatient spinal surgery and am still dealing with my L4 herniation which means my right lumbar region is in pain even with pain medication. I have the most pain at night which makes it hard to sleep. I will be waiting to hear more about your situation. I am 68 years old. Gail B

Thank you, Justin. I am not sure how to get to those discussions. I'm sorry. I am not technical at all. I depend a lot on my daughter. Any help is deeply appreciated.

@timmckinney

Suffer is a good word to apply to peripheral neuropathy pain. My feet hurt all the time, with a baseline of 3. Walking very far moves it to 5 or 6. Then, when I sit down and recline, the pain goes to 8, with awful burning that would have me in tears if I were one to cry at all. I had to postpone getting a spinal cord stimulator implant until April because my wife is in New Hampshire, to be with our daughter, who's having her first baby any day now. She won't be back home until April 5. One more month to go, and no guarantee that it will help. I don't know what I'll do if it doesn't work. I've taken about as much as I can. One good thing is that I finally got an appointment for next Monday with a therapist. I hope he's a good one. I did find one I really like, but he's an hour away. Obviously, the morphine sulfate contin, Cymbalta, Meloxicam, Clonazepam and Oxycodone aren't doing the job. The local hospital and clinic have imposed a 100mg max for opiates, and I can't go any higher than I am. I'm considering Marijuana, but if I do that, they will stop my opiates, even though it's legal here in Oregon. Prayer does work, I know, but so far I'm still on the miracle waiting list.

Jim

@janie56

To get Justin's attention, try entering his whole name, which is @JustinMcClanahan.

I'm 66, and understand how challenging it can be to navigate in online groups. Keep trying. You'll get it.

Jim

Thank you so much Jim.

@gailb Thank you for responding. Recently they have thrown an autoimmune disease into the mix but they can't quite identify which one. They have apparently ruled out Lupus or so they say. I take strong pain meds but there are days they barely take the edge off. My balance is pathetic and I fall more than anyone should. The scoliosis makes my balance worse, of course. I am 75.

@janie56, you have done nothing wrong, so no need to apologize! I'm here to help you get situated and comfortable using Connect. You are doing it correctly.

The best way to use Connect, if you are responding by email, is you hit the VIEW & REPLY button at the bottom of the email. This will take you the actual Mayo Clinic Connect site so that you can see the entire conversation.

@janie56, what brought you to the Chronic Pain group? What is causing your pain? I can help you find conversations taking place on specific diagnoses and topics. Don't get discouraged, all things take time to learn regardless of age.

No problem @jeriliz. I am here to help you! I will post the links again. To get to those discussions just click on the blue text, then you will be automatically taken to the discussion:

- Harrington rod and low back pain, http://mayocl.in/2njBBFH
- Herniated disc pain, what helps? http://mayocl.in/2m4lRFF

I believe perception of pain depends somewhat on your age. As I'v aged (75) I tend to let pain take its course thinking "Oh just another pain." instead of going to the doctor for new pains. My son( 50) gets upset about it and wants me to go to the dr. right away. Because anew pain he experiences gets his attention and he's not used to just accepting it along with other pains.

I know the guilt of asking, asking,asking. If I try to do it myself he gets upset with me that I might hurt myself. I also take antidepressants When my depression began, I thought I had heart problems. I was tired all the time and could hardly get myself home from work crying all the time. I explained to the doctor and he immediately told. me I was depressed. Sure enough about a week after starting the medication I began to feel normal again. I actually feel mentally very good. I have a great husband, get to travel, to great children, a cute dog lol. Mental and physical feelings are opposite for me.