Chronic Pain members - Welcome, please introduce yourself

Having tried four times to post a reply and have it just disappear I am not going to try again ,thank you

@johnbroward

Unless there's a deadline, I decide for myself how slowly I can reduce meds. And I would personally not try to get off 2 at the same time. I would fight the doctor on that one. Sometimes, correction - always, I speak up for myself and ask for real reasons. If my doctor gave me the instructions he gave you, I would at the very least discuss it with the pharmacist.

Not telling you how to run your life. I just encourage you to listen to your instincts.

Jim

Hello, @charlton . I also have peripheral neuropathy, and found no medication that helped. I finally had a trial spinal cord stimulator implant, and had a wonderful week with almost no pain! I'd forgotten how it felt. Because the trial version helped so much, I had a permanent implant after a six week wait to get scheduled. I, as a rule, have 80%+ pain reduction. When I stand or walk very long on hard surfaces, I'm reminded how my feet hurt before. After the implant, I was able to taper off Cymbalta (I don't think it was helping anyway), and I'm down from 90mg of morphine sulfate contin to 15mg twice a day.

Have you tried any therapies other than pharmaceutical?

Jim

Thank you for the suggestions, @lillyanne I'll pass them on to my wife. She does some stretching exercises every night, and they've helped with both her knee and hip.

Jim

@freakers I know the feeling. Frustrating. Sometimes I figure out where my message ran off to, sometimes not.

Jim

@lillyanne thank you for your post about the stretching exercises I am going to check this out to see if it will help me.

dear lillyanne thank you for your revealing post. very interesting. not to suprised as i have a similar story as well as many others who have posted here. i know of one opthamolagist who substitutes his optometric brother in his place at times and naturally charges the opthamo;ogist high price to medicare and you the patient. not to safe when one truly needs the opthamalogist care. do we really think that in the past the doctors were this bad or wrong? but we need them desparately and must go along with them, and is this an attitude with some of them or even a game while in their care. for the "other" doctors out there if i offend i truly apolagise.

Hello Charlton (@charlton),

I would encourage you to follow John's (@johnbishop) suggestion. Medications can cause side-effects and it is important to talk about your memory problem with your doctor to see if it could be a side-effect of the meds you are taking.

A pharmacist can also be helpful in sorting out medication related problems. Do you take meds for other health conditions as well?

Teresa

Hi, @freakers,
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Thank you

Hydrotherapy is ancient in many cultures. It's the idea using water &going from a hot steaming area to a brisk COLD one. Native American's, Inuit and Asians all have forms of this. I learned it from an elderly women in the early '70's. Because I was a Charter Member of Jack La Lane's European Health Spa (yeah, long name!) I was able to partake in different forms: dry sauna, wet sauna, cold shower, Jacuzzi, pool...what ever you like. You start with a long time in what ever hot mode you chose then go quickly to cold then back to hot to cold to hot....When you're young & healthy & can choose a non busy time & move back & forth with ease finishing in the shower. That might not be the best for medically fragile people. So the recommended, easy access, is your shower. The idea is to finish your daily shower with FOUR sets of hot water ALL over your body, then icy cold water all over. Start at the top of your head & enjoy it. Make sure to end with cold. I really like the heat on the neck, shoulders & scapular. It helps with my pain as any heat treatment would; heat gets in deep & relaxes muscles. I personally feel it soothes & relaxes veins & arteries thus improving flow of fluids. For me I think the cold gives a bit of a shock to the system to "wake things up". EVERYONE needs to adjust the temperatures & time within each water flow to their personal need. Sometimes just one set, or three, is all you want or can do. Ease into it. Of course like any new approach talk to your doctor especially if you have ports or other devices. A hand held shower device works best. It's great for your complexion too. It's relaxing & energizing at the same time. I like to follow this with the Classical Stretches within 15-20 minutes. It's also REALLY nice to just climb into fresh sheets (high tread count percale:) & get a sweet nights sleep. Part of the purpose is to flush toxins too, but that's all on an individual basis also. Turmeric/ginger teas & essiac tea is good for this too. I'd be careful & work with doctors & naturopaths if you are taking medication or Radiation. Common sense says it's there, in your body to do the job. But, after it's done I personally don't see any harm in flushing it out. Teas & water & exercise...