Hi @ladyjane85. I am not an expert. But I do know much like any other medication, no one person reacts the same. Some drugs or medications are more effective for some verses others. Here’s a link that may give you further insight. Hope it helps alittle.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/in-depth/medical-marijuana/art-20137855

what have u “tried”??

*stay off opiates unless at low level. Some opiate combinations are used.
Try high doses of *
*acetominophen.(Tylenol).*

Ask you doctor also about low doses of * ketamine, with or without
“tylenol.*

I believe you need to try a detailed evaluation of your system maybe at a Mayo Clinic. I have been to Rochester, MN and they seemed very effective to me. Everyone has a different system and how there body reacts to things. I have a low tolerance for pain, but I adapt quickly to pain medicine so I need stronger doses. Maybe you just need to try a variety of techniques including non traditional ones such as hypnosis, biofeedback, meditation, etc. A pain management center should put you in touch with all the possibilities. Lately I have had a new pain that started in my neck and has moved into my right shoulder. The doctor used steroids to treat it which worked at first but don’t now. I have never had this kind of pain before so I do not know what to do? As long as I can I will keep bugging them (doctors) until we find something. 19lin

You might want to try the oils/tinctures ..apparently, good success with pain management and bodily discomfort. Administered under the tongue and measured by increasing small amounts of tincture. Usually by drops.

To @afibber bec I do not respond to all the pain meds one can think of, and
even needle procedures for my chronic back pain, I was recently tried by a
medical person, on an electric smoker with oil of marijuana. I tried it
under a controlled circumstance with this medical person watching over me.
Having never inhaled a cigarette I had a hard time – coughing, and hurt
with burning in throat.
Finally inhaled about 3x’s with no reaction. In the evening again, 4x’s I
cannot get a reaction. I am apparently immune to this the same as strong
meds. Cannot get rid of pain. Looked it up on cmptr and found that some are
immune to it. Imagine my surprise. Medical marijuana pills are very
expensive when I looked it up, and I can see it would do no good.
@ladyjane85

To @ujeaniack If you were responding to me ladyjane85, I have been
injected with many steroids in diff parts of back over some 25 odd years,
and every strong pain meds.. Either I do not respond, or with pain meds I
have had reactions where I had to be hospitalized. Have never had ketamine
– will ask pain management dr. about it. Thank you, opiate I tried was to
see if I could get relief, but one cannot take it when pain is worst
shopping, or getting down to dinner in my facility anyway.

To Dawn – thank you I have read all that before. I just do not respond
to some 40 odd meds, and the medical, named dronabinol is very expensive.
from ladyjane

Have you ever discussed the pharmacogenetic testing with you physicians considering it? This would eliminate attempting to find the right one 40 times. 😉
http://mayoresearch.mayo.edu/center-for-individualized-medicine/drug-gene-testing.asp
It has help many of our patients find the right medications for them and eliminate all the guesswork.

To @dawn_giacabazi from ladyjane85 Have stayed with a dr for many yrs
before changing medications were not given by 40 odd drs. the testing you
talk about would cost a lot next to just trying the med as has been done
for many years. But I will talk about it with pain management dr. Thank
you.

My apologize, I did not think you saw that many doctors. You are fortunate for that. Many patients find it very difficult to find the right doctor for them. I myself was seen by 27 different specialist referred by my primary doctor before finding the right team to treat my post concussion syndrome. Shots from pain clinic every single week for a year.

Pharmacogenetic testing is covered 100% by Medicare most states public aid and private insurance.

I wish good luck!! I hope you find relief soon.

You are right I forgot to say if your insurance will cover it. I am sorry I did not put that in my response. I have not tried all of these since I live in a rural area and there are no practitioners in some of these in my area. When I was a therapists I used biofeedback so I have tried it and it does help you get control of your body, but you would have to find someone who uses it and I doubt many insurance companies pay for it. The same for hypnosis and meditation training, but I have heard that they can work in some cases. The point is keep trying and hopefully something will work out. Good luck. 19lin

I also know that age can effect medication. Recently I had similar problems with some medication that was too strong for me, and I had to reduce the dose until I found the right strength to work without disagreeing with me. The genetic pharaclogy idea sounds good but I don’t know how much it costs. I’d also like to try stem cells especially for my knee which is now bone on bone, to see if cartilage would regenerate. The same might work on my back. I did sign up will 23andme, a genetic testing group for research and family history. I got some information from them on drugs and medicines that could work for me. This was years ago but the data is still good. They had an issue with the FDA and had to stop giving out medical information until the last couple years when the FDA approved some of their results. 23andme now charges $199 for a test, but I do not know what kind of medical information you can get from them now. 19lin

@19lin that’s interesting. We use PGx testing and our patients in Illinois have had no copays so far. Genetic testing has changed so much in just 1 years time. I to am very interested in the knee procedure. I have heard both pros and cons.

dawn_ I know very little about stem cells but I still would like to try, of course, not until basic research is done. Genetics I find very interesting and 23andme is involved in a lot of research especially on the medical end of it. When I signed up with them I did so for family history information mostly, but there medical information is very interesting although I have had no direct benefit from it as yet, knowing which diseases I need to worry about and others I don’t need to worry about so much does help. They charge one price for all information where medical testing companies that I know of charge for each test and they charge a lot, but I assume their results are more tailor made for that individual question. 19lin

PGx is different. It focuses on medication and how you process them. There are four metabolic types associated with CYP450 gene variants:

Extensive Metabolizers (EM)
Poor Metabolizers (PM)
Intermediate Metabolizers (IM)
Ultra-rapid Metabolizers (UM)

Advanced pharmacogenomic testing technology analyzes structural changes in a gene’s DNA sequence to assess the influence of a drug in a particular patient allowing physicians to understand if a patient could have a toxic reaction to a drug despite a low dosage, or if they will have any response at all, even at a high dosage.

As long as you are on two or more medications treating one or more diagnosis then Medicare and private insurances and in Most states Medicaid, will covered

Hope this helps alittle. Where we live people live pay check to pay check. We do the tests for free. I chose a pharmacy that accept assignments from insurance no other fees. Just took some research, but very worth it.

I need to look into the stem cell. 😉