Yes heather,

it was the worst pain I had ever experienced in my life! Disabledcoastie has to be a monster to not have had much added pain from it, very tough person but there are many different kinds out there and not all of us are going to feel the same about pain.

I had to have 2 of them because I had 2 different surgeries and whe I was ordered to have the second one I actually cried in the car on the way home because I was so devistated that I was going to have to go through that again. Basically I went in loaded for bear though, I took 1 of my pain pills and 1 xanax and had the same in the car for after the procedure.

When I was done with the disco, they told my wife to go and make an appointment for me to see the doc and as luck would have it, the appt desk closed for lunch and I had to wait in clearwater (1.5 hours from home) to make my appointment and get my prescriptions. I was a total wreck, we went to have some lunch and I was falling asleep from the medicine I took in the car after the procedure but it did help with the post pain.

Let us know how you do after your follow up and what choices they offered you. Almost sounds like they may offer the pro-disc if you are offered artificial disc replacement. That is one of the few adr surgeries that can be done at more than one level. If that is offered, think hard about it but it has been an excellent option for many. Remember I had the charite and it isn't perfect but at least I should not have to have follow on surgery to another level due to fixation at a level.

Brian

Brian,

thanks again,
i will think long and hard about whatever they offer me.

I asked for stronger meds and he sent me home with tylox to take a few days after the procedure, nothing more. Oh well. Maybe I can hang in there with my lortabs untl feb. Don't have much choice in the matter.

What about that transitional vertebrae? Do you think they may do something about it too?

Heather

Tylox is a much more powerful med than lortab but arent you also using the duragesic transdermal fentanyl patch?

If you are, I would question the doctors motive since if you made it to needing the patch, why would he not also follow with a "neet" medicine for breakthrough pain. Something that does not have tylenol in it. Also the tylox should help but you are going to be in pain regardless of meds given, it is a tough procedure and 20psi is alot of pressure to put in the disc to get the results. To put it in laymans terms, it is about half the pressure you put in your cars tires so it was definatly a good test, albiet painful.

Before you enter into surgery with this guy as your attending physician, you need to make sure that he/she is not going to be titrating you off of pain meds before you are ready. Too many times doctors are steadfast in their deadlines for healing and you could be left with a mess on your hands.

I love the surgeon that did my surgery but he would not treat pain very effectivly post surgery, I had to go to my primary care and get a referal to pain managment but he was cool with that because he was no longer writing prescriptions for me and so all he has to worry about is just talking to me and ordering tests. Pain management orders meds and other treatments.

Make sure you are comfortable with the answer you are given and if you are not, go to your family doc and speak to them about pain management prior to going under the knife, it could be the difference between a quick recovery and a really hard one.

Good luck,
brian

Not a monster tam, just used to alot of bad pain!!!! :lol: i'm sorry to hear that you have to have surgery heather, but i'm glad they found the problem. Good luck with your surgery and make sure, really sure that your surgeon is a back specialist. Good luck

Brian,

i had made it up to 75 mcg. Of fentanyl but due to the horrible flu like symptoms making me feeling even worse (if that were possible), I requested to be taken off of them.

Instead, they put me on fioricet that dosent really help me.

Like you said, i'm going to be in some degree of pain no matter what, so I guess I should have just requested being dropped down on the patch somewhat. It worked the best compared to the measely crap i've been given. I just hated the nausea and other side effects.

I know I sound stupid but I don't get it about the psi. Is that the usual amount of pressure they usually put on/in the discs to get a response? In other words, from what it sounds like, does that disc sound badly damaged?

Answer to my own question: if I need surgery I suppose it is. :roll:

heather

I dont know what the normal pressure is but to me 20 psi seems like alot of pressure. Only seeing the report or looking at the ct of the disc will be an indicator of the damage.

As far as pain support, they took you off fentanyl and put you on a mild analgesia like fiorecet???

I think you need to go to a pain clinic and allow them to treat your symptoms before you allow this doc to work on you. You may as well be taking tylenol.

There are way too many other meds on the shelf that the doc could have tried to titrate you down to minimal dose of the duragesic and then switched you over to either morphine tablets like "avinza" (24 hour tablet) or oxycontin (12 hour tablet) or even just something like roxicodone which is taken 3 or 4 times daily but does not have acetamnaphin so you can be on it long term. This list is just a glimpse of what is out there to help you deal with pain a whole lot better than what ou are being given as of now.

I would really be cautious and try pain management for at least 4 months before you go in for surgery, the pain clinic could possibly prolong or even make it so you never need surgery by manageing your pain level to a point you can function.

I dont know but I know I would be terrified to be undertreated and be going under the knife.

All the best,
brian

Brian,

i did request to be taken off the fentanyl, but this pm doc who I no longer see, sut me off cold turkey after he said he would wean me off of it, then put me on the fioricet. I asked him if it was an adequate med for my pain and his reply was "it's pretty good".

He did say that fentanyl is about the best there is and that all of them are going to give me those horrible side effects. I would rather be treated with meds than be cut open again and regret it for the rest of my life if it dosent give me the results i'm hoping for

however with a two year old I cannot afford to be in a drug induced haze all of the time and so far, due to the inept doctors around mississippi, I have either been that or in needless pain.

A couple of months ago, they had me so drugged up (14 different meds, effexor being one of them which I think was my problem. Went from 25 mg. To 150 mg. In under two weeks. Doc's orders), that I was literally passing out when people were trying to have a conversation with me. I can't take care of my son in that state.

I'm terrified of surgery. I don't want it and have been avoiding it like the plague for 13 years. I don't want to be at the mercy of uncaring doctors anymore either. Because they don't care.

Basically i'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. And i'd be willing to bet that the ns i'm going to see will only be offering a fusion on me. Never thought life would turn out like this and I feel for everyone in my position.

Thanks for listening,

heather

Heather,

do you remember the dose they had you on when you were using the patch? The reason I am asking is because there are low doses available that should help you without makeing you feel all messed up. Duragesic just released the 12.5 mcg/hr for titrating down but there is no reason they could not start there. Like I said in other posts, I am very fortunate that I had been prescribed the patch because without it I was miserable in pain. I have not had to increase doseage yet and it has been 7 months that I have been on the patch. 25 mcg/hr however I am tollerant and my breakthrough medicine is very strong but as long as I am careful and maintain a low impact schedule I can maintain with the meds as they sit.

My son is now over 18 lbs and only 2 and a half months old. He is growing like a weed and his weight is really taking a toll on me. Also being a stay at home hubby/dad, doing 2 or more loads of laundry and the regular duties like cooking and cleaning are not simple and I have to pace myself but yesterday was my floor day and man it put me in a tight spot.

I do not know if surgery is the best place for you either but if you have exhausted all of your resources and there is no pain clinics availible for you, it may be all you have. If you can find even one place that you have not been to and can get in to see this doc, you might find a better combination to help you live and be a mom.

At the very bottom of the page on this message board is a light gray link that will help you find doctors in your neck of the woods.

It is a physician directory and I just noticed it a couple of days ago. I looked to see if the places I visit were in there and they are so maybe there will be some that you have not either been to or don't know exsist and you can get real care.

Let me know,
brian

Brian,

i was on 75 mcg per hour. And even that wasn't really helping my pain and it was giving me those horrible side effects, like I said before. When I was on a lower dose I felt great for awhile, I often had to wonder if the pain was still there.

I am a stay at home mom and my son weighs 30 pounds and tugging and lifting him just about kills me. Even though he is 2, I can't get around it just yet. And I also know exactly what you mean about laundry, doing floors, and even the dishes.

I recently was told that there isn't even one doctor in this state that is able to prescribe weight loss medication. That's pretty pathetic. However, if I could find someone willing to try me on the patch again at a lower dose with something for bt pain, or something equal to the patch as you mentioned earlier, I would try it one last time before this surgery.

I just hate the thought of the time i'm going to miss with my little boy. The things I won't be able to do for him. I'm afraid that bond will be broken somehow and formed with his new primary caretaker. That breaks my heart. I'd almost rather hurt.

We're talking months of recovery with a fusion aren't we?

Heather

With any of the surgical options you are looking at some serious time for recovery. You are going to need a serious support team around you.

You are also going to want to talk to you doc about there being a weight lifting limit after this. Because my step-dads fusion failed miserably, he cannot lift anything over 25 lbs and it is actually a real limit. His body makes sure he knows his limit.

The good thing for him is that my mom and he moved to fl. In november and his new pain management doc put him on the 25/mcg patch and he is getting the "mylan" generic and is having an excellent life with it. He is not opioid tollerant at all and had been on oxycontin 20 mg twice a day for several years with 5 mg roxicodone for bt. Although the patch dose is the equivalent of the 25 patch, it is a 24 hour a day doseage and you do not have the peak and valley affect that you get with tablets.

Anyway, you will need to have someone to help you and your son for the first month or 6 weeks for cooking, cleaning and taking care of the young'un.

Let me know how the dac appt goes today and try that link at the bottom of the forum if you get the chance.

Brian

hey heather:

Novartis.Com has the prescribing info for fioracet. You may be surprised to see that it is a headache med with the active ingreident being a mild barbituate.

Brian,

i see what you are talking about with the fioricet. That's one reason I have over a half a bottle left. They do nothing for my back pain and I just read the side effects of getting off them are horrible also. This is why I don't go to this doc anymore either. I don't like his attitude and he took me off of something that was for severe pain and I wound up on this.

So i'm taking what tylox I have left and my lortabs. My surgical evaluation is on feb. 6. I could go to his brother who is also in the business and see if I could get some more lortabs or vicodin. He's already said that hte can't give out heavy duty stuff. Don't know why.

Maybe the ns will before he cuts on me. He's already seen my mri reports and said with my age that the radial tear should heal. Well guess what? It didn't. Or he supposedly looked at the results. I've never laid eyes on the man except in pictures on his website.

I do have some family willing to help me out with my not so little boy. And my hubby said he is going to take a medical leave from work for al long as he can.

My son (connor) is so rough, i'm afraid he may hurt me in my recuperative phase. He loves to jump all over mama. And it jsut about kills me. I can only imagine what it will be like after that kind of surgery.

Heather

You "little" guy might feel less apt to jump on you once you have had your surgery because he will sense that there is something up with mama and she needs gentle love. ( I hope anyway)

as far as the tylox/percocet is concerned, if they help that is what you should be taking but since you are a long term pain patient you should not be taking meds with tylenol in them. You should be on a long acting madicine like oxycontin or avinza or methadone because of the risks associated with liver and kidney damage with extended use of tylenol.

I am really getting angry about the way that are treating you and it just doesnt seem fair. If you have health insurance, you should call the company and lodge a formal complaint due to the doctor's refusal to properly treat your pain. You have rights as long as you excersise them!

As far as the other doc not being able to go above lortab/vicodan, it may be because he was investigated for fraudulent prescription practices founded or not it is terrifying to these doctors and the dea is more than happy to ruin a doctors practice because of prescrribing the necessary meds to a patient in pain. He probably is just gun shy now.

Keep in touch and let me know how the insurance company reacts if they react at all.


Brian

Brian,

i'm angry with them too. I had an appt. Today with my psychiatrist and can you believe that she has had a fusion also? She was telling me how the doctor that did her surgery gave her lumbar lordosis, she still has pain, (although she aadvises the surgery for me), says i'll be back on my feet in three weeks.

I just went in there and told her that I was very irritated with the medical profession for allowing me to hurt and suffer needlessly. She agreed. She said when you return to them on a regular basis they will refer you to a psych.

And she said that she knows alot of back pain sufferers and doctors automatically classify them as drug seekers. That makes me so angry I could spit in their eyes. If this was their mother, wife, etc... They wouldn't allow them to be in pain for one minute.

I told her that I needed something longer acting and better than lortabs and they won't give it to me. And that there's no way anyone can accuse me of being a drug addict.

I just had to tell you about that. And had to vent some more I guess. Glad I have someone to listen and understand this whole unfair mess.

Heather

Hi heather ~

I sent you a private message. Please check it out.

Imshirl :d