Chronic Pain Management Support Group

[PinkLincoln]

Lol yes.. I get the same in my ankles, both knees and hips when it gets cold and damp out. I can't wait till summer, I love swimming, I find it to be the only thing I can do that doesn't hurt

[Andit]

Today's another ouchie day. Serves me right for going to a concert last night with some SCers (yes, it was worth the fun times). Today's a busy day, so tomorrow should be fun. Double ouchies.

Hope everyone has a pain free Saturday.

[Skippy]

I haven't been on here because with the busted shoulder I can only type with my left hand. Unfortunately the
pain has become unbearable, so I need to sign off.
Reading through the thread is very sad because of all the difficulties, but no one give up hope (myself included). Take it day by day or hour by hour if need be. God is good, gota go take Gravol.

[$$avingmom]

So sorry to hear your are in so much pain Skippy. I hope you have some relief soon! Andit hang in there! Unfortunately my pain free reprive has also came to an abrupt end! The gabaPentin seems to be causing me to swell up like crazy with fluid retention this is causing me more pain because of all of the swelling!!! So I've had to stop talking them. In lots of pain today, just like everyone else but I'm still gratefull for the short holiday that I did have from my daily chronic pain

[PinkLincoln]

Aw that sucks :-( I'm scratching that one off the list.

Nothing, and I mean nothing has helped my swelling other then rest and either heat or ice depending on how I'm feeling. But, has anyone tried artica? It's an all natural (and expensive) thing that is supposed to help with inflammation. Since western medicine has failed me, why not try holistic. Rest and either heat or ice have been better for me so far then taking medication every day. DH did the holistic thing when he was pretty much dying from his treatments, and he did a comple 360, and he always considered holistic medicine hogwash pretty much, but seeing that improvement made believers out of both of us. Has anyone tried any holistic things that have helped with swelling/pain/joint pain? Or this artica stuff?

[PinkLincoln]

I just did a quick google search and a lot of the products mentioned seemed to be consistent. The the stuff was called arnica*. I'm actually going to go to shoppers (need to redeem points soon :-O) or a health store and see what I can find, cost, and how well it works. I'll report back to see if anyone else would be interested .

[Skippy]

I need to stay on top of this thread because there is so much need, difficulties and different drugs/therapies
that I haven't heard of, but would maybe consider.
This thread is encouraging because of all the support offered and first hand experiences.
My experience has been pain all waking hours and the discovery that the Dr.has not provided enough meds. for what he prescribed! so I have to ration till I see him in 2 weeks. Tomorrow it is back to the specialist and I believe my immobilizer/sling thing, isn't going anywhere too soon. One day at a time Lord,One day at a time.
Hope all may have little/no pain.

[Tweetybird999]

OH goodness. Can you go to a walk-in to get "topped up" or have your pharmacy phone your doctor's office to sort out the missing meds? My pharmacy is great for that. My doc's office isn't quite as good at replying, unless I phone them. Then they are great.

[PinkLincoln]

Was the missing meds from the pharmacy, or the doctor writing the wrong prescription?

My DH had his pharmacy improperly counting his meds. After 3 reports the pharmacy owner did an audit and discovered they were WAY over what they were supposed to have, as they counted by weight instead of counting individual pills.

[Abby5]

I always count my pills. I have mean cheated in the past. So sad

[$$avingmom]

wow! I guess maybe I'd better start counting my pills. At times it seems I run out before they are due and other times I seem to have some left over when I shouldn't. I figured that it was just me and my confused mind from the pain. I thought "oh well must have missed a few pills" or "oh well must have forgotten and took an extra dose a couple of times"

Skippy that's awful, I hope that your pain subsides. I would be calling the Dr. office and explaining to the nurse that the Dr. hasn't allowed you enough pain medication to finish out the next few weeks till you see him. I would think that they should call some more into the pharmacy for you.

[$$avingmom]

Pinklincoln, curcumin (tumeric) is really good for inflammation. I have tried it and had some relief from it. I find natural remedies are much like medical ones, certain things work for certain people. It's all trial and error. Boswellia is a natural pain reliever and anti- inflammatory, I find that this does seem to work as well to some extent. I'm currently taking (trying) the osteo bi-flex formula, it contains all the normally recomended joint pain relievers: glucosamine, chondrondin, msm plus the boswellia. I do seem to notice a difference in pain levels on the days that I take it. I just need to remember to take it every day . My issue with things like this is the same with the anti-inflammatory meds my stomach tends not to like them. I can't take ANY prescription anti-inflammatory meds at all! This stuff does irritate my stomach as well, but as long as I eat before I take it I can tolerate it. BTW there is a $5 off coupon out there for the osteo bi-flex products! Naka supplements also makes a good product that has the curcumin and boswellia in it, as well as the other anti-inflammatories called Nutri Flex. It comes in both liquid and capsule form. If you can tolerate the liquid (it tastes bad) it absorbs into your body faster and works better. I haven't tried Arnica myself, but from what I understand most people use it as a topical remedy for pain. Anything is worth a try! I would be hesitant to take it internally myself, as it is a flower and I have many, many allergies to plants. I have a $2 coupon for A. Vogel absolut arnica gel 50 ml or absolut anti-inflammatory 30 tabs plus a 2g arnica gel sample if you would like them to try\use. dec, 2012 expiry. If there's anything else you would like to know about natural remedies for pain, just ask I may be able to help. I have tried many things from the naturopath myself. I also have a great interest in holistic medicine, prior to being in the car accident I had planned on studying to become a registered holistic nutritionist. With my mixed up pain brain that I have now, I couldn't imagine trying to study courses and actually retain all of the information .

[Tweetybird999]

I'm having a bit of an odd issue. For quite a few years I have had absolutely no libido. Zero or less than zero. For a few months now, 2-3, most days I can control pain and have been sleeping quite well. So now my libido had gone into overdrive. Seems I want to make up for lost time...DH is rather overwhelmed. So I guess this is a happy post after years of not feeling well at all.

[$$avingmom]

That's great tweetybird999! Glad to hear you won the pain battle . The few days that I had little to no pain when I was taking the Gabapentin, I also found that my non-existent sex drive returned. I think a big part of the battle there must be the pain, pain distracts us from doing a lot of things that we would like to do!

[PinkLincoln]

I find because of my knee my leg ends up in a lot of strange positions to make it comfortable. My DH has the same issue with his back, it's pretty common. Though when he was doing cemo, they told him his drive would go down, I was like "Uh, I don't think that's possible" yet every day after treatment when he came home (Before it kicked in) he would litterly attack me, I think he just found it funny that they told him his sperm was radioactive, he tends to think like a 10 year old at times so that was the only conclusion I could come up with, and he has a very morbid sense of humor.