Looking For Relief Of Neurological Pain

[bmeudt4]

Pain; I Am Looking For Anybody That Has Ideas Or Had Tried Any Medication Or Anything That Has Helped. I'm A C5-c6 And Have Pain In My Legs Continuously And It's Costing Me Everything. I'm A Year And A Half Out Of Injury And Currently Am On 175 Duragesic Patches, 1200 Mg Gabapentin, Nortriptyline And Depakote, And Sometimes Take Lorazapam And Oxycontin When They Don't Help, To Knock Myself Out.

Bill

[LaoziSailor]

Hey Bill,

You are taking quite a cocktail there.

I really don't want to sound patronizing. I think you should spend some time exploring psychological relaxation techniques (I know it sounds easier said than done). I have had my pains for 11 years (still do) and I try to stay away from most pharmacos. The only thing I take is diazepam for muscle spams.

But back to what I was mentioning earlier, I have set a "little room" in the back of my head and stuff my pain there while trying to concentrate on as many things as possible except the pain.
You might try to talk to a psychologist to help you out -- they really don't only deal with mental disorders -- with setting up those relaxation techniques.

HTH, cheers!

[SCI-Nurse]

Are you seeing a pain specialist?
There is a new pain medication for chronic pain.There are implantable thing- spinal cord stimulator or pumps that might can deliver low doses of narcotics.
You have less sedation with these.
You seem to be building up a tolerance to the meds and as you said this can cause you to be over sedated or the only time you have relief is when you are asleep.


CWO

[David Berg]

You might work with your doctor (if he's really qualified to deal with neuro pain, otherwise find one who is) about trying different combinations of meds. First of all, are you taking generic gabapentin or Neurontin? I've heard from several people who switched from Neurontin to gabapentin who said their pain levels spiked when they stopped taking the name-brand med. Next, the dosage of Neurontin used for pain is often higher than when it's used for other things. Honestly, I don't know anyone using Neurontin for neuropathic pain who's on a dose that low, though there may well be some out there. I know of many taking 3600 and many are higher, even up to 9600 per day. It all depends on what it takes for you as an individual and what you can tolerate.

There are other things you could see about combining with the Neurontin. No, I'm not saying in addition to your otherr drugs, but different ones. Also, be aware there that new meds are on the horizon that should be available soon, such as Lyrica, essentially the "next generation" of Neurontin. There's a lot of other drugs and treatments in the pipeline that hold some promise, so don't lose hope.

[bmeudt4]

Thanks to all for the ideas. Hopefully something will help. I'll talk to my doctor about different meds, (and a referral to actual pain doctors, as he's a general practitioner) and to a neighbor who's an ex-yoga instructor to see if I can get some relaxation techniques.

Bill

[David Berg]

I sure won't knock relaxation techniques. Anything to avoid stress is a good thing when it comes to this kind of pain. Stress = Bad

[metronycguy]

definitely get to a pain management specialist with experience in SCI.
acupuncture can also help lower your meds,, if you get insurance coverage for it

[JonnyC]

I'm 2 years post injury (C-5 Incomplete) and you sound a bit likpe me.
My legs ache bad and the pain in my lower back is awful. It is always contracted and I get spasms too so in 3 hours I'm off to the doctors to ask for Diazepam which should help me sleep and make my anxiaty a little better too. But I suppose that could be simular to the Lorazepam? Is it?
Let me know what anyone thinks of Diazepam Please.

Good L:uck anyway matey. :)

[LaoziSailor]

<...snip...>
Diazepam which should help me sleep and make my anxiaty a little better too. But I suppose that could be simular to the Lorazepam? Is it?
Let me know what anyone thinks of Diazepam Please.
<...snip...>Both belong to a class of drugs with hypnotic, anxiolytic, anticonvulsant, amnestic and muscle relaxant properties called Benzodiazepines (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzodiazepine).
Diazepam doesn't help me with the pain, just the spams. This in turn causes less frustration/irritation = less stress = easier to withstand pain.

Cheers!