dealing with pain I am new here...

[warren1972]

I have been dealing with back pain for 12 years. (upper and lower)it took years to get where i am today. but i got it. I am willing to help people with back pain. And see if I can help you get out of pain. I am no doctor just been thru it all. 2 surgerys 5 disks with cement in them. But after years and years i found great things that work for me.1) I am on the Fentanyl pain patch. 2) I have my nerves burnt in my back.  and living life more then ever before.  i am here to try to help the people still in pain. there really is a method to this madness....

[lizzie1954]

Hi well I had my block yesterday, and today no pain. YEAAAA! I spoke to my doctor and he told me that he has been burning the nerves. (my brain is not the best with memory) So I guess I am in the same boat as you are. Does it take all youf pain away?
How long does it last for you? I started my withdrawl today at 20mg this morning and I will do 20mcg tonight. I am more nervous than anything else but I tood an ativan. I am determined to get this stuff out of my system. Between blocks what do you take? How long are you on them? and how do you stop the meds?

[lizzie1954]

In 8 years I have had to wean myself of so many times. I have tried it many different ways. My doctor is aware of my weaning off. I am impatient and I am going by the "book". I just can't stand weaning off which can takes 3 months and then having to go back to them in 4 months when my pain comes back. I am having another nerve block on the 29th of November. The next day I will be pain free! So I have the pills and my plan which I think is a little severe but I am very determined.  Back a few years ago when I was on ocycontin I got down to a small amount and just decided to stop cold turkey. I went to bed, felt like crap, and a few days later got up and got on with my life.
This is my plan again. I am only on 30mg of oxy 2 a day. I have some 20's and some 10's.

[atonicat]

When they touch the nerve with the needle thing before they burn it, does it hurt really bad? I've had 14 injections of either steroids or numbing stuff into my spine all without any sort of sedation so I know I can handle this pain. But the pain of RAF has been keeping me up at night. I'm pretty sure they are going to sedate me (which I've never had) but I need to know how bad the pain is going to be.

[warren1972]

umm i never stop a medication with out my Doctor being involved. I do not take pills no more they kill my stomach. In earlier years yes i took all kind of pills.I felt awful. throwing up. grrr so i went to my doctor and said no more pills. he said yes and told me about patch. but if you dont mind me asking why would you stop if your in pain? and put your self threw that.

[warren1972]

yes em. no steroid the injection needle gets hot and burns it. It will come back. with me every 6 months. it was my last resort on my back but been doing it for years. I also get fractures and your probably thinking you would not feel it you do. the nerves are what send pain to brain. best thing ever invented.

[atonicat]

It's hard to tell if you will be OK after two weeks since everyone is different. You will still go through withdrawal but maybe since you've tapered it will just feel like you're in a little "funk" for a few days. I've stopped taking my pain meds (Norco) several times because of tolerance issues and I've never had horrible withdrawals. Just feel sort of crummy for a few days. I do get rebound pain though so that's something to look out for. But once the pain levels out, I'm able to see what my levels really are.

[SunWorshiper_26]

Welcome. I have heard GREAT things about RAF and I want one day to get it done too but well I'm pregnant right now so it's not going to happen any time soon. But it's a goal for the future :)

[lizzie1954]

Thanks for the info. I went to the page for RAF, and it sound very much like my blocks.
I will talk to my doctor when I go for my next block on the 29th. As of the 30th I am going to start weaning myselft of my medication. Do you have any advice? I was on the patch until about 10 days ago (50 mcg) I stopped being able to pee and my lower legs were starting to swell to the point it made me very nervous. So... my doc switched my to ocy (30 mg x2 day) I will only have been on it for a few weeks and I am hoping that during that time my body has forgotten the fentanyl, but is not become infused with the oxy. Weaning off both is not fun. I read in a perscription book that you should start with 50% of daily dose for 2 day then 25% drop for another 2 days, and so on. This sound very fast to me, but I am taking 2 weeks vacation to get it over with asap. Do you thing I will be ok after 2 weeks.  sorry for such a long question but everyone has gotten me thinking on this site. Thanks liz

[atonicat]

The nerve burn I'm talking about is RAF, where they burn the nerves using radio frequency. The nerve block is different. That's where they inject steroids instead of burning the nerve. I just had 2 sets of diagnostic blocks to see if I was a candidate for the RAF. I don't do well on steroids as learned after some epidural injections.

With RAF, they kill or burn the nerve and it does grow back. I wasn't told anything about any sort of ganglia after the nerve burn but I'm going to look into it now.

[lizzie1954]

Hello, this is the first I have heard about burning your nerves? I have a nerve root block every six month now, they used to last about 8 months I am now down to 4. That means I am in pain for 2 months at a time. Getting to the point where my pain is managed and then having to wean off it is getting to be too much.  When I started this I was told you can't kill a nerve because it will come back with somthing called a ganglia which is not a good thing? Please tell me about burning?

[warren1972]

yes i do.. I am so glad you are getting rhizotomy http://www.cdiradiology.com/Default.aspx?tabid=257 They are wonderful you will like it.. i get one every 6 months nerves do grow back. norman is a great city

[atonicat]

Awesome. I'm glad you found something that works for you! I've going to be my "nerves burned" as well in January. So I hope that goes well. I see you've from OKC, I lived in Norman for a few years and loved it!