I have had questions about myself and my medical problems so I decided to tell you a little about myself:)

[sandee1818]

I have been the community leader here for sometime now and it seems no one here knows my medical diagnosis.
I have fybromyalgia and I have ruputered disc at L-4 and L-5. I also have extreme dengeritive disc disease and dengeritive arthritis. My disc have become almost non exsistent and the bones in my spine rub together with any movement.
I started out using the injections and blocks as I did not want to be on medications but I eventually caved because of the pain. I have had chronic pain since my son ( Kevin)  was 5 years old and he is now 20 years old. I have tried every medication there has been available since 1992 and I settled on taking the extended release med with a breakthru medication. I use the lidoderm patches but not as much anymore as they have lost there effectivness.
I stayed on the same dose of extended release medicine for 6-7 years because I feared going up and having a tolerence so high that I would not get any relief down the line as I get older. My current doc made me see I was only doing myself a disservice by not getting the relief I need and so I upped my dose from 20 mg twice daily to 20 mg three times daily. I have recenlty added a stronger break thru medicine and it has worked wonders for me. I still worry about my tolerence being high and not getting the relief I need later but my doc assures me that will not be a problem as I am at a very low dose as I have been taking them for over 15 years. I have heard of CP pts having to go in the hosptial to detox and start over because their tolerence had gotten so high that they could not safely get any relief from their pain. Narcotics effect your breathing and if you over do them trying to relieve the pain you can lose your life.
I also take 1/4 of a 50mg elevil for the fybro at night although I do not take it all the time as it knocks me out and I have two small girls ( Kerri 5 , Kelli 4 ) and I am afraid I will not hear them if they are up at night.
I am married and have a great husband (Michael)  who will work all day and come home and cook and take care of the girls if I have a bad day with my pain. My son Kevin moved out this year and put a huge hole in my heart, he is now manager at Walmart. He is the youngest to accel the quickest in Walmart history! He has only been with Walmart two years andhe is already a manager. I am so proud of him.
My two girls Kerri and Kelli have speech problems but they are so beautiful  and smart and they work hard with their speech and they are making great progress.
I just wanted to let you all know a little about me and my medical condition as I am the CL here and I want to offer any help I can to those who need it.
I take my job here at Med Help very seriously and treat it like any other job I have or have had. I do not get paid, I do this as a volenteer and I enjoy every minute I am here.
Thank you for asking about me and I will do the very best job I can here in our community and I welcome any suggestions you may have in making our community even greater than it is!
Thanks,
Sandy

[Mollyrae]

Like the others..I thank you for sharing your story. I am truley sorry for the constant pain that invades your daily life, it sure can be pure misery. You had mentioned Elevil. What exactly is that and how does it work for your pain? I'm always looking for something new that will work better for the breakthrough pain other than the Oxycodone 5mg.
Your Husband sounds like a wonderful guy. I'm glad to hear he helps you. It is so important to have a good support system. I think it actually helps the pain because the stress levels go down when help is there. I know that when my stress level is up, so is my pain.
I also want to thank you for the great job you do as a cl. I honestley feel that you do a wonderful job and have good advise and support for the members. I really feel that volunteering makes the heart feel good. I volunteer once in a while at our local Community Center for children. It is basically an after school thing where children come and hang out instead of hanging out in the wrong place. I supervise the game room or read the little ones books. I am only able to do this maybe once a month but it helps.
Well, thank's so much for sharing your story, it's is really appreciated.
Take care and have a great day :)
Molly

[sandee1818]

Thank you Tuck!

[Tuckamore]

Thank you Sandee for sharing with all of us. I would have never asked as I never want to invade someone's "space" but I did wonder. I am sorry you have suffered so long with your pain. I know what you are talking about as I'm sure so many others do too. I am also glad you took your physicians advice. Sometimes it's hard to do. I certainly am guilty of that at times.

You have helped and continue to help many ppl on this forum.  It's good to have you back.  It's just me......Tuck

[sandee1818]

Thank you Brian.
That really means alot to me:)

[jollyman069]

all i can say is sorry for the pain your in. i really dont think that you will ever knoiw how much help and comfort you have been to me personally.. you give great advice and the info you have given me in the past is right on. thanks to you i went from taking nothing but perc for pain to having my pain specialist putting me on the times released med plus the percs for breakthrough, it has helped,  thoiugh he may have to adjust my time released to alittle higher dose but we just started 2 months ago.. but thanks many of us owe you alot for helping and if there is anythiung i can do tro help please just letr me know, i will never be able to repay all the help you have given me....brian