Rebound pain but sticking to schedule

Hiya all,

I'm having a bit of a rough morning with some rebound pain.  But I am sticking to my med schedule no matter what.  I have dropped from 15-20 Norcos a day to 8 so that is not surprising,  I see my pain doc tomorrow and am going to ask to start a tapering schedule.  I also start my PT next week for my shoulder surgery so it is going to be tough, but I can do this.  

When I saw my orthopedic surgeon on Tuesday, he said that because of the type of surgery I had, it would take about 3 months for my shoulder to heal and become pain free.  Heavy sigh.  But, in theory, once it does, the problem should be fixed.  That is, of course, unless I grow another 5 cm bone spur that starts sawing into my rotator cuff tendon again.  No way to prevent that from happening again.  And that one grew in less than a year.

I have read that a lot of people have rebound pain when coming off pain medication, but then once they get through that, they often find that their pain level is less than when they originally went on painkillers.  So I'm holding on to that with everything I have.

My fingers look like little sausages from the swelling.  Typing actually helps limber them up, work the stiffness out.  I am really beginning to think that my pain is being caused by the very medication that was meant to help it.  Has anyone else found that?  I'm going to do some searching to see what I can find but would be interested in hearing what others think.

I also go back to work next week and am looking forward to that.  Although not having to go to work has been good in some ways, in others it has left me with far too much time on my hands and I do NOT do well with unstructured time.  Back when I was drinking, time off meant time drunk.  Dummy me kind of forgot that and did not make a plan for staying busy while I recouperated from my surgery.

Despite the pain, I am actually looking forward to beginning my tapering schedule.  It has been a long 3 year run of revolving doctors, medications, bloodwork, blah blah blah - all for nothing.  Meaning they still really have no idea what is wrong with me.  I've got a host of "diagnoses", but really no answers.  Ehlos-Danlos, fibromyalgia, arthritis, chronic fatigue, PTSD - all fit to some degrees but not to others.  Helpful because it allows the docs to bill the insurance.  Not helpful because none really answer the question of why.

But I believe in my heart that getting off ALL medications is the answer.  Or at least part of the answer.  Once I do that, I will have a better sense of my real pain level and be able to make better choices about treatment options.  Go back to basics, level set the playing field.  

Thanks for listening while I do my "exercises" (typing).  

Peace,
Peanut

[dominosarah]

My biggest discovery after i cleaned up was that OTC meds like Motrin really worked.  The rebound pain should lessen with time.  You seem to be mentally prepared to do whatever it takes to see this thru and that is a big part of it.  Keep up the positive thinking!!!!!!     sara

[PeanutG]

Thanks Sara!  I am ready.  

I know for me, one of the biggest things I can do to help with my pain level is to stay busy to the best of my ability.  Since I've been off work, my mind has nothing else to do but think about pain and how to make it stop.  While right now, I can't do many of the things I usually do (yard work and landscaping are biggies for me), there are other things I can do to take my mind off my pain.  

I am on my way out right now to go to a store where I get materials for some art that I do.  I am still limited (bc of the shoulder surgery) as to how much work I can do on my art - I do glass and wire sculpture - I can at least go and get supplies.  Getting out of the house will be a good thing in and of itself.  I've become far too acquainted with these 4 walls over the past 2 weeks.

Technically, I can be off work until 4/28 but am going back next week.  That will help a lot as well, as long as I am careful not to work too much.  Luckily, I have a FANTASTIC manager who really looks out for me and helps me not be too much of a workaholic.  

Well - lemme get outta here before it starts raining.  I do not want to be walking around a scrap glass yard with one arm in a sling and it dumping rain!

Peace,
Peanut

[dominosarah]

Enjoy your outing!!!