Hi fellow sufferers; making Introduction & TELLING my STORY

[feelingempty]

Hello 2 everyone!! I've been lurking around & thought i'd say HELLO & tell u all my story.

I'M POSTING THIS 2 SHARE MY STORY & MAYBE U'LL UNDERSTAND WHY I TAKE (HAVE TAKEN) SO MANY DRUGS ETC.!!  

MANY, many health problems!!
*L4-5 FUSION 11/2006 **but be4 that i had a botched "clean up" & obtained an infection of pus & fluid in my spine 9/2005. Had 2 have a pic line put in for IV antibiotics & weekly nurse visits for 8 + wks.
*C5-6 FUSION 3/01
*STILL have 2 hern disc's in lumbar, 2 in thorasic, 1 in neck
*Scoliosis
*Degenerative Disc Disease
*Arn. Chiari DAILY headache/migraines for 13 yrs. now
*Fibromyalgia
*Rhem. Arthritis
*DAILY chronic pain
*HSV-2 & HSV-1
*Bronchial Asthma

I take 11 perscriptions for my ailments: Some include;  lyrica, cymbalta, etolac, percocet, ms contin, zanaflex!  They HAD me on MAJOR strong stuff  3-5 yrs. ago including: Dilata's, Methadone, Soma & Clonopin.  Couldn't handle ALL the side effects & was house bound & became severely depressed & OVERSLEPT constantly.  

============================================================

In the PAST my dr. has tried EVERYTHING........... w/ my chronic pain including alternative treatments & tramadol, darvocet, vicodin, loratab, celexa, bextra, MANY diff. anti-depressants ETC.  

~~ I go 2 the dr. EVERY month for pain management. I LOVE my dr.!  I've been seeing her for quite a few yrs.!  And she's VERY conservative about giving pain meds.  SEE................................ the thing is MOST dr's WON'T give pain meds for fibro. INCLUDING my dr.!!  She prescribes my pain meds for my torn up spine, neck & head.  The herniated disc i have ARE pinching nerves etc.! So, she is compassionate that i HAVE 2 have SOME quality of life. She's SEEN me NOT be able to hardly walk & or stand up straight.  I'm DEFINITELY not a pill seeker.  Since i've refused pain meds MANY times.  JUST because one is on a lot of scripts doesn't make them one.  

**I've TRIED ALL kinds of natural herbs & alternate relief. Phy. Therapy/Chiro (made it WAY worse) biofeedback, injections, hypnosis, weekly massages, acupuncture, low impact aerobics. YOU name it i've tried it. And SOME of these made my pain MUCH worse.

AS far as ASKING 4 something stronger............. if u have a good relationship w/ u'r dr. they should be willing to try something stronger on you if what u'r taking ISN"T working.  If they give u the run around FIND a dr. that's compassionate & maybe even SPECIALIZES in u'r ailments.  

Meditation/Yoga, positive thinking is THE BEST DRUG there is. BUT w/ out my reg. meds I'd be in bed........ praying for god to take me & end my pain!! I've been there be4 & it's NO place for our minds to go.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL
PEACE, LOVE & HAPPINESS TO YOU ALL =)

[Toomanyadvil]

Were so glad you decided to post! I lurked around for a while before I did also.
Wow, it seems like you have certainly been through alot.
Our bodies defenitly arent made to cope and tolerate CP, we need to have good support from the people we love and our DR's.
It sounds like you have tried it all and have found a combination of things that work best for you, I'm glad that your at a place where you know what you need for yourself!

I hope your pain stays taken care of and you continue to stay with us and let us keep getting to know you!

TMA

[sandee1818]

I am glad to hear from you and your story. I have also tried the alternative treatments and they did me no good and was a waste of time but some do find relief there. I believe it is what works best for each person and you are in a great deal of pain judging from your diagnosis and I applaud your looking and finding a method that works for you and your pain. Sometimes we tend to want to give up and say enough is enough but that doesnt help us and we have to keep searching and you have done that and found some relief. I think your an inspiration to those who feel like they will not find relief and want to give up. I welcome you to our community and hope we hear more from you:)

[feelingempty]

THANK you for making me feel SO welcomed.  And for your kind & encouraging words!! Having chronic pain i've found is like being in AA or NA. We HAVE 2 take it ONE day @ a time. ;)  My pain is on a scale of 6-8 on a daily basis. God.. i hate that; "what's u'r pain scale from 1-10?" *LOL* Dontcha all grow tired of being asked that? *LOL*

Anyhoo, EVERYONE has to find what WORKS for them.  I couldn't make it w/ out the meds, T.E.N.S. unit, my thermophore heat pads & frozen peas. ;)  Also, i make GOOD use of my hot tub. ;)

Well i gotta get to doing some work. hehehehehe
Again THANKS for the welcome.  If any of you have any ?'s ask away. I know i'm only 35. BUT most of my ailments have been going on since i was 16. ;)

GOD BLESS YOU ALL =)

[Mollyrae]

Hello feelingempty, I also welcome you to the forum. You will enjoy it here. I am sorry that you experience daily pain as most all of us do. Hang in there and glad to see you.   Mollyrae