Oxycodone did not work/what to expect from pain management appointment

[Alexis531]

Hey guys, I'm new to this, but was wondering if anyone out there could help me.
So I was hit by a car last year, broke my arm, and had metal plates, rods, and screws inserted to my arm.
I had all the hardware removed 7 months ago due to a massive infection which was attached to the hardware.
I have been on Norco (Hydrocodone10 / Apap 325) since January. This medication used to do wonders for my pain, but it does almost nothing for my pain anymore. I talked to my doctor about this and he switched me to Endocet (Oxycodone 10 / Apap 325) last month, but for some odd reason, that did nothing at all for my pain. I alerted my doctor and he reffered me to a pain management doctor who I am visiting this Friday.
I am just wondering what I should expect? Also, is it normal for the Endocet to have no effect on me? Thank you very much.

[kathy233]

I started seeing a pain doc in Jan. almost 6 months ago.  I hurt my back in Aug. of 2011.  I went to PT, was on muscle relaxer Robaxin and Ultram and then  Percocet for pain.  Muscle spasms is what it felt like, constant on the lower right side L5-S1 area, above buttocks.  Had an MRI in December, found herniated discs and bulging discs sitting on nerve roots.  First appt. had me take a urine test and spoke with doc, he also had to review my MRI.  I had a steroid shot in lower L4-L5 area, didn't help.  He put me on Cymbalta in Feb., which greatly helped my chronic pain, I cut my opiate pain meds in half.  He then scheduled me for a diagnostic medial branch nerve block to diagnose the level of the pain, I ended up having 3 of those.  Today I had an radiofrequency rhizotomy, commonly called RF, he wenet in with a long needle and with a laser, burnt my nerve endings.  No relief yet, but he said it would take a week for a lesion to grow on the nerve ending that is carrying pain signal to the brain, no other nerves that work the back are affected.  I can't take NSAIDS because I had kidney disease, which really work so this was one of my last options.  I'll repost in a week to let you know if it started working,.  The procedure itself was somewhat unpleasant, but they do sedate you, just don't knock you out, but wasn't nearly as bad as pain I've been experiencing.

[Neurodreamz]

I understand pain well. What you're experiencing is neuropathic pain and often oxy doesn't work well no matter how much is taken. Opiates are more for muscle pain, cancer pain. He'll likely suggest alternatives like Lyrica or Cymbalta. For a stronger opiate, the Fentanyl patch works, but it's so strong that one becomes super tired just to clobber the neuropathic pain. Some people get relief with Tramadol. Natural alternatives that have worked for me are capascain cream (cayenne pepper in lotion) dampens the nerves, DLPA and Tyrosine, and Magnesium Malate.  The tricky decision with pain management is every pill has side effects and it's a personal decision on how many years you'll be taking it. Given you have a physical injury, likely a lifetime. Lyrica is an anticonvulsant and those can have long term brain injury effects. It's also possible you've developed something called RSD, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, which can happen after injury. The doctor will be able to diagnose it. There's also an opiate antagonist called Low Dose Naltroxene (LDN) where some are getting pain relief, but one needs to be off opiates completely. Here's the site, he's really good at explaining pain management options.

http://foresttennant.com

Good luck with your appointment! It helped me to research the various drugs before the appointment so you're on the right track reaching out for help.

Take care, Laura

[Bealive]

Hi Alexis,
sorry to hear about the car wreck and all the havoc you are having since.  The infection, geeze, that is probably worse than the broken arm.  What did they do to clean out the infection?  That would be the scariest thing of all.  YOu had all the hardware taken out, then what.  Sorry for asking so many questions, but, I am curious about your questions and your story.
Let me answer your pain management question.  Not sure what state you are from, but, let me just tell you, it is a shock to the system if you know what I mean.  
Say you have 11:00 appt. (this is after you have already seen the dr and gotten scripts)  You get there ready for the appt.  You fill out paper work, then you may or may not be called for a urine test.  Then you wait some more.  Then you see a dr. and after 10 minutes of a blood pressure check, pulse and some questions about your meds and how you feel. Then you go back out to the waiting room and wait till the dr writes your script and several others, and then you get called.  For me it was 2-3 hour wait. And now it is every month.  The feds are really cracking down from what I have heard.  I know we have all heard of the abuse of script writing.  Well this has affected everyone who needs to get meds from pain management.