what should I do?

[cjw5060]

I was in a MVA 3 yrs ago. I go to a pain clinic in my local town. My Dr. has put me on Methadone for pain, so far 40mg/day. And it isnt doing anything. I also take Cesamet 2mg/day, zopiclone 15mg/day and Effexor 150mg/day. All on this and nothing seems to help my pain. I have had many injection and now I had my fist session of Lidocaine infussion. I have told my Dr. that this isnt working and he just wants me to try it for a couple more months. Is this normal for a Dr. not to change my meds or try to take a different route? This is my first time here, and I see alot of post with all different types of meds. What should I ask for? Help me please

[jcverive]

The lidocaine infusion procedure is usually reserved for patients who's pain is not well controlled despite long-time narcotic use.  If a patient responds well to the infusion, the doctor can try to reduce the narcotics usage. Doctors often speak of the procedure as a way to "reset" the patient's pain tolerance and/or drug tolerance.

Without intervention, most narcotics actually increase pain signals through up-regulation (increase) of the number of pain receptors. More narcotics are needed to squelch the pain signals from these new receptors, which is a major factor in the development of tolerance to these drugs.

[cjw5060]

Is this a normal medication procedure? (Lodicane)  What about methadone? thats what he started me on first. I see people on perc's and oxy's, and it seems they are under better pain control.

[jcverive]

After the initial lidocaine infusion, a little more lidocaine is added for each subsequent infusion, until your body just starts to show signs of toxicity (heavy chest, numbness in lips or tongue). These relatively harmless reactions show that the lidocaine is reaching the central nervous system, which is the intended target.  Until this dosage is reached, the lidocaine infusion is not likely to offer much relief.  

Ask the doctor how long it should take for you to see real results (probably just 2 or 3 more infusion sessions). If you don't get relief after this amount of time, you may need to find another doctor.

[cjw5060]

My regular Dr. didnt believe in drugs, this is why I am at a pain clinic now. I think there are mor than one Dr. reviewing my case. I have talk to a few of the patients there and no one else is taking methadone. Is this a normal pain med??????

[BellaBoo53]

Hun It sound's to me that you need to talk to another doctor.
I hope all is well with you. Bella