I CANT GET A BREAK!!!!!!!!!

[abritt121222]

i am doing so good being clean off of pain meds a little over two months clean and it seems like every tmie i get t his far something bad happens and guess what it has again i have not taken any meds or anything but i just got back from my doc cause i have been having stiffness and pain in my shoulder for the last bout 3 weeks and at 24 years old he is pretty sure i have arthritis in both of my shoulders AT 24 YEARS OLD cmon i had to have back surgery about 7 months ago and now this i am a 24 year old in a 65 year old body i am starting to think and the pain in my shoulder is getting worse and i dont know what to do i am praying it is not arthritis that it is something else that shows in the xrays because i know its something cause my doc said something is def wrong in my shoulders and he is ruling out a torn rotator cuff cause of the symptoms and how it happens on both sides

[abritt121222]

i have mobic well meloxicam which is generic mobic and it helps a little but not enough to relieve the pain enough to let me sleep anymore than without it i have also been told to try some sleep meds but that is something i dont want to mess with because i know ambien and meds like that are addictive to and i dont like being knocked out like those meds do to me

ABritt

[medic09]

You can't use Toradol long term because it causes kidney damage very quickly. So that's out.
Ask about Mobic. It has helped tremmendously with my joint/bone pain. It is an NSAID also.

[abritt121222]

yea i am gonna get it done as fast as possible but that is gonna be a little while because my insurance doesnt wanna pay for it yet which is the same thing they did with my back they made me go thru physical ther before they would and it is actually their fault i had to get back surgery cause when i finally got to see my doc in the mayo clinic he said if i could have got an mri they would have seen the fractures in my L5 vert and known not to make me do the exercises i was doing in PT and i could have wore a brace for about 4 months and did a little PT and just rest and i never would have had to have surgery but this time luckly i am able to goto my sports doc and my nurosurgeon at the mayo because i am a patient there now last time it took FOREVER to get seen so luckly this time it shouldnt be but a couple of weeks for me to get an mri at mayo because they know how to work the insurance companies and they can get them to pay for whatever i need without going thru PT first and i prefer to goto the mayo clinic over somewhere else because i know those are the best doctors money can buy

ABritt

[abritt121222]

yea i have tried ib and tylenol and all of that and have also tried baclofen which is the muscle relaxer i was on for a long time before i had back surgery cause flexiril and skelaxin both make me feel all yucky and make me goto sleep and no dice with any of it my shoulder still hurts but im still dealing with it with no pain meds and im going to until i can no longer stand it anymore and cant use my arm at all but hopefully it will get fixed before that happens

ABritt

[abritt121222]

i do have a pretty sensitive stomach to some meds but not all like antibiotics mess me up pretty bad but i could take way more tylenol than the safe amount and have no problems i guess because it was kinda a slow increase over time as my addiction to pain meds got worse and my tolerance got higher so im not sure if it would mess with my stomach or not but i will def ask my doc about it next time i see him thanx for the advice

ABritt

[dominosarah]

Get that MRI done as soon as you can.  I know the pain is wearing you down but just try and hang on okay?  I am around if you need to vent, yell, cuss whatever.......sara

[pharma9]

If you do not have stomach problems,toradol is a very effective pain reliever.It is a prescription antiinflammatory that can be very hard on the stomach.
In the USA there is another otc pain reliever that is very effective called percogesic.It contains acetaminophen and an antihistamine.
Are they testing you for an arthritic disease called ankylosing  spondylitis

[LeaAnn807]

Hey.  Glad for the update but wish you felt better.  Don't let the pain get you into a place where you take an opiate.  Are you taking anything else now?  IBU or Tylenol?  I know that's not much, but might take some away.  How about a muscle relaxer?  I know there are some safe ones.  I know it is hard to be in really bad pain when you are fighting addiction.  I have relapsed MORE than once over pain getting so bad I couldn't stand it.

Hang in there, and find something you can take that's not habit forming, PLEASE!!! : )

[abritt121222]

well the xrays came back ok so havent found out anything yet dr said i really need to get an mri asap tho to find out what is going on because something is wrong no doubt about it we just have to narrow it down and find out what it is becuase my shoulder should not be popping and cracking like it does and unfortunately that stinks cause i am still in pain and no closer to finding anything out and still dont know what to do to help with the pain and just dealing with it is getting really really old now cause i am exhausted from not sleeping but a couple hours a night for bout 2 and a half weeks
well thats the latest on that for everyone that wanted me to keep them posted

ABritt

[mellie4]

I feel bad after reading your post and I hope you don't have arthritis.  I do.  At 47 it's wreaking major havoc in my life.  Mine started in my early 20s in my hands.  I found this site a few days ago looking for help for my boyfriend who was coming off Percocet and realized that when I'm done with my surgeries I'm going to have to deal with withdrawals as well, even though I've always, always, always followed the doctor's orders with regard to my oxycodone.

I'll just put in my own two cents about trying to manage arthritis.  (And my mom had it every where, shoulders, back, ankles; every bone in her body.)  My arthritis is the very worst in my hands, especially my left that I've had 8 surgeries in.  I have it in my hips, lower back and knees as well, though to a lesser degree.  I find reducing the pain by even a percentage with different things helps.

For instance, the heat wraps for your back always helped me a bit.  (Some people like ice, never worked for me.)  Also glucosamine chondroiton has worked for a lot of people.  (It helps my hips and back but my hands were too far gone.)  It's a little pricey (but if you watch the sales you can get "buy one get one free."  It also takes time to kick in, maybe a couple of weeks to a month.  (But if you do have arthritis, it's there for life, so you have to start somewhere.)  Some people like OTC Ben Gay and stuff.  I have a topical cream for arthritis called Voltaren Gel.  It helps a LOT.  It's a prescription and it's made for smaller joints.  It may help for a shoulder, not too sure.  Other people like doing the Motrin 800 mg. but some people prefer the Aleve, which you only take once a day.

I'm just saying if you can get 5 percent relief from one thing and 10 percent from another then you're 15 percent better already.  You just need to find what helps you.  

Last tip from me would be if you do have arthritis, find THE BEST doctor in your area that deals with it.  I didn't know when I started the journey how important that was.  My first orthopedic that I saw for the arthritis was really nice and seemed to know what he was doing.  He didn't.  He gave me way too many cortisone shots (another option for you to try, but you have to be careful with it.)  When I finally found a new doc, my thumb joint was all broken and needed to be replaced.  Which brought me to 8 surgeries down, at least one more to go, waaaay too much medication, and constant pain, plus a terribly deformed looking thumb.  

Like they say, "If I knew then what I know now ..." my life would be much different.  Best of luck.

[abritt121222]

well i didnt get to go to my doc friday to see what was wrong because my doc didnt get the report from my xrays but friday and sat my girlfriend and i went to a festival and not even halway thru the day friday after walking around all day my hip started hurting so bad that i could hardly walk it felt like someone had a knife in my hip and everytime i took a step someone was twisting it which is making me worry more and more that i do have some kind of arthritis because i have never had any joint problems or pain and now all of the sudden within a months time my shoulder and my hip are giving me hell but my mom and girlfriend keep telling me it is because i havent got alot of excercise since i had back surgery about 7 months ago but im bout 99% positive this had nothing to do with excercise because if it did i wouldnt think that my arm would be popping and cracking like it does my hip pops a little bit every once in a while but nothing like my shoulder but like i said this is no pain like im sore from excercising or anything like that this is really really really bad pain

well thanx again everyone for reading and helping me out with this
ABritt

[LeaAnn807]

Thanks for the idea.  I have TWO girls, so I will ask for one from each!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are a little too young, but hey, they have a dad!

[avisg]

tram, LMAO thats what I am askin for for mothers day its been months since i have gotten one ......

[LeaAnn807]

AVIS........dangit.  Now I want a massage.  Thanks a lot!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

[avisg]

abritt ,
I know there not cheap but can you swing a professional massage say once every two weeks when i can get them which isn't enough they help my back alot

[abritt121222]

i tried acupuncture before i had back surgery for pain and it didnt help my back at all so i havent really ever thought about it again since then for my shoulders or my back when i hurt it every so often

[abritt121222]

and yea right now i am trying all the options i can before i take any kind of narcotic pain meds and so far i havent found anything to help especially at night with sleep my doc wrote me a script for ambien and i gave it back because i just dont like the idea of a med knocking me out like that and i know those are just as addictive as pain meds cause i have heard horror stories bout them heck one of my cousins took one his doc prescribed him and now his wife has a video of him that night running up and down the road butt naked and i dont need anything like that oh yea and he lives in Atlanta Ga to haha its funny now and we all laugh about it cause he was naked runnin up the road and made it home ok but he also doesnt think about how dangerous that was and is lucky he didnt get run over by a car or shot by some gang banger thinkin he was crazy and comin at them or something cause i mean ATL aint no little country dirt road

[dominosarah]

I hear you on the desk job.  Would accupunture be an option?

[abritt121222]

yea i have tried to goto college before and didnt last very long at all i just love construction work i know that sounds crazy cause it is hard work but it is what i know and i am da*& good at it and its pretty much in my blood that just what my family does and i just dont think i could have a desk job i really dont i would go crazy

[dominosarah]

I know your mind is going a million miles an hour right now and it will till you find out what it is you actually have.  Hopefully it wont be what you have read on the internet.  You and your doctor will be able to come up with a plan when you know for sure what you are dealing with.  There will be a point when you do have to do the acceptance thing with this.  Its always hard to accept when our body wont allow us to do the work we have done in the past.  Maybe look into school or something that doesnt require that hard labor.  Im grasping at straws here as i feel your pain and wish i could make it go away for you.  Way to go on staying off the meds~~~~Keep us posted.         sara

[abritt121222]

i am still doing fine with the pain meds still havent taken any but for the shoulder pain not so hot its getting worse by the day it seems and i am getting less and less sleep every night when this first started i could lay down for 3 or 4 hours at a time and it then it would start to bother me and now it is only about 5 minutes and the pain is starting and within ten minutes the pain is horrible and this pain increase is in like a little less than three week timeframe and i am worrying myself to death about this because everything i have read on the internet from my symptoms are leading to the two most crippling forms of arthritis and it scares me so bad i just dont understand before my back i have never had any major health issues and since about 10 months ago when i found out i had two fractures on my l5 vert my world has just come crashing down i mean even the back surgery had been hell i still have problems with my back anytime i do anything that i have to bend over to do or pick up anything over like 30 pounds and i am just not used to this i love sports and always have played sports and was a construction worker making really good money doing that and thats all i really know and now that is all gone my construction days are over and not to mention the company i worked for was my fathers and 5 months ago he had to close down because of this economy so im so scared or everything i dont know what im gonna do for work because like i said construction is what i know and my construction days are over because at 24 years old i am not physicaly able to do it anymore and it makes me so upset i just sit around and cry some days because of this i never in my wildest dreams thought this would happen to me i mean i was in GREAT shape in highschool lifted weights all the time played sports kept in shape and now here i am with these problems and i still just can process this in my head i just cant  believe it and i keep hurting my back(still staying off pain meds tho) because i dont want to believe it and do things i should not be doing like lifting heavy things and working when i shouldnt but i guess sometime i am gonna have to get over it and accept what is well sorry to keep rambling on and on about this it is just that this is probably the hardest year i have ever had in my life and just hard for me to accept that i am not gonna be able to do the things that i used to
well thanx for listening and thanx for all the advice so far i will keep everyone posted as soon as i find out more about whats wrong with me this time

thanx again i dont know what i would do without all of yall on this site to talk to about everything from this to help with the pain meds i really dont you are all such wonderful ppl and i just hope i can help ppl as much as everyone has helped me i know i am trying to help everyone i can with the unfortunate experience i have with opiate abuse

ABritt

[dominosarah]

How are you doing today?

[LeaAnn807]

I'm sorry to hear about your shoulder.  You are doing so good, and I would hate to see you lose any clean time over this!  There are other things you can take and treatments you can get that might help.  You know if you take an opiate now, this soon after WD, you are going to risk going through WD again.  YUCK! : (  

I am proud of you.  Keep hanging in there!  You're doing great!!!  

TH

[pilgrim165]

It is so hard to deal with when you have a real injury or illness but also an addiction to pain meds. I would tell the doctor and organise with a pharmacist to pick up your pain meds maybe every other day, and then gradually tapering them off again.
Long term, you may need a specialist who knows a lot about pain meds, it looks like they also need to be a part of your life sometimes, You may just need to take precautions so you don't slip. You can do it, I've had to do it a couple of times in the past few months (I've not long been off them) and I found the pharmacists especially very helpful as they generally know which painkillers will cause problems. I heard that for long term use of pain meds, there are those out there that do not cause us to have the same reaction to them. We don't get hooked and it is long term therapy. Sorry, I don't know the names of any of these drugs but look it up. You can stay clean(ish) and still control pain according to the pharmacist who finally confronted me about my own addiction to pain meds.
Hope it's helpful and I really hope it's not arthritis, try to relax and look after yourself and be kind to yourself and try to have hope whatever happens. And of course you can always talk to me if you want.....Or anyone here, eveyone is quite understanding. Best of luck xxxx