Re: I've had a rough time again. Dennis

[Guest guest]

Hi Dennis

I am so sorry to hear that you are having such severe

back pain - my husband has been having the same kind

of trouble here, so I know how much pain you have to

be in with all of this. He has lost disc space at

L5-S1 (I think that is the most common disc space to

cause trouble because when I worked in an

orthopaedist's office that was the one which was

mentioned most as being the patient's main problem),

and has had three lumbar infusions so far in an

attempt to keep him from having to do any surgery to

stabilize it.

So far, it seems to be doing the trick, but he still

has days when he has to use ice on his back for any

relief at all, and take pain meds. It was hard all of

these years to have him really understand the RA pain,

but now since he has had this low back stuff going on,

he says he now really does understand how I have been

feeling all these years. I hate to see him in pain -

he has always been such an active guy, and not one to

sit down and rest, he always had to be doing or fixing

something, so it's strange to see him not doing

things.

I hope that the doctors can figure out what the

problem is, and get a treatment program started for

you as soon as possible to get your pain under

control. You might want to ask about lumbar infusions

- don't know if you have the same kind of problem or

if they would help you, but they did help my husband -

he could barely walk or straighten his back for quite

a while, and now is back to running for the train

every morning and working with his plantings.

I will be keeping the healing prayers coming for you

and hope you are in better shape soon -

Kathe in CA

--- betnden@... wrote:

> Sunday afternoon I was walking through my kitchen

> when a sudden pain in my

> right hip/back that almost folded my leg, but

> luckily I was able to catch

> myself and limp to my chair. It remained painful but

> I figured it would go

> away overnight as it usually does. Monday morning, I

> got my daughter to take

> me to the ER since I probably wouldn't be able to

> see my doc for a long

> while. It was damage to my Sciatic nerve, I'm sure,

> since the pain has been

> there for more than a year, and the one Pain

> Management " doc did nothing for

> me.

>

> Anyhow, the ER doc didn't do more than give me a

> shot of morphine and sent

> me home. It did no good at all, and Tuesday, I went

> to see my Rheumy,

> thinking I might get a cortisone shot that might

> help. The start of the

> visit was off balance because they didn't have a

> " current " bone scan, so the

> NP refused to do anything for me. I had to get a

> little threatening with

> her, hoping she would get Dr B to come in, but he

> was busy and couldn't turn

> loose.Either I sufficiently threatened her or she

> got info by computer from

> the hospital about my most recent bone scan because

> she came in with a

> syringe of steroids. She also set up a nerve test on

> my right leg that

> showed a problem with the " L5-S1 " joint,

> specifically Radiculopathy,

> whatever that is. I have to research it today. This

> morning, I got up to go

> to the bathroom and limped the 7 feet and back. When

> I tried to lie down, I

> had terrible pain in my back and right leg, so I

> fell onto the bed and

> couldn't find a position of relief. Betty was across

> the house and couldn't

> hear me calling for her until about a half hour (or

> seemed like it) later.

> She ended up going to our daughter's house since her

> phone was not working,

> and between them, got me at least stabilized. We

> tried every way we could

> think of, but it was still tortuous and I had tears

> in both eyes. It took

> about an hour to get enough meds down me and pulling

> me just the right way,

> I was able to get off the bed and on my portable

> 'torture rack', better

> known as a stepladder that I would lean over to

> pull the spine back out.

> Now, I can take a couple of steps, but am relegated

> to her power chair for

> most movement.

>

> Monday morning when we tried to load the scooter on

> the carrier, a hinge

> broke, so we couldn't take it to the doc. Now I have

> fix that because I

> can't carry it or my scooter until then. The lift is

> mounted in Betty's van,

> so I have to come up with another option. I'll see

> if DD can weld. We've got

> to fix it because I've got an appointment with a

> spine specialist this

> Monday.

>

> I was talking with Betty on the phone about 30

> minutes ago and just lost my

> balance and fell. I should have been in the chair! I

> hope things get

> better...

> Dennis in Eastexas

> " You can't always fix it with money "

>

>

>

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

-Dennis,

this is my world.........radial redicular pain...Right leg( for

me)....I am so sorry that you have it too!! It is not fun ,believe

me, I know your pain! I find that 2 things help.......one is ICE...I

have been known to freeze my a**!! Lay on a bag of frozen peas/with a

towel in between you and the peas!. And have another bag in the

freezer to change out when one gets melty. (I mark these so no one

accidently cooks them...peas that have been defrosted and re frozen

many times would not be good to eat!!). ALso, I have one of those

mattresses that vibrate...I take in in the car, it goes into my

living room chair...and I sleep on it every night... I use it all the

time. I think that it works much like a tens unit...all the

vibrations break down the muscle spasms and interfear with the pain

being passed along the nerve system to the brain...it runs

interfearence for you so to speak. I wouldn't be without mine!! The

one thing to remember is to get one with 10 or more motors and has

several patterns that it will do for the vibrations. THen you can

change the pattern and pay attention to one area more than another.

THis is also great for the RA...if your feet are kiling you....you

place a foot right on a motor and let it buzz.(I have RA nodes in my

feet) this is wonderful!!!. THe best one that I have found is by

hometics. No sales pitch, not related to them, dont work for them,

just have one on my bed and a replacement one i found on sale...so

when the one on my bed has had it...I go to the closet and get out a

new one! This mattress has saved my life, made my pain more bearable,

and without it I am a bit*h! I recently went to New Mexico for a few

days, got caught there in the cold and rain, and then realized I

forgot to bring my mattress....I came home after one day!!!! It was

either come home or go to the mall and buy another one!! You can find

them at linens and things, and big dept stores like Dillards...these

are the two places where I go looking when I need one. If you are

thinking of geting one..email me and I will give you

specifics...because you want a particular one...I have had to take

the back before..till I got the right one!! Now I have it down

pat...and would be happy to direct you!! I hope you are feeling

better soon! ANd no more falling down! this is not good!!!lie on the

couch or sit in a chair while on the phone...no more falling!!!! jenna

-- In , Kathe Sabetzadeh <lv2ryd@...> wrote:

>

> Hi Dennis

>

> I am so sorry to hear that you are having such severe

> back pain - my husband has been having the same kind

> of trouble here, so I know how much pain you have to

> be in with all of this. He has lost disc space at

> L5-S1 (I think that is the most common disc space to

> cause trouble because when I worked in an

> orthopaedist's office that was the one which was

> mentioned most as being the patient's main problem),

> and has had three lumbar infusions so far in an

> attempt to keep him from having to do any surgery to

> stabilize it.

>

> So far, it seems to be doing the trick, but he still

> has days when he has to use ice on his back for any

> relief at all, and take pain meds. It was hard all of

> these years to have him really understand the RA pain,

> but now since he has had this low back stuff going on,

> he says he now really does understand how I have been

> feeling all these years. I hate to see him in pain -

> he has always been such an active guy, and not one to

> sit down and rest, he always had to be doing or fixing

> something, so it's strange to see him not doing

> things.

>

> I hope that the doctors can figure out what the

> problem is, and get a treatment program started for

> you as soon as possible to get your pain under

> control. You might want to ask about lumbar infusions

> - don't know if you have the same kind of problem or

> if they would help you, but they did help my husband -

> he could barely walk or straighten his back for quite

> a while, and now is back to running for the train

> every morning and working with his plantings.

> I will be keeping the healing prayers coming for you

> and hope you are in better shape soon -

>

> Kathe in CA

>

> --- betnden@... wrote:

>

> > Sunday afternoon I was walking through my kitchen

> > when a sudden pain in my

> > right hip/back that almost folded my leg, but

> > luckily I was able to catch

> > myself and limp to my chair. It remained painful but

> > I figured it would go

> > away overnight as it usually does. Monday morning, I

> > got my daughter to take

> > me to the ER since I probably wouldn't be able to

> > see my doc for a long

> > while. It was damage to my Sciatic nerve, I'm sure,

> > since the pain has been

> > there for more than a year, and the one Pain

> > Management " doc did nothing for

> > me.

> >

> > Anyhow, the ER doc didn't do more than give me a

> > shot of morphine and sent

> > me home. It did no good at all, and Tuesday, I went

> > to see my Rheumy,

> > thinking I might get a cortisone shot that might

> > help. The start of the

> > visit was off balance because they didn't have a

> > " current " bone scan, so the

> > NP refused to do anything for me. I had to get a

> > little threatening with

> > her, hoping she would get Dr B to come in, but he

> > was busy and couldn't turn

> > loose.Either I sufficiently threatened her or she

> > got info by computer from

> > the hospital about my most recent bone scan because

> > she came in with a

> > syringe of steroids. She also set up a nerve test on

> > my right leg that

> > showed a problem with the " L5-S1 " joint,

> > specifically Radiculopathy,

> > whatever that is. I have to research it today. This

> > morning, I got up to go

> > to the bathroom and limped the 7 feet and back. When

> > I tried to lie down, I

> > had terrible pain in my back and right leg, so I

> > fell onto the bed and

> > couldn't find a position of relief. Betty was across

> > the house and couldn't

> > hear me calling for her until about a half hour (or

> > seemed like it) later.

> > She ended up going to our daughter's house since her

> > phone was not working,

> > and between them, got me at least stabilized. We

> > tried every way we could

> > think of, but it was still tortuous and I had tears

> > in both eyes. It took

> > about an hour to get enough meds down me and pulling

> > me just the right way,

> > I was able to get off the bed and on my portable

> > 'torture rack', better

> > known as a stepladder that I would lean over to

> > pull the spine back out.

> > Now, I can take a couple of steps, but am relegated

> > to her power chair for

> > most movement.

> >

> > Monday morning when we tried to load the scooter on

> > the carrier, a hinge

> > broke, so we couldn't take it to the doc. Now I have

> > fix that because I

> > can't carry it or my scooter until then. The lift is

> > mounted in Betty's van,

> > so I have to come up with another option. I'll see

> > if DD can weld. We've got

> > to fix it because I've got an appointment with a

> > spine specialist this

> > Monday.

> >

> > I was talking with Betty on the phone about 30

> > minutes ago and just lost my

> > balance and fell. I should have been in the chair! I

> > hope things get

> > better...

> > Dennis in Eastexas

> > " You can't always fix it with money "

> >

> >

> >

>

>

> __________________________________________________

>

[Guest guest]

Jenna, to show you how well I think, Betty bought one a few years ago and

used it a little, then put it up. This one has heat also, which is good but

not if it's going to stay packed up! I just got it out and put it on my

chair. It is making a difference already after the terrible morning of

yesterday. From the terrible pain, I have muscles that were involved in that

episode that feel like I did a full day's work with a shovel or hoe. I'm

already feeling better from it. Thanks for that reminder.

Betty also woke me this morning with a handful of meds so I could get a

" head start " on the day. I got up an hour later feeling pretty good. I'm

taking a newer version of Neurontin and she also gave me some Vicodin, which

seems to help get the other pains under control. I had asked my doctor, the

NP's boss, for something like that to supplement the MS Contin, but he

refused, saying it wouldn't do any good because " all pain meds are

eventually Morphine anyway " . I didn't and still don't believe it, and now

maybe I have physical proof.

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate all of them.

Dennis in Eastexas

" You can't always fix it with money "

[ ] Re: I've had a rough time again. Dennis

> -Dennis,

> this is my world.........radial redicular pain...Right leg( for

> me)....I am so sorry that you have it too!! It is not fun ,believe

> me, I know your pain! I find that 2 things help.......one is ICE...I

> have been known to freeze my a**!! Lay on a bag of frozen peas/with a

> towel in between you and the peas!. And have another bag in the

> freezer to change out when one gets melty. (I mark these so no one

> accidently cooks them...peas that have been defrosted and re frozen

> many times would not be good to eat!!). ALso, I have one of those

> mattresses that vibrate...I take in in the car, it goes into my

> living room chair...and I sleep on it every night... I use it all the

> time. I think that it works much like a tens unit...all the

> vibrations break down the muscle spasms and interfear with the pain

> being passed along the nerve system to the brain...it runs

> interfearence for you so to speak. I wouldn't be without mine!! The

> one thing to remember is to get one with 10 or more motors and has

> several patterns that it will do for the vibrations. THen you can

> change the pattern and pay attention to one area more than another.

> THis is also great for the RA...if your feet are kiling you....you

> place a foot right on a motor and let it buzz.(I have RA nodes in my

> feet) this is wonderful!!!. THe best one that I have found is by

> hometics. No sales pitch, not related to them, dont work for them,

> just have one on my bed and a replacement one i found on sale...so

> when the one on my bed has had it...I go to the closet and get out a

> new one! This mattress has saved my life, made my pain more bearable,

> and without it I am a bit*h! I recently went to New Mexico for a few

> days, got caught there in the cold and rain, and then realized I

> forgot to bring my mattress....I came home after one day!!!! It was

> either come home or go to the mall and buy another one!! You can find

> them at linens and things, and big dept stores like Dillards...these

> are the two places where I go looking when I need one. If you are

> thinking of geting one..email me and I will give you

> specifics...because you want a particular one...I have had to take

> the back before..till I got the right one!! Now I have it down

> pat...and would be happy to direct you!! I hope you are feeling

> better soon! ANd no more falling down! this is not good!!!lie on the

> couch or sit in a chair while on the phone...no more falling!!!! jenna

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> -- In , Kathe Sabetzadeh <lv2ryd@...> wrote:

>>

>> Hi Dennis

>>

>> I am so sorry to hear that you are having such severe

>> back pain - my husband has been having the same kind

>> of trouble here, so I know how much pain you have to

>> be in with all of this. He has lost disc space at

>> L5-S1 (I think that is the most common disc space to

>> cause trouble because when I worked in an

>> orthopaedist's office that was the one which was

>> mentioned most as being the patient's main problem),

>> and has had three lumbar infusions so far in an

>> attempt to keep him from having to do any surgery to

>> stabilize it.

>>

>> So far, it seems to be doing the trick, but he still

>> has days when he has to use ice on his back for any

>> relief at all, and take pain meds. It was hard all of

>> these years to have him really understand the RA pain,

>> but now since he has had this low back stuff going on,

>> he says he now really does understand how I have been

>> feeling all these years. I hate to see him in pain -

>> he has always been such an active guy, and not one to

>> sit down and rest, he always had to be doing or fixing

>> something, so it's strange to see him not doing

>> things.

>>

>> I hope that the doctors can figure out what the

>> problem is, and get a treatment program started for

>> you as soon as possible to get your pain under

>> control. You might want to ask about lumbar infusions

>> - don't know if you have the same kind of problem or

>> if they would help you, but they did help my husband -

>> he could barely walk or straighten his back for quite

>> a while, and now is back to running for the train

>> every morning and working with his plantings.

>> I will be keeping the healing prayers coming for you

>> and hope you are in better shape soon -

>>

>> Kathe in CA

>>

>> --- betnden@... wrote:

>>

>> > Sunday afternoon I was walking through my kitchen

>> > when a sudden pain in my

>> > right hip/back that almost folded my leg, but

>> > luckily I was able to catch

>> > myself and limp to my chair. It remained painful but

>> > I figured it would go

>> > away overnight as it usually does. Monday morning, I

>> > got my daughter to take

>> > me to the ER since I probably wouldn't be able to

>> > see my doc for a long

>> > while. It was damage to my Sciatic nerve, I'm sure,

>> > since the pain has been

>> > there for more than a year, and the one Pain

>> > Management " doc did nothing for

>> > me.

>> >

>> > Anyhow, the ER doc didn't do more than give me a

>> > shot of morphine and sent

>> > me home. It did no good at all, and Tuesday, I went

>> > to see my Rheumy,

>> > thinking I might get a cortisone shot that might

>> > help. The start of the

>> > visit was off balance because they didn't have a

>> > " current " bone scan, so the

>> > NP refused to do anything for me. I had to get a

>> > little threatening with

>> > her, hoping she would get Dr B to come in, but he

>> > was busy and couldn't turn

>> > loose.Either I sufficiently threatened her or she

>> > got info by computer from

>> > the hospital about my most recent bone scan because

>> > she came in with a

>> > syringe of steroids. She also set up a nerve test on

>> > my right leg that

>> > showed a problem with the " L5-S1 " joint,

>> > specifically Radiculopathy,

>> > whatever that is. I have to research it today. This

>> > morning, I got up to go

>> > to the bathroom and limped the 7 feet and back. When

>> > I tried to lie down, I

>> > had terrible pain in my back and right leg, so I

>> > fell onto the bed and

>> > couldn't find a position of relief. Betty was across

>> > the house and couldn't

>> > hear me calling for her until about a half hour (or

>> > seemed like it) later.

>> > She ended up going to our daughter's house since her

>> > phone was not working,

>> > and between them, got me at least stabilized. We

>> > tried every way we could

>> > think of, but it was still tortuous and I had tears

>> > in both eyes. It took

>> > about an hour to get enough meds down me and pulling

>> > me just the right way,

>> > I was able to get off the bed and on my portable

>> > 'torture rack', better

>> > known as a stepladder that I would lean over to

>> > pull the spine back out.

>> > Now, I can take a couple of steps, but am relegated

>> > to her power chair for

>> > most movement.

>> >

>> > Monday morning when we tried to load the scooter on

>> > the carrier, a hinge

>> > broke, so we couldn't take it to the doc. Now I have

>> > fix that because I

>> > can't carry it or my scooter until then. The lift is

>> > mounted in Betty's van,

>> > so I have to come up with another option. I'll see

>> > if DD can weld. We've got

>> > to fix it because I've got an appointment with a

>> > spine specialist this

>> > Monday.

>> >

>> > I was talking with Betty on the phone about 30

>> > minutes ago and just lost my

>> > balance and fell. I should have been in the chair! I

>> > hope things get

>> > better...

>> > Dennis in Eastexas

>> > " You can't always fix it with money "

[Guest guest]

-Dennis,

I just got to this message today...my phone was out for 3 days and I

am trying to play catch up with emails and groups. I am so glad that

you remembered that you had a pad like mine.....isn't it great?? I

find that it really makes a difference as to how long I can stay up

and what I can do during the day....as long as I can lay down for 1/2

hour here and there and vibrate it keeps the muscle spasms at bay!!

AS to your remarks about Vicodin. I too take MS Contin and take 15mg

tabs of fast release morphine in between for breakthrough pain....and

I usually have to take it daily....but I don't want to put my MSC up

any higher right now. So I asked about taking Vicodin in between. My

PCP gave me the story that it wouldn't work because the MSC has

already bonded to the pain receptors and nothing else would work. THe

pain DR. said, it would work...but since I am on MSC by taking the

morphine for breakthrough it was easier for them to calculate when I

needed to go up on my dose to have it be effective....this was a more

believable answer. but the vicodin did work better than the instant

morphine...I tried it and got 6 hours of relief instead of 4, of

course it was probably because I am not used to taking Vicodin

anymore..it is new to my system again. whereas I take the morphine

daily and I would have to raise the dosage to be able to feel a

difference in my pain level. Hope this makes sense to you! I was glad

to see that someone else was thinking like I was!!!I hat taking all

this stuff too, but without it I would be itting on the floor crying

because of the pain! So life quality is much better with all the

meds. Thanks!! jenna

-- In , <betnden@...> wrote:

>

> Jenna, to show you how well I think, Betty bought one a few years

ago and

> used it a little, then put it up. This one has heat also, which is

good but

> not if it's going to stay packed up! I just got it out and put it

on my

> chair. It is making a difference already after the terrible morning

of

> yesterday. From the terrible pain, I have muscles that were

involved in that

> episode that feel like I did a full day's work with a shovel or

hoe. I'm

> already feeling better from it. Thanks for that reminder.

>