Re: Soapbox issues-had to vent

[Guest guest]

wrote:

> Thanks Bennie. You always know how to brighten up my day!

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You know, all, that is what we are here for and that is why I love this group,

we accept each other as we are and will swear up and down those shots cause

arachnoiditis. others do not. The main think is to know and be involved in your

car and sometimes when you are hurting like HADES and the nurse who just took

your blood pressure of 230/115 wonders why it so high (uh duh, this is the

moment I am mentally strangling her) and then does it again pumping it tighter

like it will go down if we just compress those blood vessels.

Then I have to do my, You know that the blood pressure is a significant sign

someone is in pain and just because I can sit here and not moan, it doesn't mean

I don't hurt. My husband and I figured out that you have to be bleeding

profusely, vomiting profusely (but I had one nurse just give me a trash can) or

just say, I think I have chest pains.

Boy being overweight, over fifty, I was slapped on a stretcher, that IV was in

me, EKG done, Nitro given to me, A 10 mg of Morphine and phenergan.

Wow, what a difference and then they take the blood pressure and just wonder

why it was down.

I had a very wise doctor tell me that when I had my outpatient surgery, if you

sedate some with a pre op etc and the blood pressure goes down it is not

systemic but if it stays up with the shots, something is going on with

hypertension.http://foresttennant.com/pdfs/intractable-pain-patients-instruction\

-manual.pdf is another manual Dr Forest Tennant wrote about nine steps to

include diet, supplements etc.

Because I have high blood pressure, I wanted to share a long exert (sorry) as I

know some people don't go to the link and reading it now will make sense.

Dr Tennent talks about the importance of having blood pressure monitored and

also pain relieved.

Provided here is a Table of the most common causes of IP. You do not need to be

an expert on causes, but you must know your cause by its accepted medical name.

For example, you cannot have plain " arthritis. " You have " joint degeneration. "

You don't have a " bad back " you have " spine degeneration. " When dealing with

insurance plans and the medical system, you must state your problem as IP

secondary to its cause. For example, " IP secondary to spine degeneration. "

COMPLICATIONS OF INTRACTABLE PAIN

IP has numerous, severe complications which will shorten your life and

incapacitate you unless you take the bold measures required to control IP.

Totally untreated IP will cause death within days to weeks once it starts. This

occurrence, for example, has been observed following injuries to soldiers who

could not obtain morphine or other potent pain relievers.

Educate all persons you can about these complicate- tions. Why? Our health care

system and insurance industry, as a group, want to deny that severe compli-

cations of IP exist. To acknowledge that these complications exist means that IP

must be considered a

serious catastrophic disease that is expensive to treat.

CARDIAC-ADRENAL-PAIN SYNDROME

Severe, constant IP, causes the mid-brain area known as the hypothalamus to

over-activate the pitui- tary and adrenal glands, which in turn produce excess

blood levels of adrenaline, cortisol (the bodies natural cortisone), and related

chemicals. Excess adrenaline causes the pulse rate and blood pressure to rise,

and excess cortisol, overtime, causes loss of bone and teeth, osteoporosis,

weight gain, hypertension, diabe- tes, and immune suppression among other

complicate- tions. IP patients MUST find out if they have this syndrome, because

it causes too many serious com-plications if it is not controlled.

For example, a pulse rate or blood pressure that remains high, over time, may

cause any one of several cardiovascular comply- cations including

arteriosclerosis, angina, heart attack, and stroke. It is the author's belief

that most IP patients die prematurely of heart or stroke complications. Due to

these complications, IP patients must obtain the pain control they need to keep

their pulse rate and blood pressure in check.

BLOOD PRESSURE AND PULSE RATE - CRITICAL MEASUREMENTS

Uncontrolled IP drives up the pulse rate to over 84 per minute. Many patients go

over 100 per minute when their pain is in a flare or breakthrough episode. Blood

pressure may also go up over 130/90mm/Hg. It must remain below this figure.

It is critical to understand that uncontrolled pain produces damage and aging to

the body, and pulse and blood pressure let you objectively know if you are in

adequate control. You MUST obtain a blood pressure - pulse monitor for at-home

use. They are now quite inexpensive and can be obtained at most pharmacies. I

recommend you check your pulse and blood pressure daily. You particularly need

to check it during a pain flare or breakthrough episode to let you know just how

much danger you may be in during a flare.

For example, if the flare drives up your pulse rate above 120 per minute, you

are at serious risk for a heart attack or stroke. I have observed a number of IP

patients who develop angina (severe heart pain) during pain flares and require

nitroglycerine. Use your pulse rate and blood pressure to adjust your

medication. Always let your medical practitioners know what your pulse and blood

pressure readings are running at home. IP that causes blood pressure to elevate

will not respond well to the high blood pressure drugs used for ordinary high

blood pressure treatment. Only adequate pain control will lower high blood

pressure caused by pain.

TABLE OF COMPLICATIONS

⣠TACHYCARDIA (high pulse rate)

⣠HORMONE DEFICIENCIES (adrenal, thyroid, ovary, testicle, pituitary)

⣠HEART ATTACK ⣠STROKE ⣠OSTEOPOROSIS ⣠TOOTH DECAY ⣠LOSS of LIBIDO

⣠DEPRESSION

⣠WEIGHT GAIN ⣠DIABETES ⣠HYPERTENSION ⣠HYPERLIPIDEMIA ⣠MEMORY LOSS

& CONCENTRATION ⣠INSOMNIA

⣠MUSCLE WASTING ⣠FATIGUE ⣠IMMUNE IMPAIRMENT / INFECTIONS

⣠WEIGHT LOSS / STARVATION WITH NO CONTROL

Tennant - Intractable Pain Patient’s Handbook for Survival ©2007 9

NECESSITY FOR OPIOID DRUGS

A fundamental fact about opioids is that they are the only medication that will

truly control IP. Why? The nervous system has specific pain relief trigger

points scientifically known as opioid receptors. Natural pain relief in the body

is caused by a group of chemicals known collectively as endorphins which attach

and activate these receptors. Since these pain relief sites receive endorphins

they are hence called " re- ceptors. "

Endorphin is so closely related to morphine that the name endorphin is derived

from " end, " which is Latin for " in the body " and " orphin " which is the last part

of the word morphine.

The God-given poppy plant is the source for most medicinal opioids including

opium, morphine, co- deine, and hydromorphone, among others. Fundamentally,

opioid drugs are natural plant or herbal com- pounds. Consequently, they are

quite safe when taken at proper dosages and prescribed by a knowledgeable

physician.

No other class of drugs now or in the future will likely relieve pain like

opioids since the natural endorphins in the brain and opium poppy plant

derivatives are essentially one and the same. They do not cause tissue damage

like many other medicinals including alcohol, aspirin, aceta- minophen, and

anti-inflammatory agents, but they can produce sedation, impairment, overdose,

and hor- mone depletion. Historically, they have been widely used since the

Egyptian empire and by advanced societies all over the world who cared about the

relief of suffering and pain among their inhabitants.

BIAS AGAINST OPIOIDS

IP patients have to be aware of the history, bias, safety, and true

effectiveness of opioids since many parties in modern society have been and

continue to be on a campaign to ban or restrict their use. Every IP patient will

have to constantly face an ignorant bias against opioids. Bias and ignorance may

be thrown in your face by family, friends, doctors, nurses, government

officials, employers, and your health plan. The worst offenders, in my

experience, are the mental health industry and the sellers of non-opioid pain

treatments. Simply put, parties who have a financial interest in keeping

patients in uncontrolled pain con- tinually bad-mouth opioids. Be prepared to

educate all comers, and above all, remember that IP requires opioids for

control. There is no option.

Why the bias? Opioids work too well and there is no substitute. They give an IP

patient a meaningful, extended, quality of life. I now have IP patients who have

safely and effectively taken high doses of opioids for over 20 continuous years.

Current medical knowledge indicates that IP patients can have a fairly normal

lifespan if they have access to a dosage of opioids which effectively controls

their pain.

The real motivation behind opioid bias is money. They are expensive treatments

for health plans in- cluding government plans. When IP is properly treated with

opioids, the patient no longer has to hang out in emergency rooms or hospitals,

undergo surgery, or go whimpering to a mental health clinic for " de- pression "

just to get a little relief. Additionally, you do not have to soak yourself in

alcohol, buy heroin from drug dealers, or become the neighborhood pothead. I

have heard many a government regulator, health plan bureaucrat, and even some of

my fellow doctors proclaim to me that they would like to see all IP pa- tients

deprived of opioids. Fortunately, these attitudes and biases are slowly

disappearing, but always be aware that they exist.

Please know about the biggest racket and fraud going on in medicine today.

Believe it or not, some medical hucksters are claiming that opioids cause pain,

and your pain will go away if you just detoxify, stop opioids, or get

psychological help!! What utter disregard for science and suffering!

In another section of this Handbook there is a section on support groups and

advocacy. Every IP pa- tient should join some support group and band with other

patients, families, and advocates who support

Tennant - Intractable Pain Patient’s Handbook for Survival ©2007 10

public access to opioid pain relievers and support physician rights to prescribe

opioids. I am only able to write this Handbook because of political pressure

exerted in recent years on legislative and government regulatory agencies by

groups of IP patients, families, advocates, and doctors. Never take your supply

of opioids for granted. They work too well and have too many financial enemies.

The life you save may be your own.

At my pain doctor visit, she gave me nothing to get my blood pressure down and I

could not sit stand, i was pacing in pain, agitated, and I had to wait for my

meda to be written, my appt to be made, Lord, I wish I would have passed out to

prove a point.

My last visit, a new Doctor saw me and I told him I was taking vitamin D fifty

thousand units a week as I had been deficient for a long time and lost feelings

in my legs and they just went out from under me and I could not walk and I could

not remember where I was, they think I had mini stroke.

I told this Doctor if Pain Doctors would do a vitamin profile and hormone

profile on their pain patients the first time instead of worrying about peeing

in a cup, they might be more effective, he actually acknowledged me. Also, they

do not give anti inflammation diet or that vitamin D and hormones help pain

(internet search will yield documentation).

Then this guy says are you going to get any more injections, I said Hell No, you

guys gave them long enough I NOW do have it on my MRI report so you have to

leave me alone and you cannot get the needle through the scar tissue anymore but

tried to set me up for injection when the time before that you could not get

through scarring so you have to leave me alone. I do my physical therapy program

with myorascial release, use heat, use topical gel, have done biofeedback, have

trained in cognitive therapy , and gone to counselor, so please let me go home.

So the main point IS : We have to take up for ourselves and try to educate our

doctors what other pain pioneers have found out what works and it is not always

spinal injections and even the American Spinal Society doubts their

effectiveness and three is enough.

Sorry, I got on my soapbox, I guess I haven't posted so long I had to get it out

of me. Thanks for letting me rattle on but this support group saved my life and

continues to do so. Thank you for caring and we can always edify one another.

Bennie

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