Rose...Re: Muscle Relaxers for Pain

September 15, 2007

Thanks Rose...I'll look into both of these!

>

> , the first thing I would recommend is MBSR (Mindfulness-Based

Stress Reduction). I have become an enthusiastic supporter of this

for pain relief. Tracie teaches this technique. This summer I had

finally decided to have surgery on my lower back because I just

couldn't continue with the pain & severe leg cramps. I ran into an

old friend of mine who now teaches MBSR & she convinced me to try it

before undergoing surgery. I was very skeptical, which was odd,

since as a midwife I believed strongly in the mind-body connection &

it's effect on labor pain. Anyway, after just 3 classes, I was

totally amazed at the relief I experienced. My pain isn't gone, but

it's back to the level I've had for about 25 years, which I can live

with. So that would be my first suggestion. Here is a good website,

explaining MBSR. He's selling books, but it's still a good starting

place. I think it would be a difficult thing, for me at least, to do

on my own, but if taking a class is out of the question, we can

probably help you learn the basics. The link to Oprah will give you

a couple of excellent basic instruction sheets.

http://www.mindfulnesstapes.com/

>

> Now regarding meds for muscle spasms, back when the fatigue, etc.

started several years, I began having muscle cramps everywhere--

places I didn't know I had muscles. I remember having cramps on the

outside of my ankles! If I reached back to scratch my back, my arm,

neck & back would all cramp up. I even had trouble using toilet

tissue--my arm, side, legs & back would all cramp. I could just be

gesturing as I talked & get a severe cramp in my elbow! Somebody at

work suggested quinine water, which I bought at a health food store,

but it didn't help. So I asked my neurologist & he gave me a

prescription for Quinine. I've been taking it ever since. A few

times I've run out & tried going without it, but within a few days

I'm starting to cramp again. Actually, before the Quinine, one of my

docs gave me Baclofen, but I had some kind of reaction to it; can't

remember what, but I had to stop taking it. Anyway, last year, Dr.

Larry, my neuro, talked to me about stopping the Quinine, because

some studies had shown an increased risk of something, heart disease

maybe?, with it, but I told him that every drug has a downside & I

was willing to accept that risk, so he has continued to prescribe

it. He knows me well enough to trust that I'm not going to sue him

if I have a problem because of it. I just can't function with all

those cramps & muscle spasms.

>

> I don't know if Quinine would help you, and you can't take it if

you are on Plaquenil (sp?) or other drugs in that category, but it's

something to consider.

>

> Ramblin' Rose

> Moderator

>

> A merry heart is good medicine. Proverbs 17:22

>

> " How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the

young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving,

and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you

will have been all of these. "

>

> ~ Washington Carver

>

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September 15, 2007