Re: To K, Kathleen and Laurie re: Small Duct Disease

[Guest guest]

Hi , Kathleen and Laurie: I'm writing you all in this same

post because I'm starting to get increased pain and need to get back

upstairs to my heating pad and a methadone and Levbid med. Thanks

for all the info on small duct disease. This was said by the same

doc that told me to " learn to live with it " the day I was there for

my last app't with him...he sort of muttered something under his

breath about the possibility of having small duct disease and " you

may want to find a surgeon. " This was said only after I pressed him

on what could possibly be wrong with me that would cause me daily

pain and illness. At any rate, that was about the only interesting

factoid (!!) takeaway from the app't.

I just wanted to comment on these new meds that have been prescribed

for me. The Levbid is an anti-spasmodic and was actually prescribed

for me way back in the beginning of this when I saw a local GI who

suspected cp and/or sod...also prior to seeing and receiving

treatment by Dr. Lehman. Anyway, of late, the Levbid really seems

to help and so does the methadone (prescribed by the pain mgmt

doctor)...if I take both I can usually get things under some sort of

control within an hour or so. I think (obviously) that since the

Levbid is an anti-spasmodic that it helps to stop the spasms of the

SO and the Methadone is much preferrable (to me at least) than

Percocet. I avoid that like the plague now and NEVER take it for

breakthru - if there is break thru then I take another methadone

and that usually does the trick. At first, I didn't think the

Methadone was doing much of anything and I said as much to the pain

doc but he said that unlike most narcotics that you have to take

methadone on a regular basis whether in pain or not for it to be

effective because it would take awhile for it to work. He said it

was unlike narcotics also in that works better over time instead of

the body building a tolerance as is usual with other narcotics.

Hence the reason they give this drug to heroin addicts, etc., to

break them of the habit. So far, his opinion has proven to be right

(for once!!)

The other thing I've been doing for the nausea is to drink Coke (the

NON diet kind) and that really helps to get the nausea under control

for some reason....sometimes it seems to be better than the

Phenergan.

Anyway, have to go for now but wanted to say thanks to you all for

the info and when I feel a bit better - maybe even later this

evening - I'm going to " google it " and see what I come up with

respect to the small duct disease.

Thanks again