Guest guest Posted January 8, 2008 Report Share Posted January 8, 2008 Anybody here familiar with Namenda? It is prescribed frequently for Alhzheimer's patients, but my new neurologist just gave me a patient starter kit. She said this will help with my " other " pain problems as well, so I'm hoping that I can get off the generic Lortab and Soma. I know it's not spine-related (directly), but I had about a month from the time the neurologist's first visit and the EEG/MRI were done a week later, then the month of waiting. During the time I was waiting, I also saw an orthopeadic specialist and was diagnosed with Right Greater Trochanteric Bursitis and Sciatica Right Lower Extremity, chronic neuropathy, also given a Depo-Medrol 40 mg and 2 cc of Lidocaine injection. I am only 47 years old, and feel like I'm falling apart. <G> According to the notes of the ortho, I am obese, being 5'5 " , 174 pounds, and a Body Mass Index of 30. Looks like I need to shed about 20-25 pounds and see if that helps too. Also, does anybody know what the procedure is, to get copies of medical tests results ordered/done by Social Security, on myself? Is that possible? They will send copies of the medical reports to doctors (with my release/approval), but apparently I can't get a copy for myself, to see what they said? That sounds contradictory. I don't even know if it's valuable, since I don't know what the report(s) might say. Am looking at a significant change in our lifestyle and unsure of how to go about doing it. I am a " do-er " and that means physically moving things around. Now apparently I can't do 90% of the things that I am used to doing. So I'm fighting depression as well. I thought having a fusion in November 2006 and then hardware removal last October were hard; now I'm finding the head injury from February 2004 is causing problems and aggravating my health as well. BTW, we survived the heavy storms that passed through Oklahoma/Arkansas last night. We had 5.5 inches of rain, and the hail was off/on for about two hours. We had dime sized hail, marble-sized, and pea sized. Washed our dirt road and front yard a lot and the creek behind the house is running. For the first time this year, I can hear it running. Tornadoes were detected just a few miles from our place but they never touched down. Now it's cooling off just in the last few hours and we'll be starting up the wood stove after a 4-day rest. Debbie Dahl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 All of the following information about this drug is taken from the Public Interest website " WorstPills.org. It is an independent drug evaluation site. Namenda -is on their " Do Not Use " List because it " failed to demonstrate a significant effect on patient global function for severe dementia of the Alzheimer's type. " If the doctor gave it to you for pain, that is considered an " off label use " , which means it is not approved by the FDA for that condition, again, because there is no evidence that it works. If this drug doesn't work for Alzheimer's or pain, than he is just throwing drugs at you because he doesn't have anything better to offer. It is highly probable the doctor believes whatever the drug salesman has told him about the drug & he really doesn't know how ineffective he drug is. Namenda - " Common adverse effects reported with Memantine (Namenda) include dizziness, headache, constipation, pain, and difficult breathing, which are believed to be related to the dose of the drug. Three reports of inflammation of the pancreas and four cases of renal failure were reported from ongoing trials. Of the renal failure reports, the treatment assignments remain blinded for three cases. From post-marketing surveillance, two cases of a severe skin reaction called epidermal necrolysis, one case of bone marrow failure to make blood cells, and one case of liver failure were reported. Since Memantine (Namenda) is already marketed in Germany, the company has received 73 adverse event reports for 48 patients including seizures, high blood pressure, circulatory failure, jerky movements, bullous rash, pruritis, nervousness, tremors, aggressive reactions, and nausea. " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 I am wondering about your diagnosis of Right Greater Trochanteric Bursitis and Sciatica Right Lower Extremity. Do you also have a pain in your butt ? If you do, it sounds like Piriformis Syndrome. The symptoms of Piriformis Syndrome are a pain in the butt with hip " bursitis " & leg pain (sciatica). Piriformis Syndrome is sometimes a caused by a fusion at L5-S1. The standard treatment is physical therapy to manually adjust the pelvis to reduce stress on the Piriformis muscle. Success is often limited if the fusion has screwed the pelvis in an abnormal position. Most doctors are uninformed about Piriformis Syndrome. If you think you may have Piriformis SYndrome, try a SPorts MEdicine doctor, because they have more experience with it. Good Luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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