Pain Medications
Thu, 11/05/2009 - 01:28
New doctor/revised meds - wish me luck!
Going from:
Monthly:
qty of 120 5 mg Ultram
qty of 60 Norco 10/325
qty of 90 600mg Motrin (my poor stomach)
qty of 15 Ambien (for problems sleeping from time to time)
to:
Monthly:
qty of 90 Norco 10/325
qty of 90 Baclofen (never had this before, ever.)
qty of 60 Pamelor 25mg
(not sure if he will keep me on Ambien once I run out, said it was ok to keep taking what I have left as needed and we will see how things go)
I'm nervous because the tramadol started having almost no affect on my pain and the norco was following suit (I guess I'm tolerant, been on norco for years. I have to hope that the addition of the muscle relaxer Baclofen and the anti-depressant Pamelor will work well as a partner with the Norco.
My old doctor would not order new x-rays or an MRI despite my most current ones being 3+ years old now. He was also not open to trying new medications (they haven't shifted in 3 years now, at all). This new doctor went ahead and ordered the new x-rays, etc.
I don't really have what seems to be muscle spasms...so I'm not sure about the relaxer. I know my past MRI showed a narrowed nerve pathway, among other things.
Has anyone had experience with Baclofen and Pamerol? Did it benefit you? Any advice or experience you could share with me would be great.
I really wanted him to shift me off of the Norco, try something different. He wanted me to try this combination. He said something about there being 40-something anti-inflammatory's and that in his personal experience only 2 of those 40-something helped him.
I just want to be able to get to work and not lose my job. I want my house to be clean...I just want to enjoy my life again.
Wish me luck guys.
And good luck to all of you going through this, it's nice to find a place where people understand.
-Rj
_____________
~Age 33.
~Single mother of 4 children, ages 1-17.
~Employed and trying to fight going out on disability. =/
~Chronic lower back pain for 13 years.
~2000 - Sideswiped on the right-hand side
~2001 - Animal Control truck backed into me while I was standing between my car door and the car's frame unfastening a infant car seat. Smashed me in between the door and frame.
~2003 - Was at full stop when a fully loaded 18-wheeler rear ended me at approx. 40 mph, pushing me into an SUV in front of me who also hit the vehicle in front of them. Older vehicle, no airbags for protection.
~ Former victim of spousal abuse.
~ Broken bone fragments in neck and lower back, bone spurs, nerve canal narrowing, degenerative disk disease.
and to top it all off...gall bladder disease/stones (gall bladder was removed in 2008) and am still having pain in that area (why did I have it removed again?) - plus a all new host of other related GI issues. May have to go under
the knife again.
~ Have tried all sorts of things for my neck and back: PT, massage therapy, Spinal steroid injections, medication, chiropractic...as of three years ago not a surgery candidate. New doctor as of 11/4/09 and being worked up all over again...wish me luck.
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I take this and it does work pretty well for me. I only take it when I have spasms. It sounds like you did a very good thing by getting a new doc. Sometimes that is what it takes to get things moving in the right direction again. Good luck to you.
I am in no way associated with the medical field. Anything that I post comes from personal experience only.
DDD, Facet Arthropathy, DJD,Collapsed Disc, Sleep Apnea
PT, Epidurals, Facet Blocks,Medial Branch Block, Rhizotomy,Discogram,Annular Tare L3/L4 Endoscopic MicroD and PLDD,
Methadone, Percocet, Baclofen, Welbutrin
I'm glad you got in with a new doctor and he adjusted some of your meds. They usually give you a muscle relaxer because back pain and spasms go hand in hand, and it take a combination of different classes of medications to combat this pain. I never tried Baclofen, just Zanaflex, Flexeril, Valium, and Skelaxin. Flexeril was the worst and did nothing but keep me up a night and sleep all day.
I'm from the US so I'm not sure what Pamelor is. Maybe your doctor will increase the number of Norco's a day; the maximum is 6 because of the Tylenol content and that's how much I took along with an extended release narcotic.
Most doctors would have you go up to an ER med after you've taken a short acting med like Norco or Percocet. Take care and I hope this new doctor is willing to work with you.
Past history: L4-5 central disc herniation, left lateral HNP L5-S1, L4-5 recurrent post op herniation, L4-5 Grade II retrolisthesis,
Current history: Post laminectomy syndrome, scar tissue, permanent nerve damage, severe DDD, facet arthropathy, DJD, OA, chronic degenerative endplate changes
Back Surgeries: Microdiscectomy/ laminectomy,
2 level TLIF/Laminectomy w/ instrumentation
Meds: Methadone 30mg, Oxycodone 15mg, Dilaudid, Cymbalta, Zanaflex, motrin.
Spineys Rule!
Baclofen works very well and it needs to be tapered slowly up and down. When I was started on it, it was 5 mg at a time, and several days in between. The goal is have the muscles relax and not in spasm but still be able to hold you up when you stand or sit upright. And yes, it is possible to take too much and have negative results. Pamelor is an old style tricyclic antidepressant. It also helps with sleep. Those type of anti depressants work well to help reduce neuropathic pain.
Sandi
I am not a physician nor a medical professional. All opinions expressed by me are of my own making and thus should be considered with that in mind.
CES and more....
Pamelor is nortriptyline. In addition to sleep, it's also used off-label for leg cramps. I was on it for several months, until the doctor prescribing it finally figured out I wasn't having actual leg cramps - it was nerve pain that just felt like leg cramps.
RESPONSIBILITY, n. A detachable burden easily shifted to the shoulders of God, Fate, Fortune, Luck or one’s neighbor. In the days of astrology it was customary to unload it upon a star.