Question/Comment:

Hello to everybody! Wow..I found I Guard by accident about a year ago & only thought it was a website for keeping you up to date on your medications for recalls, drug interactions, etc....I just now found that you can also talk to others through this forum about concerns from others in the same pain as myself! I am 38 (as of yesterday!) & I have been battling pain for almost 13 years now! I started out getting kidney stones, that was only hitting me about once a year & it seems like about 3 years after my 1st stone that I ended up realizing that my life was becoming a nightmare! I was getting kidney stones ranging from 2mm up to 12 mm & I was in the hospital every other week for a year straight having these stones surgically removed! I've even had to be hospitalized for having infections set up in my blood from these darn things! That one year that my stones became so chronic & severe, my hospital bills alone were over a million dollars! I was 28 yrs old w/a 3 yr.old & 5 yr.old....I missed out on so much of their lives..times I will never get back! Over time I slowed down w/hospital admissions but I was still having at least 1 surgery every 3 months, give or take! Finally about 6 years ago I went to the ER & the Dr. that night went a step further & he found that I had what is called Medullary Spongey Kidneys & he found that my kidneys were functioning at 90% & 85%. He told me that I needed to see a Nephrologist to see what path we needed to go down to start trying to save my kidneys. I was in tears to say the least because it was the 1st time that a ER doctor treated me w/compassion & not as a drug addict. He also saved my life by going the extra mile that night by doing 1 simple test that no other Dr. had done. In the past the ER doctors treated me like I was a drug addict looking for drugs until they got my x-rays back, it was humiliating to say the worst! After getting set up w/specialists, I was sent to a wonderful pain mgmt Dr. & I was finally able to start living a normal life again. With my pain mgmt Dr., I had to go through a lot to even see him. I had to have referrals from my primary care, Nephrologist & my Urologist doctors before they would even write me a script for aspirin! I started out taking 30 mg. of Avinza, Delaudid 2mg, Demerol 50mg & Phenergan 25mg. At the time it was hard to even find a pharmacy that carried Avinza, so it was somewhat of a set back on certain months but it's not a problem anymore! My whole life changed & I was able to tolerate my pain & I was able to start passing smaller stones w/o having to run to the ER everytime! I still had pain daily due to kidney spasms & eventually we found out that I also have Fibromyalgia. I eventually after 4 years received my disability & I'm now off of my antidepressants for depression along w/my valium for anxiety. All because I can not only tolerate my pain but because I found a WONDERFUL doctor who was compassionate & understanding to my pain! 2 months ago I had to have surgery to remove 6 kidney stones, 2 on each side, w/one of the stones being 1 centimeter in size. I then 2 weeks after that had to have 3 more stones removed on the same side as the 1 centimeter stone was. I had these removed by what is called Lithotripsy, which is where they use a lazer to blast the stone into little pieces & the smaller pieces will pass on out. The surgery was done on Dec 4th & I have had this procedure done countless times. For some reason this surgery resulted with me having a bruised kidney. I have NEVER experienced such pain in my life & because the pain was so intense I found myself having a hard time breathing. I have Emphysema stage 1 so this had me scared along w/the fact I couldn't walk due to the pain. I went to see my p.mgmt Dr., which TN law states that I see him once a month, I saw him 4 days after this surgery & I was in tears. I have NEVER cried at one of these visits but I did this time. Understanding as he is he upped my medicine to 120mg of the Avinza from the 90 mg. that I had been taking & he added Morphine Sulfate instant relief pills 15mg to help me w/this pain & kept me on the other meds. With a bruised kidney there is nothing you can do for it except let it heal, like w/broken ribs. To say the least..I could finally somewhat breathe again, the pain became somewhat tolerable & I was finally able to sleep through the night! The meds I'm on can only be prescribed by my pain mgmt because they're schedule 2 narcotics. The thing is..until I was put on a pain mgmt program to help me deal w/my pain, I couldn't be a mother/wife or much of anything. I couldn't make plans to see my boy's play ball or go to a school program..I couldn't do anything! My quality of life was HORRIBLE! My depression was immense because I lost my job, my source of independence was ripped right out from under me! My whole life changed & I had no say so in it. I'm now on disability & receive a check that helps me remember my independence to a point. Luckily I have a wonderful husband, supportive friends, my parents are here to help me w/my family when I'm sick or to help w/taking my sons where they have to be until my husband gets home to take over. YES I'm addicted to these pills but in the long run it's worth it to be able to live a somewhat normal life. As my doctor told me on the 1st visit, he told me..Melodie..these pills will NOT take your pain away completely. No drug can do that when a person has chronic pain but he told me that it would help make my pain tolerable. Well...he was right. Yes as a community of people with health issues, where nobody's pain is any less significant or who's health is worse off or whatever. We ALL know the pain others are going through & it's wonderful that we have a place to go where people can help by offering suggestions or let someone know a way to handle taking their meds in a way that's going to help them better. I am glad I found this site on I Guard. I'm sure I will have a question that will come up & I'm so grateful to know that I have a place to go where someone can help me. I know my Dr. is the best person to answer my quest but my doctor isn't on these meds, so he can't help like someone who's been there or done that. Like I said, I am so grateful to have found this website! Thank You I Guard!

Question/Comment:

Wow. I have all of and some with all of you on the pain meds.. The dfference is I am in a 12 Step Program that helps me from ADDICTION. I work my Recovery on the same basis that I want to NOT be an ADDICT.. We have liteture that helps us to understand the differences and commonality, of the the use of PAIN MEDS.
I have gone from all kinds of "cocktails" of different meds.. But I have to be my own ADVOCATE,, I have to know when to tell the doctor I am getting HIGH< A BUZZ OR WHAT EVER< so that we can take away or add a different drug.. Yes it is all so consuming,, I have been here for 7 years. Clean and sober for 7 and half.. I hate the fact of not working my job,, but we have other ways to contribute to the family or society..Yes someone else is always worse off.. Think of the things we do have compared to those on the streets , in Institutions Hospitals and Jail.. We most of us,,, have ways and means of getting help or helping out.
I HATE BEING ON MEDS, PAIN ONES THE MOST..I CAN'T SEE MYSELF WITH OUT THEM ALSO.. I have to be the strong one her,, make sure I talk to ALL my doctors and Pharmacy,, To find the best that works for ME.
WE ALL ARE DIFFERENT IN TO OUR RE-ACTIONS TO ONE MED OR ANOTHER.. THE PATIENCE IS A BIG THING,, IT Does get better and it gets different.. We find our ways to get the help we need, by being our own advocate.
If you must write it out, all the symptoms feelings, actions ,sleep ,lack of sleep.. ect.. Find that medium to help yourself.. It's hard and well worth it.. I have my meds,, 6 a day
pchys sleep, depression, pain from fibromyalgia stomach ,,"still working on" not sure what,, still looking for the answer. back pain and neck pain.. I do the Epidural shots 6 times a year and now my neck I have to start..
Any way thanks for listening.. I hope I made sense..HEEHEE,, just kidding...If any questions comments let me know..
SO REMEMBER TO TAKE CARE OF YOU.
Peggy 54 AZ

Question/Comment:

I have had NO side effects from Avinza. I have been taking it for over 2 years, along with Hydracodone and Ambien CR, and Lyrica.

Question/Comment:

I am taking Kadian, 120mg 2x a day with Dilaudid for breakthrough pain. My pain is unusual as it is the result of many surgeries concerning having blood clots in the arteries of my right arm. I have less than minimal blood flow through the arm and when I use it, it is so very painful. I also suffer from pain in my right thigh due to the surgery site I have when they had to remove a vein from the thigh to put into my right arm. If I develop another blood clot in this arm, they will have to remove it as there is nothing left to fix. I am very used to these drugs and the longer that I take them, the less they work. I was on the duregesic patch but that became a problem because they would not stay on. I like the fact that Kadian is in pill form. I don't worry about being addicted because it helps the continous pain that I am in to a degree and for this I am so grateful. I know that I just cannot stop taking it and that bothers me a bit, but it is worth it at this point. I am also on many pysch medications, and coumadin for my arm. After learning that most of the meds I am on can really effect how they all work. Mostly they cause extreme fatigue but I am so used to them that I can deal with that. Some days I am exhausted but mostly I can function normally, whatever that means. I feel lonely being on all these meds and not being able to talk to anyone about them, especially the psych meds. People just don't understand for the most part. Pain is an entity in and of itself and for me it takes on a life of its own. Can anyone out there understand?

Answer/Reply:

I take an extreme amount of Oxycontin and Morhpine plus Psyc drugs. I am 52 and have been taking pain meds and psc drugs in one form or another since 1989. Once you get the right amount and right drugs you will be fine. It took me 9 years. Hope that helps.

Question/Comment:

I'm on 30 mg er twice a day with vicodine as a break through by the time I take the second dose of ms contin I get server headaches and and pain in my neck. What's up with that? My pharmasist said headaches were not common with morphine. Any comments?

Answer/Reply:

I SUFFER FROM CHRONIC PAIN DUE TO HAVING 9 SURGERIES IN MY ABDOMEN (BEING CUT IN THE SAME PLACE)....I'M ON (AVINZA 120 mg, once per day) AND (MORPHINE I.R.) AS NEEDED FOR BREAK-THROUGH PAIN.

I HAVE HAD HEADACHES OFF AND ON, BUT THEY WEREN'T TOO SEVERE.
YOU NEED TO TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT YOUR HEADACHES. THERE MAY BE SOMETHING ELSE WRONG, BUT I HOPE NOT!!

Answer/Reply:

Kadian has caused Migraines in me. They just upped the dose of my topamax by one tablet. Had a failed cervical fusion. My body absorbed the cadaver bone. Kadian worked better for me then the other drugs that were tried. I also get epidurals and trigger point injections to help manage pain.