Chronic Pain Support Group

if your injury is to your testicles, have you considered having them removed? i know it sounds drastic, but may prove to be worth it, i too take neurontin and it helps, also, check with the medical marijuana laws in your state, as it helps amazingly with nerve pain

Dear LjimL,

The insury is actually to nerves (genitofemoral and pudendal nerves). Early on I pleaded with my doctor to remove my left teste (the main damage is on my left side) and I was told that this would not solve the problem as the nerve would still be present and damaged. I did not know marijuana was good for nerve pain. I will do some research. Thanks for the heads up.

Steve

Steve,
I read your post to my husband because if I didn't know better, I'd say it was him that wrote it! My husband broke his left femur twice, the 2nd time in a motorcycle accident many years ago. As most people know it is very common for those with major leg injuries to end up with blown backs:( Long and short of it is he ended up having back surgery in 2005 as he was bone on bone in the L-5 S-1 area and suffering terrible pain in his back and down his legs. The disc above wasn't much better but they determined that this is the one that was causing most of the problem. The surgery was successful for the back (somewhat) but the pain in his leg was/is 10's worse as there is now blood flow where the nerve endings were once pinched off. After the surgery they put him on Lyrica, a nerve pain medication (he can't tolerate the neurontin because it causes severe gastrointestinal distress). This medication was/is very effective in treating the pain, more so than any narcotic pain medication, and his dosage went up to 300 mgs. Unfortunately, the side effects are astounding:( By the second dose during the day, he would lose his ability to communicate with others (confusion, forgets details, general mind fog) his balance and coordination is affected, and he put on a considerable amount of weight (all in the stomach which is really bad for the back). He tried switching the timing/schedule of taking the medication but it was still in his system so he suffered the side effects. In attempts of getting off of the Lyrica he went for the trial and then the permanent spinal stimulator in 2007. He was/is very pleased with this as it does help. At first he thought he was going to be able to cut out the Lyrica altogether but he can't. He is, however, down to 75-150 mgs.- half the dosage. My husband owns a business and he has to communicate with his customers and multitask all day. The pain and medications have negatively impacted his ability to do any of these tasks.
When you talk about the pain in your groin and testicles it is all too familiar. I hear my husband describing the same pain on a daily basis. Being a female and having similar back issues (blown L-3, herniated L-4,L-5, and S-1), my pain goes through to my groin and feels like someone is grabbing my right ovary and squeezing it! I go in for facet blocks as often as the insurance will allow. I'm going in for blocks next Tuesday prior to going in for my 2nd rotator cuff sugery next Friday- busy week next week! My husband lives for his ice packs and finds that putting weights (exercise weights) on his legs helps a little.
I wish you the best and I will be watching this post to see if there are any useful suggestions that I can pass on to my husband. Thanks for posting, Lyn

Marijuana and Lyrica may help your nerve pain. I'm sorry you are hurting so much!

Hi Steve,

I take Neurontin and Amitriptyline plus Tranadol for nerve pain. I just saw a pain doctor and he has prescribed me Duloxetine at 30mg a day increasing over the course of a month to 120mg whilst gradually reducing my Neurontin and Amitriptyline.

The doc has also suggested that if this doesn't work he would opt for a permanent nerve block. I am still on my first week of the new drug regime so I will post how things are going.