I wouldn't recommend medication myself because it is sooo addicting. One quickly develops tolerence and then requires more and more in order for it to work. Once addicted, it is truly a nightmare to get off. I would recommend an electical device that disrupts the nerves. I know of someone who has that and it is helpful. I would let the Dr. know about the medication and pain issues. Good luck.

The cold weather has started here and the pain has increased. warm showers or bath to relieve tention. So far everything I've been given or tried worked for a little while and then we have to try something else.

Hi Merri,
My heart goes out to you! I know that's not what you want to hear. But I am not able to tell you what you want to hear. I am just too sad for you. This will be my last post today. Merri, this is no longer the med for you and I think you know that.

Please do not eat any more processed foods because they are a quick fix to your hunger at night. Instead, prepare meals in advance on the weekends, or early in the mornings. Google 10 minute meals or something. I know you want to go back to school, but the answer is not at this time. You can not tax your body any more than it is already and you know that too. I am so so sorry. But please eat whole foods whenever you can. If you must eat boxed foods, then eat the weight watchers stuff because it doesn't have all the additives in it that the other junk has. This is very important because of the level of your disease...in my opinion. We are all different.

About your pills, the hydrocodone is okay for morning, but by noon, you might talk with your Dr about adding a muscle relaxer, and believe me, I know the last thing you want to do is ADD ANOTHER DANG PILL!!! But if you want to function better, it's a choice you need to make with your Dr. Then, you will need to talk with your Dr about a stronger pain med for night time. You are not sleeping, so your pain the next day WILL be worse. I am deeply sorry for the roller coaster ride you are on.

I was on it too. I was a professional too, I was going to school for my masters. And I crashed. I am so sorry Merri. It is my sincere hope that you are able to get this pain and sleep pattern under control and live a healthy life. And yes, you are only 32, young and deserve to live a normal life - the one you wanted.

Huge Hugs and Much love and support,
Eva

Hi merri, Take a breath, hon. You are ok. The medication you take may well not be enough for your pain. That med comes in different strengths, so maybe the doc can either increase your dose, or change meds to something longer acting. There are lots of options. Just be honest with the doc about what is going on. I don't think that taking one dose of pain meds once a day is anything to worry about. Actually, I do the same, but mine is in the late afternoon, when my pain is intolerable. I have recently had my dose increased because I was no longer getting relief from the one I had been on.
I hope your upcoming surgery will end your need to take meds at all..that would be the best holiday gift of all!! Good luck to you! x

switch meds every three months to something of different formulas and this shouldn't be an issue.

Merri,
I have used a TENS unit on my back and it was a god send, have you ever tryed one

The 7.5-325 is a low dose of anti-inflammatory(I think that's right)
I your body can take it they make 7.5-750 hydrocodone. It helps.

OK, let me answer to Forra first, Forra, there is a HUGE difference between addiction and dependance. An addict to take pills, does coke or whatever choice of drugs because they like the high, us in chronic pain do NOT get high from our meds, we get pain relief.
Addicts will lie, steal and borrow to get their "fix", people in chronic pain go to their Doctor's with evidence of their pain and get scripts for medications. We get monitored by our Doctor's, we do UA's to make sure that we are taking our meds, and some Doctor's ask us to bring the bottles so they can do a medication count. do drug addicts get that??? NO!

Drug addicts most of the time go repeatedly to ER's, they go "Doctor shopping" or go around town buying drugs from their street corner dealer, not a chronic pain patient! We go to a legitimate Doctor, get a script, fill our meds in a pharmacy and follow the instructions and take the meds as prescribe, WHY? Because we need them to survive and function, NOT because we need to get high, see the difference???!!! So please, do not say that medications are "sooo addicting", just say that you will be dependant on them once you start them, but that is the price that we pay to be able to do some "normal"" things like; going grocery shopping, get out of bed, cook, do dishes, etc............... Do some pain patients get addicted to their meds, yes, but that is about 5% of them, the rest take the meds as directed and do not become addicted at all!

Merri- Sorry for that, but the word addiction get to me! Hun, you are in very, very low dosage, that is probably why you are not getting pain relief, and also your body probably got tolerant to the med and is time for a change. Do you have a pain management Doctor? If you do, ask him for an extended release medication, the kind that you only take 1 pill every 8 to 12 hours, that is better for you, and also for your liver.
Also ask for something without Tylenol, Tylenol has been proven to cause liver damage, if you go to the store and read the box of the Tylenol's you will see the black box warning.

Depending on what is ailing you, you might have to be on meds for a long time, but this is something that you and your pain management Doctor can discuss. If you do not use a pain Doc now, get one, it will be your salvation. To find good PM Doc's in your area go to one of these 2 websites; www.doctorsforpain.com or www.raceagainstpain.com. I hope that you get better and that your Doctor will correct the medication issue. Take care,
Hugs, Tipper

Gosh, Yes Merri. TIp is RIGHT. And I do do do know and feel your suffering. You teach school....bless your heart. You give so much to others and then have to live with that pain...my heart goes out to you. I hope and pray that the nerve oblation will take some or all of your pain away. Living with back pain wrecks your life. But please, do NOT worry about addiction. As long as you are taking your meds to relieve pain, you are not addicted. Dependence and tolerance are just side effects that eventually occur in almost everyone who takes them.

i felt i was in a simliar situation a while back and i told my doc i was building a tolerance and they put me on methadone for a while wich helped alot with my pain. when i built a tolerance to that they added vicoden for breakthru. when i became tolerant of that they switched me to MS cottin with a breathru med.

every now and then you will have to rotate pain meds to get the relife you want. i just have an honest conversation with my pain doc. sometimes they wean you off and start you at the beginning so you only have up the ladder to go.

life has been good since i have found a pain doc willing to treat me. i also am honest when i feel i don't need as much med to function i go down to a lower dose for a while.

i hope this helps. i was scared to talk to my doc but i'm glad i did!

I have this problem as well and they rx'ed an anti-inflammatory to help. I had to try a couple different ones until I found one that helped. This is typical of building a tolerance. Just my personal situation. I can feel your pain tho and it seems that you just push thru it. Thats about all we can do with CP. That and heat. Maybe Santa will bring me a heating pad?? Good Luck Toots !!!!

I do not get pain meds at all .but i need them
im feel guilty even asking for them.so I do not have advise for you heres a hug minnnie

Tipper is right as usual and those statements about addiction made me feel the same way she does.
In pain we are NOT addicts due to the need for pain medication. You are on a very low dose med for pain also.
We do become tolerant and dependent but we are NOT addicts at all.
Doctors sometimes will put in people's mind how taking a pain medication for pain will make you into an addict because they fear prescribing; not because what they say is true.
I also recommend it's time to ask the doctor for something a bit stronger esp since you are able to work. I hope you can work as long as possible as I was injured at age 31; now 43 and was never able to return to any type of work and I loved my career.
So you can tolerate pain better and work, please tell your doctor about this tolerance build up and ask for a better pain med.
I'm on a very strong long acting pain med and I hate taking any meds for any reason. I always stay on something way longer than I should so I do understand where you are coming from.

I don't know if this will help you. It saves me a dose of narcotics a couple times each week.

I take my medication with as much caffeine as possible. At first, I only needed a sip of coke and it worked twice as good. Now I drink a whole can. I have slowly built up a tolerance to caffeine. So if I need a wake up in the afternoon, I have to drink more. But I don't need as much break thru meds as before.

The other thing that I tried was to mix Advil, Tylenol and caffeine. You can only do this if you pain meds do NOT contain tylenol so please be careful. Tylenol is much worse for your liver than they used to believe. (Although there are times when I really wish I did not care.) I can take this combo in the morning to avoid break thru. By the evening I have to add 1/2 dose of break thru.

There are other long acting pain meds available for you also. One thing you have to try is to recognize the START of the pain cycle. If you nip it in the bud, sometimes you can use less medication.

Sorry if others already wrote this. My internet is going down soon. I felt so bad when I read your post that I wanted to let you know that I really care. I will keep you in my prayers for better pain management.

Sorry for double reply's. I just remembered something else that could help. Someone told me to chew my break thru (can't be time released must be immediate release!!!) to get it working FAST.

The important thing is to stop the pain FAST! Pain can "eat up" pain meds. Your body reacts by producing adrelin (sp) that makes the meds less useful. I know it's hard to chew but you need to stop that pain in it's tracks.

Again, hope you feel some comfort soon. I wish you a Sunny day tomorrow, warmth helps me.