My doc flat out told me that my pain will not kill me but all the meds I am on certainly will. Kind of a situation but what can you you do. I can't handle the pain without the meds. I have had the shots and they didn't help much. Best of luck to you and I sure understand your frustration.

I haven't had nerve blocks so I can't comment on that. Can your Nepurologist give you a new referal? I would get an a opinion from the pm doc about the shots.

hi, Artos,do your pain meds. do a good job alieviating your pain? if they do why not just stick with them. it makes sense about the nerves being scarred, but i do not know for sure.its your body and you must weigh the risks and the benefits. is the problem with both kidneys? i am sorry you have to deal with this it sounds like a scary situation. about the rest i feel the same way only i do it with clothes, shoes, etc. sending you a big hug

Artos,

Hi, nice to meet you, so very sorry to hear of your situation. Seems like you are in the same boat as the rest of us, between a rock and a hard place. I have had epi injections, radio frequency ablations and facet injections. I'm not sure if the ablations are the same thing you are talking about. Those burn the nerve endings so you will not feel pain. For me however, they did the exact opposite. I have to agree with LBF, maybe you should get a referal to another pm doc. It never hurts to get a second oinion, and maybe they will have a different take on treatments for you.

In regards to you other question about wanting to do something nice for yourself when you get bad news or have a bad day, yes I do. I will go tan, get my hair done, but myself something that I've wanted for a while. I think this helps us cope with all the crap we deal with daily and maybe for a few hours we get to forget the crappy day we were having, Kim.

Thanks everyone for the replies!

Reginaann, the pain meds help, but they don't cover all the pain, and I can't take them at all when I'm at work, out and about, etc. Any stronger pain meds it seems like I just can't tolerate. Thanks for the good thoughts :) I'm tempted to go buy new shoes and clothes too, but I'm super broke! It's hard to treat yourself when you have no money ;)

Kim, the injections I had are different than what you're describing, although yours sound interesting. You didn't find them helpful though? That's a bummer. Glad to hear I'm not alone in needing to do something special for myself! Right now I'm working on finding a new PCP and just starting all over. I'm not feeling like mine is working that hard for me anymore, and she's super far away. Just got my labs retaken today, so once the nephrologist looks at them and tells me I'm ok, I'll make the switch. Maybe this new woman will be able to help me.

Sarah

Hi Sarah, i'm Denise. I have a really severe nerve deteriation disorder with fibromialgia. I am not new to pain and have tried lots of procedures.

Usually once a Ddr finds out what's wyour caserong they do seem to gear shift down when they are just maintaining your disorder. I have had several Drs do that. It doesnt mean they dont care they just feel that they cant do anything else to help improve your case.

I have had over 10 nerve blocks and no Dr has told me that. I even asked that question and the Pain Management Dr said no to the nerve blocks scarring the nerve. The nerve blocks have helped my pain reduce by over 35% lower. But my disease my nerves are dying on the inside. The inside or Axons are dying and no one can tell me why. I have been in pain 24 hrs a day every day of the year since July,1996.

At first Drs could not tell me what was wrong, so they blamed me. They said it was all in my head. Well I knew that Dr was too afraid to say he didnt know, so the blame had to go somewhere. I hate when I have to find a new Dr. New Drs always start with the "Giuenie pig Syndrome". They try and putme on old simular meds that didnt work, but he thought 'we it will work because I'm ordering it'. Over and over again I have to suffer wjile they play, I HATE THAT!!!!

Currently the Dr I have is afraid of my pain meds i'm on, hes a pulmunoligist and he has no exprience with Oxycontin, so my dosage is too low and pain control is not good, my lowest pain number level in always 7, and i'm misseriable. I wasnt suppose to be in this nursing home for only 1 monrh. That was almost 3 yrs ago. Also I cant find any one to do my nerve block.

Sarah, if I were you I would get 2 more opinions about the damage the nerve blocks could cause, in order to make your decision, and you might have to weigh out the good the blocks do for you vs the possible bad scarring of the nerve. It may be worth it to take the chance, especially since the blocks do give you good pain relief.

I suggest you pray and ask our Lord what you should do. He always knows what's best for us. I was only allowed 3 nerve blocks a year. That was the rule my Dr set, but I dont know why he did that. Unfortunately he's retired now and I cant ask him, but I will call his old partner and ask him about this and will let you know what he says. Okay?

Well It's been nice to meet you and hope to hear from you again.

Denise

There are risks with injections as with meds or anything else. We have to have some relief and have to do whatever we can at any cost. Or sit in the corner and cry. Not a pretty site! I will take the meds and shots and whatever they will do and ask God to protect me from side effects. I CERTAINLY would NEVER sue or blame a doctor for trying to help me. Just ask God to guide him/her hands in your treatment and go for it. Don't let their paranoia make you suffer untold misery to the place where you don't want to live either. So I make a choice...to get help. If I suffer from the meds I guess that is my lot in life. But I cannot live in this awful pain. If I lose my meds I don't want to live. But I have faith that God will guide me to docs that help me...and I'm not giving up. Just saying if worse comes to worse with all this paranoia and I can't get help one day....I won't live. It's bad enough living in pain WITH the little bit of meds I take. But no meds? And no hope of procedures helping? I couldn't take that. So am trying injections and Monday I will ask pm doctor to be more aggressive in procedures. If I end up with a pain pump at least I'll be alive. I'm allergic to antibiotics so just have to pray I don't get an infection from a pump. But you have to do what you have to do. The desire for self preservation keeps me hunting for pain relief. I have children who need me. I wamt to live. So I'm at pm's mercy. I doubt long term oxy will hurt you. Percoset will because it has tylenol which causes liver damage. SO thank God I talked my doc into not using that drug. Cheesh people I am in pain and so scared the dea will put me at the end of my rope. I am scared to tears. Just sharing so you'll know you are not alone and if we support each other and keep trying to get help we will succeed somehow. We just have to keep trying. Thank God for this site. It's helped me though some really hard painful times. Am trying to hold onto faith. Some days I feel so strong...hopeful. Other days the pain and paranoia of docs together bring me to tears. Like today. No one understands who isn't going through it. Thanks for listening.