Chronic Pain Support Group
Physicians and professionalsdefine pain as chronic if it lasts longer than three to six months and is persistent. It's distinct from acute pain that is a direct result of injury or trauma. This support group is dedicated to those suffering from chronic pain. Discuss treatments that have worked for you, find advice for your specific experience, and find support. You're not...
Hi! I've been off and on due to work and my son and also, some problems with my RSD and also, my knee. Tonight I discovered something wonderful, and felt like sharing. If anyone feels like I DID, and is scared to increase dosages that are approved by docs, this is for you too!
Back in December when the weather was cold for a few weeks, I had a terrible flare up. The PA told me I could take an extra half of a MSIR tablet to help with the pain, when I took my MSIR. I am embarrassed to admit, I was too scared to try it. Back when I took a lower long-acting med, I would take 2 MSIR tabs as directed. But with the higher MSC, I was worried.
This week has been really bad. We're having odd weather- dark skies but humid, or dark skies and cool but still humid. Odd weather, like we've had all year. My RSD flared pretty badly yesterday but I thought it would pass, that I'd just done too much. I haven't been sleeping well and am not taking the Lunesta on weeknights b/c my DH leaves at 3-4am for work and I don't want anything to affect my ability to care for my son.
Tonight I tried to go to bed early. My knee on my right leg (NOT the RSD leg) has been pounding. I don't KNOW why. It is not RSD type pain. I've had this off and on for a year or more but tonight my foot was flaring AND the knee was pounding. I tried my regularly scheduled meds but it wasn't touching it, which is so unlike my pain!
I took some motrin, later, some tylenol, and I was laying here alone, knowing I wouldn't sleep, feeling terribly helpless, as I did 15 years ago when this all began. Finally, I remembered what the PA had said about flares and I cut a pill in half. I sat for at least 10 minutes before the pain just made me take the half pill. I didn't take it WITH the regular MSIR pill
b/c I was too scared. But 2 hours later, I was ready.
Remarkably, my foot feels like it's cooled off, as if the RSD is backing off. And my knee barely hurts. I'm in shock! How could a little extra, 15mg of MSIR touch that kind of pain? I was terrified to try this before but now I feel silly!
I might even sleep tonight- who knows? I guess the point is, the doc/PA GAVE me an option, and yes, it's only for flares and only supposed to be once in awhile. But it worked! Part of the reason I never tried it is b/c I never thought that low of an added dose could do anything, and part of me was worried it would do too much!
I guess you learn something every day, even after 15 years. I don't know how long this will last but I'm going to attempt to fall asleep while the pain is under control. It also made me realize I've been rating my pain too low. I always said I'm at a 1 or a 2 when on the meds but THAT isn't right. NOW I'm at about a 2, and it feels good not to feel that constant burn in my foot and the throb in my knee. My regular pain is really about a 3-5.
I know I have to get that knee checked out- something IS wrong. But for now I know that something DOES work, and if I hadn't been so scared to try something new, I might not have suffered so much.
I leave again for the Caribbean this week and am glad I'll have an option if this flare doesn't go away. I feel SO silly- like I didn't KNOW that meds work? I just was worried, and THAT is my big problem. I need to learn to just go with it.
I can't even put into words how much better I feel. I'm a writer without the right words. I can only say that when they suggested it, I said "NO, Thanks!" right away, that I'd get by on what I was taking. Why did I insist in being in more pain than I had to?
I feel ridiculous. But I am not in pain at the moment and I remember this feeling. No icy and fire-full foot, and no dull, throbbing knee. Even my muscle spasms have calmed down. I went through a lot since December when we talked about this, and all of that might've been avoided if I had just not been afraid.
It's okay and good to be cautious, but when doing so makes me suffer, it's plain stupid on my part. I plan on speaking to my doc about this and maybe he can shed some light on it. Maybe it was the small dose that I thought wouldn't work, but whatever it was, I was wrong. So while I feel silly and dumb at the same time, I also feel like, Thank-You- the pain is gone!
Like I said, learn something new every day! Or, as the case may be, every night. :) Thanks for letting me share!
Back in December when the weather was cold for a few weeks, I had a terrible flare up. The PA told me I could take an extra half of a MSIR tablet to help with the pain, when I took my MSIR. I am embarrassed to admit, I was too scared to try it. Back when I took a lower long-acting med, I would take 2 MSIR tabs as directed. But with the higher MSC, I was worried.
This week has been really bad. We're having odd weather- dark skies but humid, or dark skies and cool but still humid. Odd weather, like we've had all year. My RSD flared pretty badly yesterday but I thought it would pass, that I'd just done too much. I haven't been sleeping well and am not taking the Lunesta on weeknights b/c my DH leaves at 3-4am for work and I don't want anything to affect my ability to care for my son.
Tonight I tried to go to bed early. My knee on my right leg (NOT the RSD leg) has been pounding. I don't KNOW why. It is not RSD type pain. I've had this off and on for a year or more but tonight my foot was flaring AND the knee was pounding. I tried my regularly scheduled meds but it wasn't touching it, which is so unlike my pain!
I took some motrin, later, some tylenol, and I was laying here alone, knowing I wouldn't sleep, feeling terribly helpless, as I did 15 years ago when this all began. Finally, I remembered what the PA had said about flares and I cut a pill in half. I sat for at least 10 minutes before the pain just made me take the half pill. I didn't take it WITH the regular MSIR pill
b/c I was too scared. But 2 hours later, I was ready.
Remarkably, my foot feels like it's cooled off, as if the RSD is backing off. And my knee barely hurts. I'm in shock! How could a little extra, 15mg of MSIR touch that kind of pain? I was terrified to try this before but now I feel silly!
I might even sleep tonight- who knows? I guess the point is, the doc/PA GAVE me an option, and yes, it's only for flares and only supposed to be once in awhile. But it worked! Part of the reason I never tried it is b/c I never thought that low of an added dose could do anything, and part of me was worried it would do too much!
I guess you learn something every day, even after 15 years. I don't know how long this will last but I'm going to attempt to fall asleep while the pain is under control. It also made me realize I've been rating my pain too low. I always said I'm at a 1 or a 2 when on the meds but THAT isn't right. NOW I'm at about a 2, and it feels good not to feel that constant burn in my foot and the throb in my knee. My regular pain is really about a 3-5.
I know I have to get that knee checked out- something IS wrong. But for now I know that something DOES work, and if I hadn't been so scared to try something new, I might not have suffered so much.
I leave again for the Caribbean this week and am glad I'll have an option if this flare doesn't go away. I feel SO silly- like I didn't KNOW that meds work? I just was worried, and THAT is my big problem. I need to learn to just go with it.
I can't even put into words how much better I feel. I'm a writer without the right words. I can only say that when they suggested it, I said "NO, Thanks!" right away, that I'd get by on what I was taking. Why did I insist in being in more pain than I had to?
I feel ridiculous. But I am not in pain at the moment and I remember this feeling. No icy and fire-full foot, and no dull, throbbing knee. Even my muscle spasms have calmed down. I went through a lot since December when we talked about this, and all of that might've been avoided if I had just not been afraid.
It's okay and good to be cautious, but when doing so makes me suffer, it's plain stupid on my part. I plan on speaking to my doc about this and maybe he can shed some light on it. Maybe it was the small dose that I thought wouldn't work, but whatever it was, I was wrong. So while I feel silly and dumb at the same time, I also feel like, Thank-You- the pain is gone!
Like I said, learn something new every day! Or, as the case may be, every night. :) Thanks for letting me share!
Enjoy your Carribean trip. Can you get one of those massages while you are there? That is another thing I want to do for myself
It's great to see you on the board. Have a safe and fun trip.
hope you can have a great trip. where are you headed in the caribbean?
Gentle hugs,
Jenna
i woke up this morning to your post!!!
Great news, and glad you discovered it..
the key to our happiness is pain Control!!!
have a great day today, pain free :)
~stinke~
I leave for Maya Riviera later this week and will be happy to leave with a few night's sleep under my belt! I just keep wondering WHY I waited so long. FEAR is an awesome thing!
I began taking it out of necessity. What a difference!
Enjoy your trip!
The first thing I thought of when you said your other knee was hurting was that maybe you were leaning on it. Try to be aware of it and see if that is what you are doing. That extra pressure would cause aggravation in it. I noticed my brother doing this when he broke his leg and when I pointed it out to him, he felt much better.
Hope you find answers soon.
That said, my RSD was MUCH easier to handle when I could take 2 MSIR at a time. It averages out to be less per mg per day than I took all those years, but only b/c of how the MSIR and MSContin pills are dosed. If MSIR came in a 60mg, there would be no problem b/c I'd only be taking 1 every 8 hours. But they only come in 30 so the 1 every 8 hours doesn't work so well. But I'm not complaining. There are people with NOTHING to take whom I know are miserable beyond words. So I take what I can get.
That said, I've been told that we can work on a new, stronger med, but I don't want to mess with what took months to work. If I'm allowed that extra half pill every once in awhile, it'll be fine. I just wish I hadn't waited so long, worrying! Ugh!
i'm waffling so much on more epidurals in my spine after my hip injection only helped a couple of days.
glad this is working for you!
Tomorrow I have SO much to do to get ready for my trip. I'm staying out at the airport hotel as my flight is so darned early, which means everything has to be done by 230pm tomorrow. A little over 12 hours to get EVERYTHING ready for an International trip. Tonight meant getting at least a few hours sleep so the pain HAD to go, I just wish I had time to call my dr and see what to do about the sleeping meds. They gave me samples and a scrip but the scrip, by contract, has to be filled back at the clinic and I don't have 2 hours to get there and back. So I guess I go w/o sleeping meds. I'll try calling for permission to fill at a pharmacy closer, but it's like #15 on a list of #45 things.
Heather- I'm glad you're going to ask for breakthrough. People react differently and I react SO much better to quick acting meds. I think the LA are important too, but when you get a combo that works, it's so important to be ABLE to stick with it. But until the govt stops butting into our private business, we have no choice but to take what we're given and smile about it.
That said, I bet your doc would listen to you- and hoping you get relief, too!
Good luck everyone!