Chronic back pain and lots of medication please help doctors disagree feel awful and drugged up?

please help I am in terrible pain with my back.I have had 3 surgeries for disc problems and epidurals, physio,acupuncture, been to every type of doctor imaginable:neurosurgeons, traumatologists,pain specialists, chiros, alternative etc.I have degenerative disc disease in lumber and cervical parts of my back, had herniated discs, spinal stenosis, vertebrae that are too close together and sacral scoliosis.I wear a back brace and have lost weight and have done everything docs tell me and the neuropathic referred pain in my right leg is almost gone but my neck and lumber region are killing me.docs say it is no longer just a mechanical problem but also a hypersensitivity of the central nervous system that is not working properly.I was on 250mg lyrica and 7drops rivotril plus 400mg samyr and as I was getting better but neck pain increased doc changed medication to 150mg lyrica,11drops rivotril and celebrex.didnt work now doc wants contramal and toradol, another suggests muscoril or morphine

thanks for your answers much appreciated...I am really down in the dumps cos every test reveals a new problem and all docs can agree on is that it is a bad situation...

Sorry to hear that you are in so much pain.
I had for years pain in my neck and shoulder and I also ran from doctor to doctor until I finally found the right person to help me. Finally I went to the NE Spine Center (http://www.nebraskaspinecenter.com/index... here in my area, but maybe there are similar facilities wear you live. The doctor inserted an injection into my spine and I was finally cured from the pain. After that I did some physical therapy to get stronger with my shoulder again.
Sorry I forget what the name of that injection was. I had to go to the hospital for that for 1/2 day where they performed that treatment. Maybe something like that will help you too?

I'm not a doctor, so I'm no "expert," but if you ask me, you are on too much medication. Hard to tell if side effects and contra-indications are only making the problem worse. Are you taking allergy medication by any chance? I got awful backache from Claritin, I kid you not! If you could stop all pain meds, little by little, to screen out any that may be problematic, you might go a long way toward finding out what the problem is.

But then again, I'm no expert.

If you dont have diabetes or any uric acid problems try taking DRibose. Its for nerve pain , it helps me with my fibromylagia pain. Its an OTC supplement. Try taking 5 grams three times a day (with meals) and see how you feel. You have nothing to lose, except your pain.

deb

Magnesium supplements do help with chronic pain. It is a natural painkiller with calming and sedative properties. Most people are magnesium deficient but chronic pain sufferers even more so. Low magnesium increases pain, anxiety and muscle tension.
Another big factor in chronic pain is your mattress - if it old and unsupportive get a new good one. Sleeping better is crucial when dealing with chronic pain. Once you have done these things you may find you can reduce/taper off the medications. If you have been on these meds a long time it is vital you taper them under medical supervision because unsupervised withdrawal can be dangerous.

I'm not familiar at all with those meds but I am familiar with some of your issues. I'm not trying to "compete" with you when I mention my issues below. I think its important to let you know where I'm coming from. Just to introduce my self a bit...

For my own back pain, I started at one Vicodin and worked my way up to one four times a day. Clearly wasn't getting better.

My old family doc retired and my new one took me off of Vicodin and put me on morphine. Tried 15mg 2x daily which didn't work too well. Tried 30mg 2x daily which worked much better. I also can have 15mg between the other two if I'm having a rough day. For me, this works very well. I usually get a bit tired and occasionally have a difficult time making decisions, but I can act on the decisions once they are made. I know what I'm doing at all times. I'm also on Zoloft for depression.

Bottom line is that morphine may (or may not) work for you. If you're tolerant of the other stuff, it couldn't hurt to try morphine, especially if it allows you to get off of all the other stuff. You still might have to have a combination of meds, but simpler is often better. Talk to whoever is currently handling your pain management.

I don't know enough about your issues to really talk about them. I'd like to know if you have other surgeries scheduled or have you taken that route about as far as it can go? Have you seen any of the top scoliosis specialists in the country? (I don't know what state you live in.) Do you know the exact cause of the pain or will you be getting more diagnostics?

What your going through sounds very discouraging. You must have a strong level of resilience to go through all this and keep plugging away.

Recommending different medicines is out of my area of expertise, but I will address a few other ideas. One medication idea though is Cymbalta. It is an anti-depressant that is also used with people with chronic pain. It is in clinical trials for FDA approval for fibromyalgia. It works in a different channel than Lyrica, and they can be used together. Might be an option for adding something on since they had to decrease the Lyrica.

In terms of coping with the pain while you're trying to get a better medical answer, I always recommend people learn some basic meditation. It helps quiet the mind, which is helpful, because chronic pain can be very hard on you emotionally; you are always on "high alert" because of the pain.

A good, non-mysterious meditation geared toward medical issues is in the book Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn. He talks about a technique called body-scan meditation. His book also addresses a lot of issues about having a chronic illness that you might find helpful.

I feel a great deal of empathy for you; as you know, you have some multiple, serious pain-related conditions. I wish you all the best, not just for decreased pain, but also for finding the positive and joy in your life.

Regards

Barry

http://www.chronic-pain-alternatives.com

You certainly have a complex situation. While its sounds like you have been to a host of doctors, I would strongly suggest getting an appointment with a LEADING spine surgeon. One place to start is the editorial board for SpineUniverse - you can get their list here: http://www.spineuniverse.com/displayarti...

These surgeons are the best in the world. Because the spine industry is advancing so rapidly you will get different treatment options from each doctor you visit. For example, you may have been treated with a discectomy and fusion for your cervical herniated discs, but since the summer there are new treatments that are proving to be more efficacious than typical fusion. For instance the new Prestige cervical disc. Disc replacement has a lower incidence of the degeneration spreading. Read this article on disc replacement vs. fusion: http://www.spineuniverse.com/displayarti... On the stenosis side, there are multiple new treatments for the treatment of stenosis that were not previously available.

Rather than trying to medicate the pain away, get multiple opinions from the top doctors and then evaluate your options. I wish you the best of luck.