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I go to a chiropractor once a week,and I gotta say,my old chiropractor got me out of a power chair,walking without back leg pain.it took a couple years ,and it hurt, but he really got most of it healed up.I was very thankful;a lot of pain comes from misalignment of nerves in your back, too,and a good chiropractor can really help.I had even gone to a physical therapist, to help my legs and feet, but it just made it worse.--cuz my problem was really my BACK was out of whack from the disability of my bad feet putting me in a power chair.Doctors don't usually recommend chiropractors, but i do.--much more than back surgery.I've had very good results from chiropractic for the back--it even helped the nerves in my feet.thanks for reading this.
I go to a chiropractor once a week,and I gotta say,my old chiropractor got me out of a power chair,walking without back leg pain.it took a couple years ,and it hurt, but he really got most of it healed up.I was very thankful;a lot of pain comes from misalignment of nerves in your back, too,and a good chiropractor can really help.I had even gone to a physical therapist, to help my legs and feet, but it just made it worse.--cuz my problem was really my BACK was out of whack from the disability of my bad feet putting me in a power chair.Doctors don't usually recommend chiropractors, but i do.--much more than back surgery.I've had very good results from chiropractic for the back--it even helped the nerves in my feet.thanks for reading this.
Good for you and chiro work, Chiro and Osteopathy work kept me going with a problem back for about 60 yrs and no surgery to the back. I'm ready to go for more D.O. work (gentle manipulation) as I've been down a lot since hip replacement in 2010....now I'm using my arm wrong to get up from my chair and it's causing shoulder and back pain...so gotta change that. We need to be aware of how we use our bodies...and misuse them.
I attended a stress management program from a public hospital for a few years. Interestingly, it was also a pain management program. We had people come who were on five different pain meds and still in pain. They had us all do stretching and relaxation and meditation and everyone, whether they were in pain or had PTSD, left feeling better. No one's pain went away, but they learned to manage it and step outside it to some extent. I'm not saying they didn't need meds, but that they got more overall relief using other methods in conjunction.
North Carolina has medical marijuana. Consider it.
I’m a chronic pain patient in North Carolina and thus isn’t true. That said I would go to pain management and see what they can offer. I take a low dose of opiates daily and am not addicted so it is entirely possible. Studies show that chronic pain patients who need opiates and take as prescribed have a <5% chance of becoming addicted. They’ll tell you what to look for and monitor you closely if they decide to take this approach. I wouldn’t be walking without them and would have no quality of life. It’s worth it to me personally.
I was in a car accident a few years ago. I got a bad concussion and my neck/right shoulder got messed up. I see a chiropractor every other week and get a massage. It's what keeps it from getting bad and my neck locking up. I also get chronic headaches now.
I did almost a year of PT, so I would hate to think what shape I would be in without it. My pain could be much worse, so I am thankful. I don't take any medication except ibuprofen if headache gets too bad. It doesn't help that my job requires me to sit all day and be on a computer, but I deal.
Unfortunately the media has scared the crap out of a lot of people thinking if they take an opioid they will instantly become addicted. Doctors - pain specialists, are very cautious with what they prescribe and also the federal government is going to limit what they can prescribe.
That's true. My wife used oxycodone and hydrocodone for several of her physical impairments without addiction.
The final narcotic prescription was necessary to manage the pain resulting from the Whipple procedure which entailed removal of the entire duodenum, parts of the stomach and pancreas, and common bile duct. This is a major operation. She screamed in pain and threatened suicide but her surgeon cut her off. Fortunately, I was able to persuade his nurse practitioner -- at great risk to her career -- to continue her narcotic prescription for a short period of time to get my wife over the hump.
Wife lived another 16 years and owes a portion of her longevity to American medicine including the prudent use of narcotics. (This was 1999, before the anti-narcotic crusade was in full swing; today, suicide would have been her way out of misery.)
Having said that, I recognize that everyone reacts differently. It's a tough issue that society faces.
Pain clinics often tend to feel they need to keep escalating doses and strength of meds until they declare you are addicted, then unethically refuse to see you anymore. It happens way too often.
I've never heard this and don't understand the logic. Are you saying that it is the job or unstated purpose of pain clinics to get people addicted as a way to get you off of their rolls? What are they gaining from this?
I can more understand that it is their intent to make money and therefore to keep upping your dose.
Or alternatively that they they are overly concerned and keep people on too low a dose out of fear of being shut down?
do you have this? I started this so we can vent to each other. I'll go first:
I have chronic leg pain. I got beat up by a boyfriend a few years ago and i ended up in the hospital. I was in pretty bad shape. My leg was also pretty bad off. It was broken in several places and other stuff was wrong with it. I was supposed to have therapy for it but i couldnt pay for it and the days that were available to go to therapy and have it worked on i couldnt go because i had to work. I was on a cane for a while after that. I got some pain meds for a bit but honestly not a lot, though I did beg for them. They wouldn't give me any pain meds and told me that it might heal on its own or I might need surgery. My leg has never gotten better. It's fine most days but if I walk or am to active for too long it eventually tarts to ache. I have trouble sleeping sometimes because I cannot get comfortable. I can only work four days a week instead of five or six because my leg starts hurting. My walk is normally but if it gets in too much pain I start to limp. It's a hard thing to live with but not much can be done
before this happened i was against pain pills but once i experienced this horrible aching pain i would have given anything for relief.
Do you live with pain like this? What do you do. I figure we can just vent here to support each other.
I'm about to have my 43rd surgery at the end of this month, due to degenerative arthritis. I've been taking pain pills every day for the past 12 years. About a year ago I added medical cannabis to my bag of tricks. I take 5mg lozenges of CBD several times a day, which helps me not take as many opioids.
You'll need to go to a pain specialist for pain meds as the government has cracked down on pain meds so much that for people like me it's absurd. I was told yesterday at Johns Hopkins, where I'm having my operation they no longer prescribe pain meds after an operation. CRAZY. Two years ago they did.
Am I addicted? I will take pain pills as long as I'm in severe pain. If other people don't like it. Too bad. Most people that have never been in long term pain do not realize that opioids, in my case, do not eliminate the pain, they simply lessen the pain. People that "brag" about not taking pain pills need a check up from the neck up. Living with someone in severe pain that don't take pain meds would be more than most people could manage. People in severe pain that take pain pills are much easier to live with.
Do what you need to do.
Last edited by seethelight; 02-16-2019 at 10:33 AM..
Reason: grammar
I deal with degenerative disc disease too and going on 81 and never the surgeries...one hip replacement that really messed my body up.
Shocking that 42 surgeries have NOT helped you, going for a 43rd. What can a 43rd accomplish, makes me wonder.
An MD I hear weekly says that once the body is cut, arthritis immediately sets in.
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I was very thankful;a lot of pain comes from misalignment of nerves in your back, too,and a good chiropractor can really help.I had even gone to a physical therapist, to help my legs and feet, but it just made it worse.--cuz my problem was really my BACK was out of whack from the disability of my bad feet putting me in a power chair.Doctors don't usually recommend chiropractors, but i do.--much more than back surgery.I've had very good results from chiropractic for the back--it even helped the nerves in my feet.thanks for reading this. 
