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The problem with getting pain meds is that most, if not all states, have cracked down on doctors handing out meds for pain relief. I have dealt with neck pain for 25 years from a fall on the sidewalk that crushed my occipital nerve, which has now been exacerbated by spinal stenosis and two whiplash incidents. I used to be able to get low-level pain meds for my daily headaches from my neurologist, but the amount has been steadily lowered by the state to where it is basically non-existent. Apparently VA feels I shouldn't still have headaches and neck pain after all this time. Works for them, but not for me.
I am on amitriptyline for my bladder condition and it helps my migraines some too. It only helps pain so much though with the migraines. Doesn't seem to help the other problems.
It's ridiculous, and even barbaric, that pain patients aren't allowed relief. It takes a sadist to force people to remain in pain for the rest of their lives. It's like medical torture.
I have received no pain relief from any shots so far. It's actually made it temporarily worse, and then it goes back eventually to about what it was before the shots.
I'll be calling my PCP tomorrow and begging for another doctor. I really don't feel like I should have something injected into me that already caused hives in another location that's close to where they want to inject.
You need a different treatment, so yes, a new doctor is a good idea.
I had injections in my spine and it didn't help at all. I was in extreme pain. They did a procedure to corterize some of the nerves in my spine. That was about six years ago and I haven't needed to go back. The next time I get it done, I will go to a place that knocks me out though. They refused to do that and it was one heck of a painful procedure to have done awake. Burning the nerves in your spine.....Ouch!
I have spinal stenosis caused by bad posture sitting in a chair everyday plus poor conditioning and carrying too much weight. Walking was possible but couldn't stand for 5 minutes without having to lean on something or bend over and touch my toes to stretch. Finally decided to do something about it last year. Did 3 months of PT that did nothing for the pain (maybe got me stronger). Had an MRI in Jan which confirmed narrowing of the channel the sciatic nerve ran through.
First round of shots in Feb did very little (maybe a day of relief, then back to normal). Had 2nd round the day everything shut down in March. This round hurt much more during the process, like the doctor actually hit something important. No relief for a number of weeks, then sometime in April, I had complete relief. No pain at all. I walk 5 miles a day now and could go further if not for the unending torrent of sweat and my feet hurting (need some new shoes). We will see how long it lasts, but I am really enjoying life now.
I had injections in my spine and it didn't help at all. I was in extreme pain. They did a procedure to corterize some of the nerves in my spine. That was about six years ago and I haven't needed to go back. The next time I get it done, I will go to a place that knocks me out though. They refused to do that and it was one heck of a painful procedure to have done awake. Burning the nerves in your spine.....Ouch!
That's barbaric that you weren't anesthetized, at least locally, during that procedure. I was evaluated at Johns Hopkins to have my occipital nerve cauterized but didn't find a way to get there and back. I'm grateful that I didn't undergo the procedure now as two neurologists have told me that the nerve often grows back, so the cauterization is useless. I'm glad you did get relief, but you shouldn't have had to suffer that way.
The problem with getting pain meds is that most, if not all states, have cracked down on doctors handing out meds for pain relief. I have dealt with neck pain for 25 years from a fall on the sidewalk that crushed my occipital nerve, which has now been exacerbated by spinal stenosis and two whiplash incidents. I used to be able to get low-level pain meds for my daily headaches from my neurologist, but the amount has been steadily lowered by the state to where it is basically non-existent. Apparently VA feels I shouldn't still have headaches and neck pain after all this time. Works for them, but not for me.
In NJ, it has to be a pain management doctor to prescribe. If you have surgery, a neuro or ortho can only prescribe so much, it's usually a mild pain killer. NJ is very strict with pain management, has been for years.
Very hard to find a new pharmacy that will even fill a narcotics script. I was actually blackballed by Walgreens almost 10 years ago, I have a thread here. I normally filled in the next town over but they were out of one of my meds so I filled at my local store. He didn't like that back then, I was on 3, 40mg oxycontin verses 2, 60mg pills which equal the same thing. I have medication processing issues. 3 doses more frequently worked better then 2. In the end my insurance wouldn't cover 3 so I had to go to 2. I'd been a long time customer, spending close to $10,000 a month there between all of us. The pharmacist should have told me he's not comfortable filling it, instead he black balled me. They lost our business.
Got a weird phone call from the doctor's office. I missed the call though and he left a message that he was calling to confirm the appointment. I was not intending to go, so I called back to cancel. A woman answered and looked me up and said that they had been calling to tell me the appointment was canceled because the doctor that was supposed to inject my spine was in quarantine because of COVID. Well, that's not what the message left said. Not even close. But anyway, they canceled the appointment.
I am scheduled to see the new orthopedic next month, although they said they were just going to give me a second opinion.
I don't dare get my hopes up. I feel like they are going to make me live in severe pain for the rest of my life.
In contrast to others, my shots worked fine - though they wear off after some time, maybe months, maybe a year or more. It mainly depends on if inflammation is the source of your pain, like the stenosis condition described in other posts.
It's really no big deal. The whole thing took just a few minutes, although the waiting room/ check in / wait around / recovery aspect took two hours. Silly. The shot itself was practically painless. Three times.
In contrast to others, my shots worked fine - though they wear off after some time, maybe months, maybe a year or more. It mainly depends on if inflammation is the source of your pain, like the stenosis condition described in other posts.
It's really no big deal. The whole thing took just a few minutes, although the waiting room/ check in / wait around / recovery aspect took two hours. Silly. The shot itself was practically painless. Three times.
I'm glad shots worked for you, I tried them twice but they didn't for me, but I'm absolutely certain trying them before having surgery was the right thing to do. And I agree with you that the injections themselves were no big deal and not painful at all. The Radiologist who did mine was very skilled. As you say, the worse of it is all the time waiting before and after, not being able to drive yourself etc, but those are necessary precautions.
As an aside, I sometimes see threads on here that seem to suggest that people are getting spinal injections in the Pain Management doc's office, something I can't even imagine. Spinal injections should be done in a radiology or surgical suite under fluoroscopic guidance (though perhaps some Pain Mgmt Anesthesiologists have such equipment in their offices).
Last edited by Texas Ag 93; 08-13-2020 at 09:07 AM..
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Works for them, but not for me. 
