Hi all! I am new -- a few questions :)

[meff]

Hi all,

I have been reading this forum for awhile and I decided I will finally ask a few questions and give my situation :)

I am 23 now and 2 years ago I had a staph debridment surgery on my inner thighs -- on each side. They removed *alot* of tissue and skin and sweat glands, going pretty deep. About 6 months ago I started having intense nerve pain (burning/"electric shocks") and I went to my primary care and I tried Neurontin first, didn't seem to work and gave me some side effects. I then tried Vicodin, then Darvocet, and one I do not remember, I never had adequate pain relief.

I have tried many different doses of Percocet after that, stabilizing finally on 2 5/325 pills 4 times a day (my schedule is to take two every 6 and 12 on the clock). I weigh pretty heavy also, if that helps in any way.

I am in the referral network for a pain management specialist that deals with Medicaid (I am disabled for being schizoaffective, but successfully medicated and issues controlled). I have not had much luck. Do not many take Medicaid or am I just in "the waiting line" ? The referral person at my clinic still says he is trying to find an opening..

My PCP is very knowledgeable and very nice, and she is helping me a lot. I think I will miss seeing her every month when I get with a pain mgmt person, maybe I will just miss the monthly checkup though.. I can still do that though, I guess, cause it prevents me from becoming sick also, not just getting my Percocet script :)

If anyone has any tips or recommendations, I am all ears. I've been on pain mgmt for about 5 months, so I am not completely new but pretty new still. Thank you all for your time and I hope to contribute more to discussions here now that I am registered :)

Also has any of you had pain issues with related surgeries or such? It'd be nice to know that I am not alone..

Thank you all :)

-r

[GardeniaGirl]

Hi Meff -- just wanted to say welcome to the forum.

I don't have any specific advice for you, but if you are dealing with chronic pain, this is the right place to be.

Hopefully someone with some ideas for you will come along soon.

There is also the search feature at the top, and that can be a good way to find older topics related to what you are looking for.

Take care and welcome
Gardenia Girl

[ErinENj]

Meff,

Welcome to the board, even though I wish you had no need for it. Like Gardenia Girl said, for CP, this is definately the place to be and the place you can find some fantastic help and a lot of great people too.

I'm usually really long-winded, but I have to get to bed asap, so I just wanted to say hi.

I'm only a little older than you (26) and have had CP for 5 years. My pain was actually caused by a surgery, well, a few of them. I had two major spinal surgeries that have left me in the position I'm in. I've got very little if any disk matter left in my lower back. The two surgeries were the same, and basically removed the chunks of my disk that were herniated. The first one I'd say was a 'learning experience' while the second was just plain stupid. I've had a surgery to try and repair the damage, but it only worked for 6 months. Initially, I had some small herniations and a lot of instability, but now I have two large herniations and very little left to give me any semblance of stability. So I'm left in pain, with few options.

I can't help with issues with medicaid, but I'm glad you have one doctor you can count on. Definately hang on to her! They are hard to find. I've gotten lucky and have a few, but have had to go through a lot to get there. I really hope you can find one that will be able to help you pain.

I'm off to bed. It's a long day at work tomorrow so I have to get some good rest tonight. Again, welcome to the board!!

Erin

[slipnslide]

Meff,

Welcome to BT, and I'm sorry that you have to be here.

It's amazing how we can come out of surgery, recover well, then months after the surgery we wake up to intense nerve pain! I experience the same kind of burning/stabbing/ shooting pains as you in my hip (and into my thigh and groin) where I had bone taken from for my c-spine surgery. Last Oct. I woke up one morning to a burning sensation that progressed to a searing, stabbing feeling. To make a long story short, a CT was ordered and it showed, inflamation at the surgery sites. My PM stated that scar tissue builds up and entraps the nerve, which "ticks off" the nerve so it starts firing, which in turn irritates the surrounding tissue and causes inflamation, which in turn puts even more pressure on the already irritated nerve....basically it's a vicious cycle!

Last night I went through one of my worst pain episodes with my hip. I take Lortab and Soma 350, which really don't touch the intense nerve pain. I've not tried any of the nerve RX's since my pain had been controlled with RF Ablation procedures. The RF gave me about 70% pain relief for many months, until the nerves regenerated enough to start firing back up again. I don't know if this would be an option with the surgery you had or in the location that you had it, but it may be something to look into once you find a good PM to treat you.

Best wishes,

Kim

[BrokenBladder]

Meff,

Hi and a big welcome to Brain Talk!!!

I'm sorry you're in pain, but you will find alot of great people on here that are always willing to help in any way they can.

I also don't know anything about medicaid, but I would say to stick with your PCP until you find a good pain magagment doctor. So many here have fought just for pain relief.

Please take good care of yourself and I look forward to seeing you post.

[Mark N]

Welcome to the forum as you will find supportive knowledgeable people here. there are other nerve meds that you can try so as you move to a pm hopefully they will work with you to find the right one for you.

[meff]

Wow, thank you for all the supportive comments! I really appreciate the warm welcome :)

Yea, my PCP is really great.. she is one of the only doctors at my clinic that will actually treat chronic pain until you get into a PM, and she has her stuff together. I am very lucky to have met her.

I will be sure to post more and I really appreciate everything!
-r

[illusion129]

Hey Meff!

Just online for the first time in ages and found your post to be interesting. Glad to see that there is at least one more 'young' person on here to chat with and share experiences (I'm 21 - been dealing with various symptoms, chronic pain being the most troublesome, since age 14).

I don't have much wisdom to give you for the pain I deal with is more on a large-scale basis and I don't have very much "nerve pain" as people call it. I do have my moments, but my pain is more focused in the joints of my back and legs.

Anyway, just thought I'd stop by and give you a warm welcome! I hope that you're able to find the answers you're looking for here - it's a great place for ANYone suffering from CP to come and find some relief with others that suffer with similar problems.

Hope you find a place here with us at BrainTalk! - RH

[Sara1979]

Welcome to the Group! Lots of great people here.

My last neck surgery I developed nerve problems. I had pretty good luck with Topamax. Unfortunately, it is just a guessing game with your Doctor's finding the right medication that will give you the most relief.

Another thing that was helpful for me was going from taking Perocet every 4-6 hours to an extended release version so I did not have the highs and lows in my pain as the medication wore off. I hope you can find the best combination soon.

[Jo6]

As others have said, I am also sorry you are having to deal with all of this. I'm old enough to be your grandmother , but Chronic Pain is Chronic Pain no matter how young or old you are. I'm very sorry because you are having to deal with these issues!

I only know a little about Medicaid concerning my mother-in-law. We had to place her in a Nursing Home when I could no longer care for her myself. It didn't take long to depleat your her whole life savings with NH care. As you already know I'm sure you have to go broke before Mediciad will kick in. The NH have their own Drs. , but I would think your age it would at least be somewhat different.

If you have good Drs. you will more than likely keep the ones you have as well as the PM Dr. I'm no expert on this issue and some of the others may know more than I do, but I'm sure they will talk this over with you.

If your PCP is sending you to the PM Drs. or clinic I would be very careful to keep the PCP. Some Pain Clinic's will only treat the pain issues only and you would need to have a PCP. You already have one that is good, I would keep them. They will tell you if there is a problem with the Drs.

Good luck with the new Dr and I do hope he will be able to help you get control of the pain issues. It is really grating on the nerves to deal with this every day. I was up all last night and I hurt like hell. I may as well have taken some suger pills. Some days its just that way. I still am not happy about it. Sorry bout the language but it was exactly the way I felt!!

You take care and good luck with new Dr. Jo