r/PainManagement

I have dealt with back pain and arthritis most of my life. After trying PT, water therapy, acupuncture, biofeedback and medications, without much relief, my doctor prescribed low dose hydrocodone for pain and Ambien for sleep. That was 25 years ago. My current doctor who has maintained this regimen is retiring, and not being replaced. Nobody in this area will use controlled substances to manage pain. What’s even worse is the condescending attitude and looks of disgust I get for saying I am taking these medications. I am afraid of trying to quick taper after all of these years, but have no choice. My pain has already increased significantly and I have just barely started. That and having to deal with withdrawal is overwhelming. I have never felt so frightened and alone. If others have been through this or can offer a few words or encouragement or even help me to understand this, it would be appreciated

I 55f have arthritis in both knees and ankles, problems with lumbar spine and cervical spine. I had a lowgrade fever a few weeks ago. Since then the pain went from a 5/6 to a 9 (10 meaning i went to hospital. ) it is really bad and I think i have tried everything to help it. Has anyone else had a fever come and go but be left with exacerbated symptoms of arthritis??? I'm in pain and not sure if worth telling pain specialist.

Got referred for maybe the 4th time from ER and PCP for pain management for my chronic pain have herniated disc in my neck and stenosis I think its protrusion into my spinal canal!?

Anyways first time actually seeing one was pushed into doing injections in my neck and trying muscle relaxers again & steroids, Ive done tried every muscle relaxer besides Soma... None help me most give me bad stomach pains or headaches. Mentioned all my concerns to the doc about my health and life. Per ER doctor he referred me to PM to continue pain treatment with the only thing that has actually helped OXY 5MG. I went into this apt thinking they were going to be understanding and see my records of my many injuries and car accidents I've been into and take it into consideration. I did physical therapy for 2 years ages 14-16 and chiropractor as well for 6 years, I've seen neurologist and different specialist to figure out how to manage my pain properly yet none of these doctor's care about your best interest and what works for you. I'm now 26 years old and still live in pain everyday some days I can't even move or sleep have to be picked out of bed by my boyfriend, I can't go to the gym or do activities I once had no problem doing. It is draining my mental health overall. I've been told advocate for yourself be honest let them know how you feel and what triggers you or makes your pain tolerable. Yet seems being truthful and honest gets you nowhere because they are the doctors, they know what's best for you... I just give up trying.

I need advice I want to know why is it the real medications that help people are not given is it a age thing? Is it the surgery's and procedures make them more money? I mean you hear these doctors talk about we want what's best for our patients to get them back to having quality in their life, yet don't prescribe the medication that actually benefits the patient. I feel I'm missing something here and would love to know if anybody here has the same issue I'm having or is there any advice that has helped you in a similar situation?

Been following this forum for a little bit and had a question regarding UA protocols. My doc has given me a few UA and without noticing on my end, there was no classification for the medicine he prescribed me, only oxycodone and morphine. I’m on a low dose of Norco for clarification sake. Wouldn’t he know what to ask for on the drug test specifically? Anyone else ever had to bring this to their physician’s attention? Thanks in advance!

I am 42 and wake up stiff every single day. Shoulders and lower back are the worst. I sit at a desk all week and try to stay active on weekends, but nothing helps. I've done so far stretching, foam rolling, I take daily Magnesium. I still feel creaky and tight when I get out of bed.

I keep reading about red light therapy. Supposedly helps with joint pain and muscle recovery. These mats are not cheap and I do not want to waste money on another gadget that ends up in the closet.

I am wondering if anyone here has actually used one for daily aches and stiffness. Did it make a real difference or is it just hype. How long did it take to see results and how often do you have to use it.

I had a terrible fibula tibia and talus fracture and its very complex injury. Now im left with CRPS and advance trauma arthritis. Im young 25 years old male and i have so much sharp pain when i walk or put any weight or pressure on my right foot i dont even want to go on about the nerve/bone pain its so terrible im just tired with this broken systen in the country i am. i tried to end my life on decemeber 28 last year because i genuinely dont have any support. No family comes with me to appointments to testify how bad my condition is.. Im seeing a pain management specialist that my pcp referred me to. My first month with him he basically made me go from 10mg to 5mg oxy and instead of 3 times a day he changed prescription to 1 time a day. 2nd month he absolutely refused to prescribe medication after we tried nerve block which didnt help. 3rd month which is This month he prescribed me the 10mg oxycodone but he gave me just 1 tablet a day for 30 days. This doc is dismissing me from care because he wants me to go to another pain management to get spinal chord stimulator and medication management which makes no sense im going to pain medicine to manage my symptoms... not to be pushed around. My appointment with other pain management is NEXT YEAR. I only have very few pills left. Im trying my best to take them when its absolutely unbearable but unfortunately with my condition when I walk it makes it very unbearable feels like im stepping on broken glass. Before this pain management, my orthopedic surgeon was prescribing me my medication for pain but now that I started seeing pain management. They absolutely refuse to prescribe anymore medication especially oxycodone. My foot is extremely swollen if its not elevated which contributes to pain. I really dont know what to do or how to go about this. Every doctor I see for pain management is so great at dismissing you. I honestly dont know how much longer I can stay like this. Im currently homeless living in my dad's old van because I exhausted all my funds. I cant work my job picking up patients as nemt. What do you guys say to your doctors that makes them take you serious i feel like my condition is bad but im so bad with communication im not the best at English

Ok. I started seeing a pain management facility connected to my PcP (UofM) and had three visits total. The first was my initial intake (given PT to do etc). The second was MRI order. Third one today was results and plan of action.

There was no action. They offered one shot in my c7-t1 that isn't even diseased as bad as the rest of my neck. Keep this in mind.

I suffer from multilevel cervical spondylosis, so spinal stenosis and forminal stenosis. C3-t1 with a slight shift in my c7-t1 vertebrae. The different levels go from one or two mild forminal stenosis but mainly moderate (probably worse when having head weight on my neck etc / resting position) for image. There's nothing moderate about the pain. The spinal stenosis is moderate most of the way through. I suffer from myelopathy pain in all 4 limbs. Plus the trapped nerves from forminal stenosis on all diseased levels. And moderate arthritis through all affected levels. I Arm pain, numbness, aching, vibrating limbs and neck, suffer from very limited range of motion due to pain grabbing you when moving the neck. O also suffer those awful trigmia nerve headaches from c3 nerve irritation in my brain stem area.

Then it's the same with the lumbar region. L3 through l5 I have forminal stenosis (moderate) and severe arthritis and bone spurs / nodes and all the nasty bits also blocking nerve roots. With l5 vertebrae shifting out of place. I have ?modic? Types 1 and 2 showing bone inflammation in the lumbar. Suffer from all sorts of leg pains, burning numbness, vibration, massive amounts of fasticulations.

They said they could only treat one area at a time. I was very kind and agreeable and didn't push for anything other than help. Medical records clean. These people literally ignored 99% of my pain generators with proof of said pain generators. I declined the shot. As it will do little to help. There's no way what they have done to me to be morally ethical or even legal? I suffer severe debilitating pain. They offered zero medication and a referral to a surgeon. That's fine. But how do you ethically let someone walk out with so much pain generation that's documented. That can't be ok. If you were me. You'd be as stunned as I am typing this. They blamed insurance for the reason they could only choose one area of my spine. Seriously wtf. How can you ignore so much pain generation and put a steroid in one tiny spot. They said they can't even inject any higher. Then why try to begin with? I can see if you have one spot in your neck, maybe a patient would consider that, but for my case it makes no sense. None.

So here I sit. Going to be another 3 to 4 hour night of sleep with grey market pain relief. Which I am truly terrified when that goes byebye. You may wonder about a drug test or the like. Never got one. Never was asked. So it wasn't an issue although I was worried but if you were me, there's no NOT treating this amount of pain. It's not negotiable. I need help. Thanks.

Sorry for any typos. I am not focusing well and have been very upset all day.

Well, I had my appointment with my mental health provider that I’ve been saying for six months and then prior to that I saw her for other things so I’ve known her for a couple years now and the Pharmacy called her before I ever got to tell her anything that I was getting prescribed OxyContin and oxycodone i’ve been on these for only three weeks my bad typo 4 weeks and our last appointment was over a month ago by the way, I don’t have the OxyContin in my possession it still is at the pharmacy, but I was being prescribed that and she goes. I am no longer prescribing Klonopin. It is dangerous and I’m not losing my license so I am basically fucked. I don’t know. I live in a small town and hopefully my pain management continues to prescribe my medication‘s. They know I’m on a benzodiazepine. It comes up in my drug test that I do and the pain management used to prescribe it to me and then they told me to find mental health which I did and everything was fine until the Pharmacy had intervene and call her before I ever had a chance to let her know what was going on. oh and my pain management doctor was absolutely unavailable the front desk. There would not answer their phone all day long. I left several voicemails still no answers on what is happening and now the pharmacy is saying they don’t have the new script of oxycodone and the new dose I have it in my phone that it was sent over she goes. Oh well that doesn’t matter. I need an actual prescription. I said she sent it the same day one OxyContin and then an hour later oxycodone they were sent completely separate. I swear the Pharmacy is up to something and the fact that they called my provider. I don’t know anymore.

I’ve been on 10 mg oxy for almost 2 years now. recently switched to a new Pm dr because my old one retired ( thank god, honestly. He was horrible and didn’t listen to anything i said ever.)

i was on a higher dose, 10 mg 4 x a day but my dr decided to take a vacation he forgot to tell his staff or patients about and left all of his opioids patients with no meds for a month. So his relief (that i never met) had to prescribe everybody’s meds and sent 10 mg 2 x a day and 5 mg once a day to my pharmacy and i guess at that point my dr knew he was leaving because he wouldn’t up the dose back to what it was before. (white coats came and sat in at all his appointments and he started weirding everyone out saying we shouldn’t be on pain meds and it was just for surgery etc and we gotta wean down. Out of character completely so i assume it was the DEA) Despite my explaining i built a tolerance and taking me off an entire pill and a half suddenly was greatly affecting me. Frankly the guy didn’t give a shit.

Eventually i got used to the dose and learned to pace myself and when the pain comes back i just suffer till my next dose. I have a high metabolism so the meds last maybe 4/5 hours at max before I’m hurting pretty badly again. This is month 5 or 6 something like that on the lowered dose and i’m to the point it’s not helping at all. i’ve got another disc slip in the same place for the 3rd time. they’re talking about a fusion. a new slip on my cervical spine and a new slip in my thoracic. severe stenosis. arthritis, sciatica, nerve damage and pain and deformities from the disc bulges pressing on my vertebrae.
You get my point.

I’ve only seen this new pain management doctor twice. The first time i went without meds during the screening and intake (they had to get my urine test back, i get it) and i went into withdraws and suffered badly for a week.

At my second appointment he actually looked surprised when telling me how bad my new MRI was on my lower spine and that i needed a spinal fusion. He had no problem at that point prescribing my 2.5 oxy a day and a muscle relaxer. I don’t know how to tell this guy that these doses aren’t helping me. That i’m spending most of my day in bed not even able to function. That i know it’s wrong and im a bad patient but im having to pop an extra half almost every day that im wanting to be up and active because the 5 mg dose i can take in the morning or at bedtime does absolutely nothing for me. Which i end up being short and suffering on the days i have to go without to make sure my pill count ( if ever there is one) will be correct.

This will only be my 3rd visit to him in september and i dont know a way to explain this to him other than how i tried explaining it to my old dr and got absolutely nowhere with him. i also dont want to put my old PM dr down or talk badly about him to the new guy. i know how that looks. But the truth is, i got treated like the bare minimum as good enough and anything more than that was asking for too much.

How can i approach this without coming off badly? Most of you know the kind of song and dance we have to do to survive this system. Thank you in advance.

Hello. I just got home from my appointment. My PM doctor is ordering a new MRI for me because it's been years since I've had one done. She asked if I'd rather try an increase in current meds or try something different completely. I asked if we could try an increase first, see what happens, and go from there. Morphine ER will stay the same, at 30mg every 8 hours. But the oxycodone will be increase from two 10mg oxycodone to three 10 mg oxycodone.

She told me if my pain still doesn't improve, don't wait until my next appointment. She told me to message her on the patient portal and she'd figure something out.

I'm so thankful for her. I also mentioned my swelling I've been having recently. I had never heard this before but she said being on lyrica(or gabapentin) long term can cause swelling.

This appointment was a success. So hopefully now my anxiety can chill tf out.

I still get quite tired when taking them. I am in a huge amount of pain this morning, but i have errands to run. What should i do? There’s no way i can do anything in the pain i’m in right now. I have 2 herniated discs and stenosis in 2 different spots. and DDD

I’ve seen a few of these posts not sure how to ask what I can expect without it being considered medical advice altho I’m not asking for a medical opinion.. I’m asking for experience.. I just have no clue what to expect.

18m I just came back from my nose surgery and they only prescribed me paracetamol. My head hurts so so much and so does my nose. I called my to ask for something stronger but they said seeing my situation they could only prescribe me paracetamol. Any tips on how to “numb” keep my mind of the pain?

Hi I have been on the same pain management for over 10 years. I never missed an appointment I never failed a drug test or pill count and I never asked for more. My doctor retired and his partner took over. He hasn't been my doctor for quite a year and hes retiring in October. The new doctor is forcefully weaning me off of my pain medicine with no reason and no alternatives.i have tried to find a new doctor or a pain management clinic.i havent found one doctor that will take me and only one pain management clinic. The pain management clinic wants $3000. To start and $300. An hr. They do not take insurance. I lied I guess, my doctor tells me to take ibprofen and to get medical marijuana. Im alletgic to acetaminophen, insurance doesnt pay for medical marijuana plus it doesnt help me much. Im not supposed to take ibprofen for a couple of reasons. I had a cologuard test come back positive for colon cancer I have bleeding and I have a kidney disease that has left me with only one functioning kidney. I have several health issues. The first is the kidney disease. Polycystic nephritis. It causes cyst to form on my kidneys and when they burst it hurts like hell. I have adhesions that have caused me to have many surgeries for intestinal blockages. Ive had so many I have developed an umbilical hernia and I have no belly button. I have had 4 surgeons tell me they wouldnt touch me and that I most likely wont make it through another surgery. I was set to have hernia fixed but it was canceled because of adhesions. This happened because I had a hysterectomy and the doctor took the staples out the next day. I got a terrible infection. I had to be cut hip to hip and left open to heal from the inside out. I have endometrosis, fibromyalgia I have 2 slipped disk and a collapsed disk and bone spurs on my spine. I also have a tumor that is growing on my lower back. Nobody will even pay attention to it. It started out the size of a grape , 6 yrs ago I had a cat scan and it was the size of an extra large egg. Ive been told its a muscle strain and its not causing any pain. It takes me to my knees at least once a day and wajes me up almost every single night. I get to sleep around midnight by 2:30 a.m. im up for the rest of the day. Im exhausted. . My left knee is bone on bone with a large bakers cyst.my thyroid doesnt work. Im on medication but it doesnt seem to do anything.I feel the same, all my symptoms are the same. All test come back ok according to my doctor. I put my age ( 63 ) and all my issues in AI and ask Google. They both seem to think I should be bed ridden and crying in pain all the time. I was and did until my old doctor decided to be human and give me a quality of life I never thought id have again. Now its going to be gone once again. Ive already had to rehome my parrots, and take out my flower beds. Im not quite ready to give up my house but I think thats coming. My flower beds were something ive had for over 20 yrs. Every year my mother sister and I had a contest to see who had the best morning glories. While I was in and out of the hospital, in 5 yrs time I lost my 8 year old granddaughter, my son (granddaughters father ) My husband, my sister, my mother, mother in law, daughter in law and my aunt and uncle.my baby dog i had for 13 years. My parrots were my lifeline while going through all this loss. I gave them up so they could get what they deserved . I cry every single day several times a day. I miss them so much i dont know what to do . My new doctor wants to put me on cymbalta. Its more addictive harder to get off of and causes suicidal thoughts, tendencies. He finally got a clue about the ibprofen causing me to go on dialysis so he called in celebrex. Celebrex is an nsaid like ibprofen and it has bad side effects. When I have a partial blockage or fibromyalgia flares or a cyst my blood pressure goes crazy. Ive had to have nitro glycerin so as not to have a stroke. Im on a low dose blood pressure diuretic.ive been on it for many years. My new doctor told me to stop taking it because my potassium is low. I get that had to be taken care of but my blood pressure is already at stage 2 hypertension because of pain. I am lost. I have written to the president , vice president, senators , lawyers, news stations , governor , the DEA ,CDC, FDA, the medical board. NOTHING. Ive called every palliative care clinic. They only take cancer patients here. To me its should just be called hospice. On top of all this my pharmacy changed where they get their oxycodone. It isnt working for me. Well not only me lots of other people. I think it has to do with the binders they use. Im not sure. I talked to pharmacist he was kind of mean about it. The tech told me they changed where they get it from ..i asked my doctor to please write it for something else another milligram. He refused. So here I am taking most days over 4000 mgs of ibprofen a day for barely any relief. Im sorry this is so long and if I sound like a crybaby. I dont mean to , I just dont know what to do or where to go. Thank you for letting me vent. If you've read this before ive written it so many times my phone fills in almost every word. I apologize. I want everyone to know whats going on with pain patients. How we are treated. It should be against the law. The ladt doctor I waited to see for 6 months. I took my daughter with me. She was in tears and left the room. I didnt know where she went I was still getting yelled at by the doctor that didnt even know me. I told him that people are buying drugs off the street , drinking way more than should be allowed and committing suicide because of their pain. It was a statement and it was the truth. I know from first hand experience. It happened to someone I loved very very much. The doctor yelled at me and said I was threatening him that I would hurt myself if he didnt give me what I wanted. That is furthest from the truth. I know what suicide does to a family. I would never do that to my daughter , my grandkids . I love them too much to make them feel that kind of loss. Its bad enough to lose someone but then to blame yourself , question if you missed something or could have done something. I could never. Again he doesnt know me so .... Thank you

Hello I just wanted to update you on my withdrawal from generic Subutex to methadone and then to oxycodone I go into severe withdrawal mode every morning and during the day the oxycodone wears off in 3 hours and then it’s no energy pain for an hour before I can take the next pill
This transition has been hard I have to pack my apartment by the 26th and deal with this withdrawal mode plus all my back issues
So my PD changed my meds to 2 OxyContin and up to 5 oxycodone but the pharmacy was like we don’t have any then next day oh we have them but need to speak with your doctor
Well she wasn’t available I am so over this pharmacist they know I’m in withdrawal severe diarrhea, sweating stomach cramps, but wanted my doctor to say yes she needs this etc but during our appointment she said start asap and they are closed during the weekend the pharmacy and obviously the doctor
I will be switching pharmacy also they were like we only have 56 not 60 and that’s all you get we won’t give the rest of the 4 to you like really lie to me first and then not give it to me after saying oh we have it now
Plus not entire prescribed medication
I’m just in pain and upset about all of this
My PM doctor said withdrawal from buprenorphine can take up to three months
To be normal again I’m just so tired of the black cat 🐈‍⬛ following me
Needed to rant about how hard this switch has been

Thinking of asking my team to move to dilauded from morphine as it’s supposed to e stronger at small doses. Anyone have feedback on this switch?

I had an egd last week to see why I am hurting so bad in my stomach and vomiting. I am on pain management of 4 norco a day for 4 years. It is for my back, both shoulders and my right leg.

It's not keeping the pain down from 4 ulcers they found in my stomach. Maybe 2 hours..I vomited up 3 norco. I didn't know that they don't replace those because they don't know if it's true. One dr saw me vomiting one up .

What suggestions do yall have?

I have had chronic pain for 18 years. I’ve had 5 back surgeries, including two fusions. I also have an auto immune condition called Interstitial Cystitis that causes pelvic pain and urinary frequency, especially at night. Over the past few years my sleeping has been horrible and I just got over a 6 week episode of acute insomnia. I ended up in the ER because I had been hallucinating and none of the meds prescribed worked. After three doses of Ativan(benzodiazepine )to calm me the Ambien started working. My problem is I take 5 to 15 mg of Percocet a day for my pain. This is a very low dose of opiates. I’ve always done well managing my pain meds. My doctor no longer will perscribe my Ambien unless I stop my pain meds. This is so cruel. I understand the reasoning, but I’m on such a low dose. Are any of you in the same predicament?

Is it normal to be dismissed from a practice because you are saying you are in a lot of pain / more pain but not doing their surgeries? I even told them I’d do one of them (epidural) but I got sick. I was genuinely planning to do it though. They sent me a dismissal letter out of nowhere and I was shocked. Nobody warned me and when I called for questions about it nobody called me back. The letter confirmed that I did not fail a drug test. It said I “did not follow the policies” and I think it’s because I didn’t do the surgeries yet, even though that’s not abusing a policy. I feel dehumanized and scared about my future lack of treatment. The secretary for my future pain doctor visit says they don’t give medication at the first visit and how it’s just a consultation. Am I supposed to go cold turkey for a month? For reference, I am on oxy ir 10mg x4, but I told my pain dr this new medication doesn’t help as well as morphine 15 ir x4, which I’ve been on for years. The dr before even gave me 30mg ER x2 but the pain clinic after has a mme limit. I was struggling even with the ER, and I’m so undermedicated because simple tasks are hard or impossible. I make noises sitting down or getting out of a chair for example. I wish the DEA stopped abusing me and my health.

Hello peeps. I've been in pain management since 2013 and with my current pain doctor for 10+ years. They are all amazing unicorns at the practice. I'm beyond lucky to have such a great PM doctor.

I currently take 30mg morphine er every 8 hours and two 10mg oxycodone a day. My MME is 120 so I know I'm already on a high dose. Ive been on this dosage without increasing for YEARS. But my pain has increased to the point where I'm having severe panic attacks.

Even though my doctor is amazing, I'm still nervous to ask for an increase. I'm really not interested in trying other meds because these work well for me. I also trialed fentanyl patches and it went horribly. So that's why I'm hesitant to try other meds.

My appointment is Monday morning so everyone wish me luck. I will update with what happens. 🤞🤞