Hey y'all 👋
So a doctor of mine is going to start the process of getting a pain pump for me. But I mainly wanted to ask, are you able to still consume THC if you have a pain pump, or does it depend on the medicine they have in the pump? It woukd be nice if I didn't have to fully cut it out but I'd rather be safe than sorry. If more information is needed, I am open to questions
Pain pump trial failed
I went in for my pain pump trial and my surgeon couldn't do it. He kept trying to insert the catheter and it wouldn't go thru. No space. Its bone on bone now. He tried several joints. But no dice. I'm so frustrated now. I'm just suppose to live in pain constantly. No peace, no relief, just constant never ending pain. I'm still suppose to get the total reconstruction done. My only hope is that when they do it they will finally have space to insert the catheter. But that's months away. I've lived with pain all my life. I was born with Juvenile arthritis, osteoarthritis, scoliosis and degenerate bone and disc disease. My body is breaking down and there is no stopping it. No cure. The scoliosis has worsen and spread. I now have 3 different type of it, in 4 place in my spine. The arthritis is in advanced stages. What the hell am I suppose to do. For years they have pushed for me to get the pump and I was hesitant to get it. My birth mom had the same thing. Its hereditary. She had it passed it to me and I have now passed it to my son. She had the pump and was an addict. She would have her pump and buy pills off the street or would steal them. She always blamed the pump for making her an addict. I know we that wasn't true and she was an addict long before the pump. But she became worse after. Stints in rehab I paid for. Kicked out of every one because she would sneek in drugs. It is my worst night mare. I've always knew it wasn't the pump but it made me never want one. I always said this wouldn't happen to me. I'm so careful with my meds. I don't take more than prescribed no matter how bad the pain is. And on good days I won't take them at all. But those days almost never happen anymore. I don't know what's left for me. I metabolize the pills too fast and don't absorb them anymore. My body get use to any med I'm on very quickly. I keep having to change pills and doses. I'm like that with any med I take. My GP is constantly adjusting my meds. My body hates me and is failing and I can't stop it. If it weren't for my son and husband I would have checked out a long time ago. How r we supposed to live like this. In this age of we can't prescribe pain meds because u MIGHT get addicted and become drug addicts. The DEA and government have made it so very hard. People in real pain that need the meds have to beg and plead for help and still sometimes don't get it. I love my surgeon he's amazing and has advocated for me every step of the way. My previous pain doctor told me that I couldn't get the pump because I'm over weight. And he didn't think that I could go without meds for 1 day to do the trial. So my neurosurgeon went out of his way to find me a pain doc that would help me. He tried everything to help me. He took one look and my scans and reports and literally gasped. He was dumbfounded that my pain doc wouldn't do anything but prescribe lyrica and a low dose opioids. He told me that I needed a pump and needed to have a total back reconstruction to fix the scoliosis and degeneration. I need space between my joints to untrap my nerves and fix the compression of my spinal cord. Its a huge surgery that has to be done in parts. But for now I have to be in constant pain.
If anyone has any ideas of what I can do for pain relief please let me know. I'll take miracles at this point. I've tried medical Marijuana and all it does is make me hungry and laugh at anything, funny or not. So that's out. Sorry for the rant. I think I needed to get this out with people that know and understand what it feels like to be in pain.
I’m 24yr old I have chronic pancreatitis, nerve pain, I pass kidney stones often. This all started over a year ago. I tried every treatment and medication possible (non narcs) Ive been on fent patches 12mcg with norco 10mg prn and I was able to do anything I used to do my pain was practically gone. I had to get to PM bc my pcp couldn’t keep scribing. I finally got a PM dr. 2 months ago. He won’t scribe fent patches only to cancer patients.
Oral meds don’t absorb right sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t. I also metabolize meds insanely fast. In the hospital I needed 2mg dilaudid every 2hrs. If my norco works it only lasts 4hrs. Oxy doesn’t work for me. I’m currently on 15mcg butrans patches and 3-4 7.5mcg norco daily i can get to work now twice a week short shifts but im not even close to where I wanna be at. dilaudid oral doesn’t work at all. morphine isn’t recommended for pancreatitis pts but i usually don’t take it bc the amount i need is insane. my pm offered methadone and hydrocodone er but they are oral meds and i’m worried they won’t work i also don’t know if he will give my prn norco which is big for me bc if im passing kidney stones or having a pain flare i need the extra relief.
He’s offered a pain pump from the start. he doesn’t do them but he knows someone he refers to. i just feel like it’s crazy for me to do? I’m so young, I haven’t tried all medication options yet, it’s a major surgery, and the biggest reason i’m hesitant is i fully believe my pain is still stemmed from something else than just pancreatitis. I had to stop going to specialists and looking into it bc I needed to get pain relief and be able to get back to work first. It’s just hard for me to go to a pump when fent patches work perfectly at the lowest dose but i doubt i’d find a provider to scribe. What if I get the pump and then a year later they find out what’s wrong and it can be treated? I feel like it would be a major surgery for no reason?
I value my quality of life based off of things I can do especially currently bc I am in my 20’s. I don’t know if any of this is possible with a pump? I can’t do a lot of this currently, but I want to be able to once I get enough pain relief.
I love to be active, play basketball, baseball, lots of sports, go to the gym, swim, hot tubs, saunas. I work in healthcare currently and I plan to go to medical school. I had to put a pause in my undergrad bc of all the health issues, but can I practice medicine with a pump? It could be a risk to pt care and cause issues? That’s way down the line by the time I would be in clinicals. My current job there shouldn’t be any problems? I’ve been taking meds this entire year (scribed) and they don’t drug test after the initial hire anyways. The surgery is major and long recovery? It takes a while to get the meds right? I’ll end up going backwards. I don’t want to go back to being out of work for months and broke. I have to work at least 48hrs within 6 weeks. The battery needs replaced every 4-5 years? Is that another major surgery?
Pros of the pump for me is- no stress about getting scripts on time, remembering to take meds, lasts longer heard some people refill every 6 months or 3. I want to study abroad again in Spain for a semester which is about 4 months. I wasn’t able to last semester I had to come home bc I couldn’t figure out how to get meds out there. Keeps tolerance low. having Multiple meds in pump I feel as having multiple meds and therapies help with pain better.
My PM really advocates for me to go that route i just don’t know if it’s right for me? If it wasn’t a 6 week recovery I 100% would do it. I can’t take this time off work I’m prn so I don’t get FMLA and i don’t have PTO and I can’t quit my job. My job is just sitting with pts and charting. I don’t do any physical work really and at most I walk a little bit. I would be able to work 48hrs in like 8days then have surgery and basically 5-8 weeks off then the 48 for the next 6 weeks way later, but if there’s complications at all or my pain isn’t controlled enough??? I’m not sure the recovery timeline. I’ve had a few major surgeries before and I tend to recover slower.
Sorry for this being all over the place. I would appreciate any guidance or info. Thank you!