Dear Kymm,

I have only been suffering for 10 yrs with my spinal injuries and
1.5 dozen surgeries and procedures. However, I was on MS Contin
120mg. daily for 3 years and I have to say, if there is a way for
you to reduce and change or get off those types of drugs, it would
behoove you to do so.

When we take those kinds of major narcotics for a long period of
time, our natural bodies ability to handle pain is greatly
diminished. Thus, things hurt even more then they would if we were
not taking them.

I also got very tired of missing out on most of my life as the short
term memory was shite and all my memories went into the same big
bowl. I could remember some of them, but had no idea as to a
timeline.

I am not without pain by any stretch of the imagination, but I do
recognize damaging pain from just daily pain. I still have heavy
meds at my disposal if things get out of hand, and to occasionally
take the edge off, but I have noticed that my ability to handle the
pain is much different now that I am off the daily mass doses of
those previous meds. (Morphine was not all I was on either.)

I try to swim,(upper body), at the YMCA, which has a lift to put me
in and out of the water, and try to get a good massage 2-4 times a
month to keep the spasms and shooting pains to a lesser point. I
check my posture and shrug and roll my shoulders all day to keep
those muscles from tightening up and creating more problems as well.
I finally got a lift for my truck just last month, so I do not have
to put my WC in and out of my truck and upset my body even more.

Anyway, yes, these folks have little clue of which they speak of,
but it might be in your best interest for you to look into changing,
altering and/or reducing these meds that you have been on for so
long.

I will be honest, that for me it took God's hand to get off that
last 30mgs of morphine, due to heart problems it had caused, but I
did get off it. I think in the last 2 years I have had 2 30 mgs
doses of morphine since I stopped them. Now I take Lortab (2) and
either Soma (2) or some other anti-spasm med that is prescribed and
at that point, stop doing any activity, and let my body rest.

This has worked much better than previously going until I dropped
due to not knowing I was over doing since the drugs were masking the
pain I needed to know about. And I might add, all those meds never
did take the pain away, they just numbed my brain enough eventually
that I was too brain numb to care as much.

Well, I hope that you are able to change some things. I alway try to
alter my meds every couple of prescriptions anyway, but that is
because I do not like to have my body build tolerances to anything,
or build up immunity to anything. I suppose it does not matter much
now though. My doc only has to write me a 30 day supply about once
every 3-5 months, I use so little now.

And here is your lollipop :-) ()
\
Be well,

LT


>
> I have suffered from chronic pain for over 20 years due to a
spinal trauma and multiple fusions and surgeries throughout.
Anyway, I just got home from my pain managmenet doctor and somehow I
felt as though I should have been handed a lolipop when I left.
>
> As usual he asked how I was feeling, only half listening, because
my condition rarely changes and never for the better or maybe
because he's just bored. We got to the part of the appointment were
he needs to write prescriptions. Now the questions start. And the
tone of his voice changes to that tone that's reserved for fathers
and authority figures. "So, how are we doing with the
medication?" "Are there any concerns we should be aware of?'
and "Do you think it's time we started tapering you off the
medication?" First of all I wasn't aware that "we" were in this
together and second I resent that his concern lies more in his fear
of my doing something stupid with my medication than with my pain.
I realize there are those that abuse their medication, however he
knows my condition, he's seen my xrays and must know I am in
extreme pain the majority of the time. After I assured him I was
being a "good girl" (I even degraded myself and used that term) he
wrote my refills. I don't feel embarrassed or bad for taking my
medication normally but when I leave the doctors office I feel like
a scolded child .
>
> When I left his office I went to the pharmacy and went through the
whole thing again. "Do you know how strong this is?" "We'll need
to call the doctor to verify that he wrote this". "You really
should try to get off this stuff". You'd think these people knew me
the way they judged me instantly. I really wonder sometimes how
those who hurt more than me handle it.
>
> Anyway, I never did get that lolipop!!
>
> Kymm Cummins klcglc10@s...
>
>
> Kymm L. Cummins
> klcglc10@s...