I just tried talking to my Ortho's office. They will not address med issues
until my next appointment - NEXT THURSDAY!!!

I just don't know what to do. I am in so much pain I could not sleep last night.
Can I tell you what a nightmare it is to have no sleep, a 5 month old baby girl
and a full time job. I am about to lose it!

I almost wish God would let me go.

Melissa

----- Original Message -----
From: Mary Smith
To: piriformissyndrome@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, April 28, 2006 3:06 PM
Subject: [Piriformis syndrome] Newly diagnosed - pain meds


"It seems as if he just doesn't want to give me pain
meds or muscle relaxers anymore."

Your experience is all too common.

According to the New York Times, the DEA has "been
prosecuting doctors for prescribing painkillers like
OxyContin, even where there's no evidence of any of
the drugs being resold on the streets"..."The doctors
who matter are the small number of specialists in pain
treatment who prescribe opioids. Ronald Libby, a
professor of political science at the University of
North Florida, estimates that 17 percent of those
doctors were investigated during one year by the
D.E.A., and an even greater number of others were
investigated by local and state authorities, typically
in concert with the drug agency. That means a pain
specialist might have a one-in-three chance of being
investigated for prescribing opioids.

Faced with those odds, doctors are understandably
afraid. As noted in The New England Journal of
Medicine this month (Jan. 2006), the D.E.A. has made
doctors reluctant to give opioids to desperately ill
patients, even when these drugs are the most effective
pain treatment."

The result is all doctors are increasing reluctant to
prescribe potentially habit forming drugs. So they
will give non-narcotic drugs like Neurontin
(gabapentin) which doesn't help the pain but has lots
of side effects. See
http://www.legalnewswatch.com/news_411.html


A Pain Management doctor will not treat the cause of
your pain - he will only attempt to control pain
through a variety of techniques - most of which don't
work for this kind of condition - unless he gives you
a narcotic & muscle relaxants. The question is will he
give him to you?

Now that you have a diagnosis, try negotiating with
your Orthopod to continue your drugs until you get
some improvement through PT. But don't get aggressive
with your doctor. He is in a terrible position.

If the cause of your pain is the piriformis muscle
spasm clamping down on the sciatic nerve, then a good
muscle relaxant (like valium) is the more effective at
lessening the cause of the pain. A narcotic makes you
fell better, but is not directly reducing muscle
spasm.

So maybe you could negotiate Valium for less narcotic?
Just an idea - it is up to you & what you can work
out with your doctor.

Hopefully, through PT your pain will lessen or
disappear. And then you won't need the drugs. Good
luck. Mary

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com


SPONSORED LINKS Health and wellness Health wellness product Health and
wellness program
Diet fitness health nutrition wellness Health promotion and wellness
Business health wellness


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS

a.. Visit your group "piriformissyndrome" on the web.

b.. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
piriformissyndrome-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

c.. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]