not happy at all so sick of going to them and getting either no awnser's or giving to another doctor that doesnt ahve a clue man I should of went to school to become one so I know all these fansy words and become rich bah

I went to pain management explain my pains as my doc refered me to him he said this med will work for your pain etc when I was reading what the med is for its for depression.........

what the heck yes i,m not happy but its not in my head i,m in pain!! you know there should be a law where people shouldnt be in pain under a doctors care when they try and make crap up they should have to fix our pain or not get paid ..

I know if I fix a car wrong which is hardly ever we have to give people's money back or get sued.. it should be them same if you can not fix someone 's issue you don't get paid plain and simple. so annoyed right now by this .

Jeff - doctors often give their patients who are in pain antidepressants. It has nothing to do with your mental state. What it does is help the brain stop focusing so much on the pain which in turn helps to alleviate the pain. You should try the medication to see if it helps you.

kathy

Actually, Neurontin is not an antidepressant, but an anticonvulsant (for seizures), but seems to be helpful for neurogenic pain.

But, antidepressants such as Elavil are frequently used for abdominal pain and sydromes such as irritable bowel. This is because, as Kathy said, they alter your pain perception so that you are less aware of the goings on in your gut. It is not quackery or the docs trying to imply that you are a nut case.

Jan

I was given a low dose antidepressant after my jpouch surgery because of pain in my pouch area. I suffered with the pain for about 3 months, then tried lexapro. It really helped my pain!

Don't dismiss trying an antidepressant for pain issues. It just might be the thing that works for you.

Becky

..... I know what neurontin is and I never said I was on that I was awhile ago for nerve pain but they got me on a anti depressant...

i,m on a anti depressant and last time I was on this crap I was so zoned out I ignored a major issue that almost killed me because I was so zoned out so they took me off it because I have such a high tolernce to pain and meds if i,m on certain meds I ignore important life threating signs as I have in past and they know this . this doctor I know never read my history .......


Its kinda like morphine i,m immune they said to it I get no affect right on chrats MORPHINE DO NOT USE ON PATIENT.. and they gave me they drainage pouches later on after icu I had 4 but they took out but also took psa away not knowing because they didnt look at chart they where drilling into my bones with no meds and was wondering why i was screaming...

Mind you i,m a mechanic and had hands head, back crushed hardly bothered me so you know that was painful anyhow I said what are you people using for drugs man I feel everything!!

Doctor responds and ask nurse she says, Morphine! I go omg do you people read charts !!! so they do and say oops no wonder man I wanted to slap them silly..


Thanks for everyone reponds but I been in pain non stop for over 4yrs and been on pains meds my tollerance is out the roof so i,m not your normal person who can take 500mg of vicdin and go flying high I had taken 4000 mg of it before to see what it will do and I get no effect ..

I know it's frustrating to be in pain for so long with no answers but at least the doctors continue to try new things. Medicine is ever evolving and since we are all so different it will always be a trial and error thing. And unfortunately, doctor's do get sued all the time and that's why our insurance costs and hospital stays are so ridiculous. They have to carry huge amounts of insurance to cover themselves and we have to pay for it.

I'm not a big fan of the whole law suit thing. A doctor puntured my lung and it collapsed but I'm not going to sue because they were trying to save my life and did. I know they won't have all the answers but they constantly study and strive and that's all I can ask for, after all they are not God. Try not to get too down on the doctors because it will just make you skeptical and resistant to any new treatment they might try and you'll defeat yourself before you even start.

Just hang in there and maybe someday a doctor will try a form of therapy that will give you relief.

Jeff, I know you did not say you were on Neurontin-- I was responding to Duckie's comment.

Did the pain specialist order the same antidepressant that you were on before that caused you do "zone out?" If so, you need to discuss your past experiences with him so that he can order something else. There are a huge number of antidepressants out there and they are not all the same with the same side effects.

It would seem that you have developed a chronic pain syndrome that takes on a life of its own outside of any physical issues you have. This is not a well understood mechanism, but it is well documented. There is a lot of new research going on in this area because presently there is not much in the way of effective treatment for it. The June 4 issue of Newsweek, there's an excellent article about it. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18881802/site/newsweek/

Here are also some good links where you may find more helpful information and support:
http://www.theacpa.org/index.asp

http://www.painfoundation.org/

When you get to the point where nothing works, you may be a candidate for intrathecal drug delivery. This is where there is a catheter implanted near the spine to deliver small doses of narcotic to block the pain signals to the brain. This way, you do not have the systemic effects. There also are implanted electronic stimulators for pain blocking.
http://www.medtronic.com/neuro/ttp/index.html

I know it is difficult to stay positive when you have had so many failures in treatment. We try to help you where we can and try to give you hope, so I hope that you can find some relief soon.

Jan

My brother is a doctor and prescribes low dose anitidepressants for pain. Often chronic pain is a electrical impulse gone bad, meaning that the pain is actually gone but the receptor has gone haywire and doesn't know the pain is gone. The low dose AD interrupts the current and signals the body that pain no longer exists.

Sue

ya sorry read some posts wrong in alot of pain right now and annoyed by doc's ty for the replies no its not the same but I did start taking it for heck of it I been up all night and morning throwing up my body I dunno anymore does not take well to many meds . Sick as a dog today from throwing up cared gonna end up in er again was there last week and they having trouble finding anymore veins they always do but i,m having reactions to any meds from iv now they said my veins are bad from all the times in hositol in the last 4 yrs which has been around 34 times in 4 yrs.

No problem Jeff. Pain and misery tends to make it difficult to focus and think.

It sounds like you have some serious troubles, especially since you have poor tolerance to so many medications. I hope this pain specialist is very patient and willing to work through this with you. He probably cannot erase the pain, but you definitely need some sort of resolution so that you are at least functional. I really get the impression that at this point you are just "circling the drain," so to speak. Have you been to any chronic pain support groups? This is for two reasons. One is obviously to get some positive support, but the other is to possibly get some names of doctors who are empathetic and willing to do what it takes to get you functional.

I am so sorry you are having to deal with all of this. Somewhere there must be a rainbow for you...

Jan

quote:

Thanks for everyone reponds but I been in pain non stop for over 4yrs and been on pains meds my tollerance is out the roof so i,m not your normal person who can take 500mg of vicdin and go flying high I had taken 4000 mg of it before to see what it will do and I get no effect

Jeffm, I'm a little concerned about your post about vicodin. What is the actual number on the bottle for vicodin? It's usually prescribed at 5/500 which means 5 mg of vicodin and 500 mg of acetominaphine. 4000 mg of acetominaphine is the maximum dosage per day. Acetominaphine can and will destroy your liver if you continue to take is at those levels. Your doctor can prescribe to you a higher level of hydrocodone/APAP such as (Norco) at a lower level, such as 10/375. So more pain killer less liver killer. Since you're been on it for 4 years get a blood test that includes a liver profile to see if there's any damage to your liver.

I hope you start feeling better soon.

yes I was on 750 but my tolernce is out the roof and they been tossing and trying differnt things to control the pain far as my liver who knows they havent said anything bad so must be ok for now think they just wanna worry about now as i,m suffering .