10 replies to this topic

[jane]

Well i went to the pain clinic yesterday. After trying to explain my pain and injury to the doctor - i still don't think he got it, and saying to all his suggestions 'i've tried that, it didn't work'. my friend said i came across as being difficult! i came away with some fenital (i think) patches - which the dr said was synthetic morphine - i had told him i react to morphine but he said this should be ok - i told him i react to tramadol but he said this would be ok. i put one on and guess what - i reacted, but what do i know i'm just the patient. So, i am due to go back in 3 months when i have tried these new drugs haha, and the only other thing he suggessted was acupuncture, but he admitted it wouldn't work with my nerve pain. Was it a waste of time or what?

back to square one again i suppose.

[tyvin]

jane, on Jun 3 2010, 05:29 PM, said:

Well i went to the pain clinic yesterday. After trying to explain my pain and injury to the doctor - i still don't think he got it, and saying to all his suggestions 'i've tried that, it didn't work'. my friend said i came across as being difficult! i came away with some fenital (i think) patches - which the dr said was synthetic morphine - i had told him i react to morphine but he said this should be ok - i told him i react to tramadol but he said this would be ok. i put one on and guess what - i reacted, but what do i know i'm just the patient. So, i am due to go back in 3 months when i have tried these new drugs haha, and the only other thing he suggessted was acupuncture, but he admitted it wouldn't work with my nerve pain. Was it a waste of time or what?

back to square one again i suppose.

What kind of reaction to the fentanyl patch was it?

The patch takes anywhere from 12 to 18 hours to have any effect depending on your metabolism. It has to work it's way into the system via the skin and that takes time.

I do the patch for pain control and I am allergic to morpine, tramadol, codeine and dilaudid and have no problems. They are all likened to morphine but all are chemically different. The patch uses fentanyl which is a very good pain management drug for long term pain management.

Sometimes it takes a long time to find the right med. I am weaning myself off of the patch as my pain is subsiding but while I was on it I had no bad reactions to it. How do you know acupuncture will not help? I think if you're open to that sort of thing it does help. There are all the other things that can help; visualization, meditation, music etc...

Hope you find what can work for you.

[ClaraTaylor]

Leicester Royal?

Call them back and try and get an appointment sooner (esp if you tell them you've reacted badly to the drugs they're giving out) than three months it's silly to wait so long.

How can the doctor say acupuncture wont work? If that's all they can offer give it a go - at least then you'll have tried.

[allister]

Hi Jane,
I have used Fentynal patches for 8 years now. they did take some getting used to. I was quite ill for the first week, sick, dizzy, poor balance, bad headaches, light sensative eyes.....etc. But after that had pased, the results have been great. i started off on the 25's for 4 months i think it was, progressed onto the 50's, and again the increase upset me for a few days days, then was ok again. I dropped back to the 25's last july as pain droped about 70% with the total loss of my legs.
How long did you try the patch for? I'd certainly try and clear your diary for a week to ten days and try again. I had been through loads of different pills and combinations of pills till I ended up on 28 a day !
Practise makes perfect, yes? well patience would/should see you through to a better quality of life with the fentynal. I'd recomend you did try again.
But I do agree with you about the pain clinics. I use the one at Nottingham's QMC and got to agree....try this - try that and when you say...been there, done that, got that T shirt etc they do kinda look at you as if you had 3 heads! Then ask what do you want them to do for you? Think they must all go to the same school, the school of " look dumb, vacant and smile sypatheticly" lol...

What ever you decide to do , its your choice, and I know what works for one, has no effect on the next. The above has been my experience of the drug.
Hope you find some relief though.
Al

[Tetracyclone]

Jane-
I tend to be very judgmental and will want a new Doctor immediately if i feel the MD does not listen. On the other hand, I have watched my Dad "manage" his Doctors over the years just as he managed employees. he gives them a chance and lets a relationship develop a while. usually people's performance improves ass they get to know him.

[tyvin]

allister, on Jun 17 2010, 01:27 PM, said:

Hi Jane,
I have used Fentynal patches for 8 years now. they did take some getting used to. I was quite ill for the first week, sick, dizzy, poor balance, bad headaches, light sensative eyes.....etc. But after that had pased, the results have been great. i started off on the 25's for 4 months i think it was, progressed onto the 50's, and again the increase upset me for a few days days, then was ok again. I dropped back to the 25's last july as pain droped about 70% with the total loss of my legs.
How long did you try the patch for? I'd certainly try and clear your diary for a week to ten days and try again. I had been through loads of different pills and combinations of pills till I ended up on 28 a day !
Practise makes perfect, yes? well patience would/should see you through to a better quality of life with the fentynal. I'd recomend you did try again.
But I do agree with you about the pain clinics. I use the one at Nottingham's QMC and got to agree....try this - try that and when you say...been there, done that, got that T shirt etc they do kinda look at you as if you had 3 heads! Then ask what do you want them to do for you? Think they must all go to the same school, the school of " look dumb, vacant and smile sypatheticly" lol...

What ever you decide to do , its your choice, and I know what works for one, has no effect on the next. The above has been my experience of the drug.
Hope you find some relief though.
Al

I am trying to do the same thing right now (going from 50mcg to 25mcg). My pain has subsided and I want to go down to the 25mcg. Did you have any problems when you went down? Anything I should get to make it easier (Valium, ativan, a woodsy bordeaux)? I am definitely curious. I'm kidding about the bordeaux; I would much rather have a nice merlot.

[Tinbasher]

Its a bit of a lottery I guess. I went to the pain clinic about three months ago and the doctor (who was Dutch and wouldn't have looked out of place in an Amsterdam cafe) took almost an hour to listen to me explaining my injury and pain. He prescribed Pregablin which for me has been miraculous and did some injections in my spine which made a huge difference.

Tin

[jane]

Tinbasher, on Jun 17 2010, 10:21 PM, said:

Its a bit of a lottery I guess. I went to the pain clinic about three months ago and the doctor (who was Dutch and wouldn't have looked out of place in an Amsterdam cafe) took almost an hour to listen to me explaining my injury and pain. He prescribed Pregablin which for me has been miraculous and did some injections in my spine which made a huge difference.

Tin

I use pregablin, and it does work.

I do not have the opportunity to clear my diary that long - my kids need looking after etc, and whilst i agree i didn't give it more than one go, i am going on my past experience of all the other drugs, and it's not just being dizzy, i am violently sick, can't sit up or even do anything, which isn't good. so i guess i will ask him about hte acupuncuture, and try that.

Clara, i will try and sort out an appointment but today they sent me a letter changing the date to the end of september!

thanks all of you for your input.

AJne

[ClaraTaylor]

jane, on Jun 25 2010, 09:59 PM, said:

Tinbasher, on Jun 17 2010, 10:21 PM, said:

Its a bit of a lottery I guess. I went to the pain clinic about three months ago and the doctor (who was Dutch and wouldn't have looked out of place in an Amsterdam cafe) took almost an hour to listen to me explaining my injury and pain. He prescribed Pregablin which for me has been miraculous and did some injections in my spine which made a huge difference.

Tin

I use pregablin, and it does work.

I do not have the opportunity to clear my diary that long - my kids need looking after etc, and whilst i agree i didn't give it more than one go, i am going on my past experience of all the other drugs, and it's not just being dizzy, i am violently sick, can't sit up or even do anything, which isn't good. so i guess i will ask him about hte acupuncuture, and try that.

Clara, i will try and sort out an appointment but today they sent me a letter changing the date to the end of september!

thanks all of you for your input.

AJne

September??? And to think I complained when my appointment was changed from 11:00 to 14:15!!

Really hope you get it sorted out Jane.
We must arrange that meet up sometime - life as ever gets in the way!

[Ragersilver]

If you are suffering also from any type of nueropathic pain a pain clinic is a complete waste of time,they just dont get it with neuro pain.I was poked and proded and given all sorts of medication which were wrong for me and found I got more info and ideas from this forum and then took those ideas to my local G.P. and this was more successfull for me anyway.Here in Australia pain clinics are a money spinner and in my opinion and a good one at that,talk as much as you can here and you will get more out of it than any clinics.I am now taking the correct ammount of neurontin for my neuro pain and am living a nprmal life,neuropathic pain can also sometimes seem like other types of pain so it needs to be established if you have that type of pain and you can move on from there.My pain was misdiagnosed on a number of different occasions even one specialist said I had arthritis in my back but it too was actually neuro pain..........................

[scatty14]

Hi Jane,

Have you been back to the Pain Clinic YET? I have just started going to a Pain Clinic. I was already on the fent patches tho. They really do help me, so its sad that they dont agree with you. Pregabalin aka Lyrica is good I find for the neuropathic pain. I was offered a tens machine, problem is tho I CANT PUT IN ON By myself lol. I am also going to try Tai Chi [???] sitting down of course, its specfically for those living with chronic Pain so could be interesting!
keep in touch.