Question
I would like a few suggestions. I injured my back in 1986 which started out as a lower back strain/sprain but has since turned into a nightmare. The chiropracter told me he noticed a fracture in my lower spin that looks as if I was born with it. Some doctors have told me I have degenerate disk desease. I have had a lot of testing where the doctor wouldn`t tell me nothing, He just said if there is anything he could do for me, just let him know because he was stumped on how to help.Here are my symtoms: extreme lower pack pain,a herpies zoster spot on my left buttox that breaks out every month in the same spot and takes forever to go away.The pain from this alone is unberable.Extreme leg pain in both legs. The ache is so bad I feel I`m going insane at times. I have also developed varicose vaines in both legs that get red hot at times and both legs never stop hurting.My right arm is week and in pain. I have heartburn and Chest pains on my left side always.Lower abdominal pains on the left side that feels like someone is riping apart my insides.Constant headaches.Blurred eye sight.Extreme depression with thoughts of wishing I would die so I wouldn`t have to deal with the pain.It is truely unbearable in my back and legs. Today I can not stand on my legs because they feel like they are going to blow up. My butt is so tender it feels like I`m sitting on pure bone with no muscle.I`ve tried long term medicine for the zoster but it didn`t help. I can`t seem to find a good pain pill that will actually work and take the pain away so I take nothing. The doctor tried NEURONTIN but that didn`t help. I have tried paxil and zoloft for the depression but still no relief. It seems to me that I was in excellent health until I injured my lower back at the base of my spine. Even my comprehension is bad now. My doctor and myself are at a loss on what to do. Do you have any suggestions? Any good pain medications? Any good antidepressents? We have tried everything. I`m going to find another doctor to get another opinion but I`v been to every kind of doctor I can think of. I might go to a bone or muscle doctor.Any sugestions? PLEASE HELP ME < THE PAIN IS UNBERABLE!

Answer
Wow!  I'm not really sure what to do here, so I'm going to
share a few similar "symptoms" that I have and what I did to
get relief.  It sounds like you have several things going on here
at once.  Is the pain in your legs like a cold burning feeling?
Like someone took a frozen cheese grater and rubbed it on your
skin?  That's the best way I can describe the neuropathic pain
I have in my legs, stomach, hands & wrists, and right upper leg.
I also take Neurontin for this.  How much Neurontin did you
take?  I take 2400 mgs/day  I'm told that the Max dose is 4000 mgs.
if someone needs that much.

I've also had left chest pains for the last 2 years with neuropathic
pain burning across my entire chest.  This hit me out of the blue.
My entire left pectoral muscle, and my left shoulder. It felt like a
strap was wrapped around my chest and under my armpit and pulled
as tight as it could get, but I could only feel it on the left side.
I saw numerous doctors but none could help me. I was given several
diagnosis' of what it could be, and I spent a year and a half in Rehab
getting one treatment after another.  Then I saw a Chronic Pain Doctor
that also specialized in Spinal Cord Injury and he prescribed Nortriptyline.
This works for the nerve pain in my chest.  I take a small dose in the evening.
This drug is also used as an Antidepressant.

You said Neurontin didn't help you?  Did you ask your doctor about a
higher dose?  Another drug that helps neuropathic pain like Neurontin
sometimes does is VIOXX.

Have you heard of Costochondritis? or, Thoracic Outlet Syndrome?
If you haven't already heard of these do you want me to send you
some info on them?

As for the pain medications, I've only really taken Ibuprofen or
Vioxx for arthritis and my chest pain.  Have you heard of a Morphine
pump?  It's similar to a Baclofen Pump, which is what I have. Because
of my paralysis I have very intense muscle spasms.  Oral medication
wasn't doing it for me so I got a Baclofen Pump.  They inserted it in
the fat of my stomach just under the skin and a thin catheter runs from
the pump around my side and into my spinal fluid within my spinal column.
A small amount of muscle relaxant (Baclofen) is released onto my spinal
cord at the level of my spasms, and now I'm pretty much spasm free.
There's a very similar approach used with Morphine for those with intense
pain.  Let me know if you'd like more info on this.


Well, I can't think of anything else to tell you because it's all out of my league.
None of what I typed probably helped you.  You don't know how I wish I
could have been of more help. I really feel for you because I know what it's
like not being able to find the answers and stop the pain, though I'm sure your
pain is much worse than mine.

Good luck to you.

--
Jerry C.
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[email protected]
ICQ# 2427884
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My Spinal Cord Injury Web Site:
http://www.users.sgi.net/~ozzy/handicap.htm
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