The problem with having an acute illness is that every so often it reminds you of your limitations. You can be marching along for weeks and months on end, and then, all of sudden, you're bedridden. In my case it's a chronic pain condition that debilitates me and necessitates continual medication to allow me some semblance of a life.
Unfortunately the medication I'm on, morphine, is looked upon by some doctors as more dangerous than the physical condition you could be dealing with. I had not realized how fortunate I'd been until this past month.
I had been with the same family doctor for close to thirteen years and she had seen me through numerous illnesses and a variety of treatments. Back in 2001 when it became apparent that the pain was extreme enough to be affecting my abilities, she started looking for a combination of meds to help me cope.
Of course we started on the low end of the narcotics field, Oxycocete, then gradually developed a dose of morphine that allowed me to be functional. Morphine comes in two forms; quick acting low doses, or time released high dosages. By seeing how many of the 10mg pills I was being forced to take in a day, my doctor was able to figure out a long term dosage that would work.
Once you acclimatize to your dose this system is far healthier for your body and for cutting down on the slim chances of addiction. It maintains a threshold where the pain is pretty much always under control. On the occasions it peaks you can take one of the 10mg pills to bring it back into control.
I've also not limited my treatments to drug therapy. I've been a patient in the Kingston General Hospital's pain clinic since 2003, where the specialist I work with has been using trigger point pain block injections to try to eliminate the causes of the pain. The problem he's been having is managing to get at the root cause of the damage. The focal point is in the vicinity of my prostrate, which makes it one of the most inaccessible parts of the male anatomy.
He's had some success with providing temporary relief to some of the topical pain points, but because of the nature of the beast, they always flare up again because the centre remains untreated. I'm his favourite guinea pig, in the best sense of the word, because the incidences of male pelvic wall damage are very rare: so rare in fact that I was only his third patient of that type.
Article comments
1 - alpha
I am sorry to hear of your pain, Gypsyman. Although sometimes it is an old friend that reminds you of your mortality, it is the job of physicians to alleviate it. In the U.S. that job has been hindered to a ridiculous extent by bureaucrat-cops under the powers of the D.E.A. and by the meek fear of the medical profession. They do not suffer. Patients suffer needlessly.
Luckily my pain is mostly chest pain alleviated by nitrates which are still legal and oxygen which actually needs a Rx in the U.S. if not here. Who would guess that you need to get a prescription to breathe?
Visit my early post, "Painful Medicine" here on Blogriticsfor my visit to the same subject -- personal as it is.
2 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Gypsyman,
A friend of mine had a boyfriend who suffered from chronic bsack pain. Being of American Indian descent, he was very stoic about it - stiff upper lip doesn't even come close. But he needed therapy.
He was taught visualization. I do not knopw all of the details of the treatment, but it is not too far over the border in Minnesota (I think),
Being in somewhat bad straits myself (living on the streets), I tried this visualization thing. I visualized being successful, living in a brick house with a wife and kids and cancelled every thought that went against the vision. Ten years later(1993), I had the the whole ball of wax - except that the house was made of cinder, not brick.
3 - Shelly
I can certainly relate to your pain and the experience you went through finding a new doctor. I took a new job that meant a promotion and moved from a location where I had been treated at a pain clinic for over 5 years, with Staydol patches, for my chronic pain, and break-through pain medication.
Prior to a doctor finally realizing I was not crazy, I was ready to medically retire from work (I was only working 24 hrs a week due to the chronic pain). Then I found a physician who believed I should not have to suffer and put me on pain medication. From thrtr, I finally started living life. I received 2 promotions and began working in Research Administration. I went back to school and received my MBA with a 3.97 GPA. That is what led to another huge promotion--and a move.
I was more afraid of the move due to being able to still control my pain than anything else. My fear proved to be justified. Since my move I have learned that not all parts of the US have nice pain clinics like the area I came from. I have not been able to find one here. The most I can get for pain is vicodin. Anyone who has been on morophine or Staydol knows that once you are on those medications to control your pain--and then are lowered to vicodin, it's like taking plain tylenol for a gunshot wound to the gut--and two crushed legs.
I am now barely able to get up in the morning due to the pain. I wonder how much longer I am going to be able to continue without adequate pain management. I honestly don't know what to do. I just started seeing a new pain doctor, and he too, prescribed me vicodin, and I can't even take it daily.
The people who have abused drugs just haven't hurt themselves and their families--they have made it totally miserable for those of us who really need pain medications and who follow the rules.
Shelly
4 - Jamie
I was told by an MD that getting off the timed release morophine would be easy. Unfortuantely, my body chemistry must be different. I had omitted one pill per 24 hr. period (one 30mg of 2 pills per day) and found within hours that the withdrawl symptoms were unmanageable particularily with my high pace professional career. Some of us need to wean off of it at a slower pace than others... what a fright for me and my husband.