Re: Marilyn

From: Marilyn Vaughan (mavaughan@iastate.edu)
Fri May 31 16:19:03 2002


At Thu, 30 May 2002, Tami wrote: Tami:

I really feel for you. You've been through hell (me too and all the rest of us here). I have Ultracet for pain--it's a non-narcotic, a combination of tramadol and tylenol. I found it works for mild to moderate pain. For severe pain, it didn't do much of anything for me. You may need to lobby for stronger pain medication. What works for Tish? Ms-contin and Oxycontin have seemed to work for women who post on this board. The only thing is they're narcotics and doctors are reluctant to prescribe them. They're are so conservative about pain management. It's criminal to let us suffer! I'm really getting riled and revolutionary about this issue.

Celebrax is the new class of anti-inflammatory that you take only once a day and usually doesn't cause stomach problems. It's expensive, though. My insurance only covers half the cost of the prescription, which runs over $60 for 20 tabs! But it's worth it for me because the high dose Motrin hurt my tummy plus it was hard to keep track of when I took it last.

Be careful about surgery--I don't want your problems to get any worse. You've been through enough. At this point, you need adequate pain management so you're not forced by desperation to make a hasty decision. Are you going to a pain clinic? From my experience, I don't think ob-gyns or primary care physicians know enough about pain control. However, my podiatrist said today he puts patients on Neurontin for foot pain. He thought I was on a high dosage, but I really trust my pain clinic doctor, the only one in this small town who seemed to care that I was in constant pain.

Marilyn

>Hi Marilyn,
>The only pain reliever I've been on is Tylenol #3 or Lortabs. The pain
>has been really bad for me this week, so I called my Dr today and he
>prescribed "Ultracet" to try for the weekend. I had surgery on April
>15th this year. He was going to lysis the adhesions by laproscope, but
>it was so bad he couldn't do it with the scope and I was at an
>outpatient facility. But I think my adhesions have worsened just since
>this surgery and he didn't do anything but look inside. My pain has
>been mostly right sided, but now it is worse and the pain is running
>down the inside of my right leg to my knee area. I hope this new
>medication does something for me. Tish told me she was also on
>Neurontin and other pain meds and it is working for her. So I have to
>be hopeful. I had a complete hysterectomy in 1996, 6 hours long, under
>a epidural, for adhesions. They were all the way up into my kidney
>area. Well I wish you better, and soon!! What is Celebrax anyway, I
>think I have heard of it before, but I am not sure...Hey a Pain Journal
>is a good idea.
>Your friend,
>Tami
>
>At Thu, 30 May 2002, Marilyn Vaughan wrote:
>>
>>Hi, Tami. I'm on 300 mg. of Neurontin every 8 hours, just like you.
>>I'm also on 50 mg of desapramine, which I have been taking for some
>>time, about two years on and off, and 200 mg of Celebrax. It was some
>>time before I felt it was making a difference, at least a month or two.
>>(I wish I had kept some sort of pain journal.) I still have a bit of
>>pain mid-month near ovulation but last year my total focus was on the
>>pain and I spent much time lying down and having an intimate
>>relationship with my heating pad.
>>
>>Of course, I'm not sure if it's Neurontin or all the drugs put together
>>that are helping. After reading the posts on this board, I also am very
>>wary of further surgery, unless it was done by the select few doctors on
>>the East Coast and in Germany who specialize in treating adhesions. I
>>got a couple months break from the pain after I had surgery--laparoscopy
>>with lysis of adhesions--last August. Then it started up with again, as
>>bad as ever. I've read similar stories from other women. That's when
>>the anesthesiologist at the pain clinic here decided to try Neurontin.
>>
>>Hang in there with the Neurontin at least for a few weeks. I hope you
>>have adequate pain killers as well. I'd be interested in hearing
>>others' experiences with this drug. What kind of side effects have they
>>noticed? Maybe I'm dense, but I don't detect any. Maybe a little
>>blurring of eyesight, but then I'm 46 and have bifocals that I never
>>wear, so who knows? Best of luck, Tami! Keep me posted.
>>
>>Marilyn
>>
>>At Wed, 29 May 2002, Tami wrote:
>>>
>>>Marilyn,
>>>Thanks for the reply on the Neurontin. What strenth are you on? I am on
>>>300mg every 8 hours since about 2 weeks ago. How long before you felt
>>>the difference? Are you taking it with anything else? At this point I am
>>>willing to give anything a try vs more surgery, which is probably
>>>enevitible for me. Thanks for any info you can share.
>>>Tami


Enter keywords:
Returns per screen: Require all keywords: