Soliciting Advice for Chronic Pain Management

[untonuggan]

So it's looking like I'm SOL regarding pain medication. I'm on Lyrica already; I can't take any kind of anything that messes with serotonin; NSAIDs are out with my gut the way it is; don't want opiates because All The Reasons.

My doctor wants me to go to a pain clinic; I'm not sure what they'll do other than offer me strong opiates or something and give me physical therapy, but I'm supposed to be getting PT for my dizziness so yes that would be out for insurance reasons alone, let alone me going bananas. Anyone have experiences to offer on pain clinics?

In the meantime, my side effect journey of daisies and rainbows and leprechauns has made me leery of adding more chemicals to my internal chemistry project. Like, I've *always* hated being on this many meds and just kind of grinned and born it. But seriously? This is frelling ridiculous. And so, yes. I'm looking for non-medication ways to keep this under control, at least until a neurokinin-1 antagonists maybe comes on the market approved for pain management. *crosses fingers* But that could be awhile.

So yes, I'm soliciting suggestions in this post for pain management. I will do my best not to immediately rule them out because, say, I've tried acupuncture and it didn't work. Nothing is too woo for this post. I just want a working list to, er, work off of so I can fucking knit and spin regularly again. (I have knit TWO ROWS this week and spun nothing and it's making me cranky, who knows what I would have done without video games.)

Thank you, dear circle, for all your support!

PS fewer seizures yesterday! woo!

PPS Yes standard disclaimer regarding I know you're not medical professionals blah blah won't sue you blah blah check with my doctor blah blah.

Comments

[kaberett]

I am currently wrapped in my TENS machine (and will be going to a training course at my pain clinic on it in about a week's time lololol, I've had it for years), having slathered myself in diclofenac gel (Voltarol). I've also found mindfulness & meditation variably helpful. But um seriously I love my TENS machine rn, and indeed in general - it isn't perfect, but it is great at taking the edge off, especially when I don't have massage available.

Will hopefully have more useful stuff when not in fill-self-up-with-pain-management-before-sleep mode.

AND NOW THE DRUGS that I am on that you don't mention, please feel free to ignore this bit:
- amitriptyline (25mg) for pain management SERIOUSLY IT IS MAGIC. It is a tricylic antidepressant, but psych effects are only thought to kick in above about the 75mg level (I am also on citalopram for brainstuff). My codeine intake dropped LIKE A STONE (like, by several orders of magnitude) after I started this baby, and I've also been able to halve my daily paracetamol and mefenamic acid intakes.
- Buscopan. Anti-spasmodic. Means I don't get bowel endo flaring up after food. Is nice (I'm on an incredibly low dose; again, it's something that's made a massive difference to my quality of life).

[lilacsigil]

I was also going to mention Buscopan. I have nasty periods which are getting worse (I have a gynaecologist appointment...for December!) and get severe abdominal pain from crotch to diaphragm. Buscopan works on smooth muscle tissue and means that I can actually stand up straight or lie down flat during those times. It doesn't work on other kinds of pain, though.

Lots of people take amitriptyline for pain management especially when nerve pain is involved, at low doses (10-25mg at night) including people on SSRIs and SSNIs, so that might be worth checking out if it's safe.

Ice is really good for my psoriatic arthritis (which flares up in winter, so that sucks!) but not for other kinds of pain; heat is good for other pains but not my arthritis.