Posts Tagged Pain

Question by : Can someone recommend a pain clinic or doctor in the Denver Area? Advice for severe pain?
I’ve been suffering from back pain for a couple of years and it has become extremely intense in the past year. My husband lost his job so we lost our insurance, so I’ve been going to a clinic for the past year. Luckily, he found another job that he’s been working at for about 2 months now and our insurance is about to kick in. I was wondering if someone knows of a good doctor in Colorado. I’d really like to find someone who is caring and compassionate.

It started during my second pregnancy and went away a couple months after the birth of my son. Then it returned when I was pregnant with my 3rd child and got rapidly worst. After my daughter was born it just continued to get a lot worst. I had an MRI and was told I had Degenerative Disc Disease. I’ve been able to get a little physical therapy, unfortunately not a lot due to the lack of insurance. The pain has now spread to my hip. I don’t know if the pain in my hip is connected to the back pain or if it’s something completely different. But I’ve started having a hard time walking and try really hard not to leave the house because I’m so scared of having a pain attack out in public. I’m only 28 years old and have developed horrible depression from being in so much pain. I have kind of gotten used to the constant pain and have been able to manage it with pain meds, unfortunately the pain attacks are so intense I haven’t been able to get relief. I took percocet for the pain and then the doctor added extra oxycodone in addition because after 8 months I became tolerant, plus the pain increased. She recently suggested prescribing oxycontin but I’d prefer not to go that route. I’m hoping with insurance and physical therapy I can start getting relief and wean off the narcotics. I also take muscle relaxers and naproxen, plus anti-depressants. She also put me on Lyrica. I’m having some bad side affects but I’ve only been on it for a few days so I’m hoping they get more mild, I haven’t noticed a difference in the pain yet. I’ve also tried marijuana but didn’t really feel it helped me too much, maybe to be able to sleep at night. I’ve tried ice packs, hot baths, icy hot, tiger balm, ibuprofen, herbal teas, juicing, deep breathing, meditation. Flexeril completely knocks me out so I had to stop taking it.

I’d like to find a doctor who will help me get better control of the pain and give advice on what I can do other then just keep taking more pills. I’ve been doing yoga and stretching but I’m still having a lot of pain. I’d like a doctor who isn’t opposed to painkillers either. I’m hoping to find other ways to get pain control, but untill that happens I have a 3 year old, 2 year old, and 8 month old with a husband who works 75 hours a week and absolutely no one to help me. So I need to have some kind of pain management. I was told I’d never be completely pain free, but I just want to be able to take my kids to the park, and zoo, do normal housework and stop feeling like a complete failure as a wife and mother. It’s really hard for me, I used to play all these sports and run 8 miles a day, even completing marathons, now I can barely make it up the stairs without tears. So if you know of a good doctor, please let me know. Or if you have any advice, I would really appreciate it. Acupuncture, supplements, stretches, I will be grateful for any advice. Thank you!

Best answer:

Answer by juliefannin@yahoo.com
Hi,
I know how you feel although I don’t have children, my spine was injured before I was able to have them. That knocked my dreams away permanently. I know how hard you can be on yourself, I’ve done it too, but that pain is real and as I’m sure you would agree you wouldn’t wish it on anyone and would do anything to be ‘normal’ again. So you have to stop thinking of yourself as a failure! You’re not doing yourself any favors by thinking that way.
I can’t help with any suggestions for a doctor since I don’t live in that area. What I will suggest is to go ahead and give the oxycontin a try. It gave me my life back (to a degree, I have really severe spine problems). I’ve been through 3 surgeries, 1 laminectomy, 1 spine fusion, and then the biggie, reconstructive surgery because my first surgeon horribly messed up my spine with the fusion. The surgery was over 8 hours and left me in critical condition in ICU for 4 days. A low dosage of the oxy could give you a great deal of relief and help to get you off of so many of the other medications. By taking Aleve, or Naproxen, on a daily basis you are hurting your liver and kidneys. Too much for them to filter on a regular basis. That’s why when you will be in long term pain they (doctors) prefer to put us on the pure stuff that won’t harm our organs. Stay on the antidepressant though, that will help with both the pain and the depression.
You could try more therapy, strengthen your core muscles to help take the burden off of your spine. Plus when you do find a good pain management doctor he should have even more ideas for you to try. I highly suggest you do NOT allow them to give you the steroid epidurals. You are of childbearing age and I had 4 of them. They had such severe side effects because of my gender and my still young age. I ended up having to see an Endocrinologist for all of the terrible things these did to me, plus they gave me no relief at all. Not many people ever get relief from these injections. You could also try deep tissue massage and acupuncture.
This is a hard life to deal with, I can’t lie. But eventually you will learn acceptance and learn to deal with what your new capabilities and limitations are. I can suggest a great support forum for you to join. The people on there are like you and I and have been through literally everything. It’s a great resource and a great place to get advice. Just type in ‘Spine Health’ and it should take you straight there, look to the left side and you should find a small column that is the actual forum. Try it, you may find it very helpful. They helped me get through my darkest days. Oh, and I still visit there every now and then, I go by ‘Cateyes’ on there too.

P.S. Someone on there may know of a good doctor in Denver!

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