Hi Everyone,

I rarely post on here, but I was wondering if anyone here (young 20-somethings) are suffering from chronic pain due to any kind of illnesses/diseases? If so, have any of y'all tried Biofeedback? I just started it today and was curious to know if anyone else has ever tried this.

Thanks!

9/30/2008 8:39:06 PM

i think you should look into all venues for help. i have not heard of this type of alternative treatment but a quick wiki search comes up with a good entry to explain it.

Quote :

"Biofeedback is a form of alternative medicine that involves measuring a subject's quantifiable bodily functions such as blood pressure, heart rate, skin temperature, sweat gland activity, and muscle tension, conveying the information to the patient in real-time. This raises the patient's awareness and conscious control of their unconscious physiological activities. By providing the user access to physiological information about which he or she is generally unaware, biofeedback allows users to gain control of physical processes previously considered an automatic response of the autonomous nervous system. Interest in biofeedback has waxed and waned since its inception in the 1960s; it is, however, undergoing something of a renaissance during the early 21st century, which some experts attribute to the general rise in interest about all alternative medicine modalities. Neurofeedback, a type of biofeedback treatment, has also become a popular treatment for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD); electromyogram biofeedback, used for muscle tension, has been widely studied and is currently accepted as a treatment for incontinence disorders, and small biofeedback machines are becoming available for a variety of uses in the home. The role of biofeedback in controlling hypertension is also becoming recognised.[1]"

i think maybe i need to get monitored esp. for AD(H)D

10/1/2008 8:45:35 AM

Thanks for the info! I'm still learning about it, and you're right about the ADHD. The biofeedback therapist told me it is helpful for anxiety disorders too.

10/1/2008 11:16:35 AM

smoke some chronic

10/1/2008 3:49:53 PM

where is lewoods when you need her

10/1/2008 5:16:10 PM

she would just sue you.

10/1/2008 5:44:50 PM

haha, several people have told me to "smoke some chronic" or as one person told me "hippie grass."

I think I'll pass on that.

Percocet on the other hand...

10/1/2008 6:05:48 PM

one is habit forming and one isnt

10/1/2008 6:07:46 PM

Oh, I figured they all were. But nah, I'm not addicted to the painkillers, they really do help the pain. But I know that people do abuse pain killers.

10/1/2008 6:08:38 PM

The withdrawal from the pain killers will eventually be much worse than smoking. Just because it's prescribed doesn't make it any better..and the fact is, your body will adjust, your tolerance will go up, and you will become dependent on it.

Just be careful and don't take everything your doctor tells you at face value--there's a lot more you need to learn

[Edited on October 1, 2008 at 6:13 PM. Reason : and being dependent has NOTHING to do with abusing them--just using them as prescribed is plenty]

10/1/2008 6:12:39 PM

I agree with you 100%. I am now doing various therapies to learn how to manage my pain w/out painkillers, muscle relaxants, or anything like that. Last thing I need is some habit-forming addiction.

10/1/2008 6:14:14 PM

that's why smoking is much more useful. there really is no withdrawal--you can smoke everyday for months and at most you might not sleep good for a night or two if you stop cold turkey

not saying it's the only solution--but if i was in pain and it helped and was a reasonable solution, i'd sure consider it

[Edited on October 1, 2008 at 6:19 PM. Reason : asdf]

10/1/2008 6:18:46 PM

I see what you mean. Never been a big pot smoker though. Do they prescribe marijuana for medicinal purposes in NC? haha

10/1/2008 6:21:53 PM

lol, nah, not in NC.. have to move to CA for that as far as I know

10/1/2008 6:23:15 PM

LOL. That's what I thought too.

10/1/2008 6:24:18 PM

How much exercising do you do?

My mother was diagnosed with fibromyalgia years ago (and of course, I've only recently learned it's the drug-seeker's disease of choice ), and has had soooooooooo many problems it's not even funny.

I shit you not when I say that regular exercise has wound the clock back on the order of ten years. It is incredible what it has done for her.

If you aren't exercising regularly, start.

10/1/2008 6:27:12 PM

Well oddly enough, in the past 4-5 years I have started exercising between 3-5 times a week. I have joint issues, so for cardio I work out on the elliptical machine and walk around (like at Lake Johnson). Also, I work out on the ball & use weights on my arms. I do yoga and some pilates as well. I guess you could say I'm pretty in shape.

[Edited on October 1, 2008 at 6:30 PM. Reason : How do they diagnose Fibromyalgia, btw?]

10/1/2008 6:29:46 PM

You should add swimming to the mix

Diagnosis? I guess by case history. At different times, she was evaluated for lupus, MS, RA and brain tumors.

I have no doubt that some of it is psychosomatic, but I also know she has always been in a lot of pain. It used to cause physical pain for her to get a hug.

10/1/2008 6:34:08 PM

Oh yes, you are totally right about the swimming. I used to swim as sport when I was reeeally little. I'm thinking about taking it up again. Also, I heard riding a bike is good too for joints.

I think you're right about diagnosis. I have various problems, so I am thinking Fibromyalgia may be something for me to consider. We'll see. I'm sorry to hear about your mom though!

10/1/2008 6:37:08 PM

A diagnosis/knowing what's going on isn't some golden solution. A lot of people are convinced that once they have a diagnosis of something in hand, there's going to be a magic fix. Sometimes, that magic fix is nothing more than some tweaks to their lifestyle.

Also, consider food allergies. Celiac disease sometimes acts like other autoimmune disorders. I actually am trying to get my mother to give up all sources of gluten for a bit, but of course, she won't

I used to severely underestimate what milk products did to me - despite knowing that I was sorely allergic to all animal protein from birth to toddler age, and that cow's milk was a particularly terrible culprit. Giving that up makes a WORLD of difference, and food allergies are severely underestimated, and often times, not even though of.

[Edited on October 1, 2008 at 6:46 PM. Reason : ;lk]

10/1/2008 6:46:22 PM

I understand that getting a diagnosis doesn't fix the problem, but it sure does help knowing what exactly is wrong with my body. I have already been diagnosed w/several things, but I am just considering other opinions as well. But without explaining my life story (haha), I've had a lot of pain problems in the past few months as well as in childhood. My doctor is considering that I do have some food allergies and I am supposed to be getting a blood test done soon to test for microallergens.

Speaking of dairy/milk, I am a HUGE dairy-product person. May be that is part of the problem.

10/1/2008 6:51:59 PM

i think if you go to cymbalta.com they have a fibromyalgia questionaire as well as some information about it, depression, and generalized anxiety disorder.


have you talked to your doctor about lyrica? or neurontin? both of these drugs are now prescribed for chronic pain. Lyrica is now fda approved for fibromyalgia

10/1/2008 7:52:22 PM

E-STIM from the TENS unit son. That and methadone.

10/1/2008 7:59:58 PM

lol

10/1/2008 8:10:05 PM

Neurontin was also heavily used off-label for bipolar
...and patients fared worse on it, than on nothing.

It's also been pushed for MS. Off-label, of course.

They've been trying to turn it into a wonder drug since the 90s

10/1/2008 9:30:00 PM

Hey y'all...thanks for the input! I have definitely considered Fibromyalgia as a possible diagnosis, but I'm going to look further into that with the help of my doctor. I'm also going to try looking at the Cymbalta website. I have not tried those drugs that Brainysmurf mentioned. I am on all kinds of prescription painkillers, flexeril (muscle relaxant), and Valium (which doesn't seem to do much for me honestly).

[Edited on October 2, 2008 at 3:17 PM. Reason : Oh yea, and the Electrical Stimulation helps, along with Ultrasound therapy.]

10/2/2008 3:17:10 PM

have you been checked out for reflex sympathetic dystrophy/CRPS?

10/2/2008 7:08:17 PM

Quote :

"I am on all kinds of prescription painkillers, flexeril (muscle relaxant), and Valium (which doesn't seem to do much for me honestly). Oh yea, and the Electrical Stimulation helps"

What are the painkillers? Opiate/opiod type, exact names please? What dosage and frequency?

Glad to hear the E-STIM helps.

10/2/2008 7:11:29 PM

Quote :

"smoke some chronic"

10/2/2008 7:28:33 PM

If only the government were more reasonable with it. If the OP is willing to break the law, then I do highly recommend marijuana. When really high quality marijuana is smoked, especially when combined with opiate/opioid pain killers, the effects are helpful for pain management.

10/2/2008 7:34:29 PM

No, I haven't tried reflex sympathetic dystrophy/CRPS? Can you explain a little more what those are? I will google it and see...perhaps I have done those & just didn't know the names

The painkillers are mostly opioids...Percocet (oxycodone w/acetaminophen), Tramadol (Ultram, which apparently is not a controlled substance here in NC, but it used to work really well...now it doesn't. Guess I built a tolerance?) and I took Vicodin when I had a dry socket after my wisdom teeth extraction. That crap made me sooo sick. I've also been on Tylenol 3, Demerol, Dilaudid. I'm only supposed to take the Percocet as needed, but lately, I need at least one pill a day (3-525 mg). As for Tramadol, I take about 2-3 of those per dose and take it about 2-3 times daily.

10/2/2008 7:55:15 PM

^ Btw, I'd imagine the percocet you have contains 5mg of Oxycodone and around 325mg of Tylenol. Or is it really a 3mg percocet with 525mg of tylenol? That's very odd. The small number is the opiate, so maybe..

Dilaudid is serious. If you're taking a 5mg percocet once a day that's very, very little, so a 3mg percocet is next to nothing if taken daily. Of course, you don't need an extreme opiate dependence so it's a double edged sword.

The tramadol is sort of opiate like but less potent. Vicodin, which is hydrocodone, is less potent than oxycodone.

[Edited on October 2, 2008 at 8:04 PM. Reason : ]

10/2/2008 8:00:07 PM

Dilaudid doesn't even belong in the list of everything else you've taken.. that's like going from Tylenol to heroin



[Edited on October 2, 2008 at 8:03 PM. Reason : fock]

10/2/2008 8:03:18 PM

RSD/CRPS usually causes a severe burning pain, muscle atrophy, skin changes at the site of the injury* (changes in color, temperature, excessive sweating), edema, and extreme sensitivity to touch.

the pain is often overwhelming and performing surgery often makes the disease spread. the way that RSD afflicts a person varies--some people are able to carry on a normal life, and some are completely immobilized by it.

*often times, RSD/CRPS is caused by something as minor as a scrape or a strain.

10/2/2008 8:30:11 PM

My mom does this for a heartburn/stomach disorder. She claims it helps a little but it hasnt done anything major. I think its all in her head, she does all sorts of weird medical things.

10/2/2008 8:41:11 PM

Quote :

"RSD/CRPS usually causes a severe burning pain, muscle atrophy, skin changes at the site of the injury* (changes in color, temperature, excessive sweating), edema, and extreme sensitivity to touch. the pain is often overwhelming and performing surgery often makes the disease spread. the way that RSD afflicts a person varies--some people are able to carry on a normal life, and some are completely immobilized by it. *often times, RSD/CRPS is caused by something as minor as a scrape or a strain. "

My mom has RSD in her face and she basically has a permanent migraine. Some how she has managed to deal with the pain most of the time and not let it affect her everyday life. On her bad days, like you said, she is completely immobilized and has to take some hardcore painkillers. Like morphine type shit.

terrible terrible ailment.

[Edited on October 2, 2008 at 9:25 PM. Reason : e]

10/2/2008 9:24:21 PM

you are already taking dilaudid?


jeebus!!

For our spinal surgery patients (most of them have had chronic unmanageable pain for years)

they get a regional bupivicaine block near the incision site, baclofen to help with muscle spasms, dilaudid pca, lyrica, tylenol, oxycodone, and in the most extreme cases the acute pain service(we have doctors and nurses that specialize in pain management) will prescribe a ketamine infusion. oh and they also get the token lidocaine patches(i have these, they are worthless)

10/2/2008 9:30:26 PM

Ketamine......

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..........

10/2/2008 9:34:43 PM

Quote :

"My mom has RSD in her face and she basically has a permanent migraine. Some how she has managed to deal with the pain most of the time and not let it affect her everyday life. On her bad days, like you said, she is completely immobilized and has to take some hardcore painkillers. Like morphine type shit. "

my dad got it when he was 33--had to retire at 35. he had a shelf of pool motors fall onto his left leg. he was left undiagnosed for 2 years. by that time, he had ~8 surgeries that only spread the disease. it's spread all over his body. his left shoulder is completely frozen and he does not have any control of his left arm/hand. my parents can't run the AC in the house because the air flow exacerbates his pain.

we moved from california because Duke offered to help him with it, but they turned him away 6 months later saying there was nothing that they could do. he gets nerve blocks every month that aren't helping much anymore. the only treatment that he has refused is the brain surgery that had a 50% chance of turning him into a vegetable.

i think he's giving up the fight--he has gone downhill so much in the past few months and he is literally wasting away. according to the doctors he's on borrowed time anyway. this is a terrible disease.

10/2/2008 9:37:37 PM

Jesus h christ. Can he at least have methadone? Give him ketamine too. Shit, he should be able to do any drugs he wants/needs at this point. I know I'd supply my dad with that shit if I actually had what you would call a dad.

[Edited on October 2, 2008 at 9:46 PM. Reason : ]

10/2/2008 9:45:53 PM

he's been taking that for years. it doesn't really work for him anymore.

he tried a ketamine treatment that helps a lot of RSD patients, but it didn't do anything for him. he's pretty much tried everything there is to try.

[Edited on October 2, 2008 at 9:49 PM. Reason : +]

10/2/2008 9:47:38 PM

The methadone?

Yeah, after a few years it wont work nearly as well. They can keep upping the dose though. Do you know what his current dosage level is?


Damn.


[Edited on October 2, 2008 at 9:50 PM. Reason : ]

10/2/2008 9:49:46 PM

i don't know his current dose, but i know that he takes 2 hugeass pills 2 or 3 times a day. i know that his doctors are very hesitant about increasing his dosage because of the side effects (?).

[Edited on October 2, 2008 at 9:54 PM. Reason : .]

10/2/2008 9:53:48 PM

He's got the wafers I'm sure. They are usually 20 or 40mg. He probably takes 40mg wafers. Honestly, I know of people on 500mg a day of methadone. The side effects, other than sleepiness, that one would encounter by raising the dose a bit are minimal once you have a tolerance like he probably has now.

[Edited on October 2, 2008 at 10:00 PM. Reason : ]

10/2/2008 9:59:17 PM

he doesn't take anything that looks like a wafer. it looks like a regular pill, it's just large. i think methadone causes him a lot of nausea--since the last time they upped his dose (though i'm not sure it's from the methadone; the last time they upped his dose they changed some of his other meds), he vomits after every meal. he's down to 125 lbs @ 6'1". he looks like a holocaust victim .

i don't really talk a lot about this with him/my mom. i kind of ignore the issue of him being sick.

[Edited on October 2, 2008 at 10:06 PM. Reason : .]

10/2/2008 10:04:48 PM

Very strange. Long term Methadone rarely causes vomiting. That sucks, I don't mind vomiting from opiates but I know other people have less of a tolerance for it. Plus as you said the weight loss is an issue.

I still say the wafer/pill is probably 40mg if he's been on it for years, but who knows.

[Edited on October 2, 2008 at 10:07 PM. Reason : ]

10/2/2008 10:06:59 PM

Quote :

" my dad got it when he was 33--had to retire at 35. he had a shelf of pool motors fall onto his left leg. he was left undiagnosed for 2 years. by that time, he had ~8 surgeries that only spread the disease. it's spread all over his body. his left shoulder is completely frozen and he does not have any control of his left arm/hand. my parents can't run the AC in the house because the air flow exacerbates his pain. we moved from california because Duke offered to help him with it, but they turned him away 6 months later saying there was nothing that they could do. he gets nerve blocks every month that aren't helping much anymore. the only treatment that he has refused is the brain surgery that had a 50% chance of turning him into a vegetable. i think he's giving up the fight--he has gone downhill so much in the past few months and he is literally wasting away. according to the doctors he's on borrowed time anyway. this is a terrible disease. "

Damn that is awful

My mom got her RSD when she had surgery on her face to fix some kind of nerve problem. The doctor nicked the nerve or something and it set off the RSD. Her left side of her face is numb now too. She was going down to florida for some RSD specialist to get injections into her spine and face every couple of months to try and help her pain. But she recently just got into the Duke program and I think she is pretty excited about it. She said they shoved a needle through her throat to inject something (cant remember off hand), I was like

And like your dad, my mom wasnt diagnosed for a loooooooooooooooong time. Most doctors have no idea it even exist and/or how to diagnose it. THey just prescribe more and more pills which is nothing but a short term fix.

10/2/2008 10:07:48 PM

I had a nerve get a bit upset after I had my wisdom teef removed. I couldn't feel the left side of my jaw down towards the front of it. It isn't as noticeable now but I still can't really feel it.

I think it was a result of me talking incessantly during the surgery which probably resulted in him damaging the nerve on the bottom left side of my jaw below the wisdom tooth. They gave me twice the dosage of the sedative that they normally give and I was still wide awake but too out of it to realize that I was in surgery. I kept thinking I was just hanging out with them so I'd start talking. It was confusing. I could hear and feel teeth being crushed and I kept trying to talk while he did that. The doctor got mad about that and said he'd never seen anyone handle that much sedative so easily.


[Edited on October 2, 2008 at 10:12 PM. Reason : ]

10/2/2008 10:10:32 PM

everybody on here seems to handle twice the normal dosages

..not saying you didnt. but i've seen that like 3 times this week.

now, about the methadone..that's really confusing. if he isn't taking wafers then the regular pills are only 10mg, which isn't shit for someone in his situation. i dunno, it without a doubt sounds like something else is going on (read: wrong medications) but i'm no doc, just an idea.

10/2/2008 10:23:55 PM

^ This was years ago, and he was so concerned about the amount it took to even remotely sedate me that he actually sat me down and had a LONG chat where he tried to get me to admit to using drugs.

10/2/2008 10:26:55 PM