Chronic Pain

Hi everyone! Welcome to Chronic Pain Connection! Please post your introductions in a new thread here in this forum. I'm so glad you found us, and can't wait to get to know you..
Sincerely,
Stacy

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Stacy,

Looking forward to seeing this message board, well... full of messages!!! I will be posting a little intro in the next couple of days. Thanks Stacy

Take care,
Jenn

Hi there,
My name is Chrissy and though I've already posted an intro in the TMJ part, I thought I would introduce myself here also. I am a Chronic Pain Sufferer. I've been diagnosed with Chronic Classical Migraines, Chronic right TMJ with a total bilateral joint replacement surgery sometime in the future, Neuropathic pain syndrome, Chronic Facial Enthesopathies, and Chronic Situation Depression. I'm very much looking forward to seeing this site grow and to meet new people who suffer with Chronic Pain to get new ideas on how to deal with this disease.
Best Wishes to All

Hi Chrissy,
I so sorry to hear that you are in so much pain.
I'm izzie, I'm new to the group. I have had back surgery April 2002. On L4,S1. I have implants and fusion done. It was a failed back surgery. I'm in chronic pain. I also suffer with TMJ as well. My dentist gave me a mouth guard. It helps a little bit. I hope to hear from you.
take care. izzie

Hello everyone!

I have already said hello on the TMJ board and some of you already know me. I'm Bekah and I'm 23. I was diagnosed with TMJ from a bad root canal. The tooth healed fine but the dentist was too rough with my jaw during the procedure and refused to admit to his mistake. I also am living with chronic pain from Fibromyalgia from the trauma of the root canal as well as my family history. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone!

Hugs,

Bekah

Hello everyone! I am so glad to see a lot of familiar faces around. I know some of you from the TMJ forums, but for those who I haven't met yet welcome, and I look forward to getting to know you. A little about me.. I'm 29, married, just had a baby girl a month ago so currently on maternity leave, but normally work full time. I have chronic pain mostly from TMJ and some trauma that made the tmj worse. Have had one mostly unsuccessful surgery, and tried every medication and treatment under the sun. I also suffer from anxiety and PTSD, and the past few years have had some chronic muscle problems (tension and spasming/deterioration and weakness) which can also be very painful and tie into the TMJ pain big time. I know there are probably a few things I'm missing on this list... but you get the idea!

I look forward to getting to know you and learning more. I will start my shareposts soon.. with a new baby my online time has been pretty limited. However, I value this type of interaction and am learning how to multitask more and more to allow it!

Nicole

Hi, I am new to this forum so here is my story in brief. I am 28 years old and have been a chronic pain sufferer for almost 4 years.

Initially it was a barefoot-waterski crash 8 years ago that resulted in a broken vertebra, ruptured L5-S1 disc, and torn labrum/separated shoulder. After the initial pains healed it took 4 years for the disc to degenerate and cause the typical pains and 5 years for the shoulder to act up.

2 years ago, I had an artificial disc replacement which was a 100% success and eliminated all spine and leg pain. What I am left with is a chronic muscle & nerve pain in the scapular/trapezius region of my right shoulder.

In September of 2005 an MRI finally showed the laberal tear and I had the arthroscopic surgery to repair it however it had no effect on the trapezius pain. Over this time it has escalated to a point where I am confined to bed-rest most of the day and am forced to take pain meds to deal with it. It is cyclical in nature and changes week by week but it starts out the best in the morning and then escalates continuously throughout the day and is aggravated by most activities.

The symptoms are easy to see as the muscle visibly locks up and bulges in the back but $340,000 later and every imaginable test and treatment (see summary below) have yet to show why this is happening. I have had luck with accupuncture but it typically only provides relief for a week or two at a time. The hardest thing about this to treat, or even keep the pain at a bearable level, is the fact that it escalates to such a degree. Many meds and treatments will take the edge off but in the end, only end up slowing the progression down. The nature of this escalation causes it to 'break-through' almost any treatment.

I look forward to talking to you all, I know we all have valuable information for each other as we have essentially become experts in our own fields ;-)

John

Treatment History
4 years
2 surgeries
17 Specialists
150+ Appointments
40+ Different Meds in 70 Different Doses
$340,000 (Out of Pocket $620/mo for 2.5 years)
8 – 6wk Rounds of PT
Multiple: MRI’s, CT Scans, Arthograms, X-Rays
Bone Scan
20 rounds of Trigger Point Injections, w/ and w/o Steroids
Botox Injections into to Muscle
TENS Unit
Ultra Sounds
Acupuncture
Chiropractic
Deep Tissue Massages
EMG Test
Heat & Ice Therapy

Hello everyone,
Well I am another TMJ sufferer, mine was caused by an auto accident. Migranes are awlful and I just realized I cannot go through this alone, I have family, but they just do not understand like other TMJ patients do.
Treatment
chiropractor
heat and ice
tens unit
splint therapy
steroid injection
I have now been referred to a surgeon for a consult. Looking forward for new friendship with tmj experts, recipes would be appreciated. I can no longer chew, talking too much causes pain etc...

Melissa

Stacy is probably going to be the next one to reply to this introduction, as she has TMJ as well. She's a great listener too!

I don't have TMJ but I have been suffering with chronic pain in my back and legs since a car accident over 3 years ago. I've been to countless doctors and surgeons and been on tons of medication, and nothing seems to work. If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm usually around because the pain has gotten to the point where I can't even work.

We're happy to have you here

Stefany

My Name is Charles.
I'm new to the message board but not so new to the back pain and the Morphine Pump.
I fractured 2 vertabrates, herniated 4 disc's and crushed 4 fauset joints L-5 to S1..(sorry for any spelling error's)
I did this in March of 94, since then I've had 13 back surgeries with lastest ones being a new morphine pump and the cage with the and 2 rods.
I had my first pump put in 1997.
Before the pump I was on liquid morphine, percocets and flexiril.
After I had the pump put in it seemed to be a life saver and it still is. It's the best thing that ever happen to me, I mean it got me out of bed and the wheel chair. I've had great luck with the pump it gave me my life back. Actually I shoud say the pump and a great doctor saved my life. Before I found him I went through 63 doctors and out of the 63 I found 2 that really cared, the other 61 could of cared less. I'm sure this is nothing new to you or anyone else who goes through severe pain.
I have had the pump for 10 years and I also take Methadone 10mg. 6x's a day to help with break through pain. I know we do alot of things were not supposed to do but we have to have some what of a life.
But like I said the pumped is a blessing, the only problem I'm having with the pump and it just started with in the last 3 to 4 months is it's getting kinked and shutting off on me and causing me to go through with drawls 2 to 3 times a month. My doctor says it's because I've lost alot of weight and when I'm stuck in bed for a period of time. There in the process of trying to correct it.
Has anyone had this problem?

Hi Charles,

I just wanted to welcome you to the ChronicPainConnection forum. I don't personally have any experience with the pump. I was going to refer you to the General Discussion thread that has lots of discussion about the pump, but I see you've already found it. I trust others there can share their experiences with you. If there's anything else I can help you with, just let me know.

Hi,everyone, my name is Linda. I am surprised and grateful to have found this site and others who understand the burden of chronic pain. My journey began 5 1/2 yaers ago with a horse accident that separated my pelvis in the front. To make a long story short, nothing was done to stabilize my pelvis until it had separated so far in the front that it also broke in the back. It's called an open-book fracture, as in the broken binding of a book. Two inept surgeries and a year and a half later, I went to Chicago and had a third, and so far final, surgery to remove the erroneous hardware in my back and pelvis and repair it as best they could after so much time had passed. This was a 9 hour surgery done by a pelvic trauma surgeon. He teaches orthpedic surgery and said he would have given my previous surgeon a grade of 60%, barely a "D". I ended up with 3 neuropathies in my right leg and 6 plates and 55 screws in my pelvis. I have tried everything from pills to patches, getting some relief for a while. My Rehab Doc sent me to the neurosurgeon to evaluate me for a medication pump. He has approved, and I am waiting to hear when my in-hospital trial will be. I am trying not to hope too much. I found the thread about the pump and found everyones comments enlightening and I am cautiously hopeful again. Before the accident I worked as medication nurse on the psych unit at our regional medical center. I do have some professional knowledge about meds, depression, and people with chronic pain. Hope to hear from others and share experiences.
Thanks, Linda

quote:

Originally posted by Yooper60:
Hi,everyone, my name is Linda. I am surprised and grateful to have found this site and others who understand the burden of chronic pain. My journey began 5 1/2 yaers ago with a horse accident that separated my pelvis in the front. To make a long story short, nothing was done to stabilize my pelvis until it had separated so far in the front that it also broke in the back. It's called an open-book fracture, as in the broken binding of a book. Two inept surgeries and a year and a half later, I went to Chicago and had a third, and so far final, surgery to remove the erroneous hardware in my back and pelvis and repair it as best they could after so much time had passed. This was a 9 hour surgery done by a pelvic trauma surgeon. He teaches orthpedic surgery and said he would have given my previous surgeon a grade of 60%, barely a "D". I ended up with 3 neuropathies in my right leg and 6 plates and 55 screws in my pelvis. I have tried everything from pills to patches, getting some relief for a while. My Rehab Doc sent me to the neurosurgeon to evaluate me for a medication pump. He has approved, and I am waiting to hear when my in-hospital trial will be. I am trying not to hope too much. I found the thread about the pump and found everyones comments enlightening and I am cautiously hopeful again. Before the accident I worked as medication nurse on the psych unit at our regional medical center. I do have some professional knowledge about meds, depression, and people with chronic pain. Hope to hear from others and share experiences.
Thanks, Linda

Linda
It's been such a pleasure to have you join us in our daily grind daily support thread. I look forward to you sharing more about you,your horses and how you've learned to work through all the pain that you must certainly be in.
I really hope the pain pump works as well for you, as I've heard it works for others.
Take care, Welcome and Happy New year
Betty

Wow.. I almost feel left out of the TMJ Club..

Hello. My name is Harley. I'm 27yrs old and I've been in pain for the past (almost) 5 years. I've gone to doctor after doctor, took pill after pills, and done test after test. I still have no answers as to what's wrong with me. I have a pile of medical bills and people call every single day looking to collect on said bills. I've learned to ignore the phone when it rings because, honestly, I can't take anymore bad news. I can't work - at all. I was going to school for astrophysics, and I've pretty much given up on that. Showing up to class everyday is too hard...

My family doesn't do much to help me emotionally. Everytime I express that I am in pain, I'm told to "just stop it." When I'm crying because I don't have anything else to do, nobody comforts me. Who would think you could feel so alone in a house with 5 other people living here? I could lay in bed for days, and nobody will ask what's wrong. I've grown a huge resentment towards them. I've gone from trying not to care when they get sick, but I always end up being the one who takes care of them. They don't know how much a hug would go, and they don't care.

I take a lot of painkillers ranging from Vicodin to Percocet to Norco. I've visited the emergency rooms nearby so many times; each ends with a Morphine shot and me being sent home with no more answers than when I stumbled into the door. My doctor recently left his practice, leaving me at square one, again. He was the only doctor that seemed to believe me. Every other doctor seems to only be interested in cramming painkillers and antidepressants down my hatch. I am not clinically depressed. I will agree to being depressed, but being 27 years old and watching all my friends grow up, get married, having families, and basically having lives, and not being able to have any of that, would you really blame me?

I'm basically at my wit's end...

It's nice to meet some people who can honestly say they know how I feel..

Harley

Welcome to the Chronic Pain Connecion, we are all very glad you have found us and I look forward to your participation. You are welcome to join us in the Off Topic section in the Daily Grind discussion support group if you'd like. Please come check us out and if it looks like something you'd like to participate in, just jump on it. we'd love to have you!

Take Care and if you need any extra help with navigation or just want to visit, your welcome to send me a privae message too, I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

See ya around
Betty