[Sticky] Introduce Yourself!

Hello, I am glad to be a part of this forum. I am a college student and I'm getting a degree in a similar area to your forum.

@dominicburke Hi Dominicburke, why don't you tell us something about yourself and the study you are doing?

This is a new forum and Chronic Pain Australia is trying to get this new forum known, so if you have friends, please spread the word around.

Peter

I have moderate pain if I am standing more than an hour or so. Limits my work performance and opportunities. 

@payne Hi Steve,

Welcome to the Forum!

There is nothing more debilitating when you are working than to have constant pain dogging you all day long.  I don't know if you've heard of them, but there are pain clinics or used to be pain clinics in major public hospitals that are really good at helping you live with chronic pain.  You have to go through your GP to get a referral and then I think Medicare pays for it..  I could be wrong, so you'll have to look into it.

The reason I am suggesting them is because if you are still working you will benefit from the exercise programs they have at these clinics.  Or, you could go see a good sports physio and ask them for a good exercise regime that fits your injuries so that you can get stronger.  

My spine has a lot of old damage done by  a couple of bad car accidents in my life and I can tell you the only thing that keeps me moving today, even though I am on a disability pension because of my back, is the exercises that I do.  The key is not drugs, but exercises.  If you can get the right ones that will not further injure you, then you will be surprised just how much your life will improve, but you have to keep it up.   That is the hard part.

I hope this helps.

Peter

@peter thanks Peter awesome...I am further advanced than you think. 

1) I'm waiting for pain clinic from public hospital to respond to my application. 

2) I do exercises everyday. I'm a YouTube physio junkie as well. Have a pretty good core due to core exercises. If I go a day without exercises, I pay for it at work. So I'm forced to do them.  

3) I lost 20 kg last year. That helped a lot but it's hard to maintain motivation. This year put 5 kg back on, already 

4) still I would like access to emergency pain medication. A few weeks ago I had severe back spasms at work could hardly walk to the car park. 

5) seems to be you have to make friends with pain.with your body. Sometimes better to take a pill before pain onset. 

@payne Hi Steve,

Sounds like you have it all in hand.  I'm unable to work, and unfortunately rely on medication to actually get through the day.  I can't move much without it.  However, I would be a whole lot worse if I didn't do the exercises.  

If you're able to get access to some pain meds, only ever use them for first aid treatment and don't take them regularly, because it is a merry go round you don't want to get stuck on. 

I hope it goes well with the pain clinic once you finally get accepted.

Peter

@peter not sure how frankly I want to discuss use of opioids on here. Are you sponsored by chronic pain Australia ? To get people off medication like tramadol? Did you have an addiction yourself?  You don't have to answer. Just curious about your status on here as independent advocate or not.

hello all,

had neck pain that turned into a pinched nerve in arm and then (after a period of 4/5 months) forced into surgery to relieve pain. (degenerative disc in neck). was on all sorts of opioids that turned me into a zombie. had to stop work and couldn't function anymore. used to run 3 x week @ approx 15k's and was pretty healthy otherwise prior.

immediately after surgery, felt great, but pain returned after 1/2 months. refused to go back to opioids and became depressed/overwhelmed/anxious. tried all manner of things but couldn't find peace.

been on medicinal cannabis for the last 8 weeks and back to myself again. for whatever reason (metabolism I imagine) my tolerance is very low, so am taking 0.15ml once a day. (i.e. 2.5mg!) started swimming and cardio going well, so that has definitely helped too. also felt good enough to start interviewing for a job and am going to be starting in a few weeks.

happy ending this end. medicinal cannabis definitely resetting my receptors.

Hi -I am 69years old, fit and healthy. I suffered from facial shingles in April 2022 and was hospitalised (finally after waiting at another emergency dept for 6 hours) for 5 days for treatment with IV antibiotics, antivirals and opioids. The rash cleared up but the pain persisted. Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN)is the name for it. It is now November and the pain is considerably worse -- now in my jaw, nostrils, palate, inside left cheek, left ear and eye. I have tried the whole gamut of medications recommended for this condition including amytriptiline (sp), lyrica, nervoderm, lidocaine, endone, tramadol, codeine...in varying dosages. None worked. I now just take panadol as I don't want drugs of addiction or which make me lethargic and dopey. Apparently one third of over 50s get shingles and 10% of those develop PHN. There must be someone else out there that has this condition and is hopefully on this forum. Would just like to touch base with like suffering people who may or may not have found a treatment regime that works for them. Thankyou - Liz

Hi, I am a 74yo retiree and in remission after a run in with a Tumour in my neck. Unfortunately, this was not diagnosed early and continued its growth along one stem of the tri-geminal nerve to my Larynx. It did not reach the larynx luckily as fortunately I was scheduled for a Biopsy after a PET Scan. The surgeon removed what he described as a monumentally fast growth in the 5 days since the PET scan. After my Ray treatment and Chemotherapy, I am left with lasting scaring to most areas inside my throat vocal chords and Larynx. Along with this is PAIN. seemingly from my Tri-Geminal nerves and mostly affects one side of my face, the one the Tumour was on. It is now three years on, and the pain has not abated at all and at times seems to be getting worse. I am interested if anyone else has had this and any methods to reduce the pain and improve the quality of my life. I was on low dose Lyrica 25mg/ 3 times day, but the Doctor decided that it may help on a higher dose which I increased to 50mg/3 times day.

That showed some promise and after two weeks it was doubled to 150mg/ 3 times a day. I started to have quite different problems while the pain still persisted. My doctor did an ECG and referred me to a Heart Specialist who has had a stress test done yesterday. A couple of days prior to have the test, I reduced on my own steam the dosage of Lyrica back to the 25mg and most of the symptoms reduced or disappeared. So, it looks like that Lyrica is not for me and hopefully I don't have a heart problem as well.  

Hi Noel,

mate you’ve gone through the mill and have survived a dear friend of mine was diagnosed with throat cancer and a month to get his affairs in order , I don’t want to lecture you but please before adjusting any medication talk to your Dr, pharmacist and (if you are seeing one) a pain specialist as upping or reducing medication can be extremely dangerous.

if you haven’t as yet arranged to see a pain specialist and a physiotherapist doing a pain management course can be very helpful in refocusing and pacing .

cheers mate

johnno

Hi I’m 52 year male, I picked up a Viras almost 2 years ago, I developed throat pain left side under my jaw. The more I use my vioice the worse it gets, I’ve had very little pain relief which has greatly effected my life. I’ve had all the usual tests and scans. I’ve been on all the usual pain management drugs (no opioids). No real relief unfortunately, Im wondering if there is anyone who has experienced a similar problem issue.  Getting a clear diagnosis seems to be a problem for the specialists I’ve seen.

Matt 

Hopefully someone will have had a similar ailment and may be able to help you out .

Have you been to an ear , nose , and throat specialist 

just a thought

johnno

Hi John, Apparently my reply to you did not go through? Thank you for your interest. I was given the go ahead to adjust as necessary the dosage of Lyrica by my doctor. It is not for everyone apparently and can have some fearful side effects if you don't suit. 

Anyway a few days on and whatever is causing my problem may not have been the Lyrica. I now have difficulty in just walking and my feet are getting bloated with blood. This has nothing to do with the main gist of this board PAIN. So I won't press this any further.

Still got my lovely pain going on and on, just to keep life interesting. So for anyone who has found a miracle cure please notify me. 

Cheers
Noel