Pain has gotten much worse

[amyrising]

Amyrising; I just reviewed all your posts and it seems the Ritalin is causing you adverse reactions and counter-productive with the Gaba/zoloft.

The swings are from the Ritalin. You were doing so much better before you started it. The Gaba/Zoloft needs to be in your system up to 8 weeks before entirely effective.

The Ritalin may be too strong for you and is causing you to have these spasms and shaking. Please call your doc and try to take a lower dose? or a different medication. fed

Thank you! I will talk with her tomorrow about trying something different.

[Strhuntrss]

Being Vegan, does it help with pain sx

MissLux,

I see that you have been a vegan since 2001. Has your diet change helped you in any way with your sx?

My husband and I are thinking of weaning ourselves over to the vegan diet.

My pcp advised me that the mediteranian diet would help me.

In the past two years I have changed to his diabetic diet (he is borderline) which is probably better than the meat and potatoes that I was on, lol.

I have no restrictions but could afford to lose a few pounds.

Just wanted to know if you have noticed a difference in anyway.

[Ihb7337]

The reality of pain and MS

After reading all of the entries on the subject of pain and MS I felt I had to share my experience with all of you.

First, pain is definetly a possible symptom of MS. Granted, not all MS patients experience pain, but many of us do.

I think the problem with our neuros not always agreeing that pain can be a problem for MS patients is that, they still don't know everything there is to know about this disease. It is a study in progress and we are unfortunately, all subjects in this study.

What is of the utmost importance is that we keep telling our doctors about our pain experiences so they can collect this data and hopefully share it with one another, when they go to national and international conventions.

The more we speak up , the more they absolutely have to listen, that is assuming that they're taking our complaints of pain seriously !

Be specific about your pain when you describe it. Maybe someday it will be clear to all doctors who treat MS that pain really is a debilitating symptom of MS.

My experience with pain:it began long before I was diagnosed and was miserable. It would be bilateral , either both elbows and arms and hands, or both legs, from the knee down. Thobing and unbearable . I originally wrote it off as pain from working with horses ( getting jerked around, or unloading hay, or cleaning stalls.....anything to do with barn management ......made sense to me).

After periods of time, I would notice that this flair of pain would happen, even on my days off or if I was away from the farm for a period of time, and still had the pain.

During this time I also had an increase in my migraines so was Put on imitrex plus Percocet for pain. As my migraines subsided, I no longer needed the Percocet for headaches, but found it worked well for my "mystery pain".

Eventually I had to seek out treatment by a pain specialist because my neuro who treated the migraines could no longer keep prescribing the percocet , since I was now using it for a different reason.

To make a long story short, I am now in the Houston, TX area and have ended up in a pain clinic with a wonderful man (dr Scott Lin) who totally understands pain as it relates to MS. (I had been living in Wisconsin prior to living here, and ended up with a God awful pain clinic that pretty much treated you like a drug seeking convict.....it was horrible!!!)

So in addition to seeing an MS neurologist I also see a pain specialist, which , I believe, is the best route to take. Pain specialists do just that........they specialize in the treatment of pain and are up to date on the latest treatments. God love our MS neurologists, but when it comes to this specific symptom, I really believe that you need to seek out someone who specializes in the treatment of pain.

Finally, what has worked for me and has given me my life back is the following: OxyContin 20mg three times a day (OxyContin is long acting oxycodone ), plus oxycodone 15 mg up to four times a day, as needed for break through pain.

So many people are afraid of OxyContin and there really is no reason to be, as long as it is taken properly! My experience with these medications is that they control (eliminate) my pain and allow me to have a quality of life that I did not have before I was placed on these meds.

Sorry this is so very long but I really wanted to offer my experience with all of you, especially adding that, yes, we MS patients do experience pain and our pain is very real!!

God bless

[zeak]

Yes

Thank you. Yes, pain, unfortunately is also a part of my journey with MS. My neuro, God love him also, seems to think I should tough it out more. It is very hard when I was once a nurse who worked 2 jobs, 50 to 75 hours a week, and now am having issues caring for myself. Thankfully I have an amazing husband. My neuro has changed my pain meds from Lyrica to neuriton last week so hopefully it will take "the edge off".
When I get back to Florida for the fall, I will find a "Pain management doctor", I never thought of that, so again thank you.

[tracenorm]

Pain Clinic

My Neurologist recently referred me to a pain management clinic. My dr works closely with a dr at the pain clinic who specializes in MS. I haven't gotten my appointment yet but, I was wondering if anyone else has tried one of these pain clinics yet?

My majority of pain is in my hips and legs. The legs are bone pain mainly in my femurs. It's always there whether I'm relapsing or not. It doesn't matter what I do, the pain is always there.

I'm an avid runner and lately when the pain hits my femur bones, both legs get weak and I cannot run. I'm finding myself getting down more than usual and it's starting to interrupt my sleep.