Lady Fierce,
Went to a pain specialist several years ago after years of not being financially able to do so. He was able to properly identify my pain levels and prescribe some pain meds to finally help my situation. I started taking Oxycontin at a slightly higher dose to start and then work our way down to a level that worked for me. And it did and does work to this day. He explained that a person in pain is like a sponge with medication. In that pain meds are absorbed by the pain so we can operate at a level that allows us to do and live a more normal everyday life. A person not in pain taking these meds would end up getting high and just being goofy. And the meds are at a low dose. That was about 7 years ago and I still have not had to increase the dose of meds. I am now taking Oramorph instead of Oxycontin only because the medical coverage I now have does not cover Oxycontin which is definatly a better drug for pain in my opinion. Anyway with all that said, I also attended a pain-management program through my HMO, Kaiser here in CA. and had very good success. The most important thing I learned was in the begining to keep a pain diary and map and rate my pain throught the day to help understand where I was "over-doing-it" and there start to regulate my activities and my medication. Also found that working out, streching, massage, counciling, prayer, and the meds all had to work together to help promote a better life. Oh, did I mention all the great help and friends
here at KickAS? Hope this helped. Painman. <><
