Welcome to our new pain management forum

Specialties Pain

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  • Specializes in CCU, Geriatrics, Critical Care, Tele.

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Hospicegal90

15 Posts

Dearest Sarah,

First, I am SO glad to see a NEW post on this thread!!! I have been a member here for awhile, but always had trouble logging on so I basically gave up. Now here I am! :yeah:

I have been a Nurse for 16 years and am back in school again...there is always something more to go for in Nursing!

I also have suferred with Chronic Pain since I was in my early 20's, I just turned 49!! Mine is located in my Thoracic Spine, the most unusual place for the back to have injuries/disorders, etc. Usually it is the lower back or neck, as they are the most 'moveable' of the spine.

I've had 2 surgeries and about 30 Procedures. I had to leave nursing for awhile, and was able financially to do so. Now, I have to get back to work. I adore Hospice nursing and will be looking at that, although for some reason am being pulled to do some travel nursing, but still stay here in CA. Enough about me, except that I write a Blog about my life in pain, @ http://shaunaslifeinpain.blogspot.com and I think you may find a few things that could possibly help, the main focus is if I reached just ONE person that was in CP, I had done my job.

Feeling alone and being in Chronic Pain has to be one of the worst things out there! If I could only touch fingers with someone, I say to them, and let them feel what I do, then they would truly 100% understand. The most understanding I have gotten has been when my family or friends have a back injury for a few days or a week off thier feet and in acute pain, they ask me, "How do you DO IT every DAY?" How can I answer that?

I take Narcotics as part of my pain management therapy. I was blessed to find a good Pain Clinic at a World-renown teaching hospital that I live by, and was with them for about 4 years. I left b/c the new students would come in, (well, new doctors-residents), and be there for their rotation for 6 months, and I'd see them first, then my regular doc, thier teacher. Then in 6 months, a new face would walk in and I'd have to re-tell my entire story to them. I just got tired of that. I was then blessed again to find a Pain/Rehabilitation Hospital, and I have been seeing the Medical Director for almost 5 years now! He is an in my life. He beleives my pain, and has worked WITH me to find a regime that works. I still have pain regardless of the meds, although they will take it down (some days) to a 1-2.

Here is what you said that stood out to me the MOST.

"Anyway through trying all those different meds I ended up on the one I thought took care of the pain the best, Methadone. After trying all the others this med was a miracle 'cause it pushed my pain from about an 8 all the down to a 1 or 2 for the most part."

You said THE most important thing! You said that something had helped your pain go down from your 8's, to a 1-2 kind of as I feel. Honey, you really must find a pain doctor. Someone who has trained for this, has love for what they do, and most of all, belives in their patients report of pain. As you know, when we are pain patients, we do NOT feel the 'high' that the addicts do. For we are not addicts, and our receptors are busy at work to help with the pain, not to get us high. I do feel some side-effects at times from my meds but for the most part, I am fine mentally.

I suffer from depression, which came first? Pain or that? They do go hand in hand.

But to hear you worried (not good for Chronic Pain Patients!) that you are going to be either weaned off against your will, and I am so so sorry that your doc moved, that is always SO hard, and you have a new one that seems to be moving too fast....That is not cool. In any sense of the owrd. It does not matter if you are 20, or my age to be in pain hun. Pain is pain. Just b/c yours has not been diagnosed yet, means nothing when you say very seriously that you are in pain. I'm sure the non-diagnosis is so hard for you too. I've had an undiagnosed condition unrelated (?) to my back problems that has not been given a diagnosis after 2 years, and it is making me crazy. enet to UCLA and thought, ok, they are the TOPS, my Family doc sent me there and said they would examine me from head to toe. Ummm, NOT!! Never looked at my back, where this problem 1st started. I had to keep up with the obvious rush they were in, didn't get a chance to tell them all I HAD to, and I had to tell them, "Look at this, my scalp", when they had no intention of doing so. The ooooed and aaaahed when they saw what I was trying to show them, yet I walked out with NOTHING. Not that I expected a diagnosis that day. I did expect lots of tests. But they had no answer to the question as they are all walking out, "Well, can you tell me of a shampoo or ANYTHING TO HELP MY ITCHING, as I stood everywhere in that office itching my head like a monkey, they blankly stared at me and said, NO.

HUH??????:crying2:

So, your predicament is one that must be handled by a Pain Specialist, or an Anesthesiologist who treats Chronic Pain. If you'd like, look at my profile, and you can write me directly, or just answer here as it would be a great way to keep this thread up to date!! I live in Southern California, and would be more than happy to help you in finding someone where you live.

Just remember, the one thing out of many that caught my attention in your post was when you said your pain had gone down. THAT is THE #1 thing that you need! AT your young age, it is easy to let others put too many 2 cents in, but you and your hubby sound strong and I agree with him that you should stay on your meds. Oxycontin was a horrid mind-freak for me. Fentanyl pathches changing from Morphine was the worst 14 days I have gone through. It gave me the feeling of what it would be like to live without pain meds. I can't do it. I now know that I will be on them the rest of my life, and I am certainly ok with that. If my pain keeps getting worse as the pieces of bone growing from everywhere on my spine keep sticking into my spinal cord, if my DDD keeps getting worse with age, if my spinal stenosis (narrowing of the cord), keeps getting worse, (which they all will), then my meds go right along with them!! And that is that.

I hope this gave you some hope, just to know I am out there, a fellow pain person that truly understands you.

Gentle hugs, and I wish you a low or no pain day,

Shauna :typing

Oh cr** there's no spell check here???? :banghead:

BigBee48

52 Posts

Specializes in ICU,IV Team, Endoscopy, CM, LTC, Homecar.

:redbeathe:heartbeat My heart goes out to you for not be diagnosed yet for your pain, I'm very sorry for that. I went through that with my neck pain about 10yrs ago, my regular doc said it must just be arthritis, even though I had a huge knot on my upper left back at my neck, When I got in to see the specialist, he told me that was muscle knotted up from the injury, and the MRI was impressive (?) it showed the changing of color in my spinal cord from pressure on it. The cervical fusion was absolutely wonderful, until a couple of months later when I continued to have pain, not really knowing where it was coming from, he then told me he thought I just wanted to continue on pain meds, that I could not have more damage. Turns out I have 4 herniated thoracic discs, and stenosis DDD,DJD and so on and so on and so on...so when I had my consultation with the new doc, I faxed him a copy of the MRI results, and surgery notes. Just to rub it in a little. Anyway I'm sorry to get off on a tangent, it seems we nurses (and other people) get pushed to the catagory of"addicts" because we're not on deaths door. And one might think because we work in the field of medicine it would be easier for us. Soooooo Sorry for everything you've been through, getting a pain specialist (associated with Ortho Indy) 5yrs ago was the best thing for me. She never doubted me about my pain from day one. take care, hang in there....DO NOT GIVE UP!!!!:jester:

wow! what a great find. as a nurse manager of a chronic pain clinic and working in one for 10 years it is nice to see this forum. :yeah: there is a vast difference between chronic and acute pain and the treatment of such. i work with a great anesthesiologist and have a nurse practitioner in a pain clinic based in a small hospital. we average 55 patients a day doing both medical management and procedures. we have found primary care physicians are very hesitant to write narcotics, causing the narcotic management of this practice increase significantly in the last couple of years. we find most physicians not in pain management are our of their comfort zone when dealing with pain medications, causing nursing staff anxious moments of dealing with patients acute pain. :cry: hang in there remember you are making a difference.

I am a nursing student working on my BSN.

After I graduate, I plan to work 1 year in Med/Surg to get experience.

After Med/Surg, I would like to focus in pain management.

1) Can I get a masters degree that focuses on Pain Management? (Family Nurse Practitioner?)

2) What are their hours like? (Work life balance)

3) How much does a nurse with a masters in Pain Management make? Same as a NP?

Thank you in advance!

American Nurses Association, Association of Pain Management Nursing, American Academy of Nurse Practitioners are great places to start looking. Most pain clinics I know work a basic M-F, hours are varied we start at 7 AM and end at 2 PM and only a half a day on Wednesday, but others I know start at 8 AM and end at 3 PM. We do not work holidays or week-ends. :yeah: The FNP that I had working here (she went back to family practice her back ground, now we have a PA) was paid more than she was in the family practice area. Again I believe I have the best job in the whole nursing world working with a provider that treats his staff better than family, he learned early in his practice that nurses can make or break you. :nurse: Remember we deal with chronic pain and sometimes people gets this confused with acute pain problems. Hope this helps, if I can help you any more just let me know. Good luck in school, Maggie

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