August 2008 Archives

I don't know if it was just the bad timing of my son being taken into hospital causing a lack of sleep (and an increase in stress), but switching back to tablets again caused massive problems for me today. I felt like a complete jibbering wreck when I got home from the hospital at 10.30am this morning having spent the night at the hospital.
I did grab an hour or so's sleep on a camp bed next to my son after they finished the last test/examination of him around 3.15am and I was awake from around 6.40.  It was far too light in the room to go back to sleep so I sat reading a book.

Sheesh, Fentanyl patches eh? Will be a lot better than pills right? Less side effects they say? You'll have less problems?
Try pulling the other one. 
Two days into the patch and I ripped the damn thing off.

I have not fell as ill as I did Sunday morning for a long time. Stomach pains, cramps, swollen joints (mainly ankles), dizziness, hot and cold flushes. flu like symptoms and a few more as well...
They may have got the dosage completely wrong, which could have caused problems, but I don't care. The idea is for me to be off any narcotic based drugs within 2-3 months and I want to manage the pain some other method. I've always been against narcotic based drugs and was unsure about moving to patches.
Now the main reason for the patches was because there were some side effects with the pills due to complications with my gut, but trust me, compared to the side effects I experienced with the patches, they were nothing.
I think I'll take the lesser of two evils and stick with the pills for the time being and gradually ramp them down.

Narcotic based pills DO NOT reduced pain, they MASK pain, Anyone that tells you differently is either a drug company or a pusher.

Ever since moving back from the US I have always resisted narcotic based medications.
After my last operation, I'd been placed on Oxycontin and Oxynorm, but I have been having a bucket load of complications with those.
So today I started on Fentanyl Patches and we'll see what happens.
Personally, I don't want to be on any any narcotic based stuff, but my new pain guru is insisting that it's the right thing to do.
I'll see what happens with the patches, as perhaps, it was the oral medication causing the complications and bypassing my stomach might actually mean that they work.

I'll post a bit of history on why I'm switching in the near future.

The only thing with the patches is that my daughter thinks I secretly started smoking again and that these are the anti-smoking ones. She's the main reason why I could never start smoking again, I could never face the disappointment she'd have if she ever found out.

It apparently takes about 24hours for the first patch to start working, so I've quit the slow/timed release (Oxycontin) and I'm just taking the quick release (OxyNorm) as and when I need them.  It's 2.40am at the moment so I can safely say it hasn't kicked in as of yet. But I'm not getting withdrawal symptoms, so it must be starting to work in some fashion.
Each patch stays on for 3 days apparently, and I can already see a possible reaction to the adhesive.  Nothing is ever simple in  life is it.
Anyway, time for a hot cocoa and an attempt to get back to sleep. I'll update in a few days when I should know if these patches are any good.

Whining and moaning? Yes, maybe.
Hypochondriac? No. I prefer to say "misunderstood".

I've have though decided to do something about it since it recently occurred to me that I don't have a choice. I was literally going crazy with all that was going on in my life as my wife (also known locally here as 'the angel'), will verify.
By creating an online journal about how I am dealing with my Chronic Pain, I'm hoping that (1) It helps me and (2) that it might hope someone else in a similar position.  It will take a few weeks (or months) before it develops an identity and hopefully a sense of direction. I can only apologise up front for the apparent randomness that will be presented to you when you visit the site until such time I decide on a clear path on my road to recovery, (assuming some other bugger doesn't keep moving all the signs).

I've known for a few years now that I've been in pain. Sounds daft I know, because it bloody well hurt and it continues to hurt, but what I didn't know was that I was suffering from Chronic Pain. I didn't really understand what Chronic pain was.

So there is me, creating a new blog about my trials and tribulations as a long term sufferer of chronic pain. So what do I decide to do? Create a new site to blog about it.
Now I'm not so sure as to what is causing the most pain. The software and server set up, or my spine.
The Jury is out.