FLARE UPS

Hi Tony,

Me again I'm afraid. Should I assume by the recommendation of Ibuprofen and your question regarding flare up's that you are fairly recently diagnosed and the pain levels are 'manageable'?

If you have a read around the forum it looks as if most of the contributors have been around a while and flare ups are something that happened in the past. Their pain is now constant.

I have relief days where the pain retreats into the background and becomes a nagging annoyance. Normally the pain is constant radiating from my neck to my shoulders, arms, chest and down my back. The headaches never go away.

Manage your pain the best you can with whatever you can. Heat pads, cooling sprays, specially designed cushions can also help the drugs.

Get a refferal to a pain clinic, Facet joint injections may help all depends on where your pain is coming from.

Paul

thanks Paul for quick response. I was first diagnosed about 6 years ago.

I have a wheat pad, and a soft collar which I use occaisonally.

I decided against Ibuprofen as my GP says it is not recommended for people with heart disease.

So I stick to paracetomol, which dulls the pain a bit sometimes.

The reason for my question was that some days it is nt too bad, at others it is awful .

Can I ask what painkillers you take?

thanks for your reply

Tony

hello tony and paul, we seem to be opening up the forum for a good discussion on pain relief. the few of us still online are old hands at this and find not much helps you just cope the best you can. as tony says our pain is constant no repreive, apart from in my case i dont have headaches everyday they are getting more frequent from once in a while to every month then every fortnight to every week to twice a week. what works for one wont necessarily work for someone else. i myself am on such high doses of pain releif but it has been higher, i was on gabapentin 1200 mg daily, 80mg oxycontin,40mg of oxynorm. now i am just 40mg of oxycontin, i have lost weight but the pain is the same, but i wont be tempted to increase my meds again, i got too hooked. ,,,,,, chris xx

Hi Chris,

I'm sorry to see this good resource going to waste. CS is a problem that many have but it seems have not found this forum.

I think Tony and I are fairly similar in the progression of the symptoms. My CS was first noticed 11 years ago last year it flared up and has steadily got worse. The MRI from 11 years ago was lost so we have one from last year taken as an investigation of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. That MRI compared with one taken last week shows some changes but the symptoms are clear Pain, loss of co-ordination, increasing weakness of grip, pins and needles in hands, arms and feet.

I've had a year of Physio, injections and pain killers. To avoid the symptoms becoming worse my consultant has suggested now is the time to have the operation discs at C5/6 and 6/7 to be removed. Symptoms are likely not to improve following the operation but they shouldn't get worse. Just waiting for confirmation of insurance and date of Op.

Always assumes they'll accept my obesity, sleep apnoea and recent development of Oedema as acceptable risks.

Paul