Monday, December 29, 2008

20 Days Post-3rd Infusion

I just saw my pain doc for my first follow-up today after my last infusion on the 9th. I'm still getting wonderful relief. Dummy me though decided to shovel/chop the ice at the entrance to my driveway the day after Christmas, so I've been sore from that, but nothing ibuprofen couldn't help with. Most of the time my pain is on the low end (one on a one-ten scale with 10 being the worst.) Sometimes it's a two. I've started to titrate down on the oxycontin, and the withdrawal symptoms are sometimes worse that dealing with the pain. My doc is very understanding, trusting, and willing to let me use my own judgement on how best to do it. He gave me a guideline, and most of the time I can take 20mg at night instead of 30. Once I do that for a week straight, I'll lower the a.m. dose. All in good time. He's okay with waiting until it gets a little warmer too, since bitter cold seems to cut right into my back. Anyway, I feel great and very optimistic! I'm anxious to see what warmer weather brings!

I also stopped taking the Procardia XL on my own, without dr. input/advice. He wasn't concerned. It was prescribed the very first time I saw him and he diagnosed the CRPS. It was to improve the circulation, by keeping the veins dilated, etc. (something like that). Anyway, I seem to have had more swelling than usual in my feet since the last infusion, but I don't want to assume that it's from the infusion. I've had trouble with this before. I'll be seeing my regular doctor the first week of January sometime, and we'll see what she thinks. My hands have also been very swollen the last week as well. It wears off later in the day. I know I've had some saltier foods with the holidays, so that may be it. I've been on a blood pressure medicine that includes a diuretic for years because of fluid retention with my high blood pressure. So, I'll let you know what I find out.

I will be checking with my regular doctor about my depression. At the moment I don't feel depressed; I think the holidays and time off from work have helped. Even though my pain is down so low, with the meds and their side effects as well as withdrawal symptoms, the mornings are still difficult for me. Hopefully I'll be able to find a routine that works so that I can get my butt out of bed.

I must say, this has definitely helped my love life! Even though I will admit that I'm one of the people for whom sex had the added benefit of giving some temporary relief to the pain - about 30 - 45 minutes or so. Enough about that!

1 comment:

ar said...

Hi Barb,


I just wanted to let you know of a new resource that was available.

If any of your members need to any questions (free), please check out:

www.crps.physiciansforpatients.com

They can simply login, select the questions tab, and ask away!

We are a group of doctors dedicated to helping people online in a way to help with the accessibility of doctors. The idea is to give a resource to people that need alternative opinions and information. There are a lot of people that have limited access to health care (have to wait to long to be able to get in to see the doctor, no specialist in their area). This way it is easier for a smaller number of physicians to help a larger number of people.

We are doing this through a virtual support group.

Dr. Colantonio is the doctor. He is board certified in Pain Medicine and Anesthesiology (so he’s up to par on his nerve blocks). He trained at Duke University and the Oregon Health and Science University.

I’m not sure if anyone has forwarded you any of this info….David Gutkin may have already contacted you?

If you know of anyone that might benefit from this resource, please pass this information forward! Please feel free to send out a group message, post, and create a link. We have limited resources and really need help spreading the word!

Thx!
Art

Dr. K