Observations from the Pain Clinic...

     Greetings all!

     It is a welcome distraction, which is an important component to pain management, to finally reach out to you.  I've been almost four weeks out of touch, and many of you who have wished kind thoughts for me may wonder what this clinic is about.  I'll post many observations and thoughts that I've been saving in a notebook.  I hope these will be helpful.

     Imagine this:  A life of relentless pain, without narcotics.  A life of pain over which you have control.  Chronic pain and a gentle return to a life of significantly better because it will be a new life, one re engineered by you.  A life of reduced pain, livable pain replete with the ordinary ups and downs of life but also a life in which you have new and better tools to deal with downs and celebrate the gifts.

     Let me tell you what brought me to this wonderful place.  Like many of you, many different traditional pain drugs really didn't work over time.  Oxycontin worked for a while.  Dilaudid made me sick.  Percocet didn't even dent my pain.  A last hope neurotransmitter implanted in my hip, only chipped at the sharp corners of my pain.  The neurotransmitter plus 60 mg. of methadone and 1600 micrograms of fentanyl also left me desperately wanting.  NOTHING WORKED TO SIGNIFICANTLY DULL MY PAIN; my life was a mess.

     I had temporary, small victories; occasional weeks of lower than usual pain, but it always came roaring back.

     My ray of hope began with a visit to an out of town MD.  This man told me I was deeply depressed (I didn't know).  He then said after making progress on bringing me out of depression, that I had to accept a life without narcotics.  His belief is that narcotics, used to treat long term pain, don't work.  These opioid/opiate drugs become antagonistic and that instead of relieving pain actually cause an inevitable cycle of increasing dosage and daily withdrawal thus causing significant daily pain. 

     In short, the narcotics we use cause addition high grade pain to long term users, chronic pain sufferers.  Oh, we're also highly dependent, so our bodies scream-out for more.  We're dependent. 

     The solution is simple.  Wean off of your current narcotic pain drugs while substituting other non-narcotic medicines that work to heal depression and kill pain.

     He then cautioned me to carefully consider whether I was content to continue along my current path ( waking at nine, napping from 2 PM) because the clinic was extremely hard to complete.  Those who did complete the clinic (2 mths.) still had chronic pain but had mastered control over their pain to the extent that most were nearly as functional as they had been before the onset of chronic pain.

     These people had learned many techniques, relied on non-addicting medications, and marched off into their "new" lives.

     A last quick thought:  The clinic accepts 8 patients at a time, most of whom have chronic pain from different syndromes, accidents, and diseases.  All for now, more to come.  God bless us all, Colin

Comments

Dear Colin,
So glad to hear from you. Many prayers are being sent your way. Thanks for updating us. May you have great success. Breathe in Peace, Kathy

[Barry]

Colin

Your article has some very beneficial ideas for people with chronic pain. What you say about the need to learn alternative pain management techniques is very true.

You are very fortunate to have a place that provides that type of service. I hope we will see more of them here in the future.

Best wishes

Barry

http://www.chronic-pain-alternatives.com

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