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MeganMN
Have you tried muscle relaxers? They are actually usually more effective than pain medication. If you cannot get a prescription, there is a natural alternative (Valerian) but most likely Flexeril or Tizanidine would be better.

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Daisy
Gabapentin seems to be a "try it and see" medication. I had to start with a very low dose and slowly increase it as it made me groggy at first.

And CBD seems to be regulated differently in different states.

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Carey

My doctor specializes in pain management. Florida still has a big problem with opioids, and most doctors here try to avoid prescribing them as a result, at least where I live currently. Not really complaining about it, but I would still like to have something that would help. Considering, at my last appointment we were at either ablating my sciatic nerve or looking at fusing the spine in my lower back. Fairly sure this is my fault for not complaining enough about the pain.

It's that way everywhere. The medical community lost their minds over the opioid crisis, which was a crisis of their own making. They've gone so far over the edge that I've heard of them refusing to prescribe narcotics for terminal cancer patients.

For example, about 6 months ago I developed severe arm and shoulder pain combined with tingling and weakness in my right hand due to a pinched nerve in my neck. The pain was downright debilitating and totally unrelenting, but my PCP wouldn't do any better than prescription strength NSAIDs, which barely even touched the pain. Plus that meant I had to stop Eliquis since I was taking hefty doses daily for weeks. So I finally went and found a pain management clinic. Once they verified the cause with MRI, they prescribed oxycodone (10 mg tid). After one month I had to pee in a cup (to prove I was taking it, not diverting it), and once I passed that test they renewed the prescription without even being asked. I finally got at least partial relief from a cortisone injection in my neck so I stopped the oxy and the NSAIDs, but they are willing to represcribe any time I feel I need it.

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kliving
I plan on asking about Gabapentin when I can get my next appointment. Not sure how much it would help, but it does seem to be a reasonable candidate to try. If you wouldn't mind, could you recommend a CBD oil to try? And maybe a good starting dose.

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kliving
My doctor specializes in pain management. Florida still has a big problem with opioids, and most doctors here try to avoid prescribing them as a result, at least where I live currently. Not really complaining about it, but I would still like to have something that would help. Considering, at my last appointment we were at either ablating my sciatic nerve or looking at fusing the spine in my lower back. Fairly sure this is my fault for not complaining enough about the pain.

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Daisy
How about Gabapentin? I take it and it is helpful for some types of pain. It doesn't seem to affect my heart.

A couple other ideas: oral CBD oil--my EP gave that a green light. I take it for sleep but it does help many with pain. It is also helpful as a cream.

And here is a far out one (not really as there is a lot of research on it) Low dose Naltrexone. I take 3 mg when the "normal" dose is 50 mg. As I remember, George recently posted that his wife also takes it low dose and we both self-compound (with my doctor's blessing, dissolving a 50 mg tablet in 50 ml of distilled water) as otherwise it is expensive to get the low dose compounded from a compounding pharmacy. [www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

Note, most who take it find that they have to titrate the dose up slowing from a minimal dose such as .5 mg. until you reach 3 or 4 mg. This is because at a low dose it seems to activate the immune system and this can result in side-effects.

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Carey
Find a pain management specialist and book an appointment with them. You'll find the attitude toward narcotics vastly different, and they may have other options they can offer that other docs don't.