Pain clinics

seamonkey

Hi all,
I have had an appointment for the pain clinic. It is on monday, im very glad i have got one as have been waiting for a while and am desperate to get some control on the pain.
However i havent got a clue as to what they might be able to do.
Can anyone tell me what to expect on 1st appointment and if they have found it works for them at all.
Hope you are all having a good day,
seamonkey

dreamdaisy

I can't help, I'm afraid, appointments at our hospital one are as rare as hens' teeth. I shall be interested though to learn how your appointment goes, so please let us know!

My assumption would be that they would ask you about your current pain levels, how variable they are, what meds you are on for it, what exacerbates matters or what eases things, stuff like that. Then I would hope that they would give you some coping strategies, or tips and hints on how to manage pain. There must be a raft of threads about this very topic, seamonkey, perhaps it's worth doing a search and seeing what comes up! I'll have a look too later, if I have time, and bump anything relevant back to the top of the LWA forum. DD

barbara12

Hi
They give you a form to fill in..and you score 1 to 10 what the pain is like...and your other health history
Then they give me amitriptyline to take at night...and tramadol for the day.
Then they see you every few months, and if the meds aren't working they can change them.
After that they did offer me acupuncture, but I turned them down...then they discharge you under your GP...with a list of meds he can try..
I hope it all goes well for you
Barbara x

seamonkey

Thank you both for your reply, i now know what to expect.
Wishing you both a good day,
thanks again,
seamonkey

barbara12

Hi Seamonkey
Is it today, I hope it all goes well for you, and please let us know how you get on.
Love
Barbara xx

seamonkey

Hi Barbara,
Yes its today, ive been waiting months and really hope they can make a difference to my pain. Especially at night. Gosh arent nights long when you cant sleep and are in pain.
I will post to say what they do, etc. If they tell me nothing i dont know what i will do.
I hope you are having a good day today. Sun is shining here.
Seamonkey

barbara12

Hi Seamonkey
They will do something, if it works is another thing, but once you are going they can see you regular till they can put you back under your GP, the best thing they did for me was the amitriptyline at night....bliss
Good luck
Love
Barbara x

seamonkey

Barbara,
just from reading posts on here i dream of being given amatriptaline!. Getting some sleep would do alot for my state of mind and patience with the kids! I must admit i struggle to think of the rest of my life like this. I take my hat off to all those on here that have gone through so much.
Have a good day,
seamonkey

tjt6768

Hi SM, just wanted to wish you good luck at your appointment today..
My first experience was quite similar to above, a form to fill in, a thorough going over when and what hurts etc, I then had my pain injections arranged, also they were the ones who wanted me to try the morphine tablets, they dint work out but now I am on fentanyl patches, I am finally sleeping at night, waited for that for a long long time... Each place will be slightly different but I wish you the best, let us know how you go on..

Tony

seamonkey

Thank you Tony,
I will let you know how it goes, if they can give/do anything i will be pleased. I tend to not let any one know haow bad it gets though so i must just say how it is.
Thanks for your post
Hope you have a good day,
seamonkey

Compositor

Hiya SM...Hope all goes well for you today at your appointment. Clearly, we are all not the same, but, I have a lot of faith in the Pain Clinic I attend, I'm not saying they work miracles, but, they usually put me on an operational level (I don't mean in Theatre haha). When I first started to attend the appointments I was coming out and getting mixed up a little with the meds and what had been said to me, I now write questions down before I go in, and, I also ask for a copy of the letter/report they send to my GP after my appointment (keeping the file of correspondence usually comes in handy when when filling in forms). So, good luck, keep as well as can be. John x

coco67

wishing you well today seamonkey, i realy hope they are nice and helpful.
pain is awful to deal with . it cant be seen by others and can really drag a person down so i do hope they find you something usefull. best of luck

flutterbye

Hi Seamonkey.....I hope your appointment went well at the pain clinic today.
I haven't been to the pain clinic but my doctor did give me Amatryptaline (sp?) on prescription because he said that is what would be offered at the Pain Clinic and it would save me having to go there. I am very grateful that he gave me this drug, I have found it to be the best one I have tried. The reason he gave me it was because I was getting similiar pain to electric shocks directed at the most painful area I had at a given time IYKWIM. I hope you find a drug to give you some relief too.

woodbon

Hi, Hope all goes well at the pain clinic. I've been for a few sessions and they changed my ordinary tramadol for slow release tramadol, which helped. I hope you have a good experience, I found it helpful in some ways, but not a magic answer, which disappointed me. I expected too much!!!
Love Sue xxx

suzygirl

Hi Seamonkey, I really hope your appt at the pain clinic went well. I am really suprised to find that you haven't already been given amitriptyline. My gp prescribed mine and it does help.

Take care

tjt6768

Hi SM, you might still be travelling back from your appointment, if I remember right your on Orkney, so I'm assuming much travelling had to be done each way.. I truly hope that it was of some help at the very least... Got my fingers crossed for you even though it hurts mi dear...

Let us know when you get the chance, but rest tonight as you will probably need it, especially if they've had to pull you about a but as is sometimes necessary...

Best wishes

Tony
PS, today hasn't been a bad day, thanks... Although as such I've done the usual and over done the chores showing off in front of arthur and his two pals, pain & misery...

Tomorrow may not be as good now :roll:

beth1954

Sea Monkey,
I have bee to a pain doctor for neck pain. I have chronic neck pain from several motor vehicle accidents, and I also have arthritis from C3-C7. They put me on morphine first, then a Duragesic patch (might be called something else in the UK).....They Lyrica. It made my feet swell. Physical therapy helped me the most, but that's not the answer for alot of things. Hope your appointment went well!

seamonkey

Hi all,
Thank you all so much for your posts, If it wasnt for you all on here I would be totally alone, not one of my friends or family have asked me how i got on.
Doc was very good, he asked me all about the pain etc and i really felt he was listening. He did prod and poke a bit but not much as i was in alot of pain from the drive into the hospital. Luckily clinic is held there which means i dont have to fly to Aberdeen!
He has upped my current tablets and given me amitriptaline to take at night. He wont offer me injections untill ive seen the surgeon although he did say he didnt think surgeons be able to do anything.
He did say that having listened to all my various pains etc he would say I have Fibromyalgia? So not the arthritis i had been led to believe. He said i wouldnt get any better and not much they could do. I dont know anything about this Fibromyalgia and im sorry that i have used the site when i shouldnt have but i had been led to believe that it was my back that had arthritis which was making me like this.
You have all been really great in a very difficult and hard wearing time for me.
I wish you all the very very best and hope that each and every one of you good people have alot of 'good' days.
Thanks again,
Seamonkey

coco67

Seamonkey, Fibromyalgia IS ARTHRITIS, there are over 200 forms of arthritis they are known about and it can be really painful, tiring and cruel, i know , i have fibro as well as OA and polyarthralgia so you are NOT in the wrong place at all.

seamonkey

Oh my COCO,
I really dont know if im coming or going! I want to write are you sure? but im sure you know. I just wish someone would tell me what the hXll is going on. Im not a stupid person ive even been called clever from time to time but im at a loss on this.
I am however glad that i can still use the site! I thought I had lost the one thing apart from my kids that has been keeping me going. Im too scared to look it up on lap top incase i start on a downer again as ive only just pulled my self up from last one.
I was glad that Doc has paid attention and altered my meds though. Could you tell me how it affects you? Will i really not get better or feel much better?
Im rambling I know, sorry.
Thanks for telling me although i feel stupid now though!
Hope your having a good night
seamonkey

coco67

seamonkey wrote:

Oh my COCO,
I really dont know if im coming or going! I want to write are you sure? but im sure you know. I just wish someone would tell me what the hXll is going on. Im not a stupid person ive even been called clever from time to time but im at a loss on this.
I am however glad that i can still use the site! I thought I had lost the one thing apart from my kids that has been keeping me going. Im too scared to look it up on lap top incase i start on a downer again as ive only just pulled my self up from last one.
I was glad that Doc has paid attention and altered my meds though. Could you tell me how it affects you? Will i really not get better or feel much better?
Im rambling I know, sorry.
Thanks for telling me although i feel stupid now though!
Hope your having a good night
seamonkey

Oh seamonkey please do not feel stupid, there are many drs out there that have little understanding of all forms of arthritis so how are we ment to know. i for one dont have a clue about some of the arthur's that are mentioned on here so i know how you feel. Fibro is different for each person just like most arthur's(arthritis), i have what i term as good days and cr**py days, fibro makes me tired, not the need to sleep tired we all get at the end of a busy day but a totally drained (even after 8hrs sleep) kind of tired. i have painful joints, cant concentrate properly on a cra**y day (i call it foggy head) it can affect your moods, the key thing to living with fibro is to learn to listen to your body and PACE yourself. it is not a death sentance, it might be a good idea to google the spoon theary. it might even be in here some where i will see if i can find it for you. please do not get down over this. PM me if you want to and you can tell me more and i can tell you how i cope day to day. there will be good days hun,xxx

barbara12

Hi Sm
We dont care what you have, you stay with us, fibro does seem to run alongside arthur, has you may know by now it is a chronic pain condition, something to do with the signals being sent back from your brain...I think :???: there are quite a lot of people on here with fibro.
Anyway you got your amitriptyline for the night....it really is a blessing
Hope you manage some sleep tonight...just one thing I do take mine at 7 oclock...but that because I go to bed around 10...if you take it to late you feel drowsy in the morning.
Love
Barbara x

seamonkey

Hi Barbara,
I was pleased to have gotten something for night times, so am hoping these may get easier. I go to bed around 9.30 so i will try taking it as 7 and see. If im too groggy in am i will take it earlier.
It is so helpful knowing there are people on here who can help and even just sympathies with me. Im sure my OH thinks i just need to get a grip.
I go back to clinic in 2 months by wich time i should have seen surgeon and he will consider giving me injections should i need it.
Although he said i show all the signs of this fibro thing he did say i was missing the sore muscles when pressure is applied. Im still confused.
Could be the fibromyalgia though?
Must go to bed before i have a breakdown!
Thanks again, hope you have been good today and get a nights sleep.
seamonkey

barbara12

Sleep well...night x

suzygirl

Sea monkey, glad to hear that you have the amitryptyline. I really hope it helps you, I find it to be so useful.

You could still have arthritis or disk problems in your back, you will know more when you see the surgeon. When you are in a lot of pain, you get less good quality sleep. This affects the brain and pain signals. So you feel more pain all over, over time this can in some people lead to fibromyalgia. That is an extremely basic explanation, if you ring the helpline, they will have info on fibro.

There are meds for fibro, gabapentin and amitryptyline being a couple. So don't despair. Don't even think of leaving the site!! :shock: It is for everyone

Take care and rest up, I expect you are exhausted after your appt.

okidoki

hi sea monkey.

i have fibro, and was tryed on amitriptyline by pain clinic. it made my restless legs worse. thay then took me of it and said sorry as thay now know if you suffer from restless legs thay shouldent give it to you.

the gabapentin was a different story, ended up in hosp with it as it left me looking like i had tourets. everyones different that was just me.