Coping with Pain without Meds

Coping with Pain without Meds (Full Version)

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candystripper -> Coping with Pain without Meds (8/8/2008 1:52:54 AM)
For various reasons I cannot afford to keep buying Rx drugs and anyway I haven't found anything that really works...and I've been given some stuff I was told was pretty strong. I'm frustrated. Is there some way to cope with pain -- muscle mostly but now apparently bone too -- that doesn't involve drugs and actually works? Something inexpensive? candystripper

pixidustpet -> RE: Coping with Pain without Meds (8/8/2008 2:05:01 AM)
yeah. you learn to deal. you learn what combinations of OTC stuff will give you a little relief, or enough to catch a few hours sleep. benadryl will help you sleep a bit, if you can deal with waking up dry as a bone. and depending on what you have going on, i'm talking tongue so dry you think its going to crack open, bleeding lips from them cracking in your sleep....lovely and attractive to boot! valerian can be of a bit of help, but again its personal preference. it works to calm me down but the pain doesnt go away. passionflower extract (comes in a little bottle with a dropper inside) acually does give me a little relief. its a VERY mild sedative, it can bring your blood pressure down a bit, but if you're in pain all the time your blood pressure may indeed be a bit high. nothing OTC is going to give you as much relief as Rx stuff. coping techniques help some...yoga, tai chi, meditation. after a while you just learn to get on with your life and work around the pain. i figured out how much pain i was in constantly when i had to have an abscess lanced...they gave me IV morphine for that and i didnt hurt for the first time in years....and burst into tears. the doctor just about cried too, from the look on his face when he heard why i was crying. it sucks rocks through a bendy straw, indeed. it sucks even more that you can get used to it. kitten

simpleplan2 -> RE: Coping with Pain without Meds (8/8/2008 2:24:05 AM)
What kitten said. I've never been in bad chronic pain, but I had a bout that lasted several years before it went away. I didn't have a problem with the expense of prescription meds, I just don't like them. Anyway, I went with coping techniques...ones that I learned when I was younger. Mostly, don't fight the pain. Fighting just makes it worse. You tense up and it hits you like a ton of bricks. Train yourself to accept it and just let it wash over you. This may sound a bit hokey, but it's almost like an out of body experience. With practice, you'll be able to detach your mind from the person lying in bed in pain and, although it won't go away, the level will be more of an annoyance than actually painful.

Lynnxz -> RE: Coping with Pain without Meds (8/8/2008 2:52:42 AM)
You should try out acupuncture- my mother has fused vertebrae in her back, and swears by it

Maxwell67 -> RE: Coping with Pain without Meds (8/8/2008 4:54:01 AM)
It depends on what the cause of the pain is. I would reccoment a number of things. Homeopathy is a good prevention oriented approach to illness that can keep you off from having to pay really high drug costs. Also accupuncture and accupressure. Beyond that there are the new age style remedies (and I am admitedly skeptical of those crystal squeezing types as anything beyong a supplemental treatment, certainly not the main). After exhausting toose and over the counder pain medications, the only other substitutes for prescription pain meds or medical treatment are disciplinary. Either ignore the pain, or don't do whatever it is you are doing that hurts.

Kalista07 -> RE: Coping with Pain without Meds (8/8/2008 6:10:15 AM)
Candy, There are plenty of things i do on a daily basis to try and cope with intense chronic pain..... Depending on the type and source of Your pain some may help as well: relaxation, deep breathing, exercise, vitamins, LOTS OF WATER, i have a shiatzu (sp?) massager thing. i'm also a FIRM believer in professional massages. If cost is an issue find a massage school and check them out, it's usually at a much discounted rate. i've been thinking recently about the next time it becomes so severe i want to die trying accupuncture because i've heard such good things about it. Kali

angelikaJ -> RE: Coping with Pain without Meds (8/8/2008 7:21:21 AM)
Communicate with your Dr... is the first thing i would recommend.

christine1 -> RE: Coping with Pain without Meds (8/8/2008 7:33:44 AM)
OP...walmart has that drug plan where lots of prescriptions are 4 bucks a month, that might be worth checking into.

DiurnalVampire -> RE: Coping with Pain without Meds (8/8/2008 7:35:35 AM)
It definately depends on what and where the pain is. I know I have had arthritis in my spine and hips since i was 14. The meds made me loopy and made it impossible to function in school. I started karate to learn the dicipline of stretching and moving, as well as the mental discipline no to pay attention to the pain. I have the mobility and the pain tolerance to handle the rigors of karate, but yoga or some other stretching regimine can help the muscular pain as well. I've also learned that combinations of heat and cold can tame flareups, and to help me sleep Tylenol PM takes enough of the edge off to get to sleep. I have never not been in pain. It is a constant in my life, and has been since I was a child. I learned to manage and ignore it because I was too stubborn to let it limit me. My doctor told me the degeneration in my spine and hips was so severe that I would be in a wheelchair by my 22 birthday. I got my black belt on my 22nd birthday, a far step higher than the wheelchair. Good luck DV And if you do want to keep your Rx stuff, Walgreens has a similiar plan to Walmart. Most of them are starting one like it, competition does come in handy.

Mercnbeth -> RE: Coping with Pain without Meds (8/8/2008 7:43:40 AM)
some MD's specialize in folks who are dealing with chronic, lifelong pain. the ones that this slave has been in contact with encourage all sorts of unconventional, alternative therapies...as a result of being inundated with folks who don't respond positively to what the pharmaceutical companies offer. this slave would suggest you contact a few, or a handful, but definitely not just one, and discuss your options.

fluffyswitch -> RE: Coping with Pain without Meds (8/8/2008 10:07:48 AM)
i do a lot of yoga, knit, or anything else that's repetative that induces a minor trance. i can handle pain if i'm sort of out of it for awhile. i drink a lot of water and stay far away from white flour if i can help it. the sugar in it messes with my joints and impacts my depression. unfortunately all He wants to eat is white pasta and wonder bread. once i get paid again i'm going to have to start buying two of everything because everything is starting to hurt again. i have a couple pains that i'm just used to at this point. my teeth are horrible, so they hurt even when there's no visible need for work. most of the time i don't even notice it anymore.

Rayne58 -> RE: Coping with Pain without Meds (8/9/2008 3:41:36 AM)
fast reply Sir no longer takes pain meds, they make Him nauseous. Instead He relies on marijuana (smoked) and emu oil (massaged into His neck and back to ease arthritis). http://www.emuspirit.com/index.cfm?page=productcategory&id=2

Nikolette -> RE: Coping with Pain without Meds (8/9/2008 3:45:09 AM)
Depending on the situation: warm or cool baths can help relieve discomfort. Cherries are also a natural "asprin". And yeah, I'd also recommend MJ in a legal location. They have pills that are legal all places which is basically a pill form of THC, I think. My uncle, John, used to take it. He said it worked wonders and he had a lot of significant pain. Don't recall its name, or its price. Message me on the other side for more details if you're curious. I could ask my mother. Edited to add: If you go the MJ route, don't smoke. Vap. It helps eliminate the negative health concerns. link to professor Murphy's video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9luNVYlT_E

UR2Badored -> RE: Coping with Pain without Meds (8/9/2008 5:38:14 AM)
There is also a generic medication called Toradol that comes in a fairly cheap generic that is non-narcotic. However, it does not work for everyone. I agree with the above posts recommending acupuncture and seeing a pain specialist if available to you.

daddysliloneds -> RE: Coping with Pain without Meds (8/9/2008 7:42:43 AM)
alternating between heat and cold works for muscle pain so ice packs and heating pads are great, and glucosamine is good for bone and joint health and relatively cheap as well as no prescription needed. and at the risk of sounding rude, getting off my ass and actually doing something helps eliminates my pain; i notice i ache more if i'm leading a sedentary lifestyle rather than an active lifestyle.

Silkendream -> RE: Coping with Pain without Meds (8/9/2008 4:23:06 PM)
"Effortless Pain Relief" by Dr Ingrid Bacci (Bantam), has been a big help to me - i even took it into hospital with me to help cope with the pain.

Hisgirl2playwith -> RE: Coping with Pain without Meds (8/10/2008 9:13:34 AM)
i have fibro, and there have been days where even my hair hurts. my dr refused to give me anything narcotic, and nothing otc worked. She did give me Toradol, but that has to be used as sparingly as possible and with close monitoring due to a high risk of kidney problems if used too much. i finally turned to holistic health, and the results have been amazing. i realize there is a lot of skepticism surrounding things like crystals and energy work, but since i've started doing that, my pain level has been reduced to a level that's only a few points above non existant most of the time. One source of pain that i've learned, and may also be on the controversial side, is emotional issues. i'm not saying this is true in every case, but the body tends to reflect what we feel, and when negative things are held on to over a long period of time, it can cause physical problems. Just something to consider.

Hisgirl2playwith -> RE: Coping with Pain without Meds (8/10/2008 9:16:23 AM)
Aslo there is a natural pain reliver called phenocaine that one of my dr's suggested. i never did get around to looking into it, but she told me that people that have used it were able to get off morphine.

sirsholly -> RE: Coping with Pain without Meds (8/10/2008 10:21:14 AM)
have your doctor write a referal to a pain clinic.

candystripper -> RE: Coping with Pain without Meds (8/10/2008 11:08:43 AM)
Actually I'm a bit fed up with the traditional medical establishment, at least here. I live in Cleveland, home of the world-class Cleveland Clinic, and was seen at their Pain Mangement Clinic back in 2005 when I first began having this problem, and was never (IMHO) adequately treated. I repeatedly asked about alternative treatments and was instead given scripts to every narcotic I know of until finally I said 'enough' because they did not work and were causing problems of their own. Massage, acupunture, chiropracty, etc. are all appealing to me -- but probably out of reach financially due to my crappy insurance. I have asked my family doctor for a referral for physical therapy but so far none has been forthcoming -- I suspect he doesn't care to wrangle with the insurer over the necessity of the treatment. Yes, I think part of the answer is to let the pain flow through me -- but either I have a funky pain threshold or something because I'm finding it disabling at times. I am grateful to everyone who posted. candystripper

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