I have had chronic myofascial pain and neuropathic pain for six years. I took anti-seizure drugs to help with the pain in the nerves and had weekly trigger point injections for years. In addition, I was taking Tylenol 3s, and Celebrex to try to control the pain. Nothing has worked as well as Lyrica. Now, instead of 2,800 mg of Neurontin, I take 225 mg of Lyrica. I have dropped the Celebrex and take Tylenol 3s rarely! Lyrica has changed my life, and after six years, I am finally ready to get back to work and living!

My husband has suffered from chronic pain for 20+ years. The location is referred to as the lower right quadrant. The pain comes and goes about every 3 hours and the morning pain is the worst. There has been no actual diagnosis and he now takes 30 mg of morphine twice a day but still cannot function normally when the pain occurs. I feel that it is not helping and must be increased. He must be away from people, remove outer clothing as if it is restrictive and either lies on the carpet or sits on the couch, leaning away from his right side. He cannot have conversation at this time and tries to read magazines to control his thoughts. Only time changes this pain and when it is gone, he is back to normal. The only time the pain went away in 20 years was when he was hospitalized for histoplasmosis. We have list available of doctors and pain clinics he has been to, medications that have been tried and procedures that were tried. He did have some improvement when he was taking oxycontin and clonozopam, but the doctors didn't want to continue with these drugs.

I have sacroiliitis and have had it for 2.5 years. I have had around 12 shots over the last two years for it. Part of them were just a regular Cortizone type injection, some were into my hip joint for bursitis and the rest were put into my ball and socket with ultrasound guidance. Not one single procedure has helped. I have begged for surgery but my condition does not warrant surgery nor would it benefit from it according to several doctors. I have two small children to take care of on a daily basis as I am a stay at home mom and it is so hard to get through the day sometimes. What I am using right now is a combination of somewhat scary narcotics and it controls it enough for me to function to care for my children. I don't know what the future holds for me as I am sure I will become intolerant to the Avinza (which is a time release morphine) and the Norco, but for now it is all I can do. I have also considered a spinal block but my doctor doesn't agree so I seem to have run out of options.

Oxycontin doses get higher when the pain gets worse from arthritis. Still, I'm staying somewhat active helps but at the end of the day I go to bed with an electric blanket wrapped around me. I can't hardly get out of bed in the mornings. Pain meds make me not want to do anything including cleaning house or going to work. My health ins. is $800/month with $5000 deductible. I can no longer afford to pay it so now in the process of finding something else which seems impossible and I just made an appointment with my doctor to get off the Oxycontin.

After suffering severe CHRONIC PAIN for over fifteen years I finally had found a Doctor who truly cared and tried his best to keep me as pain free as possible and at the same time functioning on a daily basis. As I read in the Chronic Pain Article I was taking long term acting Kadian (morphine) also short term lasting roxicodone. I finally had my life back. I'm able to do my own housework and shopping.

I found this article very helpful. I have suffered chronic severe pain for a number of years. I was totally incapacitated by this until I was referred to the Pain Management Clinic at a fine medical center. The combination of medications tailored to my situation, radio frequency lesioning, staff support, physical therapy with a therapist that understands my situation and pool therapy in a warm pool have allowed me to return to a almost normal life. Of course I still have limitations, but I have been given an arsenal of strategies to treat my pain as it changes throughout the days and months of my life. I have been able to return to my life, and my career as a professional artist, and can now go shopping and walking and do most of the things, within limits, that were impossible before. It is vital for me to "work" the program set up for me. Best of all the joy has returned to my life.