Not sure if this is the right board-pain question

[sweetness514]

Sweetness,
Just to clarify, CD Rods are just a name of the type of rod, like Harrington. Titanium is a metal, like gold or steel

And Harrington are made of what? I'm clueless to this and I like to learn Also, what are the differences between the new Titanium ones and the Harrington ones from the '70s and '80s? Is it just that they're lighter? I know that sometimes they have called mine Harrington on my Xrays but it was more used like the term "kleenex".

[sweetness514]

Doctors

Just wanted to say that the ones who try to make it sound like we're nuts or don't take our pains seriously make me wanna kick them too. When I saw one after my rod broke and we couldn't see the crack in the Xray yet, I asked if a rod could break as I was clueless and he said it can't happen so easily, wich is not true, and you could hear the grinding of the rod on a screw really loud, that once my hubby looked at me like "wtf is that sound??". Told him I kept repeating something was broken inside Then the doc says he cant take out my rod that had been there for 6 years, it would be too hard. Funny how it took only three hours to take it out, with all the screws and replace it and new screws with another doctor performing surgery. Idiot.

I just change docs in that situation, and never go back there.

[KML]

Pain..rods..etc

Sweetness - I had a Harrington rod put in in 1987 and it broke in 89. I still have it, broken pieces and all...it is steel. Not sure why they called it Harrington, I assume ti was named after the dr who invented the rod implementation. In 89 I had two smaller rods put in that were also steel...don't know if they had an offical name.

My revision surgery in Dec was done w/ Titanium. I thought that Titanium has a better flex to it. Golf clubs are made with Titanium now...I tell my son that I basically have his sandwedge in my back (0:

MGM Grand - I have to ask...are you from Las Vegas. I am so just wondering.

I'm 7 months post op and I was hoping I'd feel better by now but no such luck. The main thing now is that the hardware is irritating and I have pain down my right leg/hip that was not there before this last surgery.

Good luck to everyone.

Kim

[sweetness514]

Thank you for the reply Kim, I had a feeling it was Steel and finally got my answer, it was bugging me and I was curious

I sympathize about having some pain that you didn't have before surgery, I have one too around my shoulder blades as well, like I said before and that's why I always think it's wise to carefully think it through before havin these surgeries with implants, but in my case I couldn't stay with all the broken stuff and it was a risk. Talking to people IRL who have screws in other parts of their bodies as well as some in their backs, I come to realize that it's not that uncommon to feel some pain associated with the hardware. It is frustrating b/c I was pain free for 5 years before my rod broke, and it had taken me almost two years to get to that point of well being- witgh a lot of discipline and exercise, not to mention patience. Now it feels like I'm back at the starting point.

You're in my thoughts, and I wish you luck

[LindaRacine]

And Harrington are made of what? I'm clueless to this and I like to learn Also, what are the differences between the new Titanium ones and the Harrington ones from the '70s and '80s? Is it just that they're lighter? I know that sometimes they have called mine Harrington on my Xrays but it was more used like the term "kleenex".

I asked Dr. Marc Asher if he'd ever heard of Harrington rods being made of titanium (as several people told me that they had them), and he said that Harrington rods were only stainless steel, at least here in the U.S. Harrington rods are being manufactured in third world countries now, so I guess there's always the possibility that they could be made of something other than SS.

--Linda

[MGM Grand]

Kim,

No I am not from Las Vegas, although if they put me on any more pain meds, I might actually go to Vegas in my own mind. LOL!! No, the name is just for my initials.

[mocity]

MGM or others, What pain meds are you on right now? I am not on any. I take Ambien to help me sleep but don't have any other meds. Again, my appt is on the 15th of August and I don't know how to get some meds before then. I don't want to be on meds all the time either. Suggestions?

[MGM Grand]

During the day I have Naproxen Sodium (comparable to a large dose of Alleve) so that i can still function. I take Baclofen for the muscle spasms (typically used by patients with MS). At night I have Tramadol. I don't take any of the heavy stuff like hydrocodone or vicodin because I have really bad reactions to those types of meds, so all of mine are more milder. Of course Celebrex also. I agree with you that I don't want to be on all this stuff forever.

[sweetness514]

Meds

I don't take any in the day, as narcotics make me sleepy and I have been waiting for an appointment at a pain clinic so that they can maybe prescribe them for me, when the pain gets too bad. I want something that won't affect me too much and give side effects, and I hear about Neurontin being good for nerve pains. I get bouts of pain in the day, sometimes it's tolerable and after I do some things it can get hard to tolerate. I've been told that I could wait up to a year for the appointment, makes me laugh at this point.

At night I take Imovane 7.5 mg, it really would be hard to function without it, as I get at least some sleep with it(5-6 hours on a good night). It relaxes my whole body, and it's not as addicting as other sleep aids.

[pleasemama]

I took so much aleve/advil that i developed stomach bleeding. I can't take celebrex because i have a heart condition. plus i am allergic to tons of meds. It sucks the only thing we have found that works is vicodin.

It seems everything is either not good if you have had problems with stomach bleeding or if you have other health conditions