19 Year Old Male. Scoliosis Progressing.

[JenniferG]

Jen..a "horse dose"!!?? obviously, that doctor is not a pain management specialist! i am on 30 mg of oxy, told i can take up to 3 a day..i usually take one or two...& no surgery...yet....but i am in alot of pain..forced me into early retirement!
i think there is a lot of ignorance amongst doctors regarding pain meds when they are not pain specialists...i wish they could live inside our bodies for a just a day or two...then we'd see what kind of meds they wanted to be placed on!!!

jess

Jess, it's highly likely he was trying to scare me into not asking for anything stronger. It worked. Luckily the 2 x 40mg hit the spot.

[jrnyc]

Hey, John
lower dose i take hydrocodone..multiples of the 10 mg pills...the oxy is time released, so for an 8 hour period, it takes 30 mg now, with the pain...there are "good" days that i can skip the oxy...take the hydrocodone alone...but in the winter, with the cold wet weather, the good days are far fewer!
i resisted taking the oxycontin for years...til the doctor reminded me how much tylenol stuff i was getting in my body with the hydrocodone! it was alot for my kidneys & liver ! we tried other oxy doses...40 was too much, 20 not quite enuf....
i remember days, after successful injections, when i needed no pills...that made me happy...didnt last more than a few weeks, but made me happy, all the same!
i am getting facet block & sacroiliac injections this coming monday...hope they work well! especially since the trip to see dr anand is 6 hours on plane, each direction!

continued healing to you...
jess

[debbei]

Man u guys get more with ur oxycotton. Mine is only 10 mg once every 12 hours. I think I saw jennifers is 40mg. No wonder I can't feel my oxy.

Bethany,

yours is the dose I had too, and it worked for me very well.

[spinalfusion09]

hey John! I'm hope you're getting better and better every day! :} About your scar that happened to me too. Since its healing, dead skin becomes like a scab and falls off. That happened for a few weeks after for me but I think my scar is a tad longer than yours haha.
Maliha

[Radiogirl]

Hey John, Do they have you doing any PT yet? Any walking on the treadmill???
Laura

[JDM555]

hey John! I'm hope you're getting better and better every day! :} About your scar that happened to me too. Since its healing, dead skin becomes like a scab and falls off. That happened for a few weeks after for me but I think my scar is a tad longer than yours haha.
Maliha

Yeah, I guess it's OK then. Some parts look like they fell off and it turned into that "pinkish" skin that is under a scab/wound or w/e. I would much rather have that look than the nasty scab/scar on the back.
John

Hey John, Do they have you doing any PT yet? Any walking on the treadmill???
Laura

Nope, no PT yet. I will talk to my doctor about it on the 8th. I am walking down the street and back. I will start doing it twice a day. I can walk for far distances with no pain, it's just my heart rate jumps up quite a bit and sometimes I get out of breath.

The only reason I would need PT is maybe for some stretching. At first, my right leg couldn't really extend when I would take a step forward, but now I feel fine and I can walk, no problem. My left rib pain is getting better as well, it's not hurting as much, so I guess I just need to heal a little bit and I'll be back to normal.
John

[JDM555]

Hey guys. Even though I'm on pain meds, I started my car and gave it a tiny test drive down the street and back. Felt good to drive again for sure.

Btw, I put on both shoes and tied the laces rather easily 2 weeks out of surgery. I took a nice night walk as well and feels good.

I started taking 10mg oxycontin as well and so far so good. I hope it all works out. Anyways, that's all. Have a good weekend guys.

[jrnyc]

wow..great progress, John...congratulations on moving forward so quickly!

nice wkend too....
jess

[Radiogirl]

Hey, John
lower dose i take hydrocodone..multiples of the 10 mg pills...the oxy is time released, so for an 8 hour period, it takes 30 mg now, with the pain...there are "good" days that i can skip the oxy...take the hydrocodone alone...but in the winter, with the cold wet weather, the good days are far fewer!
i resisted taking the oxycontin for years...til the doctor reminded me how much tylenol stuff i was getting in my body with the hydrocodone! it was alot for my kidneys & liver ! we tried other oxy doses...40 was too much, 20 not quite enuf....
i remember days, after successful injections, when i needed no pills...that made me happy...didnt last more than a few weeks, but made me happy, all the same!
i am getting facet block & sacroiliac injections this coming monday...hope they work well! especially since the trip to see dr anand is 6 hours on plane, each direction!

\=continued healing to you...
jess

Jess - Six hours by plane??? Why do you have to go so far away? Where do you live? You need to make things simpler for yourself. Can you find a good surgeon or doctor near you? If I'm not mistaken, you haven't had surgery yet, is that correct? Are you going to? If I was in your pain, I would for sure! I hope you find relief!

Laura

[jrnyc]

i am flying to a consult with dr anand at cedars sinai...i have lots of good surgeons in nyc...but all tell me i am not a candidate for less invasive surgery..so i am going to hear what dr anand has to say about the subject, since he seems to believe that such surgery is possible for just about every scoli candidate....

i need fusion to the pelvis..& am not in a hurry to do that

jess

[JDM555]

wow..great progress, John...congratulations on moving forward so quickly!

nice wkend too....
jess

Thanks! I appreciate it. I did the 10mg and was able to sleep all through the night. I definitely "feel" my back more now, but nothing is hurting too bad, I can live with it. After 5-7 days, I want to go to 5mg Oxycodone every 4 hours again. Then maybe Tylenol or Advil so I can get off pain meds.
John

[rich1752]

be very careful with your pain meds. I made a huge mistake, when I took two dosages including my slow release not to far apart from each other. I began to get very sleepy and had a hard time swallowing. I got very scared and told my wife that I needed to go for a walk. I walked for about 2 miles, until that feeling went away. I was scared, because of my inability to swallow. I am very carefull with my pain meds and times I take them.


Rich

[debbei]

Thanks! I appreciate it. I did the 10mg and was able to sleep all through the night. I definitely "feel" my back more now, but nothing is hurting too bad, I can live with it. After 5-7 days, I want to go to 5mg Oxycodone every 4 hours again. Then maybe Tylenol or Advil so I can get off pain meds.
John

John,

No Advil/Motrin/Ibuprophen until the Dr. clears you for it. Most patients aren't allowed to take that drug for at least 6 or 9 months because it can interfere with fusion.

[jrnyc]

yeah, john...would definitely check with doctor regarding over the counter pain meds...they can mess with bleeding & with fusion...

i once did too much of a time release med..it affected my breathing...scary...so be careful when you take what...but it sounds as if you are doing great...you wouldnt be thinking of getting off the meds if you werent making such great progress!

jess

[JDM555]

be very careful with your pain meds. I made a huge mistake, when I took two dosages including my slow release not to far apart from each other. I began to get very sleepy and had a hard time swallowing. I got very scared and told my wife that I needed to go for a walk. I walked for about 2 miles, until that feeling went away. I was scared, because of my inability to swallow. I am very carefull with my pain meds and times I take them.


Rich

Yeah, I make sure I don't take any of the meds too close to each other. I write everything down on a piece of paper by my bed to remind me later on. I am currently only on 10mg oxycontin, I definitely feel my back/tightness more than when I was on the 20mg, but like I said, I can live with it. I think 5-7 days should be enough to go down to 5mg oxycodone fast-acting every 4 hours. I will remain taking that until I visit my doctor on the 8th of Feb or stop taking it all together.
John

John,

No Advil/Motrin/Ibuprophen until the Dr. clears you for it. Most patients aren't allowed to take that drug for at least 6 or 9 months because it can interfere with fusion.

Good point, I just read another story about how a teenage girl managed to get off all pain meds by like day 15 or 16 and was on tylenol, so I thought it would be fine, but I will talk to my doctor before getting off oxycodone/contin and trying to take something else.
John

yeah, john...would definitely check with doctor regarding over the counter pain meds...they can mess with bleeding & with fusion...

i once did too much of a time release med..it affected my breathing...scary...so be careful when you take what...but it sounds as if you are doing great...you wouldnt be thinking of getting off the meds if you werent making such great progress!

jess

Thanks for the heads up. Yeah, even on the drugs I am on, I feel weird when I walk or get up/lay down quickly, I breathe a little differently, so I know what you mean. Nothing major though, just hanging on day by day. I just hope I can return to a pain-free life and go to school with no complications.
John