Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Welcome to the Jungle

Welcome to the bizarre, uncharted territory we now find ourselves in. If you're new to this injury, it usually goes something like this:

Step 1 - you have some kind of incident or a dental procedure - it may be as simple as a cavity being filled, or as complex as oral surgery or implant placement.

Step 2 - something goes wrong....the normal numbness following a visit to the dentist doesn't fade away in an hour or two. Instead, you are left with lingering pain, burning tongue, pins & needles feeling, numbness, dry mouth, and possibly a myriad of other symptoms such as headaches, sore throat, earache, and more...all on the same side of your face that the dental work occurred.

Step 3 - you struggle to determine what's wrong. You visit all manner of doctors and dental practitioners. You spend hours on Google. Nobody understands, because "you look fine". Even the medical community looks at you with bewilderment or disbelief that you have anything more than anxiety.

Step 4 - if you're lucky, you heal within a day or two, a week or two, or within the first 90 days. Congratulations! If you are one of the 20% or so who doesn't heal within that time frame, you are looking at an indeterminate amount of healing time, where you try everything on God's green earth to make it better.

While I don't have a cure, I do have personal experience which may help you navigate the jungle, so if you haven't reviewed some of my earlier posts, and you have some free time, I suggest you start with those from 2010 and work forward.

A doctor said to me recently that nerves can take 5-10 years to heal, and that it's promising that I'm still improving after all this time. My biggest struggle now is getting pain medication prescriptions filled. It is crazy what is going on. I am a degreed professional on the exact same, low dose of pain reliever every month, and following doctor's orders to the letter, yet I am treated like a drug-seeking addict every time I visit the pharmacy.

The ordeal of finding the right doctor(s), then finding a pharmacy (note: avoid Walgreens and CVS), then playing by the DEA's rules which are ever changing while you simply try to stay on top of your game while living your life of chronic pain, is the name of the game these days.

I have signed petitions and am preparing a letter to the editor of Time magazine in rebuttal to their recent article demonizing prescription drug use for chronic pain sufferers. Makes it sound like every pain patient turns into a heroin addict buying drugs off the street (largely because, by cutting off the supply of opioids as the DEA has done, many people have turned to heroin because it is easier and cheaper to find than prescription meds that are closely regulated). 
Time magazine requires you to pay to read the article, but there is an article about the cover story here-

http://nationalpainreport.com/time-magazine-releases-cover-story-on-pain-killers-8826446.html

Take a look...and PLEASE take a moment to write a letter to the editor of Time magazine in response.

SHARE A LINK TO YOUR LETTER HERE OR ON OUR FACE BOOK Page.

President John F. Kennedy had chronic pain resulting from an old military injury, yet he managed to hold the highest office in the land, thanks to prescription meds - yet if he were around today, might not be able to get his rx for Vicodin filled.

What a mess this "war on drugs" is...they are focused on the wrong thing, and take a blanket approach that is ridiculous. It's like putting out a candle with a fire hose, flooding the entire house.

Are any of you experiencing the same judgey pharmacy clerks and prescription refusal where you live? How are you coping with the pain? I have tried numerous anti-seizure and anti-depressant drugs that turned me into a zombie. I can't live a productive life like that. So I slosh through the new jungle of painkilling drugs, as a chronic pain patient just trying to do the right thing.


6 comments:

  1. I started on a list of chinese herbal medicine ,so far my burning pain went away I still have some light rough patches I spent countless hours hovered on the internet I found the most regenerative herbs and anti imflamtory corydalis,10/1, tumeric extract ,reishi mushroom extract ,spirulina,gojiberry,royaljelly,schizandra ,pure cacao,gotu kola ,the trick is taking more than two a day or in powder or jelly ...as a concern look them up superfood evolution , strength in numbers ,i still hate the dentist and western medicine ,nurontin never worked for me ...to be more educated in what your putting in your system look up the ingredients inside the meds you are taking , goodluck to anyone dealing with Lnd or other trauma ...

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  2. Hey,

    I hope you are well. Being someone with this type of injury and on the road to full recovery, I hope I can share some valuable information that hopefully will stop your pain.

    If you want to try this out, let me first state that this is a purely natural method which does not consist of taking medications.

    It is all about what you should eat, and that is fruit, berries and fruit juices. Try to get them organic. This is the food what we humans are designed to eat.

    In the beginning it will be hard. You can of course start with a transitional diet. The goal is to purely eat this type of food. You can also drink fruit juices which is even better. But make sure then that the juices are raw (not pasturized or pressure treated). Stay away from meat and dairy products. Eat grains, bread etc when you are in transition instead of meat and dairy.

    In the beginning you will probably be more in pain. The body goes through a healing crisis during the first couple of months (the length of this very much depends on your previous lifestyle and diet choices). I don't know if you are familiar with detox, but that is what happens. The body cleans itself. Many patients has seen nerve recovry which is absolutley amazing, even people with spinal cord injuries!

    What has happened with me is absolutley fantastic. There is a Dr called Dr Robert Morse who is the Godfather of this diet. Please contact him if you want more help. He has helped thousands of patients and is specialised in this field. I can also assist you with questions.

    Just before I end. Please try goji berries, they are amazing! I've been trying out a lot and they work wonders. Also, to get amino acids (protein) in your diet, add raw seeds and nuts, but you don't need to it too much of this.

    God bless

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  3. I have a general comment to make. I have most of the symptoms mentioned here and more. I would appreciate an instruction page as how to make a post on this web site.

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    1. Your post was successful! It may not appear so immediately, as there is a delay when you hit "submit"... All posts for this site must be reviewed by Moderator prior to publishing. This is to keep out the people trying to sell something, or otherwise post inappropriately. You're welcome ;) -jf

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  4. Hi! I discovered your blog in a very unfortunate way, I was going to remove my lower left wisdom teeth and the surgeon was not only incompetent, he was extremely agressive when he performed the injection so he damaged both my lingual and the other nerve next to it starting on Areo something. I am so devastated since my health in general is really really bad I am suffering from several chronic diseases like endometrios ibs etc. this is just too much for me to handle. I would love to get in contact with you and talk about what treatments you have tried and if you found any medicin that helps your pain! let me know if that is OK and if you have an emailaddress I could contact you on. Lots of hugs / I

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    1. I- Thanks for writing; I have endometriosis, too. And anemia. But what I have learned is that everybody has something. Ok, not everyone, but most people. :/ I now look at people with much more compassion. You may want to Check out Melissa Turner's Endometriosis page on Facebook . Stay strong! Hugs, jf

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