Pain Clinic Experiences??

[KittyKat37]

Hi, I have an appointment at the Pain Clinic end of Jan and I’m really nervous and don’t know what to expect.. what treatments, therapies or meds are they likely to offer? I’m in agony when walking anywhere and can’t even stand up for long without pain. Thanks.

[Hidden]

Hi

I hope you get some improvement soon , I'm in pain 24/7, only an hour or less sleep per night due to pain.

I'm under 3rd lot of pain management as I'm sorry to say first two were hopeless. Anyway, 3rd one sent me for an MRI and I'm now having facet joint injection in Tuesday. I'm also due some others gastro pain management but I will have to wait 3 months and then after that they will be both at the same hospital in Rochdale as this is closest to us. Love and hugs Lynne

[KittyKat37 in reply to Hidden]

So sorry to hear you’re in so much pain.. what meds have they offered you to try? They have a duty of care and I think it’s disgusting that they think it’s acceptable to allow us to suffer miserably.. I hope the facet joint injection gives you some relief! Take care

[FRreedman]

To give them their proper name, they are pain management clinics. IMO they are a waste of time. They tell you how to live with pain, not how to get rid of pain. Personally, I don't need to be told to think of something nice when you are in pain, so the pain doesn't feel so bad. Wanna bet?

[KittyKat37 in reply to FRreedman]

I’m not getting my hopes up with them. They sound like a waste of time. Easy for them to say isn’t it!

[Hidden in reply to FRreedman]

Very true!!

[Lizabeth1368 in reply to FRreedman]

I really relate to what your saying pain management I felt so low after being sent there I would never ever go back x

[Hidden]

Hi

Hope you are as well as can be expected, that goes for everyone else too.

Pain relief I'm on is duloxetine, co-codamol 30/500, zomorph, oramorph and indimetacin (I have to take this with it after food or meal , also take omeprazole with it. Love and hugs Lynne xxxx

[KittyKat37 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you Lynne xxx

[Hidden in reply to KittyKat37]

You are very welcome xxxx

[LoneEra]

I really hope the Pain Clinic works for you. I think it depends massively on the local area and the resources available.

For mine (East Kent), I first had to attend a seminar on the origins of pain and how to manage it. Didn’t teach me anything I didn’t already know and there were zero coping techniques.

The 1-2-1 at the Pain Clinic was equally useless to be honest. They said to try taking paracetamol 4 times a day. Paracetamol!!!!! They also recommended some cream made from chilli pepper extract. I didn’t bother trying it.

The only good thing that came out of it was free Tai Chi lessons for 12 weeks. So you might want to ask if your centre offers something like that - if you are interested.

Basically, expect to answer a lot of questions - but don’t expect any miracles in return. I came out of the first Pain Clinic appointment feeling very deflated and even had a little cry to myself in the car 😢

I really hope your visit is more productive. Try to go in with an open mind. And push them to offer you all they can. But I would recommended not getting your hopes up too high in advance.

Sorry to be a bit negative, but I wouldn’t want you to feel as disappointed as I did. False hope is worse than the brutal truth IMO! Xx

[KittyKat37 in reply to LoneEra]

Thank you for your reply. I’m really not getting my hopes up at all now, I think your experience was one of the majority of us with this condition.. they don’t seem to take us seriously or give a dam. I’m glad you enjoyed the Tai Chi lessons. Take care xx

[Hidden in reply to LoneEra]

Hi

Sorry to interrupt but my experience was the same I came away very upset and disheartened. The two I'm with now are fantastic. You will get there. Please take care email

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Don't know why I put email. Was meant to say please take care of yourself!!!

[KittyKat37 in reply to Hidden]

I’m expecting the worst from them.. you take care too xx

[Hidden in reply to KittyKat37]

Thank you xxxx

[Vivalaviv]

Dont waste your time. Fibro specialust told me they are for people who are dependent on pain- killers. They are trying to reduce your intake & teach you how to manage your pain without medication. Like CBT & exercise. No one involved has clue about fibro never mind has it.

I lasted 1 day. It took me a week to recover from trip to hospital etc.

But try it for yourself. It may help you in some way

[KittyKat37 in reply to Vivalaviv]

Thanks for replying.. CBT is usually useless for me and exercise just causes pain afterwards.. at least I’m preparing myself better for them to be totally useless xx

[Hidden in reply to KittyKat37]

I'm having steroid injection in the facet joint tomorrow, hope it works as nothing else has worked . Love and hugs Lynne xxxx

[Themanwithnoname]

I have done 2 pain clinics but at the time i only had chronic back and leg pain and not Fibro. Looking back id say the one i did in Oxford Nuffield hospital was not a total waste of time but the other one pretty much was. Neither pain clinic tweaked my meds like i have read on here. Nuffield offered Hydro pool exercise and we also had various seats to try which were expensive so least you could try b4 you buy so to speak.

On the plus side it's worth giving a go as you will meet like minded people and share ideas and hopefully build friendships. First thing both clinics pretty much say is they wont take away your pain but can help you deal with it. Hopefully you can take a small bit of info but it can make a massive difference.

GL.

[KittyKat37 in reply to Themanwithnoname]

Thank you for your reply.. the hydro pool sounds worth trying xx

[TheDrivenSnow]

Hello, KittyKat37. Not quite a pain clinic, but I recently completed a pain management programme at my local hospice. Basically, they taught distraction techniques. We spoke about emotional and spiritual pain, among other things. There was a dedicated session on medication, but other than listing some of the meds we could be trying, there was not a great deal of emphasis on broadening the spectrum.

Still, it was an introduction of sorts and I'm hoping to find a more meaningful programme at some point.

I hope your experience is positive xx

[Sallydog]

Wouldn’t bother unless you want to listen to whale music 😂😂

[Hidden in reply to Sallydog]

Very true🐳🐋😊 xxxx

[Sallydog in reply to Hidden]

Such a waste of time !!!!😂😂😡😡

[KateMaguire]

Hi kitkat, I take tramadol, paracetamol, oramorph, pregabalin, lidocaine patches (obviously they are applied, not taken orally!🙄),amitriptyline, omeprazole and naproxen. Apply heat pads,waterbottles and cold packs as needed. I'm in a flare atm caused by the stress and upheaval of moving house but hope that it's almost over for a little while before we start the whole sorry process over! My pain clinic has been quite helpful but in the end it's a chronic condition and we all are different with varying symptoms and no two of us respond in the same way to medication and therapy. I just try to take one day at a time and keep a sense of humor. Learning to accept that the old me has gone and isn't going to be returning was the hardest thing to come to terms with for me, but one day at a time is all I think about now. Gentle hugs and best wishes. xx

[KittyKat37 in reply to KateMaguire]

Thank you KateMaguire xx

[Hidden]

I think it totally depends on which pain clinic you attend. I had a really good experience with mine. First I had a 1 to 1 session with a anesthesiologists, she adjusted some of my medication and referred me for injections and an mri. She also referred me to a pain management class, 8 weeks learning to understand how pain works in the body and what you can do to stop the secondary suffering.

For about 12 months I saw the pain physiotherapist who used dry needling (what really helped)

And also did a 8 week mindfulness course through the pain clinic and saw the pain psychologist for a few sessions one to one.

I know I have been lucky. Just go with an open mind and know that they don’t have a magic wand. Sadly they don’t have 1 thing that takes all the pain away but if you are open for it, there are lots of things that take a little bit of the pain away and all together they can have a big impact on your life and pain. For example; medication might help you for 25%, exercise 15%, pacing 20%, mindfulness 10%, injections 15%, acupressure 5% and acceptence 10% and if you use them all together your pain can be mostly under contol.

The good thing about doing a class is that you meet other sufferers and can build friendships with others in a similar situation.

I hope your experience is good, just give it a go and try everything that they have on offer

[Jennyw59]

I'm afraid to say they don't have a magic wand so don't expect to come out pain free! They may tweak your meds a bit. They may offer injections but tbh they were no help to me & a lot of people. If they offer you pain management course I would go on it. Mines been very supportive and helped a lot in coping with pain and tiredness. You come to realise that nothing & nobody can take the pain & tiredness completely away and the best way forward is to recognise this and get help from the supportive cognitive behavioural teams to help you live as good a life you can with your symptoms x

[Notawhiff]

I've not been to one pain clinic that helped I'm sorry but they talk bout going for a walk doing this that but if you got banging headache feel sick totally drained a 10 min walk not gonna be on top of your list ... then again you might be lucky get good doctor hopefully fingers crossed

[KittyKat37]

Thank you to you all for all of your lovely helpful replies! I’m in a predicament because of anxiety issues it would be so difficult to attend any pain management course, but the alternative therapies sound intriguing! Do any of you have any experiences of them prescribing stronger pain meds for emergencies? Or I’ve heard CBD is helpful but I’m a bit scared to try it! Thank you all again xx