I'm back! ..... and scared

[ViewsAskew]

Is there someone at the same facility who is more experienced?

[Neco]

I very highly doubt it. I think if there was I would have been passed on to see them instead. Of course it may be that they simply don't want to deal with me, either - who knows.

also...

Good GOD this stuff makes me tired! I mean, there was the fatigue on Methadone which could put me to sleep in the middle of the day, or make it hard to get out of bed sometimes. But this is different, sometimes I will feel like I need to have a nap - but then I'll end up sleeping for 4 hours or so. Get up for a few hours, and then go back to sleep, it's weird. My sleep has been fragmented and screwed up ever since coming off Methadone, but I am definitely sleeping more than I am awake on my days off. I don't seem to have too much trouble getting up to go to work so far.

I'm told this goes away once you adjust, so I hope it does.. Also, rather annoying it does nothing for the pain in my shoulder blade right now I keep doing something to the muscle or nerve or something in my sleep I think because it goes away and then comes back and goes away Not even a heating pad will provide extended relief once you take the heat away... Annoying.

I do have confidence this dosage will work out, and as long as nothing bad happens (you know, because its me....), hopefully the tiredness will decrease and I can start working on building up a more positive relationship with her by bearing good news for a change.

[ViewsAskew]

It may not be....but look up trigger points or myofascial trigger points. My back pain came and went for years - started in my late teens or early twenties. Now, more than twenty years later, I've got the same pain all over - hips, buttocks, upper arms, neck, scalp, shoulders, shoulder blade, lower back.... They seem to multiply - maybe because I move differently or sit differently when the others hurt, causing them in others - who knows. I just know that I have a lot of the damn things.

I can manage mine pretty well with a tool used to rub them. For what it's worth, husband, BIL and SIL have them too. Considered very common, but uncommonly diagnosed - sort of where WED was 15-20 years ago. NO primary care doc I've seen has ever heard of them, but some physiatrists have - I made an appointment with one for June - there was a three month wait! They can actually be seen on an MRI. If you've ever been in a car accident or injured yourself, that is often considered a starting point.

Heat can help a bit sometimes, but as you said, nothing - not even these opioids - touch them when they are really bad. There are massage techniques that work pretty well, but they are hard to do on yourself when it is your shoulder blade. That's where the tools come in. When really bad, it can take a few days, but they usually will help me work out the knot much faster than just waiting for it to stop.

Again - may not be the same thing, but worth a look-see.

[Neco]

It does sound kind of similar to what I go through. I've had problems like these since my late teens and early twenties. Odd thing is its always the same damn shoulder blade, on the right-hand (incidentally my dominant side) side, and always in that place where you can barely reach it to even touch it, and as you try it just hurts more as you move and flex the muscle you're trying to reach..

Certain positions can eliminate the pain, but I worry that its those positions in the first place which may have caused it... I am fairly certain I move around in my sleep, a lot, as I always have to re-adjust my matress on the box spring. I also sleep with my neck craned at a weird angle as times, as a side sleeper using two pillows..

I hate sleeping on my back because it feels weird, and oddly enough can bring pain of its own if I stay in one spot too long.. Also hard to get up from that position

[ViewsAskew]

Mine was always in the same place, too. It still is - I just have more of them, lol.

At any rate, something like the Body Back Buddy or Theracane allows you to get to the spot:

[Neco]

rofl.... now its moved to the opposite shoulder

[ViewsAskew]

yeah, they do that - if that's what you have. They come and go on a whim. I could be writing in pain and have it not hurt later on, or hurt for a week.

[Neco]

Just tried to buy some Kratom product (a tincture)

Not happening. Apparently an alkaloid in Kratom is now banned in Wisconsin

[ViewsAskew]

Just tried to buy some Kratom product (a tincture)

Not happening. Apparently an alkaloid in Kratom is now banned in Wisconsin

I have a friend who is an avid indoor plant grower. A substance she needed to control mites was banned where she lived - for outdoor use - and that meant she couldn't buy it to use indoors. I ended up buying it for her and shipping it to her. It got through and I didn't get caught, lol. Not sure what they would have done to me .

I have another friend who lives in Canada but has a PO box in the US - she lives about 1.5 hours from the border. She had stuff shipped to her PO box and then drives to get it - shipping costs are less and she had access to more stuff.

Imaginative people always get around laws when the people want it badly enough, don't they?

But, it wouldn't surprise me if kratom wasn't banned all over the US relatively soon. All it takes is the pharma companies hearing about people treating themselves and the pharma losing money....

[YCantISleep]

Hi! Sorry to hear that you're being treated so poorly by a doc who seems unwilling to try to understand your condition. I am also on methadone & have been for 3 years. I get mine from Dr. Christopher Earley at Johns Hopkins. I live in PA and he sends me a script for 90 days worth. He is a wonderful, caring doc who has been studying our little slice of hell for many years and he really, truly cares. In fact, if I ever have a question about anything, he calls back himself! Not a nurse, not an assistant, HIM! I've never had a doc do that. Another great thing about him is that he is willing to work with you by phone after the initial assessment. It can't hurt to call & see what he can do for you. Please give him a call & let me know how it goes.

[Neco]

I really wish I could... But I just can't afford to travel at this point. It is also hugely ironic because I grew up in Maryland and lived there until 2002; going to Johns Hopkins would have been a trivial journey back then... Now I'm all the way out in Wisconsin

[Neco]

I've been in touch with the MMT Clinic and will be waiting back to hear whether or not they will likely accept me or not.

But I'm not even sure I can afford it.. Its $145 for Intake and that covers the first week I believe, then its a bit over $100/week after that.. All I can do is ask if they can do anything to negotiate a lower fee, at least until I get proper insurance coverage

I can barely afford my morphine now as it is... and I'm pretty sure this Doc will end up cutting me off in the end... but how am I gonna afford close to $500 a month on an $800 income

It seems like nothing I can do at this point will get me help either in time, or that I can afford.

*bangs head on wall some more*

[ViewsAskew]

OMG!!!!!! That's insane!

[Neco]

I know.. these places are supposed to deal with people on low incomes with drug problems, and likely without insurance; how the hell they expect people to afford that

[ViewsAskew]

I know.. these places are supposed to deal with people on low incomes with drug problems, and likely without insurance; how the hell they expect people to afford that

Literally, my mouth is hanging open. Without insurance, I paid a whopping $18 a month for my methadone script.