I feel for you I do Navy04, this crap is debilitating. rpowell and 63sierra can attest to this type of injury. Hell those are just of couple of the guys that I chat with and spine injuries do very weird things. AskNod has shared his experience. I recently have had the VA do acupuncture and this past week I had trigger point injections. Those were different. On the private side I have had the facet blocks, steroid shots cold turkey. They hurt a bit and then I started getting sedated for them. The Rhizotomy and medial branch blocks,I all had them while sedated. I still haven't found the right combination of treatments to offer long lasting relief. Chiropractor and physical therapy has somewhat helped. I kind of had it with the drugs as well. A pain pill here a muscle relaxer a few hours later. Mostly demerol, hydrocodone, methocarbamol, and mexalone. Then the ice, the heat, tens, lidocaine patches and creams. I try to switch it up but man it's hard to stay awake and not drowsy zombie like. Now I just have had it with the pain. I'm seeking surgical consults now. I okayed my docs to schedule the disco gram and I'm waiting for the appointments. The private doc that recommended that I do not do the disco gram a couple of years ago is talking to me Tuesday.
Don't get me wrong the VA medical side has tried to keep up but only after me seriously pushing for treatment and going through another Patient Advocate. Quoting regulations and the hippocratic oath helps. I take it they are getting tired of me. They are so reluctant to do what is best for the patient. They changed my VA PCP yesterday and get this, now they actually admit to the centers in Texas that deal with spinal cord injuries. I was actually mistaken on one part though, the center is actually in Houston, not near Dallas. Heck they even admitted that they would fly me and my spouse over there. They have even stated that I could go through the VA choice program, however, this only works if two things happen, your VA PCP puts in the request and two if a private doc accepts the fee arrangement and participates in the new program. The VA system is not an easy thing to get through though. There are so many road blocks, one after another.
My suggestion is for people to be knowledgeable in what the VA medical system offers. Don't take no for an answer. Remind them that they are there to work for you. Take charge of your care and make them work for you. That is the way it should be. JMO