Radiculopathy...

[COOL BREEZE]

I wake up every morning worse after after of night of this....So I had to seriously cut back...The VA Docs told me they don't have Cymbalta on their list of meds so they won't give me any anyway.

I have more problems with weather patterns than anything and this drives me nuts.

When I switched back to VA care last week, they took cymbalta away and gave me gabatetin too. That resulted in a high speed run to the VA emergency room as this had caused me to start havng severe chest pain for a sudden change of med's. So what did the VA do? They admitted me for 4 days and did a cath to my arteries.I should have asked if they were planning to do heart urgery as well. The next day after discharge and 1 night of hellish sleep, back to E.R again for the same thing. I don't think they got the message. I have severe nerve pain throughout as well as a nice brain tumor to boot!!

[ArNG11]

When I switched back to VA care last week, they took cymbalta away and gave me gabatetin too. That resulted in a high speed run to the VA emergency room as this had caused me to start havng severe chest pain for a sudden change of med's. So what did the VA do? They admitted me for 4 days and did a cath to my arteries.I should have asked if they were planning to do heart urgery as well. The next day after discharge and 1 night of hellish sleep, back to E.R again for the same thing. I don't think they got the message. I have severe nerve pain throughout as well as a nice brain tumor to boot!!

Sorry to hear bud. Hang in there.

[63SIERRA]

I wake up every morning worse after after of night of this....So I had to seriously cut back...The VA Docs told me they don't have Cymbalta on their list of meds so they won't give me any anyway.

I have more problems with weather patterns than anything and this drives me nuts.

me too cold or rainy days cause great pain. its the barometric pressure change. Opiods cannot be beat for pain relief, but are very physically addictive. you will get relief, for short term, then, its very little/ might be something to get, and take when the pain spikes.

[63SIERRA]

Here just under two weeks I am getting the radio frequency ablation done. After all the steroid shots, normal placed, bilateral, facet block injections, it is time to be more aggressive on the treatment. All this is utilizing my private insurance. It has taken me 4 months just to get an appointment with the pain management clinic through the VA. I get to see them in five days. Hopefully they won't state something that will set me off, like oh I think you have a some back problems. But alas I am not going to blow my top until it is necessary and then probably not, how does that saying go. You get more flies with honey than you do vinegar. Something like that.

plz let us know how that goes.

[ArNG11]

Sorry guys I thought I had posted my experience with the rhizotomy. I can say that I did not get the intended relief. The pain down my left leg has gotten worse and stronger. Also muscles spams seem to be more frequent. Weakness in the legs has also gotten worse. They did the L1,L2,& L3 nerve roots as I mentioned in an earlier post. I believe I should have gotten more relief than what I did. I was hoping that if it worked to have the thoracic section of my back done. My private doc wants me to do a functional capacity test once my cast comes off my right wrist and released from care. As far as the VA side of it, I haven't see the neurologist yet, only the nurse practitioner. I'm really at a wits end here. I'm trying for either side, private, or VA to perform an EMG and possibly a disco-gram to really have a concrete picture of my condition and what options I really have left.

[ArNG11]

Oh I was way wrong on the levels my doc hit. I was going off the conversation him and I had about course of treatment. My med records state that the radio freq. was done on L3-L4-L5 and the sacroiliac joints. His plan later was to do the higher T11-L2. Sorry for the late response.