Posted by Mike L (205.188.200.27) on January 04, 2001 at 03:10:59:
In Reply to: Clusters and Meds posted by Elaine on December 30, 2000 at 00:01:17:
I can really believ how different people respon to pain meds. I also suffer sever migraines along with my clusters. Yes they are very different. I refer to a migraine as a headache and to a cluster as an attack. Even for me pain meds work different. Pain meds even high doses of morphine help only a lttle for migraines even though are not nearly as painful as clusters. But for me opiate type pain meds work well in both preventing and aborting attacks. But it is imperative that the Dr. specializes in pain management and has learned the proper meds and techniques for applying it. The Dr. s who do this are almost always anesthesiologists. I to have gone though the take so many painkillers to be sick and zombielike. It took me a while and several consults with my Dr. to try his approach to pain meds. He started me on very small doses of the med not enough to make me tired or even notice I was on any meds. After 2 months almost 3 it happened. I went from at least 4-5 attack a day to les then 12 a week. And yes when we decrease the dose much the attacks come back. He offerd me this explaination. He said that sometimes the pain meds act like other meds which help alter the functions of the brain and rewire the pain circuits. He says that they don't understand completly the theory behind it. I have virtully no side effects and they have given me tests to show my reflex response compared to before being in pain and on very little pain meds to now being on 4 doses each day of my meds. My relexes are as quick and some test are quicker then before I was on the meds, showing that enduring severe pain caused me to slow down more then normal. I can play raquetball as well as I ever could. I know that it doesn't work for all and even my Dr. wouldn't treat me unless I had tried more conventional remedies. Pain medas done properly are very different to those used just to dull the pain. As far as addiction goes i just don't know. I know that addiction seemed like much less of a problem then being in bed 7/24 for 5 years. I also know that when doing well I have forgotten my meds for 3-4 days and never craved it or even realized at first that it was causing my attacks to increase. I am very addicted to being pain free. I think that many people that use and have sucess with pain meds crave being pain free much more the craving drugs. After all if this pain is as terrible as we say most of us must choose not to dwell on the fact that we are going to have the crap beaten out of us by the worst bully ever. If a med helps most of us would chose not to be beaten as severly or at all. Thanks and good luck Mike L