United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hello everyone,
I've was injured in a car accident over 2 years ago. All five BP nerves avulsed. I am seriously considering reducing my meds.
I am currently taking 40mg t.i.d Oxycontin, 20 mg Oxycodone t.i.d and 600 mg Neurontin. Christopher,I have read some of your posts, and am definitely interested in the biofeedback area. I suppose I'm just interested in technques or strategies on dealing with the constant pain that is common with this injury.
Thanks for listening...

I have been reading Christopher's post as well.

I tried the cold turkey method (shared that I tried with Angela) and I crashed big time.

I am now trying to just lower the amount slowly that I take. I stopped taking all narcotic drugs within 4 months of my accident. I continued using amatriptline at night and taking 600mg 4 times per day of Gabapentin. I am now this week trying to take 300 mg 5 times per day and I am handling so far pretty well.

I wish you the best of luck. Keep your head up and keep on keeping on!

I know it's not going to be easy, the meds are the only break I get

i had surgery 4 months ago resulting in a pulled bp nerve resulting in the loss of use of my left hand. i have found that if i am in severe pain, i DO excercises. it is extremely painful but if you can just stick with it just 5 minutes, it WILL reduce pain. i did have to reduce the pain meds till i did not need them any more. this is not the first accident i have had. i was burned on both legs and my right hand and arm about 20 years ago. i had some nerve damage back then also (although it was a different type of nerve pain) to this day i have no feeling in part of my left knee. i learned quite a bit about nerve damage back then and able to use what i learned now. i cried every time i did any excercises the pain was so bad. but it was worth it because the doctor told me it would be 6 months before i could learn to walk again. i did not want to hear that so i forced my knee to move and i was working as a cashier at the end of 4 months. i realize that most people dont have a high pain tolerance, but just try it you might be amazed at what you can do. hope this helps (

My pain has been greatly reduced since injury date. I find now it is just a constant throbbing in the palm of my hand. And for a few minutes every hour the pain intensifies.

I stopped taking my meds after about 2 months as they were making me crazy.

meditation and endorphins

Meditation : the biofeedback was just an accelerated course in this. But trained instructors of meditation will teach you to "listen" to your own body better than then biofeedback can, and then guide/train your mind's focus on what is not painful. Our brains are interpreting signals that are incorrect to the situation. Our hands are NOT on fire, or being crushed, or being torn apart, or being perpetually shocked... but our BRAINS interpret these signals from our Spinal Cords (signals are not even emanating from the area of perceived pain), and then from that interpretation we experience & perceive pain. Through meditation you can learn to take a different perspective on this perception and also learn to focus on what you want, instead of what you don't want (pain).

Energy goes where attention flows.

You learn to get very creative in your imagination to stimulate other areas of your brain to draw blood away from the pain perceiving areas that help one experience pain.


Endorphins : Exercise. This is one of the best cure alls out there. It does more for an individuals well being than just about anything. I was in complete hell until I could run again. It took about 3 years to finally find a sling that really worked. I had many different ones professionally made, but none gave me the ease & freedom I was looking for. Get on a bike, get out and walk, run if you can, "do what ever you can with what you've got" (Teddy Roosevelt).

There are more published research papers on the benefits of exercise than TBPIs in this forum. Chronic Pain sucks. Fight it, learn what you can do. Exercise is probably the best answer out there, that with meditation and you are giving the best fight possible. At least that I know of... if anyone knows better, please teach me. I'd love to be pain free too!!!

GOOD LUCK & DON'T GIVE UP!!!

Christopher

i totally agree with the excercise reducing pain. i was riding a bicycle for the first time in over 23 years. my legs were hurting so bad after just 2 blocks i thought i was going to fall over. (i have neuropathy in both legs and hips) i thought wow i bought this bike for no reason i wasted my money. then i decided i would just ignore the pain. i rode 3 miles. (my usual walking distance that i quit doing for a very long time). when i got home, my legs and hips were feeling great. i simply worked through the pain till i won over it. this was about 2 weeks before my disasterous surgery. now i can not ride it because my arm spasms so much i cant steer it. i am afraid i am going to get pulled over for being drunk. even though i dont drink. or i will get hit by a car. but i WILL get back on it soon. before it gets too cold.

Christopher wrote:meditation and endorphins

Meditation : the biofeedback was just an accelerated course in this. But trained instructors of meditation will teach you to "listen" to your own body better than then biofeedback can, and then guide/train your mind's focus on what is not painful. Our brains are interpreting signals that are incorrect to the situation. Our hands are NOT on fire, or being crushed, or being torn apart, or being perpetually shocked... but our BRAINS interpret these signals from our Spinal Cords (signals are not even emanating from the area of perceived pain), and then from that interpretation we experience & perceive pain. Through meditation you can learn to take a different perspective on this perception and also learn to focus on what you want, instead of what you don't want (pain).

Energy goes where attention flows.

You learn to get very creative in your imagination to stimulate other areas of your brain to draw blood away from the pain perceiving areas that help one experience pain.


Endorphins : Exercise. This is one of the best cure alls out there. It does more for an individuals well being than just about anything. I was in complete hell until I could run again. It took about 3 years to finally find a sling that really worked. I had many different ones professionally made, but none gave me the ease & freedom I was looking for. Get on a bike, get out and walk, run if you can, "do what ever you can with what you've got" (Teddy Roosevelt).

There are more published research papers on the benefits of exercise than TBPIs in this forum. Chronic Pain sucks. Fight it, learn what you can do. Exercise is probably the best answer out there, that with meditation and you are giving the best fight possible. At least that I know of... if anyone knows better, please teach me. I'd love to be pain free too!!!

GOOD LUCK & DON'T GIVE UP!!!

Christopher

Thanks Everyone for your feedback and words of encouragement. I absolutely feel better while I'm physically active.
I also ordered a mirror box and I plan on giving that a try. I realize there is no panacea, but I figured it can't hurt to try.

what is a mirror box?

jmar wrote:what is a mirror box?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_box