Post by hobo on Nov 19, 2014 4:42:06 GMT -8
After 40+ years of SCI I have first hand experience with SCI pain and also have many friends who have provided me with their second-hand experiences. This is a very tricky issue. I have great empathy for all of you who suffer, especially during the day. The pain interferes with work, play, and any other activity that allows us to function independently.
However, my pain has always been tolerable during the day, but starts at bedtime and interferes with sleep. Sleep deprivation is akin to torture over an extended period. Besides, if you can't sleep during the night, you end up sleeping during the day, and that also interferes with daily activities.
About 25 years ago my SCI doc put me on Darvocette. I would save all four tablets for the night. It was miraculous and I returned to normal sleep patterns. Unfortunately, about three years ago, all kinds of black box warnings were published regarding long term use of Darvocette. My doc than put me on Tramadol. Tramadol is non-narcotic and theoretically not physically addictive. Believe me, if something helps control spinal pain, it becomes addictive, whether it's physical or mental. Long story short I got the same result with Tramadol with lower dosage than the Darvocette. I had never heard of Tramadol before this. If you have uncontrolled spinal pain, it's certainly worth a trial if your doc recommends it. The narcotic stuff is dangerous in so many ways and many of us get in trouble with prolonged use of narcotic pain killers.
