By the end of June, I had successfully obtained all the medications I had calculated I would need for the month of July. The only change I made was to change the original order to take 2 capsules 3 times a day to taking 3 capsules 2 times a day. It’s just too hard to…
Category: gabapentin
Follow-up Phone Appointment with Pain Pharmacist #2
May 31, 2018, 10:00 a.m. The young man who called this time identified himself as John. My main complaint is still the headaches I get with gabapentin. Even though I had decreased the dosage, 100 mg at a time, I still had the headaches, though slightly less intense. But the pain reduction was also less….
Phone Appointment with Pain Pharmacist
May 3, 2018, 10:15 a.m. I was up at 9-something, just to make sure I could actually talk by 10 o’clock. My landline rang quite promptly at 10:15 a.m. I was expecting a woman, only because my tramadol and meloxicam were filled by Li, Amy RPH. But it was a man who identified himself as…
Pain Physical Therapy #3
April 27, 2018, 1:30 p.m. Today is my third individual session for physical therapy with Francis. When I checked in, the girl did not ask for a co-pay, so I’m sure someone down the line will bill me. I hate doing it like this. I would rather just pay with my card at the time…
Office Visit with Dr. Kalra
March 22, 2018, 2:00 p.m. I put way more angst into anticipating this visit than I should have! How many times had I rehearsed and re-rehearsed everything I was going to say to Dr. Kalra?!? I wrote down carefully in my notebook the three things I wanted to discuss with him. His medical assistant took…
Pain Management: My Review
March 17, 2018 I have completed the 3-day-a-week 5-week outpatient Pain Management program at Kaiser. The facilitators all made it clear from Day 1 that this is not a pain relief program but a pain management! And they were right. We were not allowed to talk specifically about our pain nor about medications. I posted…
Day 9 Pain Management
February 7, 2018 Today is Alex’s second birthday. I failed to get my phone before we left the house, so I am starting this blog with a pen and notebook while in the Kaiser waiting room. (Hence, no pictures or check-in.) One discovery is that the “Chin Tuck,” which can be done any time and…
Things I’ve tried and things I haven’t tried
January 28, 2018, 1:55 p.m. These are the thoughts that come to mind today as I think about what I have been doing over the past year to relieve what was first discomfort in my neck and then became painful enough to interfere with my normal, everyday life. These things that I’ve listed here are…
acupressure, acupuncture, anti-inflammatory, aroma therapy, biofeedback, CBD/THC, codeine, cold, ergonomics, essential oils, Flexeril, gabapentin, heat, kratom, medical cannabis, meditation, mindful breathing, NSAIDs, Pain Management Program, physical therapy, pillow, prednisone, reflexology, reiki, shiatsu massager, spinal decompression, tapping (EFT), TENS unit, traction Pain Medications
Thursday, January 25, 2018 After spending the last three years getting off prescription medications (Paxil, simvastatin, glipizide, metformin, atenolol, nortriptyline, and even sumatriptan if the CBD/THCA tinctures keep working to prevent migraines!), I’m majorly bummed right now to be even considering more pharmaceuticals to deal with my chronic neck pain. But I just can’t handle…
Phone appointment with Dr. Kalra
January 25, 2018, 8:15 a.m. I set my alarm for 6:00 a.m. to make sure I could wake up to be coherent by 8:15a for my phone appointment with Dr. Kalra, Medical Director of the Pain Clinic. I was actually out at my desk, waiting by the phone from 7:30a until 9:30a, when he finally…