any success with medication long-term?

[sfmcfar]

Hi,

I wanted to ask the group if anybody has had reasonable success over a long period of time with medication for their back pain. I took pretty high doses of Vioxx for three years, and could function pretty well as long as I was on it, but of course can't take it anymore. I tried Flexeril for a while but it made me so loopy-headed I had to stop it.

Sometimes I think I could get by w/o surgery if I could find something to take that would knock the pain down just a notch or two.

thanks,

-stan

[Harrison]

Stan,

The question for me was not how many pills could prevent me from having surgery -- but how much injury am I doing to nerves by NOT having surgery?

As it turns out, things were pretty "messy" when I finally did have surgery. So it's a good thing I did, as it took a lot of time for the muscles, nerves and ligaments to get back into balance. A year later, things are still finding their way...

[NCFUSED]

Something else to think about, what damage are you doing by taking these drugs long term (side effects such as heart damage, liver and kisney damage, etc) then having surgery.

[Poncho]

NCFUSED & Harrison - excellent points to make.

Stan, are you in with a pain management physician currently? I was in similar shoes regarding chronic pain re: surgery vs medication. I decided to go into pain mgt until I could figure things out. Perhaps, this would help you.