I Lived Too Long

Mitch86

Mitch86

Member
Location
Connecticut, USA
My geriatrician took an x-ray of my spine 6 months ago and found it infested with arthritis. It happened because I reached 86. My spine is badly twisted in my pelvic area and the neck. It radiates pain 24/7 to my feet, legs, arms and hands. So far pain medicine including opiates cannot stop the progress. Only natural death will end my suffering. It probably is true that all organisms die after living too long and their bodies start to disintegrate. Natural death solves the increasing problems we encounter as we age.
 

I hope your geriatrician isn't being over-cautious with your pain medications. At 86, doctors should treat the pain effectively instead of fretting about possible long-term addiction.

My mom had severe back problems; arthritis and general wearing down. She was 81 when her doctor finally prescribed morphine tablets 3 times per day. It was like turning back the clock for her. Finally the pain was quite tolerable.
 
Murrmurr said:
I hope your geriatrician isn't being over-cautious with your pain medications. At 86, doctors should treat the pain effectively instead of fretting about possible long-term addiction.

My mom had severe back problems; arthritis and general wearing down. She was 81 when her doctor finally prescribed morphine tablets 3 times per day. It was like turning back the clock for her. Finally the pain was quite tolerable.
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You hit the nail on the head. My geriatrician is away until this coming Monday. I'll ask him about Morphine.
 
Mitch86 said:
You hit the nail on the head. My geriatrician is away until this coming Monday. I'll ask him about Morphine.
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At an advancing age, I would think that a good doctor would have few objections to prescribing a strong pain medicine to help make the days pass better. However, before taking such medicines, a person should be sure that they have someone nearby to help them with their daily activities...feeding, bathing, etc.
 
Mitch, I agree you deserve the help of a pain specialist physician. Do they have a pain clinic in your area. Addiction, too much medication, is not a concern here in my opinion. Getting your pain better is the ultimate goal. And when you are taking medication for real pain, again IMO, addiction doesn't happen anyway.

I'm so sad for what you are going through.
 
Pepper said:
The doctors have to deal with the legal restraints placed upon them. My doctors tell me they are constantly scrutinized over what they prescribe.
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Agreed Pepper but when someone is being treated for severe pain, I think there is a way around it. And with Mitch's diagnoses and test results he clearly qualifies for high pain control medications. There is justification for prescriptions.
 
@Remy
Not where I live. I am in chronic pain and must go through a series of doctors and other treatments before prescriptions are allowed and then the doctor is limited on how far they can go with medicating. They are watched and regulated and fear for their licenses. I have been told that many, many times by them.
 
Pepper said:
@Remy
Not where I live. I am in chronic pain and must go through a series of doctors and other treatments before prescriptions are allowed and then the doctor is limited on how far they can go with medicating. They are watched and regulated and fear for their licenses. I have been told that many, many times by them.
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That's true. When a doc finally decides to prescribe a controlled substance, the patient must sign an agreement to follow the directions, keep them in a safe place, and not give any of them to another person. There's nothing to it, it just takes a while to get to that point. At Mitch's age, it shouldn't.

@Mitch86 - you need to be insistent about stronger pain medication. Also, when they ask you if you're depressed, it's important you answer "No, but the pain is almost intolerable!" And it would help to tell them you don't want to "go" before your wife does. They ask about depression because they don't want to prescribe your suicide tablets.

Good luck, bud.
 
@Murrmurr
I say "The only thing that's depressing is living with this pain!"

Here, the patient does not have to sign an agreement, which is so stupid, don't you think?
 
Pepper said:
@Murrmurr
I say "The only thing that's depressing is living with this pain!"

Here, the patient does not have to sign an agreement, which is so stupid, don't you think?
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I wonder why? That's interesting, because I think it's a federal requirement. The agreement goes to the DEA. Or that's my understanding, anyway.

Doctors get extra scrutiny after that agreement is in a data base, and it causes them more paperwork and monthly reporting. So some doctors will just let a patient suffer to avoid the disruption. (what happened to "do no harm" ?)
 
All the regulations on pain killing drugs are ridiculous. In Belgium any European can visit any of their emergency rooms and get euthanized if they can produce an EHIC (European Health Insurance Card). In Switzerland thousands come from all over the planet to get euthanized JUST FOR PAIN. Restricting pain killing drugs makes no sense. Even in this country ten of our states have a limited form of euthanasia. I have a signed form from Vitas Health Care showing I was TERMINAL in October, 2018. An attorney told me he could rent me a house in Vermont and get a doctor to euthanize me if I can produce the Vitas form. Certainly pain killers of any sort should be allowed without restrictions. They are NOT intended to kill.

I was diagnosed by a doctor giving me an x-ray of my spine as having arthritis of the spine which causes pain and impairment in my feet and legs. That diagnosis could get me euthanasia if I traveled to Switzerland. Certainly pain killers should be allowed freely to those with diagnoses of very painful conditions like mine.
 
Mitch86 said:
All the regulations on pain killing drugs are ridiculous. In Belgium any European can visit any of their emergency rooms and get euthanized if they can produce an EHIC (European Health Insurance Card). In Switzerland thousands come from all over the planet to get euthanized JUST FOR PAIN. Restricting pain killing drugs makes no sense. Even in this country ten of our states have a limited form of euthanasia. I have a signed form from Vitas Health Care showing I was TERMINAL in October, 2018. An attorney told me he could rent me a house in Vermont and get a doctor to euthanize me if I can produce the Vitas form. Certainly pain killers of any sort should be allowed without restrictions. They are NOT intended to kill.

I was diagnosed by a doctor giving me an x-ray of my spine as having arthritis of the spine which causes pain and impairment in my feet and legs. That diagnosis could get me euthanasia if I traveled to Switzerland. Certainly pain killers should be allowed freely to those with diagnoses of very painful conditions like mine.
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I agree 100%.

On morphine or similar strong, effective pain reliever, the only thing you'll get addicted to is the relief. And it's utterly ridiculous to worry about addiction when the patient is a geriatric.
 
Irwin said:
Anti-anxiety meds might help.

https://www.practicalpainmanagement...se-antidepressants-multimodal-pain-management

https://www.mayoclinic.org/pain-medications/art-20045647

Sometimes our emotional response to pain causes us to suffer more than we need to. If we suppress the psychological response to pain, that can alleviate some of the suffering.
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My doc Rx'ed an anti-anxiety med so that we wouldn't have to increase my pain med (I want to keep it on a low dose for as long as possible), but it disturbed my sleep, slowed me down and gave me brain-fog.

It works very well for some patients, though. I just don't like the side-effects.
 
I also use distraction to try and reduce my pain. I go to a chat room called Politics - 97 at the Internet Chess Club. Folks "troll" there 24/7 with all kinds of fascinating discussions. It also reduces my pain. If you do go there, my handle there is MitchW. Message me there if you try it. Today at dinner I upped my dose of Acetaminophen-COD#3 (Codeine) from two to three pills at dinner. Originally I took just one pill at dinner. When that stopped working, I upped the dose to two pills at dinner. Earlier today I upped the dose to three at dinner and I'm trying to stay awake to midnight since less sleep seems to also reduce pain explosions. I'll see if I can get through this night without the usual pain explosion which just last night hit level 8, base 10.

I look at life as if it was a game. In the end we all lose anyway, we die. However, each additional year we last is a win in the game of life.
 
Pepper said:
The doctors have to deal with the legal restraints placed upon them. My doctors tell me they are constantly scrutinized over what they prescribe.
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Same here.

Pepper said:
@Remy
Not where I live. I am in chronic pain and must go through a series of doctors and other treatments before prescriptions are allowed and then the doctor is limited on how far they can go with medicating. They are watched and regulated and fear for their licenses. I have been told that many, many times by them.
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Ditto again.

They’re more interested in their licenses than helping people.

Originally over prescribing was stopped because of street drug addicts. No problem for them, they can still get all the drugs they need legally.

Mitch86 said:
However, each additional year we last is a win in the game of life.
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It shouldn’t be a painful battleground.

Your mind is sharp, Mitch. Your body shouldn’t have to suffer.
 

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