When My Doctors Would Not Help With My Pain

 

    After my major spine surgery I was sent home with 20 percocet. I was instructed to take one pill every six hours for pain. If you calculate the instructions that would be five days of pain medicine. I had a tumor removed from my spinal cord, 4 lamina removed from my thoracic spine with no hardware replacing it. My Serratus posterior superior muscles was cut through (upper back major muscle) and four nerve roots were also cut through in order to get to the tumor. To this day I still have CSF leak in my spinal cord as well. While in the hospital ( two days in ICU and 5 days afterwards) I was given dilaudid for the pain. When I am discharged 5 day supply of percocet and then I was on my own.

    I called my neurosurgeon's office asking for help. I was told to take 1000 mg of acetaminophen every six hours, 800 mg of ibuprofen every four hours, valium for muscle spasms three times a day, and the ever so wonderful gabapentin three times a day for nerve pain. I had a fear of taking that much acetaminophen and ibuprofen my kidneys and liver were just going to shut down. It has been almost two years since my surgery and my team of specialists still ask me why I am not taking those two medicines every day! 

    I tried medical marijuana and for me it just was not a good fit. I tried smoking it, vaping it and edibles. I felt it did help with the pain but for me no matter what strain I tried I wanted to eat afterwards. After being on gabapentin and gaining weight from that useless medication (for my condition) medical marijuana was not a good choice for me. 

    I started to research different natural remedies to help with pain and inflammation. White willow bark was the first one I came across on my journey. The short story of white willow bark, it was used for centuries to help with pain and inflammation. I decided to buy it from a reputable herbal company in powder form and make my own capsules. This way I could control the dosage and I know exactly what is in my capsules. It is compared to aspirin, in fact the compound salicin that is found in white willow bark was used to develop aspirin in the 1800's. For me, it has a slow start but once it kicks in it seems to last pretty long. If you have a reaction to aspirin or you are on blood thinners I do not recommend taking white willow bark. 

    I looked into other things such as turmeric, ginger and black pepper. I read so many articles about turmeric and black pepper that are great for reducing inflammation and pain. Turmeric's curcumin has strong anti-inflammatory properties itself. The best part is it is all natural! Black pepper has a compound called piperine. It has been shown to help with nausea, inflammation and headaches. When you combine turmeric and black pepper it is a powerful duo that may help with pain and inflammation. I made a tincture and also included ginger to it as well. Ginger is also great for inflammation. Every morning I take 1-2 ml of my tincture with water and start my day. I have noticed such a difference in my pain levels since doing this. It does not eliminate all of my pains it does however make it tolerable. I am no longer miserable and constantly crying once I get up in the morning. Sometimes I take it twice a day if my pain levels are rising. The weather really affects my back. Once I start to feel it coming on I will take another dose of my tincture. 

    There are so many natural remedies out there, you just have to research and see what works best for you. I will continue to journal my personal experiences and what I find works for me I will write about it,