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What are you taking for constipation?

Narcotics pull the magnesium out of the gut this causing such wicked constipation.

Often by the time you realize you are blocked up it's too late to effectively treat with just stool softeners.

So here is what I tell my total joint patients to do.

1. Make sure you are getting a gallon of water a day. Yes a gallon. Yes just water.

2. If you haven't pooped or if your poop is extremely hard consider using a fleet's enema to unclog the dam.

3. Get good old Milk of Magnesium. It replaces what is sucked out and often gets you going again without cramping and pain.

The poker pain is nerve pain which makes me feel even more strongly about physical therapy.

I injured my shoulder severely about 10 years ago. I basically had the earth fall out under me and landed straight down on my elbow. Thought for sure I had tore my rotator cuff. Couldn't raise my arm over my head at all for a few months had zero overhead strength after that and had constant pain. Went to therapy on recommendation of my Rheumatologist. I have a major neve entrapped. Working with the PT for a month (this was 9 mos after the initial injury) she was able to use ultrasound massage exercise and deep tissue stimulation to free it. No surgery was needed. I have full range of motion. Slightly decreased overhead strength. And a fun popping in the effected elbow whenever I straiten of bend that elbow. The orthopod wanted to do an exploratory surgery and possible repair. Nope not needed.

Oh and yah MRIs suck. I have had brain ones where not only are you in that tight tube but a cage over your face. My back ones aren't as bad but none are fun. I meditate. Otherwise I would need drugs. I do have clostraphobia.

What are you taking for constipation?

When I was taking the tylenol 3's I also took one 100mg docusate sodium with them.

ER doc gave me two 5mg Bisacodyl tablets to take to clear me out. Which really didn't work. I finally went after two days of not going but it was still...a challenge

I'm now on one 500mg Naproxen twice a day.

One Cyclobenzaprine 10mg tab three times a day and one 5mg morphine tablet every 4 hours As Needed. *I have only taken them at night when I cant sleep.

I have stopped taking the T3.

About an hour after taking the Cyclobenzaprine I feel dopy, dizzy and I have a bad case of the gitters. Heebie jeebies like my body is crawling with bugs. It's awful. ...the dopy dizzy feeling is listed as a side effect but not the gitters heebie jeebies.

The hot poker pain is in three spots. Sometimes all three, sometimes just the top ans back. Right now it's hurting on the outside of my arm coming into my shoulder through the biceps. Pain gets worse if I turn my head to the left. Constant ache throughout entire left side up my neck and into my head as well as down my arm.

Wearing the sling or keeping my arm bent at the elbow causes pain down my arm into my hand to be intolerable. It also increases the numbness and tingling I feel in the last two fingers.

I am bad for not drinking enough water. I have increased that (still have an upset stomach).

I'm all for an enema if I dont start going without pain.

So still no results from the MRI yet. My doctor doesnt have the report....sheesh.

I haven't been sleeping well at all. Have been having weird feelings of gitters. Read up on the Cyclobenzaprine and found that "unusual nervousness or restlessness (severe)" is listed as a sign of overdose.

I have been taking it as prescribed. One tab three times a day. I even spread it out 4am, 12noon and 8pm so they are eight hours apart.

Spoke to the pharmacist and she said about 3% of people have irritability while on this med and to stop taking it until I see my doctor.

When I have slept I have had dreams of being back in the MRI machine. Only this time I do panic and a nurse comes in, gives me a shot in my hip and that's when I wake up.

..Hey Dragn..

Sorry to read of your latest health challenges..

My recent experience with MRI was certainly no fun, the loud thumping and banging, high and low frequency stuff, the helmet and having to keep still..

I must say that your spelling skills in the drug department are awesome!!

Get well soon eh!

smy

I must say that your spelling skills in the drug department are awesome

Ummm I read the medication off the bottle to be honest lol. I had all the meds out when speaking with the pharmacist. Typing it out was easy. Saying it...not so much lol.

Good thing the pharmacist was able to open my file and see all the meds I'm currently taking.

So, no muscle relaxant taken last night and I actually slept...but I can feel how tense the muscles are at the back of my shoulder again. Everything is tight. Ended up taking a morphine pill at bed just so i could lay down.

Omg if I had my head in a helmet while in that machine I'd go nuts.

Wh wanted to watch Die Hard last night and the scene where hes in the air vent....I said to wh that theres more space in that vent then there was in the MRI machine. He rolled his eyes and said oh get over it ....figures.

Oh gosh, I’m sorry you have to go through all this compounded with the fact it’s so close to holidays that it tougher to get appointments. Plus if you celebrate any of the holidays around this time, this makes it tough to get what needs to be done, done.

I know how right those MRI machines are. I hope you are done with that and they won’t need a second one.

I'm kicking myself now because this injury happened in October. I should have left wh to the nurses as he wanted and gone back to the ER to have myself checked after he got admitted. At least I wouldn't have suffered for three months. Doc office said to call tomorrow and see if they have mri results. Hopefully they do.

However, even if they recommend surgery I wont be doing that until the new year. I cannot handle holidays right now. Me. Hospital. Wh left to deal with kids Ha! Ya not happening.

I've been trying to orientate wh to the ins and outs of the household but hes being a stubborn ass.

DD requires a daily injection. I've been trying so hard to get her and wh on board with them doing the shots if I cannot. No luck yet.

Little M is on a daily allergy medication which her doctor says has proven to keep other kids with allergy induced asthma from having attacks and needing their puffers. This IS important. Wh cannot remember to give it to her on the nights I'm out grocery shopping.

I've been praying that another MRI isn't required. I haven't had anxiety about hospitals in years but I've been very uptight about that and the prospect of surgery and being put under general anesthesia. Last time I was I woke up very very sick. I've actually been reading up on regional anesthesia in order to ask about staying awake. I dont want a repeat of how sick I was. Knowing that uts an option has helped calm me down and I know I'm putting the cart before the horse so I just need to be patient and wait for the results before getting all panicked.

1. It is absolutely criminal that you do not have results back.

2. Would you just stop about surgery? Seriously, cart way before the horse.

3. Glad you figured out you didn't tolerate the cyclobenzaprine, that is a really uncommon side effect. Maybe the dose was just too high since you are so small.

Keep hounding the Dr's office to get some answers.

Thank you Tush!

I will be calling the office first thing tomorrow since it will have exactly a week since the MRai and the doctor should have the report.

I know. Cart before horse is bad. I just like to be totally informed and ready way beforehand. I have always felt overwhelmed and talked down to by doctors (especially those concerning DD) so being informed helps me feel that my rights and power isn't totally taken away.

To high a dose is what I was thinking about the Cyclobenzaprine. The side effects I was feeling correlated to what was listed for overdose symptoms.

I do notice a difference in how my shoulder feels without it. Very tight. Left shoulder is up higher than right. I dont know if I'm unconsciously holding it up due to the discomfort and pain or if it's just so tight it's doing it on it's own.

Wh wants me to just go back to the hospital.

I got the pain meds even though I dont like taking them I am surviving for now. Dont think ER would do anything more since I already had mri.

Like I said the waiting is my own fault for not taking care of me when wh was in hospital. I should have seen a doctor way before when I did.

Not sure if I mentioned it but the ER doc felt around and touched a part of my collar bone which made me jump due to pain.

My mom freaked out when I told her. I fractured that collar bone as a child.

Tush if I had done the same again would the fracture have healed by now? Fall happened Oct 16th so at least 8 weeks ago.

Even with the morphine the pain is above a 5 most days. Urgent care doc had asked what I had tried for pain relief and when i told her the mix of OTC drugs i was taking...at the same time she totally freaked out lol.

There is some crazy stat that like over 50% of kids break a collarbone at some point. Even if it was a rebreak the pain should be better by now, a bone fully heals in 6-8 weeks. If you are keeping it partially immobilized then it would start healing, and pain would decrease.

I am still sticking with there is some sort of nerve impingement, and that's why the pain is so dang bad.

So when you get the results, you need to ask questions.

1. Do I need to see an Orthopod to have it evaluated.

2. Can I go to PT, to help with this issue?

3. Will a steroid injection into the bursa/joint help to alleviate the pain I am having, and how soon can I get that done?

Lastly I would encourage you to ask for some help from a kid or your H to use some sort of liniment on the whole joint area up to the base of your neck, across your scapula, and over to your spine. You should try doing this at least at bedtime and in the am. You can also try Salon Pas patches. (Not the lidocaine ones, just the plain old menthol ones).

I had to look up "liniment".

Woukd the cream brand named A535 be equivalent?

Wh puts that on most nights for me. The warming feeling eases the pain a bit.

I was reading on online about the difference. Between a neck issue and shoulder issue. But I have symptoms from both sides. I'll try to look that up in a bit.

A couple things: keeping my arm in a sling increases the pain down my arm and the numbness in my fingers. I haven't worn it alot.

When you say nerve infringement are you saying a pinched nerve? And exactly how is that fixed? Just PT.

Gotta get something in my stomach before I take the naproxen or I end up with an upset stomach.

Also going to call doctor and see.if he has MRI results so my next post might have that update.

Liniment - Ben Gay, Salon Pas, Biofreeze, Icy Hot.

Thanks.

I went to the pharmacy web site and they have icy hot. I searched but didn't find Ben Gay or the others.

I'll either go tonight if the weather isn't bad when wh gets home or go tomorrow. He will be home early as they are shutting down and having their Christmas lunch.

Ugh.

Doctors office says MRI report of shoulder came back normal. No issues. She scheduled me to see family doc this Monday suggesting maybe an ultrasound....what exactly will that show that the MRI didn't...

I've already taken a morphine pill this morning and it hasn't touched the pain I'm in. On a scale from 1-10 its staying at least a constant 6-7 with the stabbing pain hitting the 10 mark easily.

I really didn't want to wait until Monday.

Call them back and tell them that, and ask the questions I gave you.

If the MRI is normal and you pain is 7 there is clearly an issue that shouldn't wait until Monday.

DragnHeart, bummer that you went through the MRI and didn't get any diagnosis. It may not be something your insurance would pay for, but honestly, I would be looking into an acupuncture session. Amazingly, it seems to work to relieve nerve pain.

Example: our dog was so terribly crippled, a vet neurologist thought he had a nerve tumor or spinal compression for sure, and said nothing could be done. Just to give the old dog some relief, I asked a vet who does acupuncture to treat him. The next day, he was starting to trot again after a month where he could barely move, his legs would criss-cross behind him, and collapse from under him, he'd gotten weaker and weaker, and seemed in constant pain....it was nothing short of miraculous!

I will call them back when the office opens after lunch (yes they actually close).

I'd go through another MRI if this time it meant getting an answer.

The chiropractor clinic in town does diagnostic work plus acupuncture and massage therapy as well. Unfortunately they do not have any available appointments until next week.

Currently my concern is just getting through the weekend. The morphine just makes me feel dopey without relieving the pain. Maybe two pills would work but then I'd be useless lol. The head, neck pain is fuckibg annoying. The stabbing in the shoulder in three spots feels like someone is playing pin thr tail on DragnHearts body with a hot metal stake. If I keep my arm bent at the elbow my fingers tingle and go numb and the arm aches.

Dragn, have you had a CT scan of that area?

I ask because there are some issues that are better picked up by a CT scan rather than an MRI.

I have a cyst on my kidney, been there forever, no big deal, right?

Until a new doctor comes into the mi, and freaks out because the MRI shows some weirdness on my kidney and heaven forbid I might actually know what I'm talking about, being a lowly nurse and all

So they insist I get a CT scan that tells them what I already knew.

Also, holy crap on how long it took to get the results! I had an MRI Tuesday morning and got the results Tuesday afternoon!

Your pain description sounds exactly like my frozen shoulder....I’m not medical in any way, but that is how I described it to a T. Have you looked at that possibility?