Pain Troll

Trying to keep the pain-troll at bay is like fighting a non-stop barrage of gun warfare with a sling-shot.  Or in my case, an increasing number of non-effective medicinal “remedies” that do on the whole, nothing significant.  Pills chasing patches chasing pills.  One pill to “help” another pill work more effectively.  What brilliant marketing.  The reasoning behind taking one to help another benefits (in my opinion) only one group of people; the pharmaceutical companies. 

It’s like Hallmark coming out with “Your Welcome” cards to send after someone sends you a Thank You card.  Where does it stop?  (I haven’t actually seen those, mind you, but I would not be surprised)  The doctors jump on the bandwagon and Voila!  Sales rise, but remedies remain the same.  But that’s not a problem for the drug companies to worry their little heads about. Profits, that’s the key.  The commercials tell you to watch out for little things like “suicidal thoughts or actions” and a host of other scary side effects spoken at hyper speed.   And the consumer gets on the phone to their doctor to request the magic bullet, which isn’t magical in the least.

Here’s the thing.  Millions and millions of dollars are being spent to research a cure for this or that disease or disorder but rarely are there significant breakthroughs.  Or if there are, they don’t trickle down to anyone except those that can afford them.  And there’s a reason for this.  If a cure were found for a significant number of health issues, what would happen to the doctors, nurses and hospitals that treat these health issues?  What would happen to the jobs health issues create?  And what, pray-tell, would happen to the pharmaceutical companies that tout the hundreds of thousands of pills out there?  I’m sure the lobbyists would come up with something, but you get the point.

With the exception of several drugs like antibiotics which did eradicate many horrible diseases (some of which are making a comeback; and because antibiotics have been used unnecessarily for years, they are now often ineffective) or insulin and others I am unfamiliar with, some of these drugs are about as effective as taking a tic-tac (I use that comparison for many of my “painkillers”).   It is beyond my understanding why there is nothing out there that is effective for neuropathic pain.  Enough people suffer from it in one form or another.  Isn’t it logical that something would be in development for that?   Because I’m here to tell you that Neurontin, Lyrica, Methadone, Fentanyl, Morphine and all the others I’ve tried don’t work well enough to let me roam the countryside in peaceful painlessness.  Marijuana is the ONLY thing that takes the edge off a bit.  But of course, one cannot go out and drive or even function very well on all these things.  So my couch and my bed are my only salvation.

I started the Lyrica two weeks ago and so far, nada.  Except that for the first week I was falling asleep within 30 minutes of taking it upon waking.   I suppose I could switch and take it at night; but I’m supposed to take it with the Neurontin in the morning.

And, my dad wanted to come visit me this weekend but between the pain and the worry about him getting here safely (the parking has become awful; and the whole parking lot is sloped so getting in and out of the car when you can’t move well is very challenging) I told him not to come.  He was upset at first, but we talked it out as we always do and he’s accepting it.   We all told him that he and I have to depend on others for getting us to and from each other, and both my brother and sister have busy lives;  taking a taxi is an expensive option, but one we may have to use if we want to see each other more than is reasonable for them to help.  The fact remains that I will see him more than I did when he was 1600 miles east of me.