No more meds
 

Hi everyone and happy holidays to you, one and all,

Last year, just about this time, I stopped taking Lyrica/Neurontin but still needed Celebrex which I thought I'd have to take for the rest of my life. Well I just tried getting off again and voila, I don't need it anymore, 3 years after my 3 level Prodisc. I still have my 'as needed' patches, pain and muscle relaxer meds which I take whenever needed but on an everyday basis, I no longer take any spinal med, at least for now.

The only sticky wicket... I have these terrible headaches since stopping the Celebrex. Does anyone know if this is a withdrawal symptom? It's been about 5 days.

Happy New Year, Dale

That's great, Dale!
 

That's awesome, Dale.
How is your nerve pain? Has it resolved much, or are you learning to live with it better? Mine continues to torture me.
God Bless,
Jeff

Hi Jeff,

The nerve pain has diminished to a livable level. Touching my leg still bothers me and probably always will. On bad days I'm not above taking whatever meds I might need, especially at night and preemptively use the patch if I know I'm going to be standing or sitting a lot, or watching my grandchildren, etc. I've learned to love that lidacaine patch.

I'm sorry you're still tortured by that damned nerve pain. I know there's no escaping it. I used to just want to rip my leg off.

Have you tried accupuncture? Never thought I'd be recommending it. I wouldn't have thought it would work but was recommended by my pm and boy, was I surprised. I could probably still benefit from more but it gets expensive.

I hope 2009 brings you the relief you want.

Dale

Great news, Dale!
Have the headaches been diminishing?

Wow Dale... what wonderful news!

Jeff... sorry you are not getting relief. Let's talk soon.

Mark

Yes, the headaches are diminishing in that Advil finally helps but I'm still getting them, more than 1 week after stopping the Celebrex.

The bad news is that my leg is beginning to pull and ache. I'm guessing it just took a few days for my body to rid itself of the Celebrex. Right now, even though I'm experiencing more discomfort, not exactly pain, than I'd like, I really prefer not taking the Celebrex and am leaning toward putting up with whatever I have to. However, if it gets any worse than right now, I'll have to reevaluate. The long term side effects are weighing in more than the pain.

Actually, I'm grateful that I have these problems because before my surgery, there was no life. I had no choices and now I do :)

Happy new year, Dale

Congrats for getting off the spinal meds. It's heartening to know that your nerves are healing.

Hope your headaches go soon.

Just think, another year from now, and pain levels will go down even further.

Happy New Year.

Welcome to the otherside of life
 

Congrats Dale!! welcome to the otherside, yes the headaches are normal
i had the same, thought i wanted to bury my head in a pillow for days on end, they will subside! this is great news!!
gary:D