Jimmy9212

Hi everyone..

With two - now three herniated discs the doctor keeps putting me on meds.. I have done everything non-opiate and opiate related. All I know is that I need to continue finding different things that help.. I'm back to withdrawals as I stopped and told the doc we have to figure out something else. He actually suggested CBD.. ha.

Anything for anxiety and depression??

MariahGayle

Many meditation apps, I don’t like all of them but have found the ones that are helpful....Morning & evening. Reading & committing to the practice of mindfulness helps.....not as easy as it sounds but I think a good practice for me with my anxiety & overthinking the best to you & good for you looking for alternatives for pain

CallMeJosh

Tough night.. restless legs.. they kick and jerk.. them arms..

CallMeJosh

I feel you Jimmy.. head up.. take it day by day.. hour by hour..

teatreeoil007

Jimmy: Ouch. Well, maybe you've already tried this, but I now take Cymbalta, an antidepressant for osteoarthritis pain in my knee. I may have to have surgery on it at some later date, but right now it's hanging in there. I bike which is really helpful and I try to keep my weight down to not put too much stress on the joints. So I watch what I eat and try to stay as active as possible. It seems to give me more grief during cold season.

Cymbalta is now also FDA approved to treat chronic back pain. If you suffer from depression/anxiety it is also helpful for that. One of my former co-workers suffered from depression real bad and she tried various anitdepressants....she said Cymbalta was the only one that worked for her.

AllOrNothing

Hey Jimmy I'm sorry to read of your pain. I'm wondering if you've tried physical therapy or yoga for pain? I agree with another reply about meditation for anxiety and depression. It's amazing how focusing on your breathing improves those symptoms. There is music on YouTube that is specifically for anxiety and depression that requires you to use headphones. The music has certain alpha and delta waves and music plays in one ear while the "waves" play in the other ear. You can find these by simply googling music for anxiety or for depression. Maybe both.

Other than that, if you're into supplements, or even essential oils, there are many that have worked well for myself and many others. It takes a little research but it's worth it.

I hope this helps, and if you want more info on supplements or essential oils, please let me know. I can share what works for me. Wishing you comfort.

teatreeoil007

Hi Jimmy. How's it going? Just checking in with you. AllOrNothing has some good suggestions. There are many different approaches to dealing with anxiety and depression and pain.

As far as your back problem goes....have you tried physical therapy. I'm guessing you likely have as that is something most Dr.'s will order for these kinds of things.

I've always been told by health and fitness minded folks that one of the very best things a person can do for their back is to strengthen their core/middle/abdominal muscles. I think that's very true. So, I don't know if you have a routine to do that or not, but it would be worth trying if you don't already do that.

Another thing is there are more and more pain management clinics operating today than ever as chronic pain is so common, including chronic back pain.

I was given a cortisone shot in my knee in Feb. I was in knee heaven for almost 3 months. But when it wore off it REALLY wore off. And then I could feel something knocking around in there. It's been bothering me for a long time. I went to a different provider who told me I have no cartilage left in my knee; no cushion, really and that I have "bone on bone" going on and I'm looking at needing a total knee replacement. He offered to give me another cortisone shot or get an MRI...I declined the cortisone because I see it as a temporary fix and can have residual side effects I don't want. But, that same provider basically said I'm "too young" to be getting a total knee. And I'm like...."how old do you have to be?" If you have bone on bone you have bone on bone and I've suspected this has been the case for awhile now. So....how long.....? I don't know. I'm going to ask this the next time I see him.

I don't want to take ppiate pain meds because I know how addictive they can be and if you take them on going you build a tolerance rather quickly so you have to take more and more and more to get the same effect. Then, when you are in SEVERE pain, it's hard to get good pain relief. I don't want that.

So, for me, the Cymbalta helps me "deal" with the chronic pain, even though it's not an opiate. I believe that chronic pain contributes to depression. I really do.

I also like water therapy. Cold therapy. Aroma therapy and meditation. One of the best things to help me meditate is music. Pick whatever music works...for me it's music that takes my mind off things.

tiredcat85

oh man I've been there. all the post by teatreeoil is very good. and the thing about glucocorticoid/cortisone injection is very true, it is very bad treatment long-term (though hydrocortisone as a medication is even worse).

when I had the worst pain I tried to stay away from opioids but it backfired and the pain took over my life, as bad or worse as taking an opioid did later, and the experience was so bad it "corrupted" me into accepting opioids much easier later. so it's very hard to handle...

the CBD oil I haven't tried but heard some good reports on it, mixed, don't underestimate it, it gets decent research. the problem is you need to find good seller because many of them sell garbage to people who take it half on faith and placebo effect because it's so popular now. maybe ask someone who used it a lot for details (not me).

if it's not enough (cause this is such hard problem) and you're stuck, you could try kratom temporarily. it's not going to be liked recommendation on this forum but is much less damaging and addictive than opioids. BUT I tried it too even the highest dose kratom wasn't strong enough for my pain, so ymmv. or temporary gabapentin/pregabalin probably help too.

NMDA antagonists can help with pain. most natural is very high dose topical magnesium gel (with amigel in the ingredients). but is not as strong as pharmas. there is also oral magnesium malate that help fibromyalgia but it can help other condition for pain. but watch out, after a long time it eventually deplete calcium/potassium/sodium and you get muscle spams, so don't neglect those.

natural/pharma GABA agonists can be good too but many have tolerance/dependency problem.

these two last ones help anxiety very much too! but only help depression a limited amount. depression is harder to fix, I have my own whole thread on it... good luck