Friday 11 July 2008 – Loss of weight

It has been a while since I last published to the blog, in that time I was prescribed Tramacet by the hospital, only to be ‘overruled’ by my GP who increased my Tramadol dosage and introduced Paracetamol. After a mix up at the Pharmacy, whereby another GP apparently changed the prescription back to Tramacet, I am now a just over a month into taking Tramadol and Paracetamol.
My Back pains today were, for the first time in a few weeks, excruciating, despite not having done too much to aggravate it.
I am now on the maximum prescribed by my GP and if things do not improve over the next day or two I can see myself making another appointment to see the GP

Still playing bowls and managing to get down to the allotment, neither of which has been too strenuous.

Oh, and I have lost 2 stones in weight, that’s 28lbs, in just over a month. I don’t think this is connected to the Tramadol but I am keeping my eye on it. I did need to lose a pound or two, even I have to admit I had become a bit of a Fat Bastard!

Tuesday 27 May 2008 – TENS machine usage

It has been a week now since I have been using the TENS machine, sometimes it has been quite effective, however without the use of Tramadol, which I have been taking again now for a week, I would be in total agony.
I have begun to resign myself to the fact that I probably never will be rid of the pains in my back and since I had put great store in the Pain Clinic being the answer to all my woes I have no idea where to turn to next.
I will be seeing my own doctor within the next week or so and the company doctor on June 2nd so I am hoping either one of them will be able to point me in another direction soon.
In the mean time it has been intimated that I may be offered acupuncture at the hospital, it has got to be worth a try.

Tuesday 20 May 2008 – TENS machine appointment

Two days after taking Amitriptyline I was once again agonizingly poorly and it was then that I realized I had been prescribed this medication previously in January and it was stopped then because of its affects on my system.
I have also stopped the Tramadol as this is also affecting my well-being and may be reacting badly with my Gastro-Resistant capsules.

I now have an appointment arranged for today at the Pain Clinic for the TENS machine and I have spoken to a Sister Nurse [Helen] on the phone about the problems associated with the medication mentioned above as she will be fitting me with the TENS machine later.

Wednesday 14 May 2008 – Pain Clinic

Back to square one!

Yet another course of tablets and an inconclusive prognosis of what is causing the pain, although the consultant like everyone before him has decided it is best treated as being a result of the lobectomy scar tissue, even though he believes it not to be.
As you can imagine I am feeling pretty low at this stage as I had put a great deal of faith in them not only being able to diagnose the problem but also treat it conclusively, which would not appear to be the case. Once again it is trial and error.

I shall become even more vocal with my opinion on what it is I need and how I expect things to progress from now on.

I have another appointment on July 30th 2008; although I can count myself lucky on this one as I managed to get in on a cancellation otherwise it would’ve been 2009 before being seen again.
In the meantime I am to stop taking the Pregabalin and continue with the following regime:
Amitriptyline HCL 10mg [Increasing to 20mg] one dosage per night. I have also been prescribed Tramadol 50mg Sustained Release Capsules to be taken twice a day.

I am also waiting an appointment for usage with a Tens machine at the hospital and I have made another appointment to see the company doctor.