Stubborn trigger points (Ramana's Case)

[ramana]

For the record, Effexor did increase pain. I stopped it and had horrible withdrawal effects for a week. Curiously enough, had a very good month after stopping all medications due to the horrible withdrawal effects. Now the pain has started again. (wonder what made the pain go away)

[Jay]

Just a layman's guess, but it may be that the severe withdrawal effects served as a distraction for your nervous system.

I've suffered my entire life from migraines, the kind so severe as to make you vomit. Whenever I get one, my pelvic pain symptoms almost seem to disappear, but they return as soon as the migraine episode passes. Strange thing, the human body. :)

[ramana]

My symptoms have been pretty much under control for some months. I went to a session of craniosacral therapy just to see if it would be useful and help me finish off the remainder of symptoms.I was anyway skeptical about it as the lady barely touched me. She claimed she worked on the psoas muscle. A day after the session, abdominal pain (kind of a new symptom started). I am not sure if it is correlated to the therapy session but I cannot find out any other reason for this new symptom. Since then the pain has increased and I have started having breathing problems because it is a pain when the belly goes up. Steam (ayurvedic treatment) or infra red heating pad help assuage the pain. I have scoured the boards and no one seems to have this problem. Any inputs on how to resolve this

[superuse]

I really don't know how to get to the psoas without touching much. It is buried deep in the abdomen running from each side of the lumbar vertebrae down to the tops of the thighs. (unless she just worked the insertion points there) This is the main muscle that brings the chest to the thighs during situps (not primarily the abs).

My guess would be hot baths /showers and finding/working trigger points along the full length of the abs from insertions in the ribcage down to the crotch. Insertions under the ribcage can be gently searched also.

Another option is just relaxing in the hot bath a few days and seeing if it goes away. Glad you are feeling better,

[ramana]

It is increasingly apparent that craniosacral therapy is doing something ... unfortunately adversely affecting it more than helping out. I have am retracing the symptoms that started from abdomen and have spread back to the rectal area. The learning that has come out is that there something on the left abs is radiating pain to the entire area. CST itself sees so harmless, almost quackery but I am really surprised by the effect it is creating. After every session the pain changes from under the ribs to down to the rectal area, so it must be doing something.

[superuse]

How long does a session last and exactly what is performed in cst?

--jjf

[ramana]

CST sessions lasts about an hour. The initial attempt is to align the cranial bones gently. Then the therapist will work on the sacral and the problem areas. In my case, the lady could pinpoint that there were trigger points on the abs (by a very gentle touch). Yet it only flared up the symptoms.

[ramana]

Pain management suggested zoloft. First day it caused sleeplessness leading to headache. I then took it with 1 mg lorazapem. I was able to sleep for 6 hours but now have nausea and still tiredness owing to lack of sleep. I called up pain management doc. She said amitryptline and zoloft have the same mechanism of action when it comes to pain so I should try amitryptline (25 mg). I had earlier tried it 4 years ago without much success though the pain is a whole lot less now.

My question: Is it worth quitting zoloft or should I persist and hope that the symptoms go away. I haven't seen much success with zoloft

[webslave]

Drop Zoloft, go Elavil (amitriptyline).

[ramana]

So in the past 4 years I have tried the following medications
Elavil
Lyrica
Baclofen
Neurontin
Effexor
Ativan
Lexapro
Valium
nexipride
tramadol
methadone
opium and belladonna suppositories
Tylenol
Vicodin
Wise Stanford/Wise-Anderson Protocol, Botox Injections, heating pad, ayurvedic, homepathy , vitamin D supplements, variety of other supplements etc.
I was almost pain free for several months and I was looking forward to putting this behind me. However, the resurgence has made be look around for solutions again. I continue to do yoga /meditation. Apart from that is there any medication that I have not yet tried.

[webslave]

Try new drug silodosin 4mg, an α1-adrenoceptor antagonist with high uroselectivity.
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=7607

Can't hurt. Give it a few months before giving up on it, if you try it.

You can also try Viagra
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4440

[ramana]

Thanks webslave. I am still trying to get this drug.
Came across this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeT60Z3Q ... re=related. Is this a scam or a product that is really useful?

[ramana]

Thankfully both tramadol and NSAID help a bit at this pain level. I got a couple of hours of relief. Given that NSAID can cause stomach problem, should I consider tramadol for long term use (once a day)

[ramana]

I am on 25 mg Elavil and going to 50 mg in the next few days. The target is to reach 100 mg. On these boards, people have not reported anything beyond 50 mg. If there is success, then it is seen until 50 mg and not beyond. I am wondering if it is beneficial to go to 100 mg or should I try something else (though that something else is still a question)

[superuse]

I have read reports of success with something called Marinol, or a possible close cousin Sativex. Cesamet may be another one or they may be just the same drug under different names in other countries. It may be a synthetic form of the THC found in cannabis. It might be prescribed for cancer and MS patients. Seems it may hold more promise than the marijuana smoking or med marijuana as that has a rather mediocre history.

If you really were pain free for quite some time that is impressive. You may want to go light on the yoga (more belly breathing, meditative, less intense stretch stuff) if not dump it totally. Personally I've read of too many people flaring themselves up with aggressive stretching and enough people doing yoga before onset to really seriously consider it part of a solution.

With the amitriptyline I've heard of doses of 300 + mg but that may be for depression. Big high doses should be closely monitored. Due to side effects you may have to work up to 100 mg or so with a pill cutter and 10mg -20mg steps over time

good luck
--jjf