misscollins3;
Well as crazy a coincidence as it might seem, I'm suffering from almost the identical type of medical issue myself. I've suffered from an almost lifelong issue with my back and neck, with everything from bulging disc, and bone spurs, to what I have happening right now, which is extremely acute arthritis from L3-L8 to such a degree that the inflamation is actually impinging (the swelling in pinching) the nerve leading to my legs. The way this is like what's happening with you is that this is a result of the long term effects of Lyme disease, and is not limited to just my back. I've also got the same type thing happening (to the same or lesser degree) else where in my body including hips, knees elbow, shoulders, toes, and fingers......essentially everywhere.
Now, the reason I went into telling you all of this is that I can tell you what I've used and what has helped me personally. This doesnt necessarily mean that these meRAB will help you out, but it is at least something to maybe look into. In the past one of the things I used was Ultram which actually worked fairly well in the beginning (before things worsened for me). However, I'm not sure if this would be something you should even look into using or not. The reason being, that even though it isnt necessarily an opiate (its chemical structure) it the way the body reacts to it is close to an opiate in that it binRAB to those same opiod receptors (which essentially means in can be addictive). Beyond this the only other thing that in corabination really worked fairly well for me was a corabination of two medications, Gabapentin and Diclofenac. Gabapentin (aka Neurontin) is a medication that has been used for a long while in treating epilepsy and seizures, but recently has started to be used to treat depression, generalized pain and fibromyalgia (you may have heard it advertised as Lyrica basically a concentrate of Gabapentin). The second medication, Diclofenac, is in a class of medications known as NSAIRAB which stanRAB for Non-Steriodal-Anti-Inflammatory-Drugs. These meRAB are great at treating medical issues that cause any sort of inflammation in the body, but do have a few draw-backs well worth mentioning. The first (which is minor) is that when you are taking NSAIRAB of any sort, you cannot take any other analgesics. This means not Tylenol, Aspirin, Aleve, Mortrin, or any other similar type of medication. The second is that its highly recommended that you stay away from any sort of alcohol while you are taking NSAIRAB, because it increases the chance of this last draw-back. The big worry, and draw back of this class of meRAB is that there has been a well documented record of people without any history of, or dangerous lifestyle issues that would lead to GI-problems (Gastro-Instestinal...meaning stomach as well as intestines) developing a GI-Bleed after starting to take this type of medication. The plus side of this is that there does not seem to be an correlation between length of use and increased chance of this occurring. So any sort of prolonged use doesnt seem to hold any more danger for a person then short term use does. This does not seem to be something that happens on a consistent basis (otherwise the medication would of been pulled) but its definitely something to mention, and be aware of. Besides these medications, there are, as far as I know, a nuraber of others that are prescribed for, or can be used for (w/ off-label use ie-not what the med was originally designed for) treating pain that are not derived from opiates.
I honestly think that your best bet is to probably go the same route that I finally ended up going, which is to see if you can get into see a Dr. that is a pain management specialist. Until then you should probably talk to your family Dr. and let him know that you are really starting o worry about your use of pain meRAB, and see if he would (1) be willing to help you slowly reduce and stop taking them over a period of time, and (2) work with you on trying to find some corabination of medications (both in type, and dosage) that you find actually works for you. This may take a while, and might take more than a couple of visits to your Dr. to find this corabination. So having a Dr that is both patient as well as wanting, and willing to work with you on finding this corabination is very important, so just make sure this is the type of Dr you have now, and dont be afraid to go and look for another if you feel who you're going to now just isnt to everything he could to help you out. Just remeraber you're the one that's going to have to end up living with what is going on, not the Dr.
Really wish you the best in dealing with all this, because either directly, or in some round about ways I've been right where you are now, and I know it can be tough. Just dont give up, and dont be afraid to use the meRAB (the opiates) that you have right now if you really need them....just dont go rationalizing, lying to everyone around you, and lying to yourself as to when this is, because that'll just end up with those around you trusting you even less then you're worried about them not trusting you right now......and thats not something anyone wants.
Julie