Hurting and at work...

[Guest guest]

AAARRRGGGHHHH.......I know there are a lot of us here that HAVE to work

pain or no pain. Tonight is a bad pain night for me and i work 12hr night

shifts!!!

So here i sit at my work station waiting for my Methadone to " kick " in and

gently rocking back and forth in my chair....silently praying that the meds

kick in quickly!!! I just want to scream!

I'm sure many of you can relate.

[Guest guest]

,

I can relate to what you're experiencing. I too work 12 hour shifts,

but I'm on my feet for 10 1/2 of that, working in die maintenance at

an aluminum extrusion company. When I was deployed to Mississippi,

this past September (supporting Katrina relief operations), and my

ankle got the better of me about 3 weeks in, the doctor at the Camp

Shelby Troop Medical Clinic prescribed 50 mg tramadol and 500 mg

naproxen, both to be taken twice a day, or as needed. When I started

my current job in October, after returning from Mississippi, I decided

that my best bet to stretch my finite supply (no refills, since I'd

got them during a short term deployment) was to take them only once

per shift...right after lunch, 6 hours into the shift. Otherwise, I

simply put up with whatever pain and swelling occured, until I'd taken

a tramadol and naproxen.

One night, while I was off my feet during lunch, my ankle got to

feeling better, and I thought I'd be able to make it the rest of the

shift without taking my meds. I was wrong on that one, as during my

drive home (I only live about 10 minutes away, if that) my ankle was

literally screaming. Now that I once again have another prescription

for 50 mg tramadol and 500 mg naproxen, from my last visit to my

clinic at the Indy VA medical center for a check-up, I'm able to

properly medicate to where I can make it through the whole 12 hour

shift relatively pain free. I'll take a tramadol and naproxen about an

hour before my shift starts (6:00 p.m.), then again after lunch

(midnight), and that schedule makes a huge difference in going a whole

shift without pain, versus putting up with it for half of the shift. I

still do get some break through pains, sometimes from my right knee or

5th metacarpal of my left hand, if not from my ankle, but usually they

abate about the time I really start to take notice.

I have a neuropathy in my left hand, due to an injury, and my right

knee has several injuries that make themselves known, from time to

time. 2/3 of the medial meniscus was removed from my right knee, and I

also have excess scaring inside the arthroscope wound in the upper

lateral side of the knee cap from an injury just a few hours of

returning home from the Indy VA medical center, after the surgery.

Also, I have a Baker's cyst on the back of the knee, near the lateral

side. Now and then, the internal scar moves about and gets pinched

between my knee cap and fibula, but there's not really much I can do

about that, as it'll eventually move from between the bones. Pretty

much, I know what's what when my knee gets to hurting a bit, by where

the pain is in the knee. And since I've been on a regular regimen in

taking my pain medications for my ankle, I've experienced the

possitive benefits of my neuropathy also being kept in check...a pain

that I'd simply just put up with, since the injury that caused it in 1997.

I have a March 9th appointment with the Orthopedics Clinic, at the

Indy VA medical center, and from there I should start getting proper

treatment for my chronic ankle sprain. Since I'd originally sprained

it in September 2003 (inverstion sprain, in which my heel went past 90

degrees inverted), at the end of my 2 weeks of active duty training

with my Army National Guard unit, I've never really got proper

treatment for it. In just a year afterward, I've already developed

osteoarthritis enough that it showed on x-rays taken in September

2004. As I told my GP, when I was at the VA med. center for my

check-up and he'd asked me how my knee was doing... " My knee does

pretty good, but it's my ankle that gives me fits. My ankle gives me

more trouble (pain) than my knee, and the knee's the older of the two

injuries. "

Hopefully you don't have too many nights, like you described. You

didn't mention how often you're supposed to take the methadone, but if

it's twice a day, maybe a regime like I've worked out would work for

you. By the time I start my shift, I'm ready to go for 6 hours without

worrying much about pain. Then " at half-time, " I take another tramadol

and naproxen, and am ready to go for another 6 hours. My regime isn't

entirely " bullet-proof, " however, since most pain meds only last 4-6

hours, so I do have some nights where that in between period can get

interesting. Maybe discussing what you've related, here, with your

doctor can be of some help, in getting you through a 12 hour shift

without pain.

Matt in Indiana

> So here i sit at my work station waiting for my Methadone to " kick "

in

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

,

Yep, I can relate. I work full-time M-F. Boss totally HATES it when I have to

be gone, so I just don't be gone. After three major reconstructive cervical

surgeries in 9 months, he told me " your job is in jeopardy " . So no

more 'procedures' for me either, I can't afford to lose my house. So we just

deal with it, pain or no pain.

Hang in there, tomorrow's another day.

Tammie

***************

AAARRRGGGHHHH.......I know there are a lot of us here that HAVE to work

pain or no pain.