Hello.

[JerryC]

1171,

Sorry, I did not mean to appear ungrateful. The medication at times makes me irrational and turns me into an ass at times. I lash out without even realizing I am doing it. I apologize for my post and just wanted you to know that I do appreciate your help.

Jerry

1171 Wrote:your post and those that respond are read by many others.
what is "worthless" for you may help others.
be well.

[JerryC]

Spring,

Regarding men. My wife would agree with you 100%!! Thats why she goes to every appointment. I agree, guys don't tell the doctors everything. I am a perfect example of that. When a doctor asks me how I feel, I tell them exactly how I feel right then. When they ask if there have been any problems, my mind tends to play down any problems I had and so the doctor hears a, no not any real problems from me.

LOL!! I don't sleep! Well that's not entirely true. Since the accident I average about 2 hours a night. I have tried every sleeping pill on the market and just about every prescription pill they make. They all have the same effect. I sleep very hard the first night, then it tappers off to zero effect from take the pills after a few days.

No, I can't take care of the yard. In fact its starting to look like a freaking jungle. I can't even tie my shoes let alone push a lawn mower or use a weed eater. The bushes in front of the house are 12 feet tall instead of the normal 6 feet. I can't climb a ladder, which sucks because I used to use one daily for work. I cant even cut a steak, which really upsets me.


Jerry

Spring Wrote:Jerry.
<snip>

[JerryC]

Sparkey,

If I could take it I would. Part of the reason that we are trying to find alternatives to the oxycontin is that I have to take the anti nausea medication they give to people in chemo. I do not react well to medication. I have horrible nightmarish hallucinations when I go above the 15 mg mark on the oxycontin or I take anything like morphine.

I was on morphine in the hospital; the day I woke up was really bad. I still have nightmares about those hallucinations. Imagine the first thing that you see when you wake up is someone hanging in the corner of your hospital room. It was much worse than that, but I wont go into it here because I am simply afraid of the images.

When I kept refusing to open my eyes they asked me and I told them what I was seeing. From that point on I wasn't given anything but normal over the counter pain medications. I didn't start the oxycontin until I was at home and we started with the smallest dosage you can get.

Jerry

sparkey Wrote:I really hate to push drugs but, Methadone 20mg a day was the only thing that took away my pain. Also it is not as bad as taking the other drugs you say you are on. If i did not become allergic to that, i would still be on it today. Personally i wish they could fix me, but they left me to heal on my own with permanent injuries. I myself have the same trouble you are having. As far as the burning part, have they checked you for RSD? Read up about that. Look for the symtoms, and read as much as you can about it. There is alot on here with that, so you may be able to get help from them. Good luck, and i feel your pain.

[jayne]

I thought I was the only one who did weird crap like that....my favorite was a muscle relaxer (flexiril)that had me believing there was a bird sitting on my lampshade just waiting for me to open my eyes so it could peck them out....My husband knows which meds freak me out better than I do...cuz he has to hold me down-up-or just hold me thru them.

[JerryC]

Pooh,

My biggest problem is that I want my hand to work again. I can't even get the fingers to straighten out properly and I have been working on that daily since my first OT appointment.

I couldn't remember the name of the other drug I take, but it's amitriptyline and I take 200mg of that per day.

As far as exercise goes I do what I can for the arm. Basically just keep it from getting stiff since I do have full range of motion with it. For the hand, I do finger excercises as well as use silly putty and try to squeeze it. Not that it does much aside from melt in my hand, but at least its something. For my back I do 40 crunches in the morning and 40 at night. I gained so much weight while I was down and I have been trying to get rid of it, but it doesn't want to leave. I feel like a bloated wart hog


I have tried using ice packs for the burning, but it doesn't help. Well that and I am a wimp were cold items are concerned. I complain constantly when I have anything cold touching me. Which is really wierd since I married my wife who is in fact a human ice cube.


Jerry

Pooh Wrote:Jerry

<snip>

[JerryC]

Lilly,

A funny story. When I arrived at the hospital the doctor came in and was talking to one of the people helping to get my clothes off. The person was looking everywhere on my body. The doctor asked what she was doing and her reply. Looking for his S, because he should be dead. Now I don't know if that's a true story, its just something the trauma doctors told me.

As far as being tough goes. Nope, I am just lucky and I heal fast. Well that and that fact that I keep telling my wife I am immortal. For some reason, I still don't think she believes me.

The depression I can deal with, really I can. Its just that sometimes when the pain is really bad and the medication isn't helping, all I want to do is die. Then I realize that I have my family and I have to take care of them.

The impact the accident had on my kids was almost enough to send me over the edge. My oldest wouldn't come to the hospital to start with. She was afraid I would be dead when she got there. My other daughter freaked out when she saw me the first time. I was completely black and blue at the time. My boy was ok, he just had to make sure I was still alive and then he was fine.


Jerry

Lilly Wrote:<snip>
Take care, prayers going up for you! Lilly

[1171]

Understood.
message boards/emails are very weak in supplying context. Most often when we think we are "hearing" criticism, anger, or disapproval etc. we've misunderstood.

Most here have/give a lot of patience/understanding because they know there will be times when they've jumped the gun and will need the same from others. i know i have.

[jayne]

ahhhhhhhhhhh crap 1171 twice in one day I have agreed with you....this has got to stop......cuz aint nobody gonna believe it

[Pooh]

Jerry

Have you tried using rubber bands and using them to stretch the fingers and strengthen them? Did they show you any exercises with them? I found that they really did help me.

If your still in contact with your OT or PT person they may show you a few if they haven't yet. At least my PT goes over new exercises with me when I need to move up more or I want to check and see if I can do them on the bowflex.

I understand how frustrating it is not being able to do things you used to do, because of limitations. It takes a while to get back to where you can do those things and lots and lots of exercises. Some of the other things I have used for my hands are clay - you know play doh works wonders - it is also softer and you can do more things with it to get more dexterity built up. Those exercise balls for the hands. You may want to start out with a small nerf ball at first and build up - anything that will let you get a chance to move your fingers more.

My son also had lots of legos so I had all of those to try and build things with.

Sounds like I went into a 2nd childhood didn't it ....... lol But you know what it helped and most of the stuff I had on hand since I had a kid at home.

I think I ended up with about 20 lbs in my right hand when all was said and done and about 40 in my left - so I lost about 10% in my left hand and about and about 60% in my right hand as far as grip strength.

Dropping things are part of life but eventually you know what you can and can't pick up and there are still days that things you normally can pick up that you can't pick those things up. Like I said you make adjustments to your life.

Sounds like your also taking a high dose of the amtriptyline. How is your blood pressure doing? That is one thing you have to watch on that medication. I was on a similar drug in the same class for a while and eventually it threw my HBP totally out of wack and my PCP had to double my bp medication and then ended up adding another medication as well. Then out of the blue I bottomed out totally on my BP and have been of my medication now for about 2 yrs.

[chrischris]

Jerry, I know that if I don't constantly keep my fingers moving they stiffen up and I can't open my hand. It has become a habit, but some habits are good. I also get trigger point massage on my upper extremities. It helps a lot. Just massaging your hand might also help.

Talking about medications. A while back when my panic attacks were really bad, my doctor put me on some type on anti psychotic medication at bedtime. It knocked me out, but..........my husband said one night I sat up in bed and just started meowing, and then kicking my legs, and the meowing got louder and louder OMG! Well I tried the medications the next night, and I woke up curled up in a ball on the floor by my bed. No memory of anything! So, I quit taking that med, even though it was the best sleep I have had in months.

Edited: Wow, that wasn't the pic I posted so I deleted it. I could have gotten myself in trouble with Admin if they saw it! That's what you get when you copy a pic from an unknown source. My bad!