United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I've been in sever pain since 10-04 due to damage to C4 and avulsion of C5 thru T1. Tried lots of meds, with best results from 30 mg methadone 3 times/day but still had many, many bad pain days - until 3 weeks ago when the anti-inflamatory drug Bextra was added to my diet. Since then I haven't had a single episode of bad pain, and I've reduced my methadone dose to 20 mg.
I know a 3 weeks trial isn't long enough to be certain, but because I know some of you are as desperate as I was, I wanted to share my experience now.
I'll let you know if the good results last. Hope this helps someone else.

Glad to hear this Sandy! Keep us posted!

Court xo

Sounds wonderful Sandy. I am certainly going to ask my Pain Management Doctor when I see him next. Thanks for the info and keep us posted!

Sandy -

Great to hear that you have found something. Are there and ill effects of the drugs? What dosage are you taking? I understand if you would rather not share your dosage. I have what sounds like a very similar injury as yours. I have a root avulsion at C5,C6,C7,C8 and T1. I have lost total use and exterior feeling in my right arm, hand and shoulder. I have been through exploratory surgery, nerve relocation to return function to my biceps as wel as Arthodesis to fuse my shoulder in place.

Currently I am taking 4800mg / day of Nurontin, 80 mg / day of Methadone, 200mg of Provigil to stay awake and something else that I can't remember the name of to help me sleep. My pain has been extremely severe for the last few months to the exten that I have been staying awake almost 24 hours a day because I can't get comfortable enough to go to sleep.

I am glad to hear about the anti-inflamitory that you have found and I alredy have a call into my pain management doctor to see whathe thinks about me using it.

Thank you for posting your results.

S. Travis

Sandy -

Great to hear that you have found something. Are there and ill effects of the drugs? What dosage are you taking? I understand if you would rather not share your dosage. I have what sounds like a very similar injury as yours. I have a root avulsion at C5,C6,C7,C8 and T1. I have lost total use and exterior feeling in my right arm, hand and shoulder. I have been through exploratory surgery, nerve relocation to return function to my biceps as wel as Arthodesis to fuse my shoulder in place.

Currently I am taking 4800mg / day of Nurontin, 80 mg / day of Methadone, 200mg of Provigil to stay awake and something else that I can't remember the name of to help me sleep. My pain has been extremely severe for the last few months to the exten that I have been staying awake almost 24 hours a day because I can't get comfortable enough to go to sleep.

I am glad to hear about the anti-inflamitory that you have found and I alredy have a call into my pain management doctor to see whathe thinks about me using it.

Thank you for posting your results.

S. Travis

Nice to meet you, Steve. No I don't mind sharing the doseage - it's 20 mg taken once a day. The info that came with the drug lists upset stomach ache, diarrhea, and head ache as side effects, but I have'nt had any problems at all.
As I said before, I also take 20 mg of methadone 3 x per day. And like you I take Provigil, but just 10 mg. I have'nt had any surgery, though. Alan Friedman, who's suppose to be one of the best neurosurgeons in the country, said nerve grafts, etc., wouldn't work because of my age(54 at the time of my accident). Oh well.
Sandy

Sandy,
I'm 28 yrs old and like both you and Travis I have avulsed C5, C6, C7, C8 & T1. To make my life a little more complicated I also lost the otherside arm and shoulder in the accident. My accident was almost 2 yrs ago and I now am only taking Nurontin. I was also till recently taking an anti-inflammatory called Celebrex, but it didn't help with the nerve pain. I recently tried to reduce my dosage of Nurontin with not much success. My Dr has since told me that it is still to soon. But will it ever been any different, that's what I want to know? I hope it continues to work for you. Is it a drug that is safe to be on long term?
Bye from
Gayle

Hi Gayle, a "little more complicated!" - please, I don't think you can give yourself too much credit, your additional injuries would drive most anyone to dispair. Just the fact that you are still here makes me admire you tremendously.
I am obviously not a doctor or a pharmacist, but sort of thinking out loud, I wonder if it's the combination of the anti-inflamatory with methadone rather than another kind of pain drug that makes it so helpful; my pain doc explained that methadone has specific properties that make it especially effective against nerve pain.
Whether it can be used long term is a good question, thanks for bringing it to my attention. I will be sure to ask my doctor at my next appointment.
As to whether things will ever be better for you, of course no one can say for sure. But I've read messages here from others who say that for some people, the pain does ease up a lot after 2-3 years, and may even go away. And that gives me hope.
Sandy

Hi Sandy,
I have read your story regarding Bextra with great interest and have asked all my doc here in Australia about it and they can't find it. Would you be able to let me know the actual drug in it as Bextra must just be the brand name. Are you still getting relief and is it safe to stay on long term?
Thanks for your help.
From
Gayle Shann

Australia

Hi Gayle
Bextra is also known as Valdyne and is actually a NSAID called valdecoxib. Here's a site about it
http://www.arthritis-pain-cure.com/bextra.htm
if you type 'Bextra' into a search engine you get lots more similar sites. I tend to ignore the manufacturers own website as they usually have less info about side effects, or minimise them somewhat.

I can get this in New Zealand so I'd think you would be ok in Aus. NSAIDs have never worked for me, but we are all different and it might work for you. Hope this helps :0)
Jen NZ