Back from Pain Clinic

[araceli]

Hi everybody. Long time away from the forum. Sorry to read so many of you are having hard time.
We went to the pain management clinic and my son was evaluated by pain doc, physical therapist and psy. Pain doc says he has trauma in his coccyx, He believes all his pain in the back is because he does not exercise so he wants him to do exercise. Evaluation by Psy says that he is doing great, no need for counseling. P therapist found that one of his hips has rotated to the front,(again) so he will have to go to therapy to get in place. Any way, Pain Doc prescribed Lexapro for the pain, together with celebrex. lexapro is an anti depressant that is also used for pain. Side effects can be really bad so I am in panic mode, not sure about giving him that. I believed that when you have trauma in the coccyx you will need rest in order to get better. ???? Why his hip rotates if he does not do any sports, etc, etc. I want to believe that all his pains are due to his coccyx and when he starts to exercise all his pains will go away (including wrists pain). Please let me know what you think and if anybody tried lexapro.:confused2:

 

[Maya142]

My daughter has taken Cymbalta for joint pain but never Lexapro. She does have an official ankylosing spondylitis diagnosis though. She says she's not sure it does anything but rheumatology really wanted her on it.
I'm sorry, I can't remember, what did the ped rheumatologist say?
What kind of pain does your son have? Does it improve with movement? Is he stiff in the morning? Those are features of inflammatory back pain.
Given his sister's (and possibly his own?) Crohn's diagnosis, it might be worth getting a second opinion. We have been told that spondyloarthropathies are difficult to diagnose, the only reason we got a diagnosis so quickly is because my husband also has AS.

 

[Sascot]

I don't have any idea about the meds, hope they help him.
As for the exercise, I would do gentle things to start off. Swimming is always good, especially if you have joint pain. I was told once, that just walking up and down in the pool is one of the best ways to exercise.

 

[momoftwinboys]

Why his hip rotates if he does not do any sports, etc, etc. .:confused2:

Just throwing out ideas. Is it possible that one leg could be a tad shorter? When something hurts sometimes it can throw your gait off that causes other things to get off?

 

[araceli]

Thanks for your responses. Maya.. His pain is mostly in his coccyx, back and neck. He did have stiff neck but got better with celebrex, his pain improves with movement. His Dad also suffers from stiffness and back pain but does not have a Dx. Is your daughter HBL 27 positive? All of my son tests come negative. GI says he is on the early stages of Crohn's but is going to wait until he has a positive tests or symptoms to support a written DX. Ped. rheumy says tests don't show anything but she will not discard the possibility of AS. Sascot... We will start slow and see how it goes, I like the swimming idea. Momoftwinboys... I guess everything is possible, will see if after he gets his hip in place, how long stays there. I hope the find out why it happens. Thank you.

 

[Maya142]

My daughter is HLA B27 positive and so is my husband. I agree with the swimming idea, my daughter finds that it helps her a lot. When she's too tired and in too much pain I always have to convince her to go, but once she's in the pool she's able to swim for about half an hour, and always feels better after.
She also loves her heating pad for her back, it might be worth trying.
Could you try a different nsaid? It took us a while to find one that worked well and didn't make her nauseous.

 

[kimmidwife]

Araceli,
I second the swimming idea. I am sending you a PM.

 

[pipmom]

My daughter is on Celexa to help her cope with chronic perianal pain. Has really helped. More so is the addition of Elavil to help her sleep. Sleep deprivation increases stress = flare = remission failure.

 

[araceli]

We went to the Neurologist appointment today. Honestly I did not expect anything from this, we just went because pedi wanted us to go. Very nice guy and he read all his chart, it's huge. at the end he was intrigued by the intestinal granulomas and no other positive result on other test. He said the only thing to do is let the GI and rheumy figure out what it's going on. that maybe the crohn's is starting and it will take a while to show in other tests. Mean time he will want my son to have a better quality of life without pain and prescribe Gabaltin and Amitriptyline which are antidepresants and antiseizure medicines used also to treat nerve pain and fibromyalgia. I did not want to give him the Lexapro that was prescribed before, but it came to the same kind of meds. Physical therapy took forever to get it, he is going to start next year. I saw my son so frustrated today, He cried all the way home, saying he was tired of going to the doctors and no body knows what it's wrong with him. I never saw him like this before. I am so afraid he will really get depressed over time, that I am willing to try this medicines and hope for the best. On other note. We stop celebrex for one week to see if it make a difference, it did. While on celebrex his coccyx pain almost disappear and his neck was not stiff. After stopping it coccyx pain and stiff neck came back. Back, neck and other pains no change with or without celebrex. Unexpected thing is that he needed miralax to go to bathroom before I gave him celebrex. When he started this med his constipation disappear, The week I stop it he started having problems again. constipated and narrow pieces again. I think is weird because celebrex is known to cause tummy problems not to fix them. Anyway, wish me luck on this new treatment.

 

[Maya142]

My daughter has been on similar drugs for pain. They helped a little but we're not really sure how much since she was also put on Remicade at the same time.
What does the rheumatologist say about your son responding to Celebrex? The fact that his pain and especially his stiffness is helped by the Celebrex makes me think it's some kind of juvenile arthritis.
My daughter's biopsies also showed granulomas. She only had microscopic inflammation and they said it was early Crohn's and have been treating it like that.
Hope the meds work!

 

[araceli]

Hi Maya142. We are going back to Rheumy in February, so she will know until then. Same here with the granulomas, GI says is early Crohn's. Only thing he is taking for tummy is Nexium for reflux and miralax as needed. Thanks.

 

[araceli]

Update. After two months of waiting finally he started therapy. 3 weeks into gabapentin and amitripyne and already seeing good results, pain has decreased a LOT. Only bad thing is that is causing constipation. Is so nice to hear him say...Mom I almost have no pain today...this meds are really working. I feel like laughing and crying at the same time. Does this make me bipolar? LOL. Just wanted to let you know.

 

[Sascot]

Great update. Glad the pain levels are coming down!

 

[Farmwife]

I'm so happy to hear. I think we and they forget that most live pain free, as it should be.

 

[Maya142]

Great news! Hope he starts feeling even better soon!

 

[DustyKat]

Thanks for the update araceli. It is so good to hear your lad is having positive outcomes, long may it continue! :heart:

Dusty. xxx