Jeff Ledee
Message 1 of 1
Hi everyone, I am new to this site and am so glad that I found it. From what I've read, everyone here has seemed to be so caring with each others questions and answers, that I've decided to post my own question(s) and experience(s). I have been having mild to moderate pain in my left leg from the hip area down to my knee and lower leg for some time now. I was told to go to an arthritis doctor who had me take an x-ray of the left hip. He told me a few days later that he DID NOT see anything there and he doesn't understand how and why I am having pain. I told him, do you think that I'm here just for the fun of it and to look at you, NO, I am here because I am suffering and need something done about this as soon as possible. Well, needless to say, with his type of attitude, I went somewhere else. I live in the Jacksonville, Florida area and found a good doctor at the Mayo Clinic. Right away, they had me do an MRI and some scans and x-rays and sure enough, there it was, AVN in the 3rd stages. BTW, I brought those x-rays that the arthritis doctor said that there was nothing there and even when I saw it up on the board at the Mayo Clinic, I could even see that there was definitely something there that just did not look right. The ortho specialist also said the same thing and explained it to me more in detail. Anyway, he did diagnose me with AVN/Osteonecrosis and said that I should consider having the hip surgery as soon as possible being that it is in the 3rd stages and not far from the 4th stage. I told him that I would like to have it done sometime towards the end of September 2001. I saw him on the first week of August 2001. In my case, I've never taken any kinds of steroids, or drank or had any kinds of diseases that could've caused this. The only thing that I can remember is that back in 1983, I had a bad fall which broke both my left and right elbows and wrists. But nothing to the left hip that I can recall. Anyway, the doctor was reluctant to give me any pain medication because he wants to make sure that from now to the time of surgery, I do not tolerate myself to pain meds so that when it's needed after surgery, it would not be as effective. He said for me to try advil and/or Tylenol to see if this helps in the mean time. Are you kidding, it was like taking sugar pills. Nothing OTC helped at all... I can understand what he means but however, the pain is still there now and I need something more than just regular Tylenol, Advil and stuff like that. So I talked him into giving me Darvocet N-100. I have taken this before for other pain related issues in my life and I don't think that, that medication really helps a whole lot. Especially with this kind of pain and where it's located. I tried it for about 10 days and when I went back to see him, I told him what was happening and he said ok, let's try Ultram 50mg. I've never tried this before but from what I have read basically, it seems that this medication, Ultram, is a step down from Darvocet rather than a step up in pain control. hummmmm... I'm wondering why he would do the opposite??? I can see if I told him that the pain was not as bad and he stepped down but now since the pain has increased as time went on. I dunno. Does anyone think that, that is a step up going from Darvocet N-100 to Ultram 50mg or a step down??? I just like to get anyone's input on this and of course it would be greatly appreciate. Thanks for letting me go on and on and on but this is my first post and I wanted to make sure that you all understand where I am coming from. ohhh one more thing, I was thinking of maybe going to a pain center to see if they could help me with something stronger and more beneficial to me at least until I go into surgery. What do you think??? Thanks sooooooooo much again... I'm scared so I'm doing my best... PS Sorry if the message is too long...