Gave in to temptation..............

[Triumph]

Personally I'd call an ambulance Monday anyway, as you shouldn't need to be suffering to that extent. Do you have a date for your neuro appointment?

Thanks Triumph, I can walk to the kitchen, about 10yds but that distance is getting shorter daily. I'm expecting to be unable to walk by monday so will call an ambulance then.

 

[Mikton]

Hi Triumph, I wouldn't worry about having the occasional analogue cig, I did for the first 2-3 weeks after starting to vape, then I soon realised they did nothing for me in taste, nic hit or anything at all. I haven't even thought about having a cig in 2 months, they never cross my mind at all now, so stick with it, it will all come good I used to smoke 40+ a day and have been on 18mg juice (just thought i'd mention that, don't know what nic strength you use!), might be a nic strength issue ??

 

[Triumph]

Cheers for that, yeah, I think there's still a chance to save me from the dark side!

Im vaping 18mg mostly, but have some 24 too which I haven't really tried yet, I may have to try some if the urge comes back.

For me the thought of smoking was far better than actually doing it, as you say, the taste just doesn't seem that great anymore, pretty horrible in fact, so I'll hold onto that thought for if I'm tempted again.

i guess it's a huge lifestyle change for us that takes a bit of time for readjustment.

Hi Triumph, I wouldn't worry about having the occasional analogue cig, I did for the first 2-3 weeks after starting to vape, then I soon realised they did nothing for me in taste, nic hit or anything at all. I haven't even thought about having a cig in 2 months, they never cross my mind at all now, so stick with it, it will all come good I used to smoke 40+ a day and have been on 18mg juice (just thought i'd mention that, don't know what nic strength you use!), might be a nic strength issue ??

 

[Arctic_Wolf]

@Arctic_Wolf Thanks mate, appreciate it.
Sounds like you're often in a bad way too
i used to suffer with pretty severe spinal pain too for a few years, before I had an emergency discectomy, so I've got some idea what you're suffering, it really can be unbearable. fair play for keeping of the tobacco, it does take some severe will power at times.
ive been vaping 18 or 24mg liquids, but may have to get some 36mg in for tough times! Only trouble is, I have trouble sleeping if I'm vaping high nic juices at times, which I find odd, as I could smoke roll ups until I was blue in the face (and lungs?!) yet still sleep like a baby.

Ouch, sounds like you're no stranger to the problems spinal injuries can cause. Unfortunately yes, I'm too often in a bad way because of it.

Basically my L 4/5 disc exploded, it didn't help that it had been herniated for years, crushing the sciatic nerve into my left leg, permanently damaging that too. The surgery did as much, if not more damage than the injury itself, they really had to dig around to get all the internal and external bits of disc out when the disc disintegrated. They foolishly tried a repair discectomy after they'd dug all the bits of disc out, and that fell apart within months. Then they had to operate again, repaired what was left of the disc again, but they also had to put in a complicated array of pins and wires to attempt to stabilise my lumbar spine. It was all too late, the damage had been done, and I was screwed, in every sense of the word. I've been putting up with awful pain and several other problems because of it for many years now

I'm now bedridden all too often, and on top of all the permanent damage which is exceptionally painful, I have a condition called Adhesive Arachnoiditis which causes excrutiating nerve pain. At times I can barely move. There's nothing more they can do and further surgery isn't an option. As with others, I'm taking ridiculous amounts of opiate painkillers at extreme doses, all they can do is try to help me manage the pain. I'm taking fistfuls of various awful drugs all day. As Robzki has mentioned, it can get extremely depressing, which they give you more bloody drugs for, some days I don't know if I'm coming or going lol.

All ya can do is battle on through it all as best you can, what else can you do? Frankly I'm amazed I have got this far without tobacco, the opiate drugs they give me make cravings for nicotine even worse than normal, and I failed repeatedly to give up using conventional NRT. That's how good these vaping products are :-) .

The really good news is because my body has been compensating for the injury for years and years, the disc directly above is now beginning to degenerate too. That one causes pain into my right legs, so now I've got all that pain going into both legs.

Even if you don't really try the 24mg or use it much, keep a small CE5 or something with the stronger liquid just in case, better that than you reaching for your baccie :-) .

Unfortunately I am bedridden waiting for a neurosurgeon appt to sort another discectomy. I am on double dose ibuprofen, 600 mg Lyrica, codeine 5 times a day and the out of hours doc has kindly given me 100ml morphine. It still isn't touching the pain. I went to 2 health centres and 2 hospitals on monday and collapsed at the last one, none of them had a doc willing to see me. The last hospital which has just had a full rebuild to bring it into the 21st century turned out to be a nurses station only. If I wasn't feeling so sick and faint from the pain I would have been gobsmacked.

Hope you both get some pain relief soon as its pretty depressing.......however......haven't had the urge for a ciggie, not even once after 6mnths away from one I really haven't wanted one once. The 36mg must be doing something

Hang in there too Robzki mate, it's not easy I know.

Call an ambulance mate, you really should be under observation on a ward if it's that bad. Even if they keep you in for a week then elect surgery, at least you might get somewhere, and if you're about to seize up again, which you probably will, you're going to need help and the appropriate medications to deal with it.

Hope they sort something for you soon :-) .

 

[Robzki]

Hang in there too Robzki mate, it's not easy I know.

Call an ambulance mate, you really should be under observation on a ward if it's that bad. Even if they keep you in for a week then elect surgery, at least you might get somewhere, and if you're about to seize up again, which you probably will, you're going to need help and the appropriate medications to deal with it.

Hope they sort something for you soon :-) .

Thanks for the kind words from all, Yeah, I'll give it until tomorrow and will probably push to be admitted. It gets excruciating at times, sounds nothing like you have been through Articwolf, I had a discectomy 5 years ago but after dragging their heels for so long I now literally drag mine, I have no feeling in the back of my right leg and have lost 30% of my calf muscle. I have very little push with my right foot so I have a limp. The pain has always affected my right leg but this is now in my left leg but it is going exactly the same way but worse. As soon as I get out of bed my left leg 'buzzes' right down the back and the the pain gets unbearable. Within a few steps I can hardly walk and pretty much completely lose the use of it. It is also numb all down the back and under my foot. While lying down I can get the pain down to a 3/10 but the front of my legs go numb. Pretty depressed tbh.

Thanks again for the supportive words, and as bad as it sounds it is nice to know that others have been in a worse place

Rob

 

[Arctic_Wolf]

Thanks for the kind words from all, Yeah, I'll give it until tomorrow and will probably push to be admitted. It gets excruciating at times, sounds nothing like you have been through Articwolf, I had a discectomy 5 years ago but after dragging their heels for so long I now literally drag mine, I have no feeling in the back of my right leg and have lost 30% of my calf muscle. I have very little push with my right foot so I have a limp. The pain has always affected my right leg but this is now in my left leg but it is going exactly the same way but worse. As soon as I get out of bed my left leg 'buzzes' right down the back and the the pain gets unbearable. Within a few steps I can hardly walk and pretty much completely lose the use of it. It is also numb all down the back and under my foot. While lying down I can get the pain down to a 3/10 but the front of my legs go numb. Pretty depressed tbh.

Thanks again for the supportive words, and as bad as it sounds it is nice to know that others have been in a worse place

Rob

Not good m8 (. I know exactly what you mean with the muscle wastage and weird pains and sensations that go into your legs. How your foot and the back of your calves can go completely numb and freezing cold whilst at the same time the back of your leg feels like it is on fire, and it feels like someone has shoved a broken bottle into your back and is twisting it about. I can't walk now without sticks or crutches which really winds me up, I hate the damn things and I'm always dropping them which makes things worse, AAAAGGGGGGHHHH lol.

At least you can get a little bit of comfort and relief if you're getting your pain down to 3/10 sometimes, there may be some hope for you :-) . I haven't got my pain under 6/10 for years, even with the huge doses of several different opiate painkillers, but the trouble is I've been taking so many opiates for so many years at such high doses, I'm now tolerant to them, so the doses get higher and higher. Most days I'm averaging 7/10, the worst, the full 10/10.

As you say it gets very depressing. I have to take additional drugs to deal with the reactive depression and chronic pain syndrome and some days you just wish you could curl up into a ball, some days you want to go outside and start howling at the moon lol, other days you might be OK.

Anyway, the point is, if we can give up smoking through all of the problems we have, then anyone can :-) .

You guys take it easy and hang in there :-) .

 

[Triumph]

Blimey, it sounds like you`re really going through it i really feel for you.

Is there no further surgery / anything to help ease this at all?

I guess you are testament to how good vaping products are compared to the other NRT products you`ve tried through hard and trying times.

Ouch, sounds like you're no stranger to the problems spinal injuries can cause. Unfortunately yes, I'm too often in a bad way because of it.

Basically my L 4/5 disc exploded, it didn't help that it had been herniated for years, crushing the sciatic nerve into my left leg, permanently damaging that too. The surgery did as much, if not more damage than the injury itself, they really had to dig around to get all the internal and external bits of disc out when the disc disintegrated. They foolishly tried a repair discectomy after they'd dug all the bits of disc out, and that fell apart within months. Then they had to operate again, repaired what was left of the disc again, but they also had to put in a complicated array of pins and wires to attempt to stabilise my lumbar spine. It was all too late, the damage had been done, and I was screwed, in every sense of the word. I've been putting up with awful pain and several other problems because of it for many years now

I'm now bedridden all too often, and on top of all the permanent damage which is exceptionally painful, I have a condition called Adhesive Arachnoiditis which causes excrutiating nerve pain. At times I can barely move. There's nothing more they can do and further surgery isn't an option. As with others, I'm taking ridiculous amounts of opiate painkillers at extreme doses, all they can do is try to help me manage the pain. I'm taking fistfuls of various awful drugs all day. As Robzki has mentioned, it can get extremely depressing, which they give you more bloody drugs for, some days I don't know if I'm coming or going lol.

All ya can do is battle on through it all as best you can, what else can you do? Frankly I'm amazed I have got this far without tobacco, the opiate drugs they give me make cravings for nicotine even worse than normal, and I failed repeatedly to give up using conventional NRT. That's how good these vaping products are :-) .

The really good news is because my body has been compensating for the injury for years and years, the disc directly above is now beginning to degenerate too. That one causes pain into my right legs, so now I've got all that pain going into both legs.

Even if you don't really try the 24mg or use it much, keep a small CE5 or something with the stronger liquid just in case, better that than you reaching for your baccie :-) .



Hang in there too Robzki mate, it's not easy I know.

Call an ambulance mate, you really should be under observation on a ward if it's that bad. Even if they keep you in for a week then elect surgery, at least you might get somewhere, and if you're about to seize up again, which you probably will, you're going to need help and the appropriate medications to deal with it.

Hope they sort something for you soon :-) .

 

[Arctic_Wolf]

Blimey, it sounds like you`re really going through it i really feel for you.

Is there no further surgery / anything to help ease this at all?

I guess you are testament to how good vaping products are compared to the other NRT products you`ve tried through hard and trying times.

Thanks m8. It's not been easy, that's for sure. Just have to keep going as best as you can though. No, they dare not risk any further surgery due to the adhesive arachnoiditis and other complications. It's all extremely complicated, but no doubt, if you had a discectomy as well, then you have some insight as to how troubling it can all be.

I've been like this for Years, struggling along. All they can do is try to manage the pain and the psychological issues that go with awful chronic pain. Not always, but usually Summer makes things a bit easier, Winters and cold and damp weather are absolute hell, I'm thoroughly relieved we've finally seen the end of a very long Winter.

I'm now taking eleven different prescription drugs per day as they try to manage the pain and other issues, and then I wonder why I feel like my arse is going to turn inside out and start talking to me lol.

I was a little bit concerned that some of the eliquids might cause problems with some of the drugs, but it can't be any worse than the multitude of crap in real tobacco right? So far all I seem to be getting is a little dehydrated from them, so the old kettle and coffee machine have been working overtime too lol.

I'm just glad to have found an alternative to tobacco at last :-) .

 

[Triumph]

I was just having a read up on adhesive arachnoiditis, as to be honest I've not heard of it before, and it does sound pretty awful.

Summer time seems to have a good effect on quite a few ailments, I think psychologically it helps too having warmth and seeing a nice sunny day as oppose to what we get 98% of the time in the UK, dreary grey cold nastiness!

i imagine e-liquid contents are the least of your concerns, and as you say, it's pretty unlikely that anything in them is going to be worse for you than all the crap they put in tobacco. Damn that sir Walter Raleigh!!

yeah, I was getting pretty dehydrated too, it does seem to suck me dry, but I can happily live with that as seemingly the only downside.

Thanks m8. It's not been easy, that's for sure. Just have to keep going as best as you can though. No, they dare not risk any further surgery due to the adhesive arachnoiditis and other complications. It's all extremely complicated, but no doubt, if you had a discectomy as well, then you have some insight as to how troubling it can all be.

I've been like this for Years, struggling along. All they can do is try to manage the pain and the psychological issues that go with awful chronic pain. Not always, but usually Summer makes things a bit easier, Winters and cold and damp weather are absolute hell, I'm thoroughly relieved we've finally seen the end of a very long Winter.

I'm now taking eleven different prescription drugs per day as they try to manage the pain and other issues, and then I wonder why I feel like my arse is going to turn inside out and start talking to me lol.

I was a little bit concerned that some of the eliquids might cause problems with some of the drugs, but it can't be any worse than the multitude of crap in real tobacco right? So far all I seem to be getting is a little dehydrated from them, so the old kettle and coffee machine have been working overtime too lol.

I'm just glad to have found an alternative to tobacco at last :-) .

 

[Arctic_Wolf]

I was just having a read up on adhesive arachnoiditis, as to be honest I've not heard of it before, and it does sound pretty awful.

Summer time seems to have a good effect on quite a few ailments, I think psychologically it helps too having warmth and seeing a nice sunny day as oppose to what we get 98% of the time in the UK, dreary grey cold nastiness!

i imagine e-liquid contents are the least of your concerns, and as you say, it's pretty unlikely that anything in them is going to be worse for you than all the crap they put in tobacco. Damn that sir Walter Raleigh!!

yeah, I was getting pretty dehydrated too, it does seem to suck me dry, but I can happily live with that as seemingly the only downside.

Adhesive Arachnoiditis and Arachnoiditis are extremely rare if you view it as a percentage of the populous affected by it. Even doctors start reaching for their text books to look it up when I'm in consultation with various medical professionals. If I'd had a choice not to have the surgeries and other treatments that may have contributed to causing the condition, I might have said no; unfortunately I wasn't that lucky and choice was a luxury I simply didn't have. Even if I didn't have it I'd still be struggling with problems and the pain might have been more bearable, but it's all academic now anyway. Yup, you're right about warmer weather being a psychological boost, especially in the UK.

It's all relative though in the end IMHO. I know how Crohns can affect people, it has some absolutely terrible symptoms and I don't know how I'd cope putting up with that, it's a bloody awful disease. It's not like you have life any easier Triumph.

Not too worried about the slight dehydration at the moment. What is concerning me is going through a period of time when I am bedridden and can't hydrate properly. Will maybe have to put a fail safe in place for that just in case. Getting badly dehydrated taking the prescription meds I'm on could do some serious damage. I still think it's worth the risk though.

Lol @ "damn that Sir Walter Raleigh". James I saw to it that good old Sir Walter got his in the end though huh? Lol. Did you know that he said of tobacco; "It was my companion at that most miserable time"; Even back then they immediately reached for the tobacco under times of stress. If he hadn't bought tobacco back then someone else would have in the end. It's amazing how humanity has continually found differing means to cause harm or kill each other in countless ways despite the instinctual drive to live for as long as possible. If that isn't reverse Darwinism at work, then I don't know what is lol :-) .

P.S. Is your name taken from Triumph motorbikes, do you ride bikes?