My Mom has chronic pain everyday and pain management didn't help. Any advice?

Thanks Anissa. Mom has seen a palliative care doctor for pain management but to no avail. She was going to a chiropractor but that didn't help either

See if there is a palliative care program in your area. Check with the local
Hospital and the local home health and hospice agencies. These are the folks who typically know a lot about managing pain. Good luck.

Raisin, there's an excellent book about the relationship between chronic pain and stress. It's called Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, written by Robert Sapolsky, a neurobiologist. (I wasn't aware there was such a category of medical/scientific discipline until I read his book.)

It ranges from very technical medical/scientific explanations to outright comedy, but is very, very helpful in understanding the mind/body/pain connection.

@kazzaa, you covered a lot. Mom has no worries. I'm her live in caregiver and we talk all the time. She's not afraid of death either so I know she has no worries. Neurontin is one of her meds and the doctor has increased the strength to maximum dosage...pain still there. Now me on the other hand, have chronic back problems and stress makes it unbearable at times, but I keep going for the sake of mom. I'm going to talk with her doctor about "mj" and see what he has to say. I hope he will be willing to help even though it has not been legalized in our state.

I can't stress enough that medical mj, could be the answer and the relief would be immediate. She can get it in an oil, candy, or jelly bean. She would receive advice on how much to use - and it won't be much. It is legal here in AZ. and they have wonderful success stories. (I haven't tried it. But would if i were sick.)

I dont know if your mum is competent after this stroke as you only state heart/stroke? does she have dementia?

I had a bad accident five years ago Whiplash,slipped discs NOW five years on they did all tests and came up with "chronic pain" which i was shocked to discover is actually more psychological when you have a trauma to your body like this your brain holds on to that pain so any stress will instead trigger the brain to go into pain mode as with me even though they cant find anything "physically" and have tried like your mum every pain killer out there maybe she could talk to a therapist or has she done this. Is there stress that shes not telling you about maybe ask her I know that when mum stresses me or i worry too much its like ive had the accident all over again and im in "chronic pain". Worth looking into.

As for me my pain will not go until i learn to calm down which lets face it wont be possible while mums ill stress can make pain much worse would she be able for yoga?

The only drug that worked for me was "neurontin" thats when they realised it was neurological as this pill worked but i didnt want to go down the pill route and i just have a hot bath now and suffer ive done the pain management thingy but i found it a waste of time as im too stressed with mum and nothing can take that away.

Maybe your mum is very worried about something shes not telling you even her own death? we never know? my mum although never stops moaning about everything NEVER moans of pains BUT when the nurse came the other day i was listening outside the door (as you do) and she told the nurse her head hurts alot.
I was so upset as i know this isnt good as shes having an "event" ministroke in her brain which means that more brain damage is happening but i was also upset that she never told me? maybe afraid i would bring her straight to the doc?

Im just saying parents can worry about something and not tell us for fear of upsetting us and this can cause alot of stress to them even if they dont seem stressed.

Hope that all makes sense!

Any kind of surgery for an 82 year old woman is risky...can't go that route.
I don't know if her doctor would or could prescribe medical marijuana as it has not been legalized in Tennessee yet. But, would love to give it a try. I'm at my wits end. I feel so bad for her and don't know what to do.

I agree with the medical marijuana.. You've tried everything else.

Here's an article from the National Institutes of Health on acupuncture on pain:
http://nccam.nih.gov/health/acupuncture/acupuncture-for-pain.htm It can be very helpful for different pain conditions with no downsides to trying it.

A drastic measure is deep brain stimulation. If you google "brain surgery + pain" you'll find some results and descriptions of the surgery.

I would second Kazaa's idea of medical marijuana too. If you can get access to it, it's worth a try as well. I'd say try everything that doesn't have a big downside to see if it works. Medications and brain surgery have much bigger possible downsides of course.

Acupuncture didn't help either. Has anyone tried hypnosis?

A maryjane spliff!!! my neighbour has MS and takes this for his pain it should be legalised for medicinal purposes ive seen him in action hands like claws all screwed up then after a joint hes relaxed and hands are open and hes in no pain he says he couldnt live without it. I think it should be allowed for people in pain!
As ive said once on here Queen Victoria took it for period pains and thats a true fact!

Hydrotherapy for pain, swimming or a hot tub that provides range of motion without weight bearing may help her. I would give it a try.

Oh, I'm so sorry. I missed your comment that pain management didn't help.

If meds aren't working, perhaps you could try something that's not medical. Have you considered pain management therapy? "Mindfulness" as an alternative to medicine has become more mainstream over the last decades.

Activities that are soothing, such as drawing, painting, ceramics, listening to music, etc., are also helpful for relaxation, which in turn may ease some of the pain she feels.

There's a lot more literature now on the connection between the brain and pain (no pun intended). If you can find a way for your mother to relax through some pleasurable activity, it might at least help lessen the pain as she refocuses on something pleasurable.

Do you have pets? If not, is your mother mobile enough to go to a dog park to pet the dogs? Petting furry critters has been demonstrated to induce relaxation in both critter and human.

Some hospitals also have stroke support groups. It might help to take her to one to talk with others who may have similar problems.

I had lower leg neuropathy several years ago and surprisingly found that it abated entirely when I began eating more foods with B vitamins. It may not be that simple with a stroke though.

Some folks swear by accupuncture.