These are the main medicines I take.
Pain Relief:
I take Neurontin to help with tingling (a type of pain common to people with Spinal Cord Injuries).
When I had horrible chest pain due to the sensitivity of my chest, I put Lidoderm (lidocaine) patches on my chest and sides to help with tingling on these areas. The relief these gave me was miraculous. In the past I couldn't wear a shirt, but once I applied these, it was no longer a problem. I had to shave my chest weekly so that the patches would stick, but it wasn't a big hassle. This stopped being a problem in January '06, but started up again in July. In January '07 I stopped using them altogether as my chest had become less sensitive. Thank goodness!
I have a Baclofen pump in my left abdomen that looks like a hockey puck. It's the same as a morphine pump that many have. Baclofen controls my leg spasms so I can go through the day without them jumping all over the place. It used to be a problem at night, but isn't any longer. Now, instead of taking 120 mg orally, I get 1200 mcg directly to my spine where it works it's magic. That's 1.2 mg or 1% the prior amount and I don't get drowsy from the Baclofen.
Neurological:
I take Tegretol and Keppra to control seizures.
Psychological:
I take Zoloft to help with my mood and to ease symptoms of my OCD.
Incontinence:
This is a common issue with those of us with a spinal cord injury. In my case this is compounded with a spastic bladder causing me to urinate frequently. I take Ditropan to calm my bladder down allowing it to fill more between catheterizations, which I do every two hours.
Other:
Fosamax helps reverse the osteoporosis that is normal for someone sitting all day. Between Fosamax, calcium supplements and daily standing in my Easy Stand, I've reversed the osteoporitic effect due to sitting all day. In 2002 I had severe osteoporosis. In 2004 I just had osteoporosis. In 2006 I had osteopenia, a fabulous improvement. It got better in 2008 and 2010.
Supplements:
In addition to the prescription drugs, I also take Folic Acid, Vitamin D, Iron, and a multi-vitamin,
UTI RELIEF:
I found this to be the best way to prevent Urinary Tract Infections (UTI's). I take 1 cranberry capsule (475mg each) and 1 D-Mannose capsule (500mg) each 3 times a day. Since I've been doing this, I've gotten far fewer infections; I was getting an infection almost every month. The theory is that cranberry makes the bladder wall slippery so bacteria can't get a foothold, so to speak and D-Mannose (a simple sugar) attracts bacteria and flushes them out when you urinate.
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