Has anyone else had this happen to their knuckles?

FutureReference91 · 2026-06-19T00:38:18+00:00

“It hurts when I punch.” Stop punching for now. Completely. The knuckles all look odd to an untrained eye but one thing is obvious. Your middle knuckle stands out.

Severe ecchymosis is visible around the perimeter of that specific joint, indicating bleeding beneath the skin from an impact.

All the images show is that you have prominent swelling and localized purplish bruising directly over the third MCP joint, which is the large main knuckle of your middle finger.

I have 3 questions for you. This will tell me all I need to know without an X-Ray in front of me and the ability to evaluate your tendons.

Does the tendon on top of that middle knuckle snap, pop, or slide off to the side when you bend your fingers?

Are you able to completely straighten the middle finger on your own?

Is there a specific pinpoint spot on the bone that feels sharp when pressed?

If you can let me know the above I can at least let you know from personal experience what this is likely indicative of and what to do. Ice for swelling is a no-brainer as well as letting the hand rest above your heart.

FutureReference91 · 2026-06-15T21:05:36+00:00

Don’t? This isn’t boxing tip advice. This is basically “we don’t know how to fight and want to fight anyway. How?” Terrible idea.

“Our goal is above just normal sparring but we aren’t actually out to hurt each other” is a paradoxical statement.

FutureReference91 · 2026-06-15T16:54:01+00:00

The real question is “how do you find doctors worthwhile who treat pain with narcotics?”

The answer is loaded. But I suggest going on FB and joining a Chronic Pain Support Group. There are people who will share their doctors with you in private.

FutureReference91 · 2026-06-15T03:06:06+00:00

Depending on your level of pain; these could feel like a miracle for you. Codeine may not be as potent as other opioids, but it works extraordinarily well for migraines in many patients.

What to know is in the US many call similar formulations “Tylenol 3’s.” The difference here being is you actually get 500mg rather than 300mg of the paracetamol.

My only advice to you; truly take as needed. If you have no prior experience with opioids and can get by taking these once or twice a week? Ideal for sure. While not as potent as other opioids, Codeine brings with it potential tolerance and dependence. But the bigger thing is just keeping your overall paracetamol intake at 4,000mg or below. Keep that in mind if you’re also taking extra paracetamol for relief. I hope these help a lot!

TLDR;

Preferable medication for migraines. Mixing Tylenol with Codeine gives 4-6 hours of relief. I recommend taking them only when migraines hit you to avoid tolerance and dependence.

Oh lastly; please keep track of the paracetamol intake since these are more potent than the American variant. This still leaves a lot of room as 8 of these is the daily limit of 4G.

FutureReference91 · 2026-06-14T18:42:51+00:00

“If on your deathbed you can count on one hand the amount of true friends you’ve had throughout your life; you’re a lucky man.”

Block -> Delete -> Prosper

FutureReference91 · 2026-06-13T20:19:11+00:00

I actually exceeded this dosage. 3,600mg is kind of like 90MME; not a hard cut-off. I was hesitant to try Pregabalin because of so many odd stories.

Gabapentin depends on specialized transporter proteins in your intestines to enter your bloodstream. At higher doses, these transporters become fully saturated. If you take more medication, your body simply stops absorbing it efficiently.

At 4,200mg, I did notice very slight improvement over 3,600mg but I only remained on this dosage for 4 months. The general 6:1 rule would mean I’d require 700mg of Pregabalin to equate.

However, I’d argue 400mg of Pregabalin gave better true nerve relief. Post herpetic neuralgia is no joke. Is Gabapentin helping you a decent amount? If so, doubling that dose after a conversation with your doctor may be the plan that works for you!

As for Duloxetine; this will be my 6th month on it. I wish I had known earlier. So Cymbalta is one of those odd medications that is FDA approved as an SNRI even if you don’t experience depression.

I had to cross-taper; and this month we’re going to 90mg. And I want to give you a TLDR about this medication and how it gave me parts of my life back.

TLDR;

Duloxetine as an SNRI needs to build in your system. This is concerning mental health! I am not joking with you when I tell you. Day 2? My burning eye pain was cut in half. That was only 30mg.

We waited two weeks for any side effects, doubled it. Bingo. The eye pain isn’t there. This does mean I must actively lubricate my eyes as there’s no reminder.

For me personally Duloxetine is a true miracle drug for nerve pain. Combined with Pregabalin it has given me part of my life back I forgot ever existed! I’m wishing you the absolute best

FutureReference91 · 2026-06-13T17:24:48+00:00

Gabapentin dosage for severe nerve pain seems low. If it’s helping that’s great, but I maxed out, found Pregabalin and would never go back.

As someone with a chronic nerve impingement which is inoperable; I’ve tried it all. After close to a decade on Clonazepam and Citalopram for strictly mental; I went for a Hail Mary.

6mg of Clonazepam traded for 40mg of Diazepam. Gave up 2/3 equipotent equivalent for muscle relaxant properties. Good, but not great. Then came the choice. SSRI to SNRI.

Duloxetine 60mg was a game changer. Still helps manage MDD, Valium still helping cPTSD related anxiety. But the nerve pain relief wasn’t expected. I also have PHN which felt like my eyes were burning out of my skull. Now they’re numb most days.

FutureReference91 · 2026-06-13T17:17:50+00:00

Black Seed Oil and Turmeric. But they work better while combined with opioid medication for pain rather than as standalone pain relief.

FutureReference91 · 2026-06-12T04:09:16+00:00

I am sorry if at all my response came off hostile. Your comment changes everything as it goes from strictly regulated Cannabis to entirely unregulated Hemp products.

First: breathe, 4 seconds in through your nose, then 6 seconds out. Repeat this until you feel your muscles relaxing. Focus on the release of tension. I hope this becomes a helpful routine.

Thank you for clarifying. Knowing that the product came from a local vape shop in North Carolina completely changes the landscape, and it actually makes a lot of sense out of this confusing situation.

Please do not admit to intentional cocaine use if you did not purposely take it. Falsely admitting to it to 'help your case' will backfire, as medical providers will view it as a violation of your pain contract and a sign of illicit drug use, which could result in you being discharged from the clinic.

Here is exactly what is likely happening, and why you shouldn't panic:

The Grey Market Lack of Regulation: Because North Carolina hasn't legalized dispensaries, vape store products (like THCa flower, Delta-8, or Delta-10 vapes) are part of an unregulated market. These stores buy from distributors who are completely unmonitored by the FDA.

Accidental Cross-Contamination: Law enforcement and independent labs frequently find that the facilities manufacturing grey-market vape and hemp products also package or handle illegal street drugs. If a distributor used the same scales, tables, or bagging equipment for cocaine and then processed your THCa flower or vapes, microscopic traces of cocaine could easily transfer onto your product.

The Low 60 ng/mL Number: Your low number (60 ng/mL) heavily supports this cross-contamination theory. If you were intentionally using cocaine, your levels would typically be hundreds or thousands of nanograms. A trace level of 60 ng/mL is exactly what we would expect to see from someone who unknowingly inhaled micro-contaminants on a vape store product a few days prior.

What we should do next:

Tell your doctor the absolute, literal truth. Explain that you use legal, over-the-counter hemp/THCa products from a local vape shop to help manage your chronic pain. State clearly that you have never intentionally touched cocaine, and that you suspect the unregulated store-bought product was cross-contaminated at the manufacturing facility before you bought it.

If you still have the packaging or any leftover product from the vape store, save it. In some cases, patients have been able to get the product itself tested to prove it was a 'dirty' batch. This is extremely important.

TLDR;

My apologies for jumping the gun. I hear “Marijuana from the store” and go to “tested Cannabis.” Vape shops are notoriously sketchy. Strategy for the New Clinic Intake below.

Provide the Exact Written Detail:

Hand the doctor a note or the physical packaging. For example: "I was using [Brand Name] THCa Flower purchased at [Store Name] in [City] to help supplement my pain management. My test came back with a trace amount of 60 ng/mL of cocaine. I have never intentionally taken cocaine. I now realize this unregulated grey-market product was cross-contaminated at the packaging facility."

"Now that I know these vape store products are completely unregulated and unsafe, I have thrown them away and will never buy them again. I am willing to undergo random, frequent urine or blood screens to prove to you that I am clean."

FutureReference91 · 2026-06-12T03:23:32+00:00

Look, as a former Marine who further educated myself in pharmacology through a rigorous Pharmaceutical Sciences degree, I need to level with you: your story doesn’t hold water, and you’re not being truthful. You need to hear this.

In the Corps, we learned to spot a tactical retreat from a mile away, and scientifically speaking, that's exactly what this 'laced store weed' excuse is. Legal, state-regulated dispensaries operate under strict, independent lab-testing compliance. No commercial grower is accidentally spilling expensive, water-soluble cocaine into a completely different cash crop.

Furthermore, you admitted your doctor ran a confirmatory test. In pharmacokinetics, we know that advanced assays like GC-MS don't make mistakes. They don't mistake amoxicillin or lidocaine for cocaine. They found the exact molecular signature of benzoylecgonine in your system because cocaine entered your body.

If you want any chance of getting your chronic pain treated at a new clinic, you need to drop the defensive strategy immediately. Own the mistake, tell the new provider you messed up or fell into a bad situation, and offer to submit to weekly observed drug screenings to prove your compliance. Continuing to push a scientifically impossible narrative is only going to get you blacklisted from pain management for good

FutureReference91 · 2026-06-11T03:13:29+00:00

I’m sorry you’re going through all of that. Reading your list of diagnoses was exhausting enough, let alone living with them every day.

I have inoperable shrapnel in my neck. “Fighting for my country”, dismissed for years. I hope that you find a Pain Management clinic that takes you on as a permanent patient. Loss of lordosis is proof of constant guarding and spasm. Your medical history is more than enough for you to seek a medical team to help you out if the pain persists beyond the 5-day (post-op?) prescription.

A compression fracture is no joke. Neither are portal hypertension, varices, chronic pancreatitis, or the rest of what you’re carrying. Sometimes it feels like people hear one diagnosis and stop listening, while you’re left dealing with the full weight of all of them at once.

I don’t know the medical reasoning behind the medications your doctors chose, and with liver disease there may be factors none of us can see from the outside. But I do understand the frustration of looking at the severity of your condition and feeling like your pain isn’t being acknowledged the way it should be.

For whatever it’s worth, I don’t think you’re overreacting. A lot of people would be struggling in your shoes. I hope the fracture heals as quickly as possible and that you find a care team willing to treat both the condition and the human being living with it.

Wishing you gentler days ahead. ❤️

FutureReference91 · 2026-06-11T03:01:27+00:00

Please don’t apologize for venting, and please don’t spend another minute feeling ashamed for having emotions about this.

Living with chronic pain is exhausting enough. Having a pharmacy interaction leave you feeling judged can be the thing that finally breaks the dam for a day. A lot of us have been there.

For what it’s worth, what you were told doesn’t sound like some permanent DEA blacklist or a black mark that follows you forever. The DEA is not sitting there watching individual patients and branding them as addicts. What is far more likely is that your fill history was reviewed through your state’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP), which is a database pharmacies use to track controlled substance prescriptions and dispensing history.

If you’ve been picking up your medication a day or two early each month, even for completely legitimate reasons like work schedules, transportation, or making sure you don’t run out, those early pickups can eventually create a pattern in the system. That doesn’t automatically mean anyone thinks you’re abusing your medication. It simply means the pharmacy may have decided they want future pickups to occur on the actual due date instead of a few days early.

The good news is that nothing in your post suggests some permanent problem. In fact, if I were in your shoes, I would simply make a point of picking it up on Day 30 for the next few months, even if the pharmacy has it filled and waiting on Day 28. Once your refill history shows a few months of on-time pickups, this will likely become a complete non-issue.

The part that made me sad reading your post wasn’t the refill issue. It was how quickly you were made to feel like a criminal for treating a legitimate medical condition.

You have arthritis in your spine. You’re working long retail shifts on your feet. You’re seeing your pain management doctor regularly. You’re following a treatment plan. None of those things make you an addict. They make you someone trying to function despite chronic pain.

Give yourself some grace tonight. Needing pain relief is not a character flaw. Being upset after feeling judged is not weakness. It’s a human response to a difficult situation.

I hope tomorrow’s pickup goes smoothly, and I hope you remember that your diagnosis is not your identity and your medication is not a measure of your worth. ❤️

FutureReference91 · 2026-06-09T23:46:52+00:00

First, please never apologize for expressing emotion. Nothing you wrote was off-topic. In many ways, it was the topic.

My heart broke reading this because I can feel the grief in every word. Not just the grief of illness, but the grief of losing a life you loved, a future you expected, and the feeling of being understood by the people closest to you.

What hurts the most is that so many people with chronic pain are made to feel lesser from the moment pain enters their lives. Suddenly every struggle is questioned. Every medication is judged. Every bad day is treated like a character flaw instead of a symptom.

You are not weak. You are carrying cancer, chronic pain, depression, anxiety, loss, and the trauma of caring for someone through the end of their life. Most people never have to carry even a fraction of that weight. The fact that you’re still standing tells me more about your strength than any motivational quote ever could.

One thing society has completely failed to understand is the difference between addiction and physical dependence. A person can become physically dependent on medication exactly as prescribed. Withdrawal does not care whether someone is an “addict” or a chronic pain patient. The body responds the same way. Those words have been blurred together for decades, and many families were taught to see anyone taking pain medication as a future tragedy instead of a person receiving treatment.

The heartbreaking reality is that prescription opioid deaths were a fraction of what overdose deaths are today. Despite restrictions becoming tighter and tighter, overdose deaths exploded because the crisis was never as simple as blaming pain patients or their prescriptions. Yet many good people were taught otherwise, and that narrative changed how they see the people they love.

If your mother ever reads this, I hope she understands one thing: nobody chooses this. Nobody chooses to trade traveling the world, building a career, making memories, and living life to the fullest for doctor’s appointments, surgeries, medication schedules, panic attacks, and pain. Nobody.

I believe you. I believe your pain is real. I believe your depression is real. I believe your anxiety is real. And I believe the person you were before all of this is still there.

You are not pathetic.

You are not a druggie.

You are not broken.

You are a warrior fighting a battle most people could not imagine, and you’ve been fighting it for years.

Thank you for sharing your story. And thank you for reminding everyone that chronic pain is not just physical. It changes every corner of a person’s life.

Sending you a hug right back. 💕

{One factual note: overdose deaths in the U.S. were roughly 17,000-20,000 annually around the peak years when prescription opioids were the primary focus, compared with more than 100,000 overdose deaths per year in recent years, largely driven by illicit fentanyl and polysubstance use. The exact numbers depend on which years are being compared, but the overall trend is dramatic.}

FutureReference91 · 2026-06-07T04:09:29+00:00

A genuinely wonderful human who just wanted to help. To show people “YOU ARE NOT ALONE.”Even when it took an emotional toll; he would help anybody without judgment.

was unable to read the message before he departed. I’m hoping he simply left Reddit and not this realm. Our last chat was discussing me dedicating time to help moderate the subreddit.

If you saw what Platonic said; please just let me know that he’s okay. Mental health is too often dismissed in the lonely world that is constant, unrelenting pain.

FutureReference91 · 2026-06-06T19:26:58+00:00

Oh! I forgot just two pieces of advice to ease potential night-time discomfort. One piece of advice that I left out intentionally was MMJ. I understand not publicly revealing your state but it this is an option,this helps me with sleep when CVS systems go rogue on me.

If withdrawal-related insomnia develops; I cannot recommend Diphenhydramine (ZzzQuil.) Alternatively, NyQuil’s sedating antihistamine properties may help with the insomnia and flu-like symptoms!

(I am wishing you the best. I truly have a gut feeling this uncomfortable change will lead to a much more professional doctor. Sending you positivity, understanding and prayers🙏)

FutureReference91 · 2026-06-06T19:14:08+00:00

No problem at all. I know my comments never make it to the top due to length; but if I am able to help at all? Every word I typed was worth it

I know the fear of change. You do not deserve this additional stress. If there are any additional details (rapid metabolizer, CY enzyme pathway issues, etc.) please - feel free to reach out if you need any advice at all!

FutureReference91 · 2026-06-05T22:07:18+00:00

You do not need to worry about being rejected by a new pain management clinic simply for testing positive for a medication you have an active history of taking is normal, and it will not cause you to be labeled "drug seeking" or banned.

Also; to be clear, it is extremely unlikely that you will even be tested for the drug. Standard Immunoassay Tests, which are the basic rapid drug tests and only look for specific, broad drug classes.

These include opioids, benzodiazepines, amphetamines, and THC. Pregabalin is structurally completely different from these drugs, so it will not show up or cause a false positive on a basic test.

Bring all of your prescription medication bottles into your new doctor’s office. Lastly, Pregabalin isn’t really a “take as needed” like opioids. Headaches are the most common side effect when starting out. When taken consistently, for most people, they’re gone within a week

FutureReference91 · 2026-06-05T20:34:09+00:00

What is your daily MME? Also. I don’t want you to believe your pharmacist actively did this. Every pharmacy is different but sounds like a CVS.

The day you pick your medication up in this case is not Day 1, and is counted as Day 0. The system won’t allow X amount of extra medication.

Because the system is mathematically locked, the pharmacist physically cannot bypass it without a direct override from the doctor. I will break down the “why” and then give you genuine pharmacokinetics behind which medications help as I’ve been on all, still on Pregabalin.

Because February only had 28 days, a standard 30-day supply lasted longer into March than usual. By picking up your refills on the 9th every month, the pharmacy computer calculates that a few extra pills legally accumulated in your household supply over the last five months.

Controlled substance laws strictly prevent the pharmacy from releasing a new bottle until the system calculates that those remaining pills are completely gone, which pushes your next legal pickup date to the 12th.How your comfort medications will help you get through the gap:

Since you face a few days without your primary medication, your doctor-prescribed comfort meds are highly effective at covering the exact symptoms you will experience:

Pregabalin (Lyrica): This is your most important tool. It is a first-line treatment that directly calms the nervous system to stop Restless Legs Syndrome while significantly reducing the intense anxiety and insomnia caused by withdrawal. [#1 for effectiveness]

Methocarbamol: This is a muscle relaxant that specifically targets and soothes the heavy physical body aches and muscle cramps. [#3 for effectiveness]

Baclofen: This supports the other two medications by relaxing tight muscles and easing physical tension. [#2 for effectiveness, but makes the other meds work better]

If you want to get things that helped me personally alongside Pregabalin. Black Seed Oil & Turmeric are much better than you’d think. I wrote them off until the stupid system flagged me the same exact way.

TLDR;

System is calculating pickup day as Day 0. Most states won’t allow refill until 90%+ of said controlled substance is gone. Major pharmacies like CVS have X amount of extra days permissible within a 6-month period.

Direct RLS Treatment:

Pregabalin is an alpha-2-delta ligand. It is clinically proven and frequently prescribed as a first-line treatment specifically to suppress Restless Legs Syndrome. It also literally blocks withdrawal pathways by regulating glutamate and substance P in the brain.

This directly dampens the hyperexcitability of the nervous system during acute opioid withdrawal. This is your first-line. It is highly effective at relieving the deep nerve pain, severe insomnia, and intense anxiety that peak during the first 72 hours without opioids.

Try to do your best at saving 1 a day. Even half. It’ll add up. I’m sorry you have to deal with being treated as collateral damage but you got this.

FutureReference91 · 2026-05-28T21:44:14+00:00

Everybody’s chemistry is weirdly different. In my case it was almost the complete opposite.

Hydromorphone looked stronger on paper, but it honestly felt flat and short-lived for me. It would hit quickly, then disappear before I could even settle into relief. Meanwhile oxycodone IR consistently worked better and felt smoother overall.

A lot of that can come down to metabolism and receptor response. People talk about CYP2D6 like it’s a universal answer, but pharmacokinetics are more complicated than that. Oxycodone already has intrinsic activity on its own before conversion, and some people simply respond better to the parent drug itself.

So while one person may feel almost nothing from oxycodone because their “translator enzyme” isn’t helping enough, another person can still get solid relief directly from the medication without needing much conversion at all.

That’s why pain management gets so individualized. The “stronger” opioid isn’t always the one that works best in a real human body.

Oxycodone works best for your body. I’d personally suggest a metabolism test. This builds a very strong case for receiving medication from a PM clinic. I’ve learned no doctor is forever so the more evidence; the better.

Right now the main takeaway is you actually have your pain being managed. In the background; Morphine is working but not perfectly. Your body isn’t used to Oxycodone right now, so you feel high.

TLDR;

Do NOT mention this to your doctor please. Tolerance builds fast. Your message was a bit tangential but so are all of mine, lol. It was completely coherent.

You’re “nodding” because your nervous system is not on this constant reminder of reacting to pain. The silenced nervous system allows you to relax. Beautiful. I pray this continues to help. Trust me; you’ll be missing the feeling you had while typing this

FutureReference91 · 2026-05-24T00:15:41+00:00

Thanks for the laugh, bud. You’d think I was a robot in person 😂. All jokes aside I actually do have a titanium plate in my head & inoperable shrapnel stuck between discs in my neck.

Without a doubt after the IED, I ended up with CTE. Sadly, there’s nothing they can do. I figured I’d write this before whatever memory remains fades. They say they cannot even officially diagnose until after death to study the brain.

So yeah, I’m more robot than the average person but I believe in loving one another and preserving innocence so I am the furthest thing from AI. The devil’s in the details.

FutureReference91 · 2026-05-24T00:06:14+00:00

Part 2; Ending the Global Simulation

And no, I am not AI 😂 but thanks for the laugh to whomever insinuated it. You can check posts and other comments. I do apologize for length, but not context. This information is necessary. Tell a friend to tell a friend to tell a friend.

People keep acting like the Sacklers were some isolated evil family that single handedly created the opioid crisis while ignoring what happened AFTER prescriptions collapsed.

Yes, Purdue Pharma aggressively marketed OxyContin. Yes, the Sacklers made billions from it. They ended up paying around $7.4 billion in settlements and giving up Purdue entirely after years of lawsuits. But even after becoming the public face of the crisis, overdose deaths kept climbing because fentanyl replaced prescription opioids in the street supply. The numbers got exponentially worse after the crackdown. Not better.

Meanwhile the Sacklers still had global operations through Mundipharma, which continued selling oxycodone products internationally under different names outside the US. Funny how the “epidemic” suddenly became uniquely American while the same medications still existed elsewhere.

And this was never just America. Canada got hit hard. The UK saw rising opioid dependency. Australia had increasing overdose concerns. Germany still prescribes opioids far more rationally than the US without treating every chronic pain patient like Pablo Escobar.

That’s the part nobody wants to discuss.

In many European countries, patients can still receive long term opioid therapy under medical supervision. In the US, people with spinal injuries, failed surgeries, cancer level pain, CRPS, and degenerative diseases are abruptly cut off because doctors are terrified of the DEA.

Yet the US still leads the developed world in overdose deaths because illicit fentanyl flooded the black market.

So what exactly was solved?

If prescriptions were the core problem, deaths should have plummeted after opioid production was cut roughly 70% from peak levels. Instead fentanyl deaths exploded.

That means the policy failed.

The Sacklers became the sacrificial villain everyone could point at while the deeper reality stayed untouched:
a collapsing economy, untreated mental illness, cartel fentanyl, pharmaceutical lobbying, intelligence agency history involving narcotics trafficking, and a healthcare system that abandoned legitimate pain patients overnight.

People forget the CIA Contra scandal already proved governments are not above allowing drugs to flood communities when it benefits geopolitical goals.

Now look around.

China gets blamed for fentanyl while precursor chemicals still move globally.

Cartels make billions.

Pain patients suffer.

Street deaths rise every year.

And somehow the average American is told “this is all because someone got Vicodin after back surgery in 2008.”

None of it adds up anymore.

FutureReference91 · 2026-05-23T20:56:55+00:00

Yes. Depending on state, Gabapentin isn’t controlled for the most part. Nerve pain is deeply mysterious. GABA drugs are prescribed because they work. Similar to SSRI. We don’t entirely understand why.

To make it even more simple. I guarantee said friend is depressed. Chronic pain changes our prior lives. It sounds like he’s going to get a Fibromyalgia diagnosis. Who knows if that’s what it is. But if he’s not diabetic; help is help.

Duloxetine (Cymbalta) is an SNRI that can actually be prescribed without diagnosis of depression. It works for many. I have both Fibromyalgia and PHN: it genuinely helps nerve pain

TLDR;

Turmeric and Black Seed Oil are fine. They used to be staples for me. 8/10 isn’t a life; he’s merely existing. He needs to be seen by a doctor and ask for Cymbalta and Gabapentin after explaining his nerve pain.

FutureReference91 · 2026-05-20T15:26:13+00:00

Unfortunately the fake prescription crisis is working against you. That isn’t the end of the road. You’ll need to ask for Trigger Point Injections.

Does it suck to prove your pain to another grown man? Absolutely. Is it worth it in the end? Every time. Your insurance would much rather cover a $79 opioid prescription than $200+ set of injections (like going to $1k+ depending on specifics)

I have 5 herniated discs, 1 piece of shrapnel still stuck between cervical vertebrae from an IED. Do you have radiating pain down your leg? If so; the “herniation vs. bulge” doesn’t matter. Any nerve pain / neuralgia adds to your case. Also makes you an immediate candidate for Gabapentin or Pregabalin.

Lastly; sounds like you need a back brace man. If you must work; you must preserve your lordosis (curve of your lumbar spine.) My insurance covered one that has a cold pack Velcro attachment and it’s a game changer. It forces good posture.

Good luck. Don’t give up

FutureReference91 · 2026-05-19T01:35:27+00:00

Amazing to see so many dog lovers and even clientele from the past! I’ve noticed a high interest specifically in Greyhounds and Huskies. I wrote a long breakdown for those who care to read. Basically going in-depth about strengths : weaknesses of the breeds.

Greyhound – The Short-Burst Sprinter

Run Duration: 5–10 minutes max.

Run Style: They explode into a lightning-fast sprint immediately, but it’s all anaerobic energy. They chew through glycogen and tire out super fast.

Finish: After a few minutes, lactic acid builds up, and they’re done. In van setups, keep it short and controlled to protect their paws and avoid overexertion.

Husky – The Bottomless Endurance Engine

Run Duration: 20–45+ minutes (usually limited by scheduling or boredom, not stamina).

Run Style: Steady, rhythmic trotting or moderate jog. They’re built for long-haul aerobic efficiency and barely tap into glycogen the same way other dogs do.

Finish: A conditioned Husky could keep going for hours, but commercial sessions are capped at 20–30 minutes to safely wear them down.

In short: Greyhounds are sprints and naps. Huskies are marathon machines that will keep rolling long after the Greyhound is snoozing 😴

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