I have chronic pain and I get spinal injections as well as taking percocet and methadone for pain.

I ran out of my meds and had to go cold turkey one weekend. Because I didn't taper down the dosage I went through withdrawal, which really was not that bad. I barely slept, I was restless and just kept moving and I had cramps in my legs. There was also an awful feeling of discomfort. I took the last dose Thursday night, the symptoms showed up Friday night and by Monday morning I was fine.

Two other times I have gone off the meds and I stepped down the dosage and had no side effects.

Taking these meds does not make me high. Initially I took the percocet for migraines, a temporary condition brought on by blood clots. The only thing that percocet did besides relieve pain was to make me sleepy. I would take one and be out for 3 or 4 hours, which was fine because then I would not feel the migraine and it was usually gone or diminished when I woke up. Now the percocet does not make me sleepy at all.

I know that many people get addicted to pain meds. My question is WHAT about them gets you addicted? I never got high off of a percocet. I have read that crushing them can get you high, but as that was never my intention I never did that.

I can only assume that my body is not addiction prone (however my mind is).

I would be interested in the experience of others with pain medication.

Most people that ask questions about pain med addictions usually are addicted and are attempting to justify said addiction. Do yourself a BIG favor and flush the pain pills. Withdrawal symptoms are not a big deal BUT mental withdrawal is another story. Again, if you don't need the pills throw them away. If you need them do as your doctor prescribes and be 100% honest with him. Also notice that I said doctor... Not doctors. NEVER get pain meds from more than one doctor. Be well.

NEVER flush prescription drugs. The water system cannot filter them out and they either go on to be reused as city water or go into the environment.

Take unused drugs out of their container and mix them with something like kitty litter and throw them away in the trash. It's much safer that way.

My girlfriend suffered from chronic back pain and fibromyalgia after she was hit by a car at age eleven. She was addicted to the meds and would "doctor shop" for the easy doctors. (At least one of these guys was addicted also.) I tried to get her help. I called her father and one of her doctors.

It killed her. Dead at age forty two. I miss her. Her children miss her also.

One of the doctors lost his license, moved in with his parents and died also.

This is my personal experience. Your results may (will) vary.

I used percocet/oxycodone and tramadol for fibromyalgia pain for about 4 years. After realizing that the oxycodone was actually making my fibromyalgia pain worse I stopped taking it last August. I still take tramadol. When I first started taking percocet I was worried about becoming dependent or addicted. I was always careful not to use more than my doctor prescribed. In fact, I always tried to get by on as little as possible.

Here's the thing, there is a big difference between being DEPENDENT on pain meds and being ADDICTED. As a person who has chronic pain, I would be nearly impossible to get through my day without the pain meds so I depend on them. What I don't do is use them to get high or use them as an escape mechanism. When you start taking the pain meds because you like the euphoric feeling you get you are heading down the road to addiction.

Even still, taking pain meds every day becomes a game of dimishing returns. Your body gets used to them and they don't work as well. If you find yourself needing to take more than your doctor prescribed just to get by then you need to have a serious talk with your doctor about your pain management.

I would write more on this but it's 4am and I'm only awake because my pain meds wore off and the pain woke me up. Now that they're kicking in again I'm going back to bed.

+ 1
I was just diagnosed with osteitis pubis and arthritis in the knees (at only age 34 -- don't be a pole dancer, apparently it uses your knees up early in life, I have no cartilage left and my bones rub against each other, the pain is enough to make me just want to check out some days).

I now have to take oxycodone everyday just to get through the day. I don't like feeling high so I'm very honest with myself and my doctor about what I need. But it feels like a death sentence needing it to get through the day. I agree, if you're taking it to feel high, you're abusing it. Unfortunately, people who really need it are dependent on it, like myself, and I haven't quite reconciled to myself that I might have to take them the rest of my life. Oh this is depressing me.

Oh, another thing is, the cortisone shots you can get help immensely. And they're non narcotic as I understand.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/02/2013 11:48AM by FormerLatterClimber.

Mnemonic-
Glad you get it. When it is bad, every step is pain and getting up the stairs is the worst. I always use a grocery cart in the store because I can hang onto it and use it like a walker, even then grocery shopping can be misery when the pain is bad.

Heynonny-
Many people responsibly use pain medication. The myth is that everyone is addicted. The reality is that without pain meds many people could not function in life. If you have never had chronic pain, you don't understand. Pain leads to depression and suicide. You can't have a high quality of life with pain. I started taking super fast showers because sometimes standing up for 15 minutes was too much pain.

I go to a top rated pain group and have been with them for 6 years. I take my meds as instructed. I know what happens when you abuse them....like death. I don't drink any alcohol because of the interaction...like death. I get spinal inections every three months which usually helps the pain and then I take less than my daily amount of pain medication for a while. When the pain is bad I take my full daily amount of percocet.

Having read lots of stuff on the internet, which all deals with addiction, I am interested in those who use pain meds without problems. If I was addicted then I would not have gone off the meds. Once it was due to money, I didn't have insurance for a month and the cost of percocet was just too much, as far as I was concerned (I had the money but did not think it was a good use of it). I took the methadone, which is a cheap drug, but I was still in pain, and I just didn't do much for a month. It was not a good time.

I just wonder if my body does not respond to methadone and percocet by getting high....maybe others do even when they use the meds as directed. I had a therapist who told me that going off methadone is supposed to be terrible. For me, no problem. I just halfed my dose of three pills for several days, then eliminated one dose every couple of days over the next week. No withdrawl. Since there are programs/clinics just to get people off methadone, I have to believe that many people can't go off the drug like I do.

As I said, the meds have never made me high, so there is no psychological aspect to it, other than relieving pain. I have never been one who pursued getting high, by alcohol or by drugs, legal or illegal. I like to keep control of my brain. I like it just the way it is. If I escape it is by reading not by killing off brain cells. Before I started taking pain meds I seldom drank, so it was no big deal to give up alcohol. Every few years I do have one hard cider for new year's eve....yeah living la vida loca. I just don't take any meds for six hours before I have the cider.

Just to clarify when I said my mind was prone to addiction, I mean like collecting things. Like china/dishes, of which I have more sets than I need, but I do so love them. I think most collectors have some sort of OCD.

Last winter when I was recovering from multiple bone fractures, I was at times in a lot of pain. One month in particular (when I was learning how to walk again) was brutal, I felt intense pain every waking moment. I didn't mind so much when the pain was off and on, even if severe, but when constant it is mind-bending. You never get a break from it.

It gave me a lot of empathy for people who suffer constant pain.

I rarely used my narcotic pain meds. They made me feel too sleepy and out of it. But I can understand that people must do what they must do in order to get through each day, week, month, and year.

Pain medications are super easy to get hooked on, and unlike coke or heroin, there are a lot of people who are addicted to them who never dreamed of using a drug to get high.

Something you have to keep in mind, there are a lot of doctors and pharmacies that make a ton of money selling outrages prescription levels to addicts. I am not saying you are addicted, but I will give you some red flags.

If most pharmacies will not fill your order, and you have to go to a special pharmacist to get them filled, you are probably an addict. If your pharmacist doesn't put the name of his company or its contact information on the bottle, then they are certainly crooked.

If you take the massive legal dosage, then that is another huge warning sign. The max dosage for pain meds are meant for people who are dying of cancer, and who are in so much pain they can't get up out of bed. If you are taking the mass dose, or near it, and are up walking around, and the doctor hasn't told you you are going to be dead in six months, something is wrong.

Then again, you could have legitimate pain issues, and you are using a reasonable amount of medication to handle it. If you are worried about addiction, talk to your doctor, and tell him you want to eventually lose your dependence on the drug, and want a plan to get you off of it, or onto drugs that are less prone for abuse.

Again, I have known a lot of good people, who started off with a justifiable injury, were prescribed a medication to handle it, then found themselves hooked. I had a BIL that lost his marriage over it. I knew two cops who lost their jobs. To me there isn't shame on getting hooked on pain medications, there is only shame in not going for help if that is the case.

I have a significant chronic pain problem from a car accident years ago, but I react badly to narcotics. And I am deathly allergic to Demerol, which, on the other hand, is the only severe pain medication that they can give my SIL. I'm not sure what your medical situation is, but speak to a licensed pain therapist, and not rely on internet advice even on this stellar board. For instance, I would diagnose your need to collect china as a symptom of being gay. :-) Not very scientific.

Hervey Willets Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have a significant chronic pain problem from a
> car accident years ago, but I react badly to
> narcotics. And I am deathly allergic to Demerol,
> which, on the other hand, is the only severe pain
> medication that they can give my SIL. I'm not sure
> what your medical situation is, but speak to a
> licensed pain therapist, and not rely on internet
> advice even on this stellar board. For instance,
> I would diagnose your need to collect china as a
> symptom of being gay. :-) Not very scientific.

Ref: China. LOL!
Do gay women collect china, or just gay men (being that I am a female)?

Hillbilly Heathen-
Thanks for your story. It seems like you had a very high tolerance. The withdrawl sounded horrendous. For me there never was any glow, it just made me sleepy, however it no longer does. And at first it made me nauseous and I had to take an anti-nausea pill, but that also went away.

I take percocet 10/325, five times a day, methodone 10mg, three times a day. I have been on the same dosage for 5 years. According to wikipedia the highest dosage for 10s is 6 a day. The danger is from acetaminophen which causes liver damage.

forbiddencokedrinker-
People who are dying of cancer would not be taking percocet, they get liquid morphine, I know as my mom died of liver cancer. For the last few days she was on a pump. Percocet is for pain managment.

I go to a highly rated pain managment group and I get scripts filled with my insurance at any pharmacy. I don't see other doctors (outside the group practice) or get multiple scripts filled. The practice required a referral from a doctor who had been treating my pain and they will turn down patients if they feel they are abusing the meds. I recently had blood work done so they could measure the amount of medication in my blood, which was consistent with my dosage.

I am an Ex Mo and a Recovering Drug Addict.

My experience - I had a serious accident back in 1995 (was ran over by a truck at work), and, during the resulting major surgeries, discovered the "joy" of IV morphine. As I recovered, I began to take various opiate based meds for the pain - and found that they eased more than physical pain.

I was still LDS at the time, though struggling with the doctrine and issues with my family concerningn the church, and I found that opiates made it much easier to deal with. Pressure? Do opiates, and feel that glow take it all away. (BTW, I was also molested as a child by a guy who later became a bishop - thats another story, but helped cause years of self doubt and self loathing).

I became an expert at playing doctors and pharmacies. My primary Doctor Feelgood (yep, that's what the motley crue song is about) was also an addict, and a heck of a nice guy, which made it worse. I was a functioning addict, able to work, but I stayed loaded all the time -pills, prescription codeine based cough syrup, whatever else... (I particuarly liked codaclear, I would drink it like soda pop) - and, as others have pointed out, the more you take, your body builds tolerance, and the more you need.

Fast forward - for whatever reason, I had let my stash get a little low, but, no problem. Then - my doc got found out and split town under dark of night. I was unable to hook up with anyone, and went in to unplanned opiate withdrawal.

Raven, I truly don't mean this in a bad way, but either you are extremely lucky, or you weren't taking enough, because believe me, while an opiate withdrawal probably won't kill you, you wish it would. I never imagined even my toenails and earlobes could hurt. Sweats, chills... it took about a week for the physical effects to wear off, then the mental aspect took over, which was just as bad, if not worse.

On that first full blown day of withdrawals, I was laying in bed - I call it my 12 shirt day, cause i sweated and chilled thru 12 shirts - I only had energy to scroll thru my iphone, and even that was a struggle. I got on face book, starting scrolling thru friends, friends of friends, their friends... anything to occupy my mind.

As i did this, I came across the page of the daughter of a lady I had dated almost 30 years ago - in fact, I had bapized her. The little girl, who was 11 at the time treated me like her father, and I adored her. When her mother and I broke up, I lost touch with them, seeing the girl last when she was 13. I found her page and picture, and saw an incredibly beautiful lady with a family of her own.

I said to myself, "My God, what if she could see me now..." and I totally broke down in tears. I found a crises line in the phone book, hooked up with a recovery fellowship, and have been clean ever since.

i know there are those on this board who demean places like NA or AA, but for me personally, it has worked, mainly because I have a network of fellow addicts who I can call if I get in a bad place, and, more importantly, who I can help get thru rough times.

Bottom line - Addiction sucks. I know. Ive been there - and survived.

PS - I got away from the church, too!!! Added benefit from no longer fearing the mean, angry, condemning mormon God!

DH is like you. He has taken massive doses of morphine and vicodin and xanax for extreme chronic pain. He has no idea what 'high' means.

I borrowed one of his vicodins before a dentist appointment, then got shot up with a ton of novocaine and had no pain. I came home and laid on the couch and smiled at the ceiling for 4 hours. It took months before I forgot how happy it made me. I NEVER touch his stuff now. It scared me to death.

Use or abuse ... what a double edged sword.
It sounds like you are using your Doctors appropriately. Staying honest and close with him will fare you well.
Prescription drug abuse is getting a lot of press atm, most of it bad.
Very hot topic for me. I have chronic pain due to degenerative disc disease, double neck fusion failing etc.
I have never gotten "high" from methadone but the stigma associated with it is daunting, as is looking at a life full of pain.
Just stay close with your doc using only what he prescribes as he prescribes it. Using pain meds will create a dependency with long term use. I don't know any way around it, the medical field well knows this but has little else to offer certain pain patients.
I am NA/AA so I am aware of the Catch 22 position.
I prefer the fentanyl patch if my pain levels are severe, I get no high from it either but it is hard to get it prescribed because of society abuse.
Your doc should be your best friend in this, stay honest to a fault taking all concerns to him.
Best of luck.

My mother couldnot sleep without nyquil or benadril. Later she could not sleep without flexeril. Then oxycodone. Then overusing and abusing her pain meds, steroids, antibiotics etc, anything she could wheedle of steal from anywhere and sjy one, if sye thought it would ease ger aryhtiyis and fibromyalgia symptoms. She thought she was careful, was too upright and upstanding to be what she called a loser and a druggie.

Shes an addict. Shes a konstop smoker 3 packs a day which caused chronic bronchitis and pneumonia, then cold. She smokes with oxygen in use in the home. I neither see or speak to her these days and it 's sad.

If you use what is not yours, use meds not prescribed for you in the correct way and dosage, if you double up on meds, if you "need " meds to face the day or you cankot sleep without meds, and you are not dying or have not been diagnosed with a terminal or life threatening illness; if other things such as proper rest/sleep, diet, taking your rxd meds properly, jn combo with those tjings and therapy (physical, exercise etc) or behavioral therapy can or would benefit you similarly in place of those meds ---but you refuse to do them, or look into them because you want your meds instead, then you might be an addict.

You don't need to be Simone who is out of control or angry and raging, shaking or quaking or ill when off the mere, yo be an addict.

But if you sub one thing for the other when off one med, or you immediately revert back to the med you went off and judt did okay off of, then you might be an addict.

If you take meds for pain but do not attempt to rehabilitate, try recovery behaviors or make any attempt to return to normal function when you could do so physically and mentally if/while on the meds, you might be an addict.

My mother never got high or went into an altered state when on or off her meds she was addicted to, but she simply did not function normally on or off them and her behaviors both mental and physical, clearly showed she was adficted. Obsession with her Merck manual. Compulsive talking not about her ill health but about her med s. Couldnt let her pillbox out of sight or when out, her purse the pillbox was in. Obsessive timekeeping to be sure she did not miss the next dose. "Forgetting" she took one and saying, oh it cant hurt to take another now.

She was basically living to get to the next pill so she could have an excuse to stop participating in life and the world. Ie : I need to take my medicine, so I cant come visit/go shopping/babysit/talk now. I don't /cant/ wont do that when I'm on my meds I just want to go back to sleep, so you ggo ahead without me. I cant drive anymore because I cant do it while on my meds.

You might be an addict and not realize that. If you are questioning whether or not you're an addict, it might be time to discuss that with your Dr, nurse, or a pain management or addiction recovery specialist.

bookratt Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> You might be an addict and not realize that. If
> you are questioning whether or not you're an
> addict, it might be time to discuss that with your
> Dr, nurse, or a pain management or addiction
> recovery specialist.


I don't question if I am an addict, I question if my experience is normal--no high from the meds, and no physical symptoms if I step down the drugs.

I've been on pain meds for 15 years. I've not been high one single time. I also can go off of them without too much trouble.

I went off of hydrocodone with no withdrawls at all.
I went off the patch, and didn't feel well for about 3 days. My pain was so intense I was bed ridden though.

Well, I don't personally get high either. Perhaps it's because you are doing what you're supposed to do with your meds, and they are working on the pain, not making you high. This, to me, says you're taking them properly. I think it's good that you're questioning yourself, maybe it's your way of keeping yourself in check.

Also, not having withdrawal symptoms is excellent. Everyone is different. I have only recently felt any of those symptoms, it's like a cold clammy feeling when you're detoxing. I'm pretty much on a similar program as you now, without the methadone. I take the 10 mg oxycodone (not percocet because it would be too much tylenol) 5 times a day. But this was recent. Prior to that I was on Norco, which i didn't like, it made me wired and turned me into a raging bitch. I wonder if my clammy symptoms are relted to the recent increase in meds...I have one doctor and one pharmacy. I've never been chastised for taking too much. Perhaps your worry is related to the public attention that is being paid lately to pain meds...

Only 1% of Chronic pain patients become addicted.
People with chronic pain don't get high off of pain meds.
Pain overrides that mechanism in your brain.
People on pain meds wish they didn't need them to function. They aren't high, and don't want to be. They just want to be out of pain.

People in pain who are on the correct dosage ARE NOT HIGH. There have been extensive tests done that prove this. They are not driving impaired in any way, unlike people who drink and drive.

Pain meds were made for people in pain. To deny them is extremely cruel.

If you're using pain meds to get high, you need to go to rehab. You are making life extremely difficult for all of the people who are suffering from pain.

The majority of people don't understand chronic pain, or the pain medications that are prescribed. They think they do, but they don't. Just because someone is taking pain meds every day for pain does not mean they're addicted. It means that they need pain meds in order to have some semblance of a life. It's not like they get their life back. Usually pain meds take the edge off the pain and make it more manageable. Seldom does it completely erase the pain.

Mia Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Only 1% of Chronic pain patients become addicted.
> People with chronic pain don't get high off of
> pain meds.
> Pain overrides that mechanism in your brain.
> People on pain meds wish they didn't need them to
> function. They aren't high, and don't want to be.
> They just want to be out of pain.
>
> People in pain who are on the correct dosage ARE
> NOT HIGH. There have been extensive tests done
> that prove this. They are not driving impaired in
> any way, unlike people who drink and drive.
>
> Pain meds were made for people in pain. To deny
> them is extremely cruel.
>
> If you're using pain meds to get high, you need to
> go to rehab. You are making life extremely
> difficult for all of the people who are suffering
> from pain.
>
> The majority of people don't understand chronic
> pain, or the pain medications that are prescribed.
> They think they do, but they don't. Just because
> someone is taking pain meds every day for pain
> does not mean they're addicted. It means that they
> need pain meds in order to have some semblance of
> a life. It's not like they get their life back.
> Usually pain meds take the edge off the pain and
> make it more manageable. Seldom does it completely
> erase the pain.

A good summary. IF you believe the media then everyone who uses pain medication is an addict. My brother tells all his friends that I am addicted. He was the one who was addicted to illegal drugs, as well as alcohol and who used meds for recreation. Recently, he was in pain but was afraid to use the meds for fear of being addicted again. Since he is a narcissist that means that his experience defines the world's experience and therefor I must be an addict since he was.

However, I don't know that pain keeps people from being addicted. I think it is the person's physical/psychological makeup. I have read that some people can use illegal drugs when they feel like it and some are addicted after one use.

I do appreciate people sharing their stories. The internet seems to only discuss drugs when people are addicted, I have found nothing about those who use the drugs as prescribed and who have no problems (because if you have no problems no one talks about it). It is not like I can take a survey of the other patients in the waiting room of my pain mngt group.

In my experience recovering addicts have a really hard time understanding the difference between use and abuse. It seems as though, because they became addicted, everyone else automatically will also. They hate that they are incapable of using the substance properly, therefore everyone else must be an addict too. And because you're not, I wonder if he's jealous. I've seen addicts act this way before. It's like they're jealous. Personally, I keep it to myself, and try not to make it public knowledge, to those around me about my meds (unless I'm confiding -- it is, after all your medical issues, which are no one's business but you and your Dr), especially people like your brother. My neighbor just told me about her family coming to stay with her, one of which was a 'recovered' addict. They stole her pain meds right out of her medicine cabinet. Now she has to deal with the pain of an ovarian cyst without her meds all because of a so-called recovered addict. Just be careful who knows what about you, especially if they might be able to gain access to your med cabinet.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/02/2013 01:13PM by FormerLatterClimber.

I don't know anything about addiction, but I'll say this about morphine. When my TBM mother had back surgery, she was on morphine and something else like oxycodone for the pain. A few days after her surgery, she called me up and slurring her words she asked how my son was doing. He is almost ten years old, and it was the only time she has ever asked about him. She doesn't remember making the call. So, evidently that's what it takes.

Makurosu Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't know anything about addiction, but I'll
> say this about morphine. When my TBM mother had
> back surgery, she was on morphine and something
> else like oxycodone for the pain. A few days after
> her surgery, she called me up and slurring her
> words she asked how my son was doing. He is almost
> ten years old, and it was the only time she has
> ever asked about him. She doesn't remember making
> the call. So, evidently that's what it takes.


Sounds like she was certainly overmedicated. That might have been intentional if the pain was high. People in pain don't heal as quickly.

I believe they did a blood test on me because I came into the office sleepy (went to bed late and got up early), and being tired can be the result of overuse. I didn't care since I knew the test would show that I was using the meds as directed.

when your mother called you inquiring after your son, was it the pain medication, or the vulnerability and experience of the surgery intervention? Google surgery, awareness, ego state, regression, vulnerability. LIterally change your ego defenses. It may not have been the medication.

Have you looked into adding Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or medical hypnotherapy from someone who specializes in those for pain management? They are time-limited therapies (you don't go forever) and have good results.

SSRI medications can also be helpful, as can gabapentin, and they are non-additive. Might be worth talking with your doc about if you haven't tried them.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/02/2013 12:49PM by robertb.

robertb Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Have you looked into adding Cognitive Behavioral
> Therapy or medical hypnotherapy from someone who
> specializes in those for pain management, if you
> haven't tried that already? They are time-limited
> therapies (you don't go forever) and have good
> results.

No, I am limited by what my insurance will pay, and right now I don't have money for non covered treatment.

I had some minor surgery and got an infection and I probably have scar tissue in the pelvic area (area of pain). I have been told that surgery can make it worse.

See if a surgical specialist on that specific issue (type of surgery/ illness) can do a re-do. My friend had his appendix burst and was in the hospital for a month as a teen, and his intestine is sometimes blocked by scars and adhesions so he is in the hospital in extreme pain. They cannot remove any more of his intestine. He's director of a program & on an indigent regional health service board- he's amazing I am glad to have known him, worked with him assisted him- he's on a mission. I love him.
When I had several of my surgeries he was working closely with me I was helping him adapt his skills into a different field he was generating funding for a professional program- we met sometimes daily after work. IN his pain, he helped me mentored me as I was in pain (ovarian mass regrow multiple surgeries) sometimes daily. He taught me to breath, how to keep going- he was my man at work and Dan was my man at home grounding me LOL at least temporarily. Mentors. Pain mentors. being mentors. HUGE need. He also supported me using biofeedback, well and dissociating the pain (just being numb) during the day, ending up very tired, and um the technique might have gotten out of hand ; 0

So if its possible to get adhesions or scars temporarily cleaned up, knowing they will grow back,
someone suggested, on an internet site, of moving and stretching immediately after your surgery. (to have strethy scar tissue- if your gonna have adhesions at least they're gonna move- with yu, when you are) I tried that. I did that.
but between surgeries I went to a warm water pool aerobic or motion class, and someone taught me to lift machine weights- since I needed to be able to keep my balance and stand up and move I was that out of shape -- and then, I had another surgery so I could keep my balance standing and not need so much help with pain because I could keep my balance. the balance problem started when my foot wouldn't work, well the whole leg (LOL only one of them) not both suddenly stops moving & I fall. LOL & you never know when.
threw me for a loop consciously telling the foot to lift heel toes not toe first learn to walk again. Twice. So going to the place where they will teach you to move again, or more, or its like the gymn but a kind one.

Can you get a physical therapist to work with your adhesions and scarring - I went to a physical therapist who through deep massage stretched out some adhesions/ scars which clearly tugged or attached and pulled in. Hurt the next day, ached. Recovered & relieved- able to do some things again. Went on a specific diagnosis for X number of session- they assessed and began to work on it said if they didnt it would like be a cause of the problem. They call it fascia work. Adhesion work. Some is surface, some is deep deep tissue massage. What's the risk anyways when you're already in pain?

Motion- pain- possible nerve damage- torques other joints or muscles. Ask orthopedists or chiropractors on the board. So your in pain, you guard the spot, you stumble from nerve damage or tighten up. I'm describing myself. I found a recovery yoga class of gentle yoga for people in lots of pain & went off & on for several years. I still call the teacher every few months. learning to stretch it out if you can and be gentle with yourself. It was ten dollars a class when I went. To be able to catch yourself when you fall, how about wearing hightops or boots with good soles? So when of if you stumble you do not tumble or have to take a tumble. it is part of the nerve damage caused by a growth removed for me. I hear you.
my pain started when I was 28. being raised by alcoholics and with addicts I have made extremely unkind decisions toward myself regarding pain medication through these 12,was it 12,11. Whatever. I probably f-0 up my body or mind seeking solutions rather than accepting pain meds. it was so harsh. I can't believe I did that to myself. ****

I am not pain free but relatively & that is all I expect for me. I just wish I wasn't so tired. I wish there was more time. I was in agony coughing in recovery from the flu/cold across a deep section of my scar tissue. now its resolved with just s ting. I am trying to tear it out standing slowly pedaling twisting into the pedal on a stationary bike several minutes when I get up- AM or in the night. attack stretch not stay still. like I said, I'm not taking this as well as I might.

There are tremendously trained hypnotherapists, who can understand everything, not just strain your personality by putting an overlay on your for one thing that torques your issues. Some hypnotherapists are experienced therapists with decades or more, multiple graduate degrees, who really 'get' it and can support you put your life together in the most comfortable effecive way with problems you chose to solve. Even a simple relaxation tape/CD after an initial meeting to help you begin to relax, may make it easier to address life's change- seeking or making or trying to find anything. If you want it. YOU are the driver. the hypnotherapist is just your vehicle, setting up help which you choose, if you desire- its your choice. They are not a therapist working weekly with your system or issues. They are a specific fix several sessions - go.

Some self-hypnosis for pain may also help. I've used it for myself for anxiety and depression.

I think dependence is a pyschological condition and addiction is a physical condition (maybe with pyschological features).

My husband had some surgery that required packing in his nose. It was quite painful and the doc gave him percodan. Two weeks later they took out the packing and said the pain should be gone and he wouldn't need the percodan any more. However, they neglected to mention anything about stepping down, probably because he'd been on it for such a short time.

He said the pain was gone as soon as they removed the packing, so he stopped the percodan. Within hours he went through withdrawal: pale, cold sweats, nausea, rapid heartbeat, the works.

The doctor insisted he go back on the percodan and step down over the course of two weeks. He really, really did not ever want to take it again, but he did it. That really taught me that there is definitely a big physical issue involved.

The doctor said that not just pain meds, but many meds, cause a physical dependency and that they must be stepped down. However that physical dependency is not addiction, it is only the bodies response to a drug and the body's reaction if it is stopped abruptly. There are other drugs besides pain meds that cause withdrawl symptoms (like antidepressants). Everyone is different as to how they react.

Agreed. When I was pregnant I had to stop taking my SSRIs. It was the worst experience I've ever had, and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. There isn't enough fish oil, b vitamins, or amino acids in the world to make up for this kind of withdrawal. And the negative side effects all last for YEARS if you stay off of them. I was pissed that I now have to be on SSRIs the rest of my life. I'm not kidding, involuntary electric shocks through my body for the whole nine months. It's a far far worse detox than anything I've ever seen.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/02/2013 01:22PM by FormerLatterClimber.

Just as a follow up - I do agree that addicts often have trouble distinguishing between use and abuse. In my 15 years of opiate addiction, I never ONCE believed I was an addict - until I had to do my unplanned cold turkey withdrawal. After all, I had legal perscriptions(!!!) (well, for the most part, anyway), though granted, they were from different doctors for all sorts of questionable maladys... (sore throat, sore knee, toothache, migrane, hangnail... whatever it took).

To all who read and take pain pills - PLEASE be careful, and be wise. It is so easy to let it get out of control without realizing it.

As I said in my earlier post, this isn't theory - I KNOW!!!

It happened to me, and cost me just about everything.