pain pills

Hi Sisters,
Having been on this road along time, I am hoping for an honest answer from my sisters. Do any of you feel you are "hooked" on pain killers? Do you find that they not only help with the physical pain, but dealing with it on a "mental" level also? That maybe they help you to push it all out of your head for a little while and give you some breathing room, time to act "normal" like the rest of the world? I realize this is a tough question, so I don't expect many responses. I just find when I take a vicoden, I don't "dwell" on things anymore. The "what if's and what could have been, and what is going on NOW" just don't seem to matter for a little while. I quess this is what an addiction is. ALl I know is I have had enough, and just want to feel good for a change. All three surgeries in the same spot have done is give me more pain, and I want it to stop.

I know how you feel about the pain. I have been in pain daily since the hysterectomy 17 months ago and I will soon be scheduled for my fifth vaginal surgery in a little more than 2 years. Chronic pain changes everything in your life. Because it is so consuming it is hard to find the joy and happiness you once knew. That's how it is so easy to begin to rely on medication. When it numbs the pain it numbs the brain. But you have to remember one thing, pain medication doesn't cure the problem it only masks it for a little while. It's important for you not to give up searching for the source of your pain and how it can be cured once and for all. In the meantime please, please see a counselor before your small problem becomes a large one. Drug addiction is serious and can cause so many additional health problems. You have reached out and taken a step in admitting you are having a problem. Now you need to act on it! Please call your Dr. I care about what happens to you.
Michelle

I agree, please keep trying to find the source of your pain so you don't need the pain pills anymore and then get some help to get off them. One of my friends husbands is addicted to Vicoden and has been for several years and it all started with a backache. Please seek help. Hugs.

Well, all of this is not so simple. Yes, the pain pills do
let you go into denial, and it does that because it helps
the pain and you CAN think of something else for a while. I have given all this a lot of thought, and yes,
you do get addicted to feeling better, because the pain
is so draining and you have no life without this relief.
I have gone back and forth on this myself, getting relief is the purpose of the pain meds, and it is horrible knowing that you couldn't function without out
them, but this is not our fault. I have had 3 surgeries
since my hyst, and I am still considering another one,
but I am stuck, I just can't go thru with it right now. There are
injections one can take, and I haven't seen many people
who have had good results with this, and there is PT,
which there is no one in my area that does that, so what does one do, and I have to work, at least 3 more yrs. Guilt is just one more ofthings that we go thru
with this condition, but I have gotten over that pretty much, I am 56 and I feel like life has already made me lose so much time with my family and grandkids, and if
the pain meds enable me to enjoy my family, so be it.
Now I think true addiction is when people start abusing them, and just keep drastically upping their dose, I have a neice who has done that, like taking a bunch of them, and of course she can't get any relief with any thing now. I have been on hydrocodone off and on for
about 5 yrs and I have had to increase the amounts to get any relief, but it has not been that much. One of the main problems that I have is that it just doesn't last that long. I couldn't abuse them if I wanted to, they would make me very sick and have a bad side effects, and sometimes it does build up in my system and I start to have some side affects, like nausa, and anxiety, especially if I am not eating enough, and sometimes when my pain is so bad, I lose my appetite.
And yes, they can make you go when you probably should rest, and yes they let you get your mind off of
your condition, and it is very scarey to be dependant
on something that allows you to live somewhat of a normal life, but I have come to some sort of acceptance of it, I am just plain tired of worrying about it, this pain is debilitating. Sometimes I think
I should be strong enough to endure it, and it really isn't
that bad, but when I have left off the meds I come back to reality. I have excercised, I eat right, and I have volumes of info on this condition, and I have been to many, many doctors so I feel like I have really tried
to find answers, I have no guilt about that. I will keep searching, and I may try one more surgery if I find someone I am confident in, but until then I am taking my pills, and trying to have a life.

I understand what you are feeling! I have been taking vicodin for 2 years now because of my fibromyalgia. They say that your body can become dependent on it, just like an anti-depressant or something. It doesn't neccessarily mean that you are "addicted." Yes, I do take my vicodin sometimes when I am getting stressed. It makes me so that I am nicer and able to work out a problem. Otherwise, I cry and hurt and can't solve anything. It ususally puts me in a workable mood for about 2 hours. In fact, I am going to see my Dr. about this this morning. I just found out earlier this week that I have trigger points in my pelvic floor muscles and we need to decide what we are going to do about them. I don't feel guilty and I don't think I am addicted because they say when you are addicted you will try to get them by any means legal or not. If I didn't have my vicodin, I would be struggling with a lot of daily pain and would never get anything done. On the other hand, if you are taking them just to escape, then that isn't good. Best of luck to you.
Nancy

I've been on pain pills since well before my hyst. I don't think that I am "hooked", although my body is probably dependent on the pain meds that I am taking. Do they make me feel better? Yes, they do. But isn't that what they are suppose to do? When I am not in pain I can do things and not sit on the sofa or lay in bed and wallow in my misery. Than when the pain comes back, I am miserable and lamenting what has become of me. It can be both physical and psychological.

I can relate to wanting it to stop. I just picked up my new script for the duragesic patch and commented to my doc's nurse "one of these days, I hope that I don't have to use this anymore." I don't know when that day will come, but I try to remain hopeful that it will come.

I just went to my GP today to review my meds. I requested that, if there was any way, if I could maybe change my prescriptions because I am worried about getting addicted. She asked me how I used them and let me talk about how they make me feel and how I feel without them. She told me that with my state of health, I probably won't ever be off some kind of pain med, so I should stay with what is working for now. If it comes to building tolerance to a point that they aren't working, they will consider a different kind of med. She said that by what I told her, I'm not addicted but dependent. There is a difference, but in some circles they don't see a difference. It depends on how you are taking them and how you are getting them.

Nancy

Sounds better if we say dependant, not addicted
I think it helps me in the ways you describe too.

(((whatsnormal)))...

I know just what you are talking about.

There is something about vicoden that makes you just not care as much about the pain. You still feel it, of course, but you are more removed from it.

I am on long term pain meds for my back. I had a pain pump implanted that delivers pain directly into the intrathecal space--into the spinal fluid. This was less than 2 months ago, and I still have to take a lot of oral meds, until they can "turn up" the pump to where it takes care of most of the pain.

Anyway, somewhere in this process I got switched to Dilaudid. And I really miss that vicoden! There is some kind of "high"--but, like I said before, I'd describe it as a break from not being mentally and emotionally overwhelmed by your pain and how it is robbing your quality of life.

In terms of addiction, my PM doc said that after 3 or 4 days of taking pain meds constantly, *everybody* becomes dependent on them. Your body will have some unpleasant reactions if you stop. But addiction is something different. It's using your meds for purposes other than those they are intended for, "sneaking" more than you are allowed (not telling your doc), needing that "high" so badly that you are willing to put your relationships or job at risk, etc..

It doesn't sound to me like you are an addict. It seems that you are just noticing and appreciating that aspect of vicoden that lets you forget your troubles for a little while.

If you are truly worried about addiction, you might want to consider trying a different pain med, like a fentanyl patch, or a longer acting medication. It kinda breaks that emotional connection to the pill (the "I'm going to feel a lot better after I take this pill"), and also keeps your body on a more even keel rather than having the highs and the lows.

Good luck to you, Sweetie... There is absolutely *nothing* wrong with wanting to feel better. I'm so sorry that your surgeries have not helped.