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I am worried about my pain treatment journey

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PainJourney

Greenlighter
Joined
Apr 25, 2016
Messages
3
Hello,

This is my very first post here. I have found good information here via google, and decided this is a good place to get honest answers. I have never used drugs recreational in my life. I am now with my Doctors help managing chronic pain in my hands due to a rare skin condition known as PRP for short. I have a lot of open wounds (splits) due to a eczema type effects of this disease. I have many plaques that split. Unlike eczema there is an underlying feeling of 2nd degree burns in the same areas.

I have been on Norco for about 1.5 years now. I am currently at 30mg a day of 10/325 pills. I recently had a small remission in my condition, and stopped taking the Norco. Within 24 hours I started experiencing stomach cramps, and some anxiety. Am I in trouble? My remission was short, and I am back on the Norco, but now I am scared.

Jack
 
You will experience withdrawal my friend. Any prolonged use of opiates, and I mean any, at any amount, you will experience dependence which is characterized by withdrawal symptoms at the cessation of use. Addiction and dependence are two very different states of being. I do have to say though if you are not participating in addictive behaviors such as routinely going over your prescribed dose in search of a high, cutting ties with family and friends in order to get high, actively seeking stronger opiates in order to experience the high you had before (chasing), or even isolating than I think you will be okay. Just be wary of the signs. There is a very good sticky here about the symptoms of addiction that you should check out. Arm yourself with knowledge.

The biggest factor is quality of life. You need to ask yourself is your quality of life suffering more for being on the medication, or for having an untreated ailment.

As far as health risks from opiates there are not many. Opiates are actually fairly benign to the body. The only thing I would be concerned with is the APAP in your pills. Prolonged use of tylenol can effect liver function. I would suggest maybe once a year getting a liver panel done. Your pain management doctor can prescribe them for you, and it will let you know if you are at risk of experiencing complications from the tylenol. At your dose though the only complications that I can see coming up is if your body has a hard time metabolizing the tylenol.

In summary... as long as you are okay with your treatment and are in no danger of getting cut off from your meds abruptly you should be fine. Just take care of yourself and follow your doctors orders.
 
manboychef said:
The biggest factor is quality of life. You need to ask yourself is your quality of life suffering more for being on the medication, or for having an untreated ailment.
Click to expand...

...and this goes through my mind continually.

Thank you for this reply. I am in new surrounding now, and I am trying to educate myself, along with trusting medical guidance at this time. A voice in my head has been awakened however. I still have a lot of pain even with treatment. A year, and a half ago I was taking 1/2 a 5mg pill at the end of the day, as my hands get progressively worse as the day goes on. Now I only make it to noon or an hour after before medicating, and I am at 30mg a day. I am slowly loosing functionality in my day, because I don't drive after taking a dose of Norco. The voice started saying, "This is a trap." The relief I get keeps me a half way pleasant person, but at sometime I worry that the pain meds will switch rolls, and start causing problems. Dealing with chronic pain is more difficult than I thought it would be.

Jack
 
:) Hey Jack...Welcome to BL! I empathize with you and have had those same thoughts you are having. I have suffered with pain for decades.
 
I think you are being overly cautious by not driving after taking Norco. After a year and a half I would say that tolerance has probably limited any danger that you are driving impaired. For comparison I take 150mg of methadone a day and I drive without a problem.
 
Your PM doc should slowly wean you off once you don't need to take the pain meds.. When I was on pain mgmt, I got all the way up to 75mcg/hr fentanyl patch and then got kicked out for givin a dirty pee test... doc gave me 2 boxes of 25mcg patches n said good luck. But that wasn't nowhere enough and I went thru 7 layers of hell getting off that stuff.

Anyway, back on topic.. your doctor will set up a plan to get you weaned off with the least amount of discomfort. Just don't get kicked off the program
 
I want to give it a try, never meditated before but my mind is going haywire in all directions at 100mph. Would be great if I could silence it for a while. Could you suggest some reading material on meditation?

Many thanks
 
Actually there is a sticky on the sober living thread list. Personally I just focus on my breathing and then once my thoughts are calm I envision a light bathing each part of my body that feels distressed (generally my liver). I usually meditate for five to seven minutes in the morning. I get up at five am everyday to garden, coffee, and meditate. It is the still of the morning that makes it work for me.

http://bluelight.org/vb/threads/787080-Mindfulness-Based-Stress-Reduction-Resources
here is the thread.
 
I think natural remedys for pain are great and all but opiates do have a place in the treatment of pain. OP if you are really worried have a conversation with your doctor about it. You and him are in the best place to asses your health needs and long term prognosis. If you do decide to get off the opiates then taper very slowly over a period of months. There is no reason to suffer in your position.
 
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