Newbie here..My story from pain mgmt to drug of choice vs. drug of needs!!

[kharizma]

Here Goes...what the heck!!!

Hello to all..just by browsing before joining i am surprisingly curious and amused that a site such as this exists.

Medical conditions: Degenerative disk disease (L5/S1)

Previous prescribed medications: 12mg exalgo (dilaudid)-once daily......10mg oxycontin breakthrough...lidoderm patches (pst! Whatever)

"Additional" medications: 80mg oxycontin....30mg morphine sulphate (and as we speak currently trying for the first time a very very very tiny piece of 200mg morphine er)...did i say tiny? Yes...i have never had it before

Condition aside...my D.O.C is oxycontin so i guess that puts me in the bracket of people who need it as well as like/want it...but the liking/wanting came BEFORE the needing (medically), if that makes sense. Kharma maybe??? Anyway, due to the ever changing pain management rules broken and re-written in my state, i have been taken completely off of everything by my new doctor. Been on pain mgmgt for 7 years, NO CONTRACT VIOLATIONS..NO DR HOPPING and without weaning or discussing any alternatives, besides her stating "lets start over from the beginning" i go from the previous stated RX's above to tramadol and skalaxin (excuse the incorrect spelling)...oh sure! Shall we magically reverse the degeneration process as well!! The "beginning" was 7 years ago...ultram to vicodin to percocet to oxycodone to morphine to oxycontin. Not my first rodeo. So thats where the "additional" came in. I went from legally managing to well you know...not. My tolerance for opiates is pretty high, so tramadol was like skittles to me..not to mention the ability to...i dont know...maybe walk sometimes!!! To some i may seem like a hypocrite or whatever because my D.O.C is actually an opiate, but hey..no judging. However my original D.O.C is no longer in rotation...acid was much easier to find in 2002. The half life of everything is getting shorter and shorter to me, and even a fentenyl patch did absolutely nothing, but half of the 80mg oxy works for hours on end.....i dont know. On my good days, i have gone without, so i am positive i am a case of needing it for pain to function vs chasing the euphoria feeling as I have never withdrawn, EVEN THO YES I LIKE THEM. I went to a silent buddhist retreat in Atlanta for 77 hours, no opiates, just a lot of lidocain cream and muscle relaxers. Oh the pain in my sacroiliac joint was unbearable, after all it is degenerating, and i had to skip yoga the second day, but no nausea, diarrhea,sweats flu like symptoms etc.

whew!! Good call on the tiny tiny tiny piece of the 200mg morphine. Very strong. Taking all responses, feedback....etc!! Thanks guys. Safe zoning

 

[missmeyet?]

Welcome to BL. It is a great community and everyone (mostly) is very supportive and helpful. Sounds like you will fit right in. (Just make sure you break your paragraphs up some, one long block of text is pretty difficult to read and some people will bitch..and you might not get as many responses)!

I am shocked that you have never had withdrawals. Have you been on opiate/opioid meds continuously for yhose 7 years? That's kind of what it sounded like. And just FYI, having withdrawals has nothing to do with taking these meds for pain, for fun or chasing the euphoria. Generally speaking anyone who uses them frequently for a period of time no matter what the reason will cause their body to become physically dependent on them (used to them) which therefore causes withdrawals. No offense meant if you are already aware of that it was just the way you worded that statement made it sound as though the "no withdrawals" meant you were taking it for pain and not for fun.

I have a story somewhat similar to yours as far as pain mgmnt goes and then ending up having to "supplement" my prescribed meds (mine has been for about 10 years). I also have DDD but on several levels, MS, and RA among a few other things. I have been a nurse for 20 years. Though I "like" oxy also I truly cannot go one day without my meds due to pain making it impossible to function and I would for sure go into withdrawals if I even went one day without.

There is also a forum here specifically for pain management that you might be interested in under the "other drugs" section.

Good luck and hope to see you here.

 

[LegallyMotivated]

Welcome to BL. It is a great community and everyone (mostly) is very supportive and helpful. Sounds like you will fit right in. (Just make sure you break your paragraphs up some, one long block of text is pretty difficult to read and some people will bitch..and you might not get as many responses)!

I am shocked that you have never had withdrawals. Have you been on opiate/opioid meds continuously for yhose 7 years? That's kind of what it sounded like. And just FYI, having withdrawals has nothing to do with taking these meds for pain, for fun or chasing the euphoria. Generally speaking anyone who uses them frequently for a period of time no matter what the reason will cause their body to become physically dependent on them (used to them) which therefore causes withdrawals. No offense meant if you are already aware of that it was just the way you worded that statement made it sound as though the "no withdrawals" meant you were taking it for pain and not for fun.

I have a story somewhat similar to yours as far as pain mgmnt goes and then ending up having to "supplement" my prescribed meds (mine has been for about 10 years). I also have DDD but on several levels, MS, and RA among a few other things. I have been a nurse for 20 years. Though I "like" oxy also I truly cannot go one day without my meds due to pain making it impossible to function and I would for sure go into withdrawals if I even went one day without.

There is also a forum here specifically for pain management that you might be interested in under the "other drugs" section.

Good luck and hope to see you here.

This response captures in my opinion what is the spirit of bluelight.

Warm opening followed by advice then topped off with a relatable experience and some more educated advice. Isn't it just great here? Props to the individual missmeyet?.

kharizma;
Welcome to BL, I wish you the best! Dont' forget to stay safe.

 

[kharizma]

missmeyet..Wow..Thanks for the feedback! Was not sure if i would feel in place here. Yes i have been on them for 7 years, but off and on. I will say that retreat was during the time i tried the fentenyl patch as well. And no offense taken. I am aware that withdrawals occur regardless of physical or mental dependency, just sharing a memorable experience that i myself pondered on. I will definitely check out the pain management section.

You are awesome!

 

[kharizma]

LegallyMotivated...true indeed!! Made me feel like i made the right choice joining BL.

Best Wishes to you as well!

 

[ToBeReborn]

Hi, similar situation to OP here, long medical opiate history.

I, too, thought withdrawals hadn't happened, the first few times I stopped them for only 3 days. In fact, other than savage pain, I felt remarkably well. No runs, sweats, nothing, just pain. Back on them due to pain. Now, fast forward to when I was trialling other pain management options and I stopped properly. I stopped opiates cold, on bad medical advice back then, not knowing how dangerous it could be to cold turkey off long term opiates. Again, nothing happened for the first four or five days other than the severe pain. I found out later this is common with long term pain patients as the receptors work differently with opiates in pain patients.

Within a week, I started the most intense withdrawals, lasting then another several weeks and put me in hospital, where I had to have FORTY litres of fluid pumped into me over the days and went into septic shock and nearly died, with massive diarrhoea and sickness and severe withdrawals.

Something to bear in mind is that all pain patients on opiates do develop tolerance and they need increasing doses of pain meds and they do become physically dependent, although this only becomes obvious after a full opiate detox. There's some very interesting research around about opiates and receptors in the chronic pain setting.

As a pain patient, you never want to get in the situation whereby a doctor can suddenly stop your pain meds and leave you to face severe withdrawals on top of that massive pain. In your shoes I'd be escalating this as the day you can't get hold of any opiates for a while, it will be horrendous. A doctor should know better than to reduce opiates in the manner described, forcing patients to buy them illicitly and pushing them out of the medical setting is unacceptable. Please call them out on this and let us know how you get on.

 

[Shadowsblaze]

I know the feeling of not being taken proper care of concerning pain. I had to endure working with the pain for many years before finally receiving SSI. Fortunately in Florida the pain clinics were up and running for many years but they were expensive and took a good bite out of the monthly paycheck.

And I was fortunate also to foresee their end coming so I made a sincere effort to find a good GP. I didn't hesitate to leave one doctor and go to another, it was my money so I chose to spend it wisely. After appx. 6-7 Drs. I found a great doctor whom I have been with for 7 yrs. and never regret all the trouble I went through dealing with idiots who had no compassion or interest in me. Good luck in finding a good Dr. It is worth it to be as pain free as possible.