• The Dark Side 💕 Welcome Guest 💕
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Notable Threads Urgent Hotlines
    Bereavement Mindfulness
    Suicide Support Anger Management
  • TDS Moderators: AlphaMethylPhenyl | paranoid android

taking narcotics in recovery

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ds
  • Start date Start date
Ds

Ds

Bluelight Crew
Joined
Apr 26, 2006
Messages
31,970
Location
God's Country
the debates been going around here in the halfway house about taking pain meds when your in recovery (or in a rehab/halfway house/sober living environment).
what are your thoughts and views in taking narcotics in recovery?

everyone i ask around here gives me different answers. some say it's okay, and others think its the devil (which i can relate to both opinions).

i understand if you get hurt (like car accident, broken bones, and pain that has to be managed etc). the question arises if your taking the pain pills for the right reason. (or anxiety/bipolar meds).

me personally I know if i take any mind altering substance i get that thought going of "i want another". even if it's the worlds strongest narcotic. I'll always want another. Thats why i choose not to take that first one.
The scenario might happen where I will have to take a pain pill (dont know when, or what.. hopefully its way down the road).

what are your opinions in taking pain pills, and anxiety meds in recovery?


the reason why i bring this up is someone just got back from the hospital (he broke his arm), and they sent him home with a script of hydrocodone. some of the guys are pissed that he gets to take them, while others could care less about the pills and hopes that the guy gets feeling better.

it's different here because the staff here can give out your meds (if the meds are narcotics, sleep meds etc.) so its different then having the bottle in your possession.
 
I think it all depends on the person.
Its a dangerous spot to be in but after so much time has passed and if the individual is more in control of the addiction, it can be helpful.
But there is always the risk.
I'd say it varies by person and by pain level.
 
I would agree that it depends on the person. I was discouraged from taking anxiety medication while I was in the program, my counselor told me that "addicts are just more prone to anxiety/depression". I eventually used them for a period because I would have been unable to function at work without them.

I think each person needs to do what is best for themselves depending on their own situation. For some yes, for some no :)
 
i pop tons of benzos/herbal sedatives, smoke as much weed as i can afford when in recovery, and i thik it helps [although avoiding benzo dependence/wd is a bitch]. they hurt in their unique way, as they always would, but they are preferable to narcotics. if im sober the whole time i literally hide in my bed gnawing at myself thinking blankly about dope... at least when relaxed off benzos, or clouded from weed, the cravings are muted [but not destroyed]. and if i get too carried away with cravings for pot or non-opiates in general, that can end up in just giving in to the craving for opiates. so if you keep anxiety med. use or pot use in moderation, its okay i think. im against the zero tolerance policy, counselors who say that are fucking idiots IMO. in any case, its preferable to not do anything, but obviously soft drugs are preferable to hard drugs if you're on that "i need to get high all the time" bandwagon :(
 
If someone were actually pissed that someone with a broken arm gets to take hydrocodone, they should just break their own arm.

They clearly have NEVER been in real pain.

I broke both bones in my arm and trust me, you would rather go through opiate withdrawal than be on any level of pain meds with a broken arm.

Really; for whomever is getting pissed off at that person, tell them "go throw yourself down a flight of stairs and you too can be on hydrocodone!"

The reality of the situation is, no one would willingly go through that much excruciating pain for JUST hydrocodone (even if you were going to get any pain medication and adjunct you wanted - it's STILL not worth it!!!). It doesn't do anything to get you high, and it will barely change your pain level, if at all.

Bottom line: no one who got pissed at that person has ever, EVER been in REAL pain. Not like a jammed finger, not like a neck ache, but like breaking both arm bones at once.

I've even broken a bone at age 5, and again at age 12 (an arm bone nonetheless, but just one of them). Neither of these experiences even seemed all that bad by comparison to the time I broke both at once.

The fact that SOME of the people in the place you were at D's were like "oh I just hope your arm feels better soon" - means that you should still have some hope for humanity. These people are the only reason I do.
 
what the fuck.
lol
he broke his arm!

yeah they can break their arm,
and see how they feel in the morning.

people that get so riled up and intense about this stuff,
are the ones TRYING not to use again, not wanting not to deep down; eating themselves alive and taking it out on others.
- lol


to protect yourself is the point here, if taking painkillers is more damaging then baring the pain, then your choice is made, and honest one from yourself.
 
panic in paradise said:
what the fuck.
lol
he broke his arm!

yeah they can break their arm,
and see how they feel in the morning.

people that get so riled up and intense about this stuff,
are the ones TRYING not to use again, not wanting not to deep down; eating themselves alive and taking it out on others.
- lol


to protect yourself is the point here, if taking painkillers is more damaging then baring the pain, then your choice is made, and honest one from yourself.
Click to expand...

A+ post, I agree 100%.

If you don't want to get clean - don't go to the sober house and make someone's life a living hell - they already have a broken arm - they're already suffering without anyone else being pissed off that they get a very weak opiate as a consolation to extreme pain.
 
"people that get so riled up and intense about this stuff,
are the ones TRYING not to use again, not wanting not to deep down; eating themselves alive and taking it out on others.
- lol"

I'm afraid at this point I feel like one of those people. :(
 
i dont belive in 12 step for a variety of reasons. the words are sound, just the combination of the steps and the babbling about God freak me out.
 
i your an addcit like me then no im 20 years old and i just turned 20 april 2nd ... my story is all about getting roxicodone 30mg (blues) from doctors for my back....i have already been to state prison and theraputic community rehabs... if you dont know what those rehabbs are look it up.... i just wish i listened to someone and most important made the decision i knew was right... not the one i think is right and convince myself its right but know i just think its right cause its the easier thing cause the answer thats right is something hard to do when ur addiction kicks in and tries to make excuses why its ok to get painkillers
_____________________________________________
-this could be a very bad idea-
&
=it can not continue=
 
Last edited by a moderator:
DUDE!!! Great question. I've been in AA for well over 20 years. From the beginning until now I had been extremly active in service work all the way to New York, which is AA headquarters. If you want to know what's happening with me go to Other Drugs Forum here and check out "Confused about Opiate Withdrawal." Even though AA has no opinion on outside issues like drugs, new headlines, etc. there is a phamplet called AA Members and other Medications that explains in some detail our experience. In recovery you'll hear one extreme to the other but AA/NA is very clear where it stands, IT HAS NO OPINION. I am presently taking pain meds due to on the job injury, sponsor knows, wife knows, but it's not something I share with everybody. AA has worked for me for a long time, but from time to time we have to take meds. For me personally I take them as prescribed, and if I had a problem with taking the otherwise I'd deal with it. Personally, and this is just my opinion, You Can't Get High And Claim Sobriety, some people in recovery are a**holes, hardliners, that have killed people by telling them not to take anything, but that is not what you'll find in the phamplet I mentioned, find it read it, and make it a topic for discussion in one of your groups, you'll look like a champ for telling the truth and not the horseshit you hear in meetings, read my post in the forum section I mentioned above.

Legerity said:
I would agree that it depends on the person. I was discouraged from taking anxiety medication while I was in the program, my counselor told me that "addicts are just more prone to anxiety/depression". I eventually used them for a period because I would have been unable to function at work without them.

I think each person needs to do what is best for themselves depending on their own situation. For some yes, for some no :)
Click to expand...
I agree totally

ocean said:
I think it all depends on the person.
Its a dangerous spot to be in but after so much time has passed and if the individual is more in control of the addiction, it can be helpful.
But there is always the risk.
I'd say it varies by person and by pain level.
Click to expand...
I agree with you also
 
Last edited by a moderator:
haha i just heard a guy share a little bit about this the other night. he said he has had 2 open heart surgeries and both times he refused pain meds when he left the hospital. thats right, walked out with nothing. he said that his body doesnt care if a doctor perscribes it or jose on the corner perscribes it. he would start out taking 2 every six hours then end up taking 6 every two hours lol. he also said that he was in more pain when his wife left him than after both surgeries and wanted pain meds then more but still didnt take it. ive talked to the dude after meetings and he is actaully a cool guy just dead ass serious about his recovery.

i'd say he is def on the extreme side of the opinion in NA. my sponsor tells me i dont have to be a martyr and prove anything to anyone if i get hurt. my sponsor actually broke his back in active addiction, got nine inch titanium rods put it, and now only takes aleve and goes to physical therapy.


so if i had to get pain meds and i really needed it ( i'd have to be completely honest with myself) i would let a non-addict hold them and give me them when it was time.
 
There's a guy around here known as Psycho Dave. He had full on surgery with no anesthetic! I don't know what I feel, but my sponsor has had to be given morphine in his recovery and it was ok.
 
I mean, if you can take the stuff, or have it administered to you, as a normal person would use it, your subscriber knows about your condition/addiction, and you really need it, then I don't see what the problem is.

Would basically like to second the link OverDone posted.
 
First of all anyone in a halfway house that is mad that somebody gets to take drugs (for any reason) is definitely on their way to relapse. Nobody in rehab should want to take drugs, I mean isn't rehab for people that WANT TO QUIT? I understand that this isn't always how it is, but these people are obviously apart of the 90% failure rate of the 12-step program.

As far as if you should take pain pills if you're in recovery I think that should really be based on two things -- the individual person's personal will power, and the type of drug they were abusing. For me, I went to rehab for benzos and got my tonsils removed with a prescription to hydrocodone. I got through it with no problem and even stopped taking the hydrocodone RIGHT when I needed to because I legitimately want to keep sober. just my .02....
 
After reading and posting on this topic yesterday, got a call that a friend in recovery who owns a second home here and comes up two three times a year, killed himself in a hotel room where near his primary home. After five years clean he relasped on oxy's/soma after knee surgery two years ago. When he left here 3 months ago he had a sixty day chip and was doing fine. His wife said he relasped when he got home and went to the hotel after a fight they had. This was a good friend of many, but the reality is this shit sucks!!! People don't realize that the chance they have in recovery might be the only one they have. A wake up call for me and my friends for sure.
 
georgejungle said:
After reading and posting on this topic yesterday, got a call that a friend in recovery who owns a second home here and comes up two three times a year, killed himself in a hotel room where near his primary home. After five years clean he relasped on oxy's/soma after knee surgery two years ago. When he left here 3 months ago he had a sixty day chip and was doing fine. His wife said he relasped when he got home and went to the hotel after a fight they had. This was a good friend of many, but the reality is this shit sucks!!! People don't realize that the chance they have in recovery might be the only one they have. A wake up call for me and my friends for sure.
Click to expand...

That's horrible and I am sorry to hear about your friend. :(
 
there's some good stuff in this thread.

Well, theres so many characters here where I'm at, some are cool. while others are straight assholes.

I experienced this for my self the other day..

day before yesterday I had my first kidney stone. I woke up that morning having to pee really bad, so when i go pee. i cant get any out. well i finally did and it was brown. blood
so i really didnt think anything of it. i went to work anyway.
i got to work and had to pee really bad, so this time i feel really weird. my lower back, and left side. into my abdomen, and groin.
all places started to hurt at once
the pain fucking progressed. it felt as if i was beat in the side with a bat. and someone tearing my testicles off.
i was in so much agony! well went to the ER. and since they have me as an "addict" in the computer they won't give me shit for pain. Even though i got a shot of "Torodol" which didn't do shit for the pain.
I finally passed the shit (still peeing blood), after that they deemed be better, and sent me off with a script of tramadol.
i really wanted something to kill the pain, but because of my fucking past actions (overdoses,psychwards,etc) they have me on file. :/

I have the tramadol here with me, theres no way i'll be turning it in. i dont want people to start some shit about me.
i'm still in pain, sucks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top