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Need Help What do you guys and girls do for chronic pain after getting sober?

Deicide1212

Deicide1212

Bluelighter
Joined
Apr 21, 2021
Messages
73
I started taking Hydromorphone due to a spinal injury. This was six years ago. I have had a few months of sobriety here and there within that six years, but it never stuck. The pain is often unbearable. At my lowest, or highest, however you wanna look at. I was snorting 80-100mg a day. I am currently on day 4 of withdrawal, because if I dont stop, I will die. That is the abridged version, of my story.

I have seen a lot of people on here with similar stories. Chronic pain leading to severe opiate/opioid addiction. I am wondering if anyone can help me out with some tips, or tricks on how to manage my pain in sobriety. I have a family to love and take care of, and need to find a way to manage this responsibly. Thanks for the feedback. Be safe everyone. Thanks.
 
Do you still get the Dilaudid script? You mentioned chronic pain so i am assuming you are a patient in a pain clinic? Maybe hydromorphone isn't dilaudid. I can't remember so don't those come in 2,4,and 8 mg pills? So you were taking 10 or more a day? Orally? IV ?

Do you think you can take them as prescribed for pain? There are probably 100 people on these threads lately that are prescribed opioids for chronic pain that instead of taking them as prescribed and maybe having fun once or twice a month with them, they gobble up their whole script in 7 days or less. Not judging because I was exactly the same way. When I was lucky enough to even get a script ( years ago ) I gobbled them all up too and had to supplement buying them off the street.

In hindsight, and had I been on BL at the time, I probably would have ceased and desisted with my bullshit and taken them as prescribed. They would have done their job and controlled my pain and I would have saved a boatload of money. But nooooooo......I wanted to stay high 24/7 and ultimately got my script yanked because I couldn't source some a couple times to have them in my system for my UA. DR. thought i was selling them and I honestly told him ( after he told me to hit the road ) that I was eating them like candy and running out. Guess he was glad that I wasn't diverting them but I still lost a good Dr. all the same. Please don't be like me.
 
Do whatever you can, when prescribed, to take only the amount you can have in 1 day. I used to be out of Oxys in 14-20 days, leaving a fair amount of time without any opiates.

It’s better to have them when you need them, than to run out and deal pain + withdrawals.
 
Pumpkin2021 said:
Do you still get the Dilaudid script? You mentioned chronic pain so i am assuming you are a patient in a pain clinic? Maybe hydromorphone isn't dilaudid. I can't remember so don't those come in 2,4,and 8 mg pills? So you were taking 10 or more a day? Orally? IV ?

Do you think you can take them as prescribed for pain? There are probably 100 people on these threads lately that are prescribed opioids for chronic pain that instead of taking them as prescribed and maybe having fun once or twice a month with them, they gobble up their whole script in 7 days or less. Not judging because I was exactly the same way. When I was lucky enough to even get a script ( years ago ) I gobbled them all up too and had to supplement buying them off the street.

In hindsight, and had I been on BL at the time, I probably would have ceased and desisted with my bullshit and taken them as prescribed. They would have done their job and controlled my pain and I would have saved a boatload of money. But nooooooo......I wanted to stay high 24/7 and ultimately got my script yanked because I couldn't source some a couple times to have them in my system for my UA. DR. thought i was selling them and I honestly told him ( after he told me to hit the road ) that I was eating them like candy and running out. Guess he was glad that I wasn't diverting them but I still lost a good Dr. all the same. Please don't be like me.
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Yeah, I am prescibed the meds. But, unfortunately, where I live they will usually only prescribe instant release for the first month or two, because they are too "Easy" to abuse. So, after the first couple months after my surgery, my Doctor put me on extended release, which do fuck all. So, I started crushing them, and snorting them. Eventually I was snorting I was snorting 6-8 12mg pills a day. I was addicted to painkillers when I was younger, but kicked it, for many years until I fucked my back up, so I know how to get the best bang for my buck. I got off them a couple years after my surgery, but the pain just gets worse all the time, so I went back on them. I tried to take them properly, but eventually old habits die hard. So I need to find something else thats works. I will never be able to take them properly, unfortunately.
 
Deicide1212 said:
Yeah, I am prescibed the meds. But, unfortunately, where I live they will usually only prescribe instant release for the first month or two, because they are too "Easy" to abuse. So, after the first couple months after my surgery, my Doctor put me on extended release, which do fuck all. So, I started crushing them, and snorting them. Eventually I was snorting I was snorting 6-8 12mg pills a day. I was addicted to painkillers when I was younger, but kicked it, for many years until I fucked my back up, so I know how to get the best bang for my buck. I got off them a couple years after my surgery, but the pain just gets worse all the time, so I went back on them. I tried to take them properly, but eventually old habits die hard. So I need to find something else thats works. I will never be able to take them properly, unfortunately.
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Yeah, I can't take them properly either. Never could, never will. Even if I was to get hurt to the point that I needed pain relief I would be terrified to take them and restart my brain on that merry go round. Kicked them 2 years ago but it was only because I had no MD and the streets dried up. Actually glad I was forced off. Didn't think I would ever feel normal but I was just bullshitting myself. I feel fine now. I smoke a little bit of weed now and then ( like a half ounce lasts me 2 months ) and I do take kratom so not totally clean but kratom sure beats where I was before with my painkiller abuse.

Not one bad thing has happened to me since I quit. No falls, no broke and can't find any, no running out early, no more lying and sneaking around, nothing. Every shitty thing that happened to me my whole life had alcohol and drugs involved. Every single one of them.
 
Fiori di Bella said:
Do whatever you can, when prescribed, to take only the amount you can have in 1 day. I used to be out of Oxys in 14-20 days, leaving a fair amount of time without any opiates.

It’s better to have them when you need them, than to run out and deal pain + withdrawals.
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Yeah, I have that problem too. I run out of my script in a couple weeks, and then have to get shit on the street. I couldnt find any pills the one day, so of course decided to get some Fentanyl. I had a couple hoots and OD. Which was strange because I have an extremely high opioid tolerance. Luckily my wife found me and called an ambulance. Long story short I just have to stay away from all of it. I just cant be resposible about it. Plus, street drugs are just getting out of hand. 10-15-20 years ago you didnt really have to worry about what you were getting. Drugs were cheap and you got what you wanted. Now its like playing Russian Roulette. Needless to say, I need ti find a better solution.
 
Nurse Ratched said:
Yeah, I can't take them properly either. Never could, never will. Even if I was to get hurt to the point that I needed pain relief I would be terrified to take them and restart my brain on that merry go round. Kicked them 2 years ago but it was only because I had no MD and the streets dried up. Actually glad I was forced off. Didn't think I would ever feel normal but I was just bullshitting myself. I feel fine now. I smoke a little bit of weed now and then ( like a half ounce lasts me 2 months ) and I do take kratom so not totally clean but kratom sure beats where I was before with my painkiller abuse.

Not one bad thing has happened to me since I quit. No falls, no broke and can't find any, no running out early, no more lying and sneaking around, nothing. Every shitty thing that happened to me my whole life had alcohol and drugs involved. Every single one of them.
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So what do you do to control chronic pain? Same with me, legit pain issues, seeing a pain dr. But keep taking more than prescribed per day because it hurts/I’m an addict and like being high. Thinking of going back on Hydrocodone ER. I haven’t had much luck with ER drugs in the past, even though my doc assures me it helps because it‘s always in my system. I feel like my neck is broken when I don’t take anything, and even when I do it doesn’t completely go away. I’ve been taking LOTS of OTC pain meds, Aleve, Excedrin, Tylenol XS, etc. I am concerned because those do hardcore bad stuff to internal organs and aren’t supposed to be taken on a long term basis either. I’ve tried acupuncture, chiropractor, various massage therapies, physical therapy…nothing seems to help. I’m feeling so discouraged and like such a drain on my family. Mostly I just lie in bed. After each RFA I am so hopeful that I’ll feel better but they seem to only work maybe 1/3 of the time, and they generally last only a few months. I’m so tired of this roller coaster.
 
im so sorry for your pain, i never felt such physical pain, except 6 months w/a bulging L4 disc, that was an eye opener, and female trouble.pleased you atleast tried some alternative medicine, i live in low to moderate pain now, i soak alot and avoid almost any and all inflammatory substances(sugar , alcohol etc), please look into goldenmilk, easy to make and dont forget the black pepper if you do as advised, it has helped me , best wishes and glad youre reaching out, have you tried decompression? you can make a sling ez, traction, google it, i use a teeter , hanging helps so much ,my neck hurts bad , job does havoc on it, so i def feel for you
 
GIF by The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
 
Nurse Ratched said:
Yeah, I can't take them properly either. Never could, never will. Even if I was to get hurt to the point that I needed pain relief I would be terrified to take them and restart my brain on that merry go round. Kicked them 2 years ago but it was only because I had no MD and the streets dried up. Actually glad I was forced off. Didn't think I would ever feel normal but I was just bullshitting myself. I feel fine now. I smoke a little bit of weed now and then ( like a half ounce lasts me 2 months ) and I do take kratom so not totally clean but kratom sure beats where I was before with my painkiller abuse.

Not one bad thing has happened to me since I quit. No falls, no broke and can't find any, no running out early, no more lying and sneaking around, nothing. Every shitty thing that happened to me my whole life had alcohol and drugs involved. Every single one of them.
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How long did it take you to feel normal? I am thinking about staying on the hydromorphone ER for necessary pain relief but stopping the Norco for breakthrough pain and just using nsaids. I’m so sick and tired of this rollercoaster and I realize now I will NEVER be able to take it normally.
 
Get whatever is causing the symptoms as relaxed as possible (Flexeril is what I am prescribed and find it effective - but can replace or add with "other" - and eat enough nsaid (usually 440mg aleve) to relieve any swelling or inflammation.
Rest (as much as possible), heat pads while relaxing, distractions like post on BL and decent "healthy" music in the background.
A few thoughts.
Sober is a weird word for me as compared to three or four years ago I would consider myself sober but know I am not (not gonna lie to myself ;) ). In a better place for sure (not geolacal but ya get it.... )
Best
 
I have MS and a hydromorph script but i haven't taken it in months because i'm trying to stay clean. Advil helps a bit and you can take it with acetaminophen.
 
Honestly, my chronic back pain was the result of poor posture, so fixing that was good.

Yeah those companies in the past way played down how addictive opioids can be, even if used rightly for pain.
 
I have pretty severe lower back pain, and I've found that proper stretching, a healthy diet, and exercise makes a huge difference. The more physically fit that I get, the less pain I have, when I eat like crap, and move around less, everything starts to hurt again.

Going to a physical therapist can be very useful as well, they'll give you a list of exercises you need to do, and you do them at home. You really don't even have to keep going in to the office once you learn the exercises.
 
There was a lot to read there that's why I only skimmed and I'll apologize if it was already suggested. But I had a buddy multiple car wrecks, multiple back surgeries, severe chronic pain. Found a pain management doctor who wrote him subutex which is the buprenorphin without the naltrexone that Suboxone has seem to work pretty good for him. But that might be difficult as we all know. Not just any doctor can write those which is ridiculous. Check it out if you haven't already
 
No one has yet mentioned that chronic opioid use VERY OFTEN increases pain over time.. (Opiate-induced hyperalgesia). Do you actually feel less pain after a pill when you haven’t had one in a bit, or do you fell satisfied and care less? Start to notice whether you even have more pain when taking one. Getting off opiates reduced my pain (after about three weeks). This experience is common. Ime suboxone was not a good choice.
 
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