Replies to '06/30 Addicts Transformed'

I suffer from chronic pain from cancer and fybromyalgia and after being on some heavy duty narcotics for over 8 years, I made a decision that enough was enough.  I went into a chemical detox center to detox with medical assistance.  Mind you, it was still hell, but the medication did help a little bit.  I have been clean nearly 3 months and I must say that my pain hasn't been that bad, in fact, most of the time I can tolerate it ok.  I have good days and bad days and for the life of me do not understand why they don't have some stronger non narcotic pain meds available for people that have become addicted to narcotics.   

If you can manage to go off the narcs totally that would be terrific.  Then if at some point you have a real need for them ask your physician to start you off on a low dose with as few pills as necessary.  If you fear that taking them responsibily might be an issue then give them to someone else to give to you as needed or on a schedule.  Hope this helps! 

I have RSD and am in pain almost all the time.  The pain clinic that I am being treated at has prescribed several drugs to help me tolerate the pain.  I've also felt that I'm taking too many meds.  It is very typical of a person in pain to feel guilty about taking meds because of all of the "media coverage" discussing addiction.  There is a difference between addiction and dependence.  Addiction tends to be as much mental as physical, where as dependence is a function of being medicated.  In other words your body "needs" these meds mostly because it is using them  to control your pain.   

My solution was to take control of my meds.  The Doctors I deal with have prescribed certain meds that stay at a constant level in my body.  They call it "base-line" pain relief.  They have also prescribed other meds that I can take as needed when the pain is really bad.  When we discussed my pain situation, I made it clear that I couldn't/wouldn't be made sleepy, groggy, cranky, etc all the time.   

Our solution was to use the heavier narcotics on a "as needed" basis.  I found that sometimes I could stretch taking the next one by 15 minutes, then 1/2 an hour.  Eventually I could eliminate 1 whole dosing!  It made me feel as if I were in control of the drugs and not the other way around.     

Every time I can can "skip or stretch" is a personal victory for me.  There are, however, days when the pain warrants taking the meds "on time", and I refuse to feel guilty about it.  On the other hand, there are now days when I have managed to go a whole day with a single dose. 

Most of us in chronic pain do not like taking these meds, but we must accept them and use them as tools to control our pain, and as tools toward a better quality of life.  

Good Luck - and I hope this helps....    

I have chronic pain as a result of a botched appendectomy that almost killed me.  The doctors were unable to diagnose my condition until it was almost too late.  I ended up almost dying and spending two weeks in the hospital where I developed an illeus - which means my entire digestive system shut down and there was talk of a colostopy bag.  After the miracle of my recovery from that we found that my entire periteum had been infected and I had develed extreme nerve damage and adhesions in my abdomen that burned constantly - it was excruciating!  I was basically bed ridden and even that hurt.  Then, I was prescribed vicodin.  I could function again - I could play with my son again!  Well, then I soon became scared that I was addicted to the vicodin.  I told my doctor and she simply put me on ultram instead.  It worked okay - not as well as the vicodin, but I was okay.  Soon after, I found out that I was pregnant and was told immediately to stop taking the ultram and the only pain medication I could take was vicodin during pregnancy.  Obviously, the pain intensified exponentially as my abdomen expanded from the pregnancy - I was prescribed vicodin throughout my pregnancy. 

Then, soon after I had my c-section the pain was even more intense - more adhesions, of course.  It was awful and the ultram did not work this time, but I had said that I didn't want to increase my narcotic pain medication before, so the obstetrician honored that and simply would not increase the meds.  So, that is when I ordered online - the worst decision of my life.  So, after a couple of months of that craziness I realized that I needed serious help and that was when Florida Detox saved my life!! 

They have detoxed me and helped me to understand why I perceived the pain to be so intense.  Much of the bodies response to pain is processed through the brain and once your brain is empowered to have a more significant response to the pain - you just don't feel it as badly.  Basically, there is medicine you can take that will help your brain produce more of its own dopamine so that you don't have to rely on pain killers and thereafter the sensation of pain is much less.  I'm not a doctor, obviously, but that is a synopsis of what I went through. 

So, I was a patient with REAL chronic pain with many medical records to back it up and now I'm living my life without a dependency on painkillers to function.  It is truly amazing!  Please give Florida Detox a call and ask them any questions you may have.  They are amazing people.  I wish I would have done this prior to my pregnancy!  The guilt of having to take pain medication during a pregnancy is overwhelming! 

Good luck to you! 

-Cara