4th March 2004
Boaz,
The way I see it, you can do one of three things-withdraw cold turkey, which is anywhere from 3-7 days of misery,-contact your doctor and tell him you want to come off your pain medication but have found you are dependant-or you can do a hospital detox, but it sounds like you can't really be away from home to do that.If you tell your doctor, there are meds he/she can give you for the initial withdrawal(i.e. clonidine, bentyl ,valium,etc)to make it a lot more comfortable, and you can still retain some ability to halfway function thru it.I know it's hard to bite the bullet and admit you need help, but the sooner you do it, the better.This disease progresses, gets worse, never better.You can also be put on antidepressants to help(you said you're depressed), and you'll find that you will have so much more energy, and a lot of your pain WILL disapear.I have several bulging discs in my back along with arthritis in my spine, and I found out after I stopped my painkillers, a lot of the pain went away. I've been able to manage it with all non-narcotics.Not to say you don't have real pain present,but there's a chance you'll find you might not be in as much pain as you thought you were,or it actually improves after stopping the pain meds.I can see why you're self-medicating, it's actually a normal human response to do whatever it takes to minimize both physical and emotional pain,and as you can see from this board, you're not alone. You've identified a problem, and knowing what you want is the first step to getting it.If you don't want to admit your problem to your current doctor, make an appointment with a different one.Reach out, be honest (honesty is the key) and get help-it's there for the asking.I'm so sorry about your husband and mother,a lot of people don't realize how stressful it is to have to take full-time care of your loved ones.It's a progressing issue,and is both physically and emotionally exhausting.My heart goes out to you, and you have to take care of yourself,too.Please keep posting, talk to somebody, and reach out-sooner, better than later.Stay strong, I'm sending prayers your way....
The way I see it, you can do one of three things-withdraw cold turkey, which is anywhere from 3-7 days of misery,-contact your doctor and tell him you want to come off your pain medication but have found you are dependant-or you can do a hospital detox, but it sounds like you can't really be away from home to do that.If you tell your doctor, there are meds he/she can give you for the initial withdrawal(i.e. clonidine, bentyl ,valium,etc)to make it a lot more comfortable, and you can still retain some ability to halfway function thru it.I know it's hard to bite the bullet and admit you need help, but the sooner you do it, the better.This disease progresses, gets worse, never better.You can also be put on antidepressants to help(you said you're depressed), and you'll find that you will have so much more energy, and a lot of your pain WILL disapear.I have several bulging discs in my back along with arthritis in my spine, and I found out after I stopped my painkillers, a lot of the pain went away. I've been able to manage it with all non-narcotics.Not to say you don't have real pain present,but there's a chance you'll find you might not be in as much pain as you thought you were,or it actually improves after stopping the pain meds.I can see why you're self-medicating, it's actually a normal human response to do whatever it takes to minimize both physical and emotional pain,and as you can see from this board, you're not alone. You've identified a problem, and knowing what you want is the first step to getting it.If you don't want to admit your problem to your current doctor, make an appointment with a different one.Reach out, be honest (honesty is the key) and get help-it's there for the asking.I'm so sorry about your husband and mother,a lot of people don't realize how stressful it is to have to take full-time care of your loved ones.It's a progressing issue,and is both physically and emotionally exhausting.My heart goes out to you, and you have to take care of yourself,too.Please keep posting, talk to somebody, and reach out-sooner, better than later.Stay strong, I'm sending prayers your way....