1st February 2007
[QUOTE=reachout;2775012]There are many people who suffer chronic pain and many who will be on meds for the rest of their lives. That is acceptable certainly. I guess when it becomes unacceptable is when the quality of our lives is worse on the drugs than off them.
[COLOR="Purple"]Reach, your entire post was spot-on, but these sentences pretty much summarize the issue perfectly! Good job .... :)
Kandr, there is also a board here for those with chronic pain if you'd like to check them out too. You'd be surprised HOW MANY people with chronic pain struggle with the addiction issue.
I too suffered horrendous nerve pain after acquiring a rare disorder similar to MS. My doc tried a LOT of different drugs - neurontin, ultram, hydro, avinza, Duragesic patch - and they helped, but when I would run out the pain of w/d ON TOP of my regular pain was unbearable.
Someone suggested that I stay off the meds long enough to get past the w/d pain to see what level my REAL pain was really at. After 2 weeks I started to realize that I wasn't hurting as bad as I thought I would be. The weird thing is, when I was taking hydro the withdrawal actually made the areas affected by neuralgia hurt MORE. Those areas burned like FIRE! So I thought that was how they felt normally without the drugs, making me very afraid to stop taking them.
Once I got off the meds, they didn't burn nearly as bad. I had no idea the hydro was actually making them hurt WORSE when it wore off!
If you do try this, I'd suggest weaning because the pain of w/d + regular pain can be so overwhelming you may give up. Have you tried Lyrica? It's a new drug for nerve pain that's not an opiate and is non-addictive.
We're praying for you!
:angel:
[COLOR="Purple"]Reach, your entire post was spot-on, but these sentences pretty much summarize the issue perfectly! Good job .... :)
Kandr, there is also a board here for those with chronic pain if you'd like to check them out too. You'd be surprised HOW MANY people with chronic pain struggle with the addiction issue.
I too suffered horrendous nerve pain after acquiring a rare disorder similar to MS. My doc tried a LOT of different drugs - neurontin, ultram, hydro, avinza, Duragesic patch - and they helped, but when I would run out the pain of w/d ON TOP of my regular pain was unbearable.
Someone suggested that I stay off the meds long enough to get past the w/d pain to see what level my REAL pain was really at. After 2 weeks I started to realize that I wasn't hurting as bad as I thought I would be. The weird thing is, when I was taking hydro the withdrawal actually made the areas affected by neuralgia hurt MORE. Those areas burned like FIRE! So I thought that was how they felt normally without the drugs, making me very afraid to stop taking them.
Once I got off the meds, they didn't burn nearly as bad. I had no idea the hydro was actually making them hurt WORSE when it wore off!
If you do try this, I'd suggest weaning because the pain of w/d + regular pain can be so overwhelming you may give up. Have you tried Lyrica? It's a new drug for nerve pain that's not an opiate and is non-addictive.
We're praying for you!
:angel: