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MedHelp Member's Question

Does a recovering addict become prone to a faster decline in their tolerance?

by FINISHED!!, Jan 31, 2003 12:00AM
As many of you know, I have suffered a shattered ankle & broken wrist earlier in the month resulting in reconstructive surgery...placing MORE titanium in my oh-so-shattered body. Before this, I was over 150 days clean from a Vicodin ES habit consisting of 20 to 30 pills a day...sometimes taking as many as 6 at a time over a period of appr. 2 years. As one would easily guess, my tolerance had grown to an astronamical high. (no pun intended) I was told by my ortho doc that surgery was necessary to repair the damage in my ankle due to the severity of the injury. I was then given 1 pin, 1 plate & a handful of screws...along with two tension rods that are still poking about 4 inches through the skin. I was released from the hospital with a script for 40 percoset 10 mg with 1 refill. I have yet to take more than 4 pills in a single day but that was only for 1 day of severe pain. The prescribed amount was to take 1 or 2 pills every 6 hours. My worry lies in the fact that obviously I have TRUE pain that no amount of tylenol will extinguish alone but I've noticed the pain worsening over the past few days & even the percs aren't giving the amount of relief they did in the beginning. I have GREAT faith in my ability to NEVER abuse my medication again due to the fact that I have always had the Vicodin ES on hand since detox due to my past injuries. (taking no more than 6 or 7 a month) Question is this: Does you tolerance rise faster than those who have not ingested the amount that I have in the past? Is it possible that the body remembers?



FINISHED!!
Member Comments (110)

by hippy, Jan 31, 2003 12:00AM
To: finished
hey there,

yes the body remembers,

you seem to need something for pain.

sounds like your need oxy 40 twice a day

but that is up to you and your doc.



peace to you brother

may you heai quickly

hippy

by mrmichael67, Jan 31, 2003 12:00AM
Sure it does.  When one quits, their tolerance goes down.  But, if they pick up again, they will be right back to where they were, tolerance wise, in a couple of days....even if it takes that long.  After long term opioid use, your body is basically rewired.

by FINISHED!!, Jan 31, 2003 12:00AM
I also wanted to mention that I HAVE been back to the hospital 3 seperate times for a Demoral shot during the worst of these days. I will be going back in for another surgery in a couple of weeks assuming that the bones are healed enough to remove the rods from my ankle. I've gone in 2 times a week since the surgery for a "tightening" of these rods & that's when the pain becomes it's worst. I'm VERY confident in my ability to control the intake of the meds as I had said before. I detoxed cold turkey with over 120 Vicodin ES in the house, have always had them in the house since & have absolutely NO urge to abuse them again. I now know their seceret. I can no longer be fooled by the veil that disguises their evil. They have only one purpose in my life since detox...pain relief in only the worst of times. I've had numerous surgeries, broken bones & severe injuries due to a professional career in motocross over the years...I DO have legitimate & sometimes unbearable pain that requires medicating at times. I've never taken more than 3 pills in a single day since detox & have never taken close to the 155 a month that I'm allowed. I have gone from taking anywhere between 620 & 930 pills a month to taking anywhere from 6 to 20 at most a month. I've noticed a HUGE decrease in my tolerance during this time but with this injury & the needed daily intake of the meds, it seems that my tolerance has risen by the day. I know that the pain I feel is a severe pain but the percs in the beginning worked great. I was able to take a half perc 10 mg, twice a day after the surgery for the most part along with 1 loracet 10/650. Now I feel the need for further pain relief. The pain has DEFINATELY gotten worse with every procedure & I know this is not my addicted brain telling me so. My doc has told me to take the meds as prescribed because they work better if taken before the pain gets to a level of uncontrolled severity. I refused to do so because of fear of withdrawl...again. So is it possible that my body "remembers" where my tolerance WAS & is climbing back to that point at a much faster rate than that of a non-addict? Sorry for the long winded question but the pain is taking control of my fingers & typing this post like some alien parasite using my musculature to relay a message to the world.



THANKS!!!



FINISHED!! No really...That's all.

by suzieneedshelp, Jan 31, 2003 12:00AM
To: Finnished
It is my understanding that if you truley need the pain meds ( which YOU DO!)   THAT YOU WILL NOT GET ADDICTED TO THeM FOR A BRIEF PERIOD IF YOU TAKE EM EXACTLY AS PREsCRIBED.  SEe your body is using them for legitimate pain control and not just your brain to satisfy a hunger for euphoria.  

Peace to you dear Finnished!

Suzie hugs ya!

by FINISHED!!, Jan 31, 2003 12:00AM
To: hippie/ mrmichael
Thanks for the speedy reply but those weren't the answers I was hoping to find. I was hoping to see, "Oh no...you'll never regain the tolerance you had unless you choose to abuse the meds again." Although I had a pretty good idea what the answers would REALLY be. Again thanks guys.



FINISHED!!

by feelsobad, Jan 31, 2003 12:00AM
Although I have not posted but once ,during detox, I have been reading posts since october. I had been on loritab 7.5/500 15-20/day for over 8 years maybe longer, the fog really does blanket the last decade. At my doctors request I was swithed to oxy. to get away from the tylenol according to him. Started at 10 mg. at first but quickly over the next few months shoot up to my "comfort" level, 80 mg. 5-6 x day, chewing. As you can imagine I had long since gone beyond the pain problem that constituted pain meds in the first place. By now purely to gain a since of normalcy. Chew 2 in the morning with my coffee, take 2 or 3 to work for when things got un-normal then come home to my wife, daughter and pill bottle and not necessarily in that order. So anyway, as most here have experienced, you "will" wake up to the dawning of ROCK FRICKIN BOTTOM. At that point you realize your soul may no longer be yours. Yeah I fought demons that I never new existed. Demons that get in your head and if you let them they devour the part of your soul that you still cling to.



So as you see Ive been down in that "valley" that Rex spoke of once. And you won't get through it by being the meanest S.O.B. in the valley. I have been truly,(verily)humbled. Compassion for my fellow inhabitants of this planet has never been more to the forefront as now that I have learned humility from my darkest, deepest, not so secret shortcommings. I am clean now but it is a struggle every second of every minute of every day. But with this group of people here on the forum I feel a kindred spirit. This path we chose may have been our undoing but as long as we can log on to a family like this there is always HOPE. As long as poeple like us have hope there is a future.



I know my recovery has been much more sever than most but my misery is justified. Years of chemical euphoria wont leave me anytime soon. It took a loooong time to get here. Ive turned around and started walking the other way. I dont see the starting point but I know it has to be around one of these next bends. I have lost just about everything personality-wise, self respect, physical and mental health... the proverbial ROCK BOTTOM. Folks there is no way but up. And we can all climb that ladder out of our addiction with each others help and support.   Every screwed up emotion our new life w/o drugs has delt us has been experienced by someone here. WE'VE BEEN THERE.



I apologize for the melodrama but its been one of those recovery days. TGIF!!



feelsobad



by Oxyclean, Jan 31, 2003 12:00AM
To: feelsobad
Wow! What a great post. That one really makes you think about how you have to hit rock bottom before you can make it back up! It is a everyday battle, but a doable one...is that a word? Anyway, thanks for the post. For me, to stay clean, I have to be reminded about how awful it was to be on those Oxys even though we thought at the time it was great.

by feelsobad, Jan 31, 2003 12:00AM
To: Oxyclean/Finished!!
Oxy. Yeah,I thought about all the oxy chewers, snorters and shooters as I told a part of my story. I heard others on this forum explain how terriblely prolonged oxy wd's are. There is just no explaining. I have even thougt about starting a campaign to ban General Practictioners from prescribing it. Those guys just don't know the evil that they are introducing you to. I had had many, many wds from hydro because of running out before my next scrip could be filled, as long as 2 or 3 weeks. I was acually finished with wds by the time I got it refilled. SO STUPID.

Never had anxiety and depression just a good case of the "flu" and runs for a week or so. It wasn't pleasant but I could handle that. Then enter oxy's. Now I have to see a shrink to figure the what, where and why I abused. Which IS the root of the problem. And xanax or vallium is off limits because he thinks I will abuse them. Im sorry but a hard core addict needs to "feel" a medicine is doing something. That's why I had to finally write to this forum. It is an elixer that soothes better than prosac.



Finished!! Be very carful. You are putting one finger in cold water and another in the fire.... I was clean once, temporarily, as long as you. Something happened in my life that took me back to hydros. The first 3 or 4 days I got my buzz like the very first time but after that initial newness, the old familiar crummy gotta take em to get out of bed took right back over. But that is me. You seem very committed to staying clean. I admire you for that. Your in true legit pain. Take them sparingly. Your tolerance builds much quicker the 2nd and 3rd time around. I speak from my own experience not as a doc who hasn't walked in my shoes.



Have a good day my friends,

feelsobad



by ladymp72, Jan 31, 2003 12:00AM
To: FINISHED
I have realized that basically all you talk about is these damn pills that u have and don't know whether u should take them or not. Frankly me and a few other people that I talk with think maybe you should quit mentioning them so much. To me it seems as if you are looking for permission to take them so that if something was to go wrong you would be able to blame someone. If you are in pain then take them that really should not be a question. Being recovered it is hard to constantly hear about all these meds that you have. So if you want or need to know if you will get addicted again I think the only person to answer that is YOU. Please for the sake of us that are trying to stay clean could you please just chill out!



Craving

by minime, Jan 31, 2003 12:00AM
To: .
That was kind of mean.  Now we can't talk about God or pills.  What is the point of this forum?  Would someone please explain that because I have become afraid to talk about anything.