anybody

I have lower back problems that just keep getting worse, I do the phsycal therapy exercises every morning.  I do take about 180 mg of oxycontin and 30 mg of percocet daily and have been for the past 4-5 years, my questions are "Am I an addict?, and would you call a diabetic an addict?"

Please someone respond because I really am tired of living on pills.

[BonnieAnn]

Good Morning and Welcome to the forum!

I am sorry to hear about your back problems. I also have chronic back pain as a result of an injury.

As far as if you are an addict? You need to answer that question yourself. I don't believe anyone can answer it for you. So, you will need to get honest with yourself. I assume that a doctor prescribed the pain meds. Ask yourself this:
Do you take them as prescribed?
Does your prescription run out early for the month?
Do you buy any other type of pain meds anywhere else (like on the street)?
If you don't have your meds, do you have withdrawal symptoms?

Those are just a few that came to mind.

I didn't understand your question about the diabetic and an addict. Cannot comment on that.

Hope this helped. Come back and keep posting.

Take care.

[blkwolf]

I know I'm an addict, yes I do run out early, I do feighn when I don't have any and yes I buy when I out, but when I mentioned my concern to my dr. she asked me, "Would you call a diabetic an addict because he/she has to take insulin daily to live?"  So I ask, "Does this diabetic has withdrawls that make him want to kill him/herself?"

[avisg]

ya know sometimes admitting it is the hardest part and ya just did !!! I think there is a fine line between be dependent and and addict I know I deal with this one alot .Have you thought about maybe an in or out patient detox because you are i a high daliy dose and coming off it would be very hard .
avis

[blkwolf]

So I've been wondering is it just a crutch in order to help my wife shower and dress me, or an illness that I should overcome and then just deal with the pain, because just last week while I was taking the drugs I was still bed striken for the week.

[BonnieAnn]

Like avisg said, the first step is admitting that you have a problem. You did that. Now you have to decide what you want to do about it. There are a lot of choices. That is to say, assuming that you want to stop taking the pain meds. You are on very high doeses of a very strong meds. It may be dangerous to your health to quit cold turkey. There is a detox program you could go to. It anywhere from 5 or so days to 10 or so days. There is rehabilitation centers where you go in for longer term care, sometimes 30 days, sometimes 60 days. You could find treatment centers in your area thru the local phone book, or do a search on the interent for centers in your area. There is the Suboxone program, which can be helpful but also dangerous. You can find information on that at "www.suboxone.com".  There is the method of tapering down to the point of stopping. In your case, I am not convinced that you could do that one alone. Your best bet would be to have someone whom you trust, hold your meds and give them to you during the tapering process. Whatever you decide, think about hard and stick to it. It can be done.

Almost all of the people in here who began taking pain meds, did so because of legitimate pain. Then as the tolerance builds, you take more, and more, and more. After a while, the pain meds just don't work. Then comes the decision to get off the meds and find alternative treatments to deal with the pain. It is not easy. For me, I deal with it every day.

I am a little confused about what your doctor said and what she means. Is she telling you that you are not an addict? Sounds strange.

In any case, please keep posting and getting suggestions from others in the forum. This is a great place for help.

Good luck. Again, keep posting.

[lucyred68]

souds like your dr is comparing debilitating pain to diabetes.  she is saying that you need pain relief just as much as a diabetic needs insulin.  there is a flaw in this theory though.  a diabetic without insulin will die.  you won't die without the pain meds, but you will be miserable.  unless they just aren't effective any more.  if they don't do the job, why keep on poisoning yourself.  there may be alternative treatment that will help with the pain.  i am not preaching at you.  i too suffer from back pain, and that is the reason i got hooked.  i kicked it all but the norco, which i will take until i get insurance in a couple of weeks, when i will seek alternative treatment and taper off of it.  you can do it if you really want too, but you will need support to come off that much.  praying for you to make the decision that suits your situation the best.   Lucy