Am I imagining this?

[kittyluvr400]

I have been wondering this for a long time and figured it was time to ask...

Since being on pain killers (60mg norco day) I feel that my pain is worse than it was before ever taking pk's. Has my body's perception of pain become more sensitve than ever, or was that pain the reason I started taking pk's in the first place. I want ton stop taking the pk's just to see if I can handle the pain without them, but the wd's are fierce and I tell myself that it is THAT pain that got me started in the first place....a pain I cannot live with, therefore just saying "forget getting off pk's, as I need them".

If the pain is worse, then I imagine it will eventually fix itself and in time that fierce pain will subside and I can learn to live without the pk's. I just need to know if the pain I feel right now is real, or is it the pk messing with my brain. I have been on pk's for 2yrs now due to chronic pain.

Any info/experience will be appreciated.

[worried878]

it is true...ur perception is right...when on pain killers long enuf ur body can actually invent pain or make the pain worse than it really is in reality...and often people's pain is actually better//or less severe after they get off the pain pills...pain pills do not actually treat the source of the pain like anti-inflammatories, ice, heat etc...they only intrfere with the brains peception of the pain that is felt...the pain is still there only the signals to the brain r changed so that u either do not perceive the pain is as severe or u just simply do not care...after a while this pathway can actually cause more pain than the person actually would feel without the pain med..so ur perception is correct..but we r all different so it is hard to say what the effect is for each individual

[dominosarah]

My pain got way worse while i was taking the pain pills.......Once i quit them my pain got better and now if i need something Motrin does the trick..........

[C8H10N4O2]

That is the exact scenario that I was in also.  The doctors started small and just kept upping the dose to the point where I was pretty much stoned out of my gourd and still in extreme pain.  I finally decided that the course they were taking me down wasn't working and stopped.  Its been 21 days now and the pain is more manageable than it ever was before I was on the meds.

Good luck...

Matt

[dominosarah]

Congrats on 21 days Matt!!!        sara

[corey411]

My pain also got worse on opiates....I actually didn't have some of my pains before I started. They got worse during detox and some went away all together and the ones from chronic conditions got much less. Opiates are only good for short term pain and addicts are no good for using opiates short term. Good luck to you, Corey

[ChronicPain1]

To say opiates are only good for short term pain is rather untrue.

[allaboutmary]

This is something I wish I was better educated about when I started taking the pills. Every time I tried to stop, the pain was so awful I justified the need to continue taking them. I knew about addiction but I had never heard of the pills making your pain worse. This one little piece of information really would have helped me early on.
Great post, lets get the word out.

[123456m]

Well its all in the brain as they say. No brain no pain, no nothing, nada!
I like to think of my brain as something seperate from me. It loves the euphoria of being high and it will do what it needs to get more and more. If the brain starts to go on a drug fast it rebels with more pain hoping you will take more pills to get the fix the brain feel it needs. It is true for most long time users on pain med with Chronic pain once they get clean the pain is way way less or not even there.
You know what phantom pain is its very real for someone thta has lost a limb or leg etc. They will feel pain in a foot that is not there well its the brain doing it. Now with good feeling drugs as opiates the brain is ever more deceptive in its ways it knows exactly what to do to get what it wants.
This is why its so hard for most to stay clean once they detox.
The only way so far thta I know that workks to stay clean is to find something to do all the time and replace somethingbetter for the brain to be fixed on.
There is another treatment I may try but I will not mentioned it on this forum.
I have friends that have used it and they swear it brought there brain back to a pre-addcitive state which means the brain had no memory of what it felt like to get high so it stopped bugging you. The person remembers in a way but not in the same way a adddcit would.
Peace

[flmagi]

I started out taking pain meds for chronic pain. After using the pain meds for a while, as each dose would start to wear off, my pain would feel excruciating, so of course, I felt my pain med use was justified. I didn't know how pain meds worked. They attach to the receptors in your brain to block the sensation of pain, but they also block your natural pain killers from attaching to the brain receptors. After a while the brain stops producing it's natural pain killers, so as the meds wear off, the body has no pain killers, so the pain seems more intense. When going cold turkey, the brain will send out intense pain signals because the brain feels it needs the meds to survive. After a week or two without pain meds, the body will start to produce natural pain killers again.  Most people will find their real pain level has decreased so much, that Advil, Ibuprofen etc. will be enough.
This is some of the info that should be told to people that are on long term pain management.

[123456m]

Good post however the greater issue than pain afterwards are the other receptors that the drugs have sedated so much that it takes months for them to wake up. These are the pleasure ones , theones that give you good goosbumps when you see a beautiful sunset, or just a smile on a person face makes you very happy etc etc. These do not come back quick and IMO are the major cause of relaspe. Its really never the pain its the addcited mind and its associations.
There are enough good non narocs now that opiates should only be used in very acute cases and in the Chronic ones opiates should never ever be used period. The real good docs know this the ones that really care about who they treat, but there are too few most docs are just happy making the patient painfree for a while and then if they get hooked its not there problem.
So my point is there is really no need for opiates with what we have now all it means is that you will be taking a combo of non naroc that will take the pain away but will not get you high
Peace

[kittyluvr400]

I guess I always knew this but found it hard to accept. I know what it means and how scary is that? Before pain killers, I remember I used to wake up and take 4 tylenol immediately....always trying to stay one step ahead of the pain, in hopes of not feeling too miserable at work everyday. So I know I did have pain. I remember that first pain killer I took gave me a feeling I had not recognized....no pain....and it was priceless. I do not get buzzed off the meds, nor do I crave them at all. I take them when the pain screams and tells me it is time. But the pain just feels worse than I recall way back before I ever tried a pain killer.

Sigh. I hate being on these pills, and the day will come when I hate them more than the pain.

[123456m]

Well you know there are some very good non narco pain meds. Check it out.
If youare not getting a euphoria from the pills that is a very good thing you should be able to switch over with not a lot of wds.
Peace

[Kevin_Bacon]

I still get migraines, and have to take Imitrex or Zomig (Both act on brain circulation -- they constrict the blood vessels there, decrasing the blood flow to areas researchers think are involved in migraines.), and a couple of T3's, with mixed results.

A neurologist explained the whole painkillers-causing-pain (I forget the term they use for this strange reaction, but I found a site where it's explained in English, not all scientific jargon ... there are a few citations from medical specialists, so I'd say it's legit. If I think of the term for this paradox, I'll post it, but here's the article:

http://health.learninginfo.org/pain-killers.htm

[Ella789]

Great Posts!!!!!
Your posts are abt. stuff I had read over these past four mos. and I too must add that my pain levels are much lower now than when taking opiates,  it is truth, not fiction or mental!! One strikeing note that remains in my head is that opiates were originaly used for hospic and cancer patients!!!  Now, I mean to say that,I did this to myself,  I begged my Dr. to give me the opiates, wasn;t satisfied till he did, so I can't whine abt. being addicted to the things,  but I sure wish I had know then what I know now.lol  hindsight,  oh well    I do have to say that my sweet mom, who has suffered with curvature of the spine, along with degenerative arthritis throughout her body,  she takes opiates, and god bless her, she needs them!!.  Talk abt. chronic pain!!!!  So I do not mean to bash anyone who takes them, would never do that!!

Hugs
El