Day 6 and Pain Assesment

[jeannine1976]

Like many of you with an opiate addiction, I began taking hydros for legitimate pain. My two sources of pain are endometriosis and chronic back pain due to my left leg being a touch shorter than the right. The endo is being treated with surgery in the next month or so. However, unless I go to Japan and get one of those leg stretching surgeries or begin to stack my stilettos, the back pain is for life.

I'm aware that there are non-narcotic options available to minimize this pain. :)

My question is this: I understand that opiates affect how we process pain. I began taking them about three years ago. In that time, I'm certain that my increased pain has been partly due to the drugs. I'm also certain that it's partly due to my leg. My jeans wear more at the bottom on my left than they used to so something has shrunk, twisted or is being favored. Part of my reason for quitting hydros was that I wanted to reset my body and evaluate my pain levels. I swear, the question's coming, hold tight. LOL

I appreciate that it is going to take time for my body to relearn how to manage pain on its own. If you also deal with chronic pain and have quit opiates, how long did it take for you before you felt that your body was doing its' normal thing, and how did you evaluate that?

I know that I'm only on Day 6, but my back's been pretty bad. Not w/d aches, but sharp, stabbing pain through my lower back and hips. I'm going to wait a bit to see if it balances out before I seek out PT and the like, but I don't know how long to wait.

[Kjkinaz]

In my dealings with my doctor who specializes in nothing BUT pain, and is one of the nations top rated pain specialists, she tells me it's not so much the drugs that make those is us that deal with chronic pain more sensitive to pain, but it is actually the pain itself.  A person with chronic pain will say, stub his/her toe.  The person who is pain free most of the time will say "OUCH" or swear or rub and pretty much it will be a done deal within 30 seconds, and surely within a minute be back to normal with no lasting effects.  The person with chronic pain, on mess or not will stub his/her toe in the exact same fashion but this person will feel the pain more acutely, and it will last much longer.  It's as if our brain sabotages our bodies or the other way around into actually increasing the way we actually FEEL pain.  She ( my pain specialist Doctor) says it can take months to years to reset that response if you can.  She is a firm believer in yoga, stretches,, and deep breathing to give your body a better chance to be more comfortable in our skin in the first place ( yoga and included stretching) as well as the deep breathing to get through the initial pain.  I TOTALLY TRUST MY PAIN DOCTOR, and feel blessed to have found her.  She managed to get me off a round the clock opiate addiction of 11 years to the point now where I have an implanted stimulator (sort of like an implanted TENS therapy) that I can control with a small remote roughly the size of a pager.  I am completely off opiates, and while I miss the mind altering effects at times, I am SO happy to be off them!!  The stigma alone of the dose or the number of pills prescribed are just a couple of the hundreds of reasons I have to be thrilled I am off them.  She worked with me and I got off them without hardly any withdrawal symptoms at all.  Some hot sweats, but that could also be menopause.  So give yourself a break and work with a pain specialist who will work WITH you to help you get off without too much difficulty.  Try to stop sabotaging yourself, and remember it's just a stubbed toe, not a compound fracture, although it can feel that way!

[Kjkinaz]

I'm not sure why there are so many apparent typos, I think you can still figure out what I was saying.

[vicki595]

You won't really be perky for another week I'm guessing. You're really doing great, though!

[jeannine1976]

I'm on Day 6 for another two hours. Yah, I'm still counting the hours. LOL

My typing is much perkier than I am. ;)

[vicki595]

How many days now? I can't remember ...
You may feel awful but you sound pretty good!  Keep it up!

[Sonrissa]

I take Soma occasionally if I have had an unusually physical and active day, and my muscles ache! Soma can tend to make me drowsy, a little nauseous, and really kind of loopy! LOL! It definitely not something I could take regularly and still function! However, it does help to relax my muscles after a long day! Just thought I'd throw my 2 cents in on Soma! Take care!

[jeannine1976]

Funny, you should ask! I'm actually doing exactly what you suggested. Ibuprofin 800mgs w/ 2x500mgs Robaxin three times a day. If they're working, I missed the memo.

I've never taken Soma. Next time I see my doc I will definitely ask her about it.

[vicki595]

This is an all time dilemma!  I always feel badly when people are in pain...
Are you taking Motrin on a schedule? 800mg three times a day?
Have you done stretching exercises with it?
Soma can be addicting but have you considered taking it on a PRN basis for a day here and there when you're really in pain? Believe it or not, we don't have to take meds everyday in extraordinary high amounts! LOL

It's been my experience that when folks are in patient and detoxing ( many people go on "drug holidays" just so they can check their actual pain level)
It takes about two weeks to evaluate.

Anyway, sometimes if you just take meds like Motrin and a muscle relaxer
on a schedule, they're more effective; needing to build up blood levels and all of that...

Good luck with this. Oh and I know I was born bitchy and annoyed so I can never blame the pills!!  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Sonrissa]

Hi Jeannine, this is a good question! I have shoulder and knee pain, and I think it took about a month before I realized that the anti inflammatorys I take were gonna be enough to manage it! Early on of course my shoulder & knee were screaming in pain, and I kept thinking this is just not gonna work! I realized that it was my brain screaming for a pill! it finally calmed down, and now I do get real relief from the anti inflammatorys! Not to say that every once in a while my brains says wow a pain pill would reply get rid of this pain! So for me it took about a month before I could honestly evaluate the real pain! I hope this helps! Take care and stay strong! You are doing amazing!

[InNeed88]

AWESOME!! I used to get B12 shots, the only thing i dont like about them is if your body already has enough b12 in it*in your bodys mind* If that made sense haha You just pee it all right out.
If you can find the pills its by Natures Made*there really inexpensive* Stress B complex...Cause that has all the B's plus some and per pill its 200% of daily value of B12!

Hahah gotta love men...They just really know what to do and say sometimes...You're not crazy Jeannine...WE ALL ARE!! and i mean that in a good way!
that sound like my boyfriend it's like they are there for you but not all at the same time...I keep talking to  mine about what i'm going through and he just looks at me and nods his head like yea ok cool ahaha

[jeannine1976]

Oh! and Robaxin is a muscle relaxant. :)

[jeannine1976]

I totally forgot. Yes, I'm taking L-Tyrosine. 2000mgs as soon as I wake up. I find it's been giving me a few good hours in the morning over the last couple of days. My multivitamin has the B's in it, but I think I'm going to drop the whole $15 and get a B12 shot this afternoon. Straight to the blood stream and I know it'll help with mood, energy, etc.

I was talking to my husband last night...no, check that...sobbing to my husband last night. I said "I'm sorry I'm crazy" and he responded "It's ok". I told him that the correct response was "You're not crazy" and he just looked at me and handed me a(nother) Kleenex. LOL

[InNeed88]

Love it Stacy_Lynn....It's always good to have a little fight to ya lol Hope you all are doing good today...

[Stacy_Lynn]

I was B*tchy for 3 weeks straight!!! I'm surprised i didn't end up divorced...lol That will pass in time but don't loose the "natural B*tch" either ;)

[InNeed88]

haha i LOVE that..*Maybe my natural state is b*tchy ...I had that thought right  around day 5 or so acutally i was at breakfast with my boyfriend and his daughter and man i was WITTY that day..i had snarky remarks to anything said but i was cracking myself up!!!!

I'm not sure what the Robaxin is but i also have Flexeril...I sometimes take it at night before bed but i dont see it doing much of ANYTHING for me..I think it may make me tense up worse lol who knows!!

I'm not sure if your taking L-Tyrosine 500mg *take like 4 in the morning*
But i've found that to be a life saver..I take that with my Stress B complex which is all the B vitamins plus C and some antioxidants! Take it like an hour before you eat and man does that help!
The good thing with the L-Tyrosine and the B vitamins not only do they really help with the mood and motivation and concentration but the L-tyrosine help restore your neverous system so it helps create dopamine which our bodys need BAD!!

[jeannine1976]

Yup yup! I'm on both a good vitamin and mineral, plus I'm pounding back electrolyte water like it's going out of style.

et al: Since I quit hydros, I've been using ibuprofin teamed with either methocarbamol (Robaxin) or cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril), depending on the type of pain and location. I think I'm going to drop them all, though. The Robaxin doesn't seem to be helping, but I'm not willing to use Soma because it's easy to get hooked on it, and NSAIDS, OTC or script, just make me cranky. Then again, everything does right now.

Huh. Maybe my natural state is b*tchy. LOL

Anyhow. Sounds like I should give it another couple of weeks and see where things land. Thank you!

[Stacy_Lynn]

I to have legit lower back issue's & when i quit back in April the pain was @ a all time high for the first 2-3 weeks ( and again now as i'm on day 5 again :( ) but after those few weeks i found myself taking less ibuprofen & right before i used again i was taking very few ibu, some times even going days without. I hope this helps & u get relief. I wish u the best on this journey. To me life is so much better on the sober side. Love & prayers. Stacy

[InNeed88]

Hey hun
I'm kinda having your same kinda issue...my hips are tilted and twisted causing one leg to be shorter just cause of how my pelvis is, which has cause bulging discs and sciatica and scoliosis in my lower back can we say OW, i'm only on day 10 but i can already tell my body is kinda kicking back to normal and fighting pain on it's on, But i just started having that feeling today.
I will tell you i've done physical therapy many times, and I LOVE IT..not only is it getting your mind in the right place to wanna be more active and healthy it's makes you be more active which makes you feel BETTER!! I will admit though last time i went thru physical therapy i was on the paid meds and i do remember being in pain on days after, but as long as you take it easy on your self you'll do great. The problem with doing PT on paid meds is sometimes we push ourselves to far and dont know where hurting ourselves by what were doing so now is a great time for you to start. and as for your body are you taking any vitamins or supplements to help with its healing process??
Molly