Justwondering

I hear people say that if you take pain meds as prescribed then you won't get physically addicted. However, my understanding is, if you take pain meds for long periods of time like 6 months and more, than no matter what you will become physically dependant on them. Is this correct??

[avisg]

You will be dependent if you take opiates 6 months whether you are an addict or not that's where the fine line between dependency and addictions get all fuzzy.

[CATUF]

big difference between dependance and addiction.



google it

[TysonRed]

For some reason some people can take opiates for pain for months and then quit without any problems at all, while others will struggle when its time to quit. The actual majority of people who use pain killers after surgery or for whatever reason dont become addicts. Then theres people like me that absolutely love the feeling opiates give me and if I start using its very hard to stop. Anyways for the average person who uses some vicodin/norco/darvocet for 6months and then decide to quit, they will have some w/d symptoms but it all depends upon the person. Before I knew alot about drugs and addicition/withdrawal, I would use all different kinds of drugs, mainly opiates, sometimes for months at a time and didnt really have a problem quitting when I needed to. I think because of my naivity to the facts actually helped me quit in the beginning. But after getting back into pills and detoxes and facilities I learned alot about the drugs and how bad some peoples w/d's can be, which I think turned my mind on to the fact that when I stopped using that I would have a terrible experience and most of the time it was pretty bad. Its just crazy how much our minds influence our actual physical and emotional symptoms, thats why I believe its so important to be totally positive about quitting, theres no need to stress about the w/d's before you even have them. I agree that there is a difference between dependance and addiction, I just dont know if its that big of a difference. An addict is dependant upon there pills to purely function, while people dependant on opiates for pain need the pills just as bad, just different reason. I think alot of people would like to believe that their just dependants and not addicts because it doesnt have the stigma that is attached to being an addict. The bottom line is you dont want to have to take any pain pills any longer than you absolutely need to, so if your getting worried that the pills are becoming a problem then its about time to come up with a plan to stop or cut back, whatever you think will work for you depending on what you use them for. Just a quick story about a family member of mine, never did any drugs, rarely drank any alcohol, I mean str8 as an arrow up until age 41. She is a registered nurse who hurt her back, so she started taking opiates, then added in benzo's along with a bunch of different barbituates, anti-depressants, just all kinds of stuff. Now along with all the same problems she has become a hard core alcoholic, this all coming from a person who never even smoked pot or did any drug until she was over 40. Not in a million years could I have guessed that this person would turn out to be the way she is now, still a good person, but she could literally die on any given night, so it can happen to anyone. Sorry for all that, I know that probably didnt help you any, but point being addiction can happen to anyone, just like with any other disease the quicker you diagnose the problem the easier it is to fix. Keep posting here about your plans, theres tons of people here that you can lean on for support and information to help you make whatever decision it is that your contemplating. I wish you the best of luck, take care

[windowsca]

There's a missing part to the though. If you take them as prescribed ONLY AS LONG AS YOU NEED THEM,say after surgery, then you should be OK. The problem is, if you're on pain killers, how's your body going to tell you when it doesn't need them any more when its not in pain because of the drugs?  That's how my son got addicted. He took them as prescribed . . . Till they were gone. He got addicted , no doubt about that! I guess I sort of agree that dependent and addicted are a bit different. If you have, say a Norco patch for cronic (chronic) pain, you will be dependant and you will somewhat regularly, be uping your dosage to get relief! Because the body becomes tolerant. In the long run, it's still an addiction that you have to withdraw from, and even worse, because of the tolerance, you need to keep "upgrading" to something stronger, so bottom line is drugs suck. Unless you're diabetic, in hospice or battling something like bacterial staff infection, find relief through holistic avenues for pain relief or withdrawal. As I keep saying - treating drug addiction or dependence with more drugs is the same boat with a new name.