Pills, Pills, Pills......

[Dwnbtntout77]

In September of this year I was involved in a car crash that left me with 11 screws and two plates in my right lower leg and ankle.. Subsequently I was initially placed on some very serious pain meds and then shortly after I was placed in a steady regiment of Vicodin. Now, I have always liked Vicodin so getting the first round at 5/325 wasn't all too bad and they did help with the pain-just not entirely. My next script was the Norco 10/325 and those were great. I felt great, I had the energy to exercise my upper body again and start getting back to my old self.  It's December now and I thought it should be a good time to see where exactly my pain level is so I finished my script on Wednesday (today is Saturday) and I haven't had any since.  The first day off of the meds was a very normal day; plenty of energy, regular routine exercise, stamina, everything was fine. Day two was a f'ing clown party..
  I ended up needing to take a nap, and I mean needing one at about 5 pm and when I woke up at 6:30 pm I actually felt better, a little foggy but better. I laid down for bed last night and it's like my arms had a mind of their own.  I could actually feel what seemed like an electric shock building in the shoulder socket causing my arm to either flex or swing or just clinch.. I could switch which shoulder I was laying on and the other would start to do the same thing.. Oddly enough it would quit when I sat up.  This went on until about 5am this morning at which I must have just passed out from exhaustion and I woke up around 10 am into day 3 with no pain killers and no real pain to speak of.
   To me, no pain means no pain killers so I'm good with that.. What I'm not good with is having hot flashes like I'm going through menopause (I'm a 36 year old man), having my arms apparently flail out of control or feel disconnected from reality as I have at times today.  Tomorrow is day four and after reading a very long thread about withdrawals from Vicodin a few moments ago it seems like if you've used them for 3 months or 3 years the ending is virtually the same when quitting cold turkey - it pretty much *****.. I'm glad I read that thread though, at least I know what's causing this and around how much if it I have to deal with and for that I am great full and wanted to share in the case it may help someone else.  
   I haven't craved any pills although I'm not stupid enough to believe that if I took one the crazies wouldn't stop - I realize they would..
   I have one more surgery in a few weeks to remove one of the screws in my ankle and I realize that I am probably going to have to go throughout this all over gain but to me the significance is that I'm going to beat it this time and I'll beat it next time as well.. You can too, hang in there... What's a few days being uncomfortable compared to being in control for the rest of your life? Be good to yourself..

Ahh, so here's my question..  Is there an alternative comparable solution to pain management that is as affective without the addiction and weird withdrawal symptoms?

[ROSYouralright]

I enjoyed reading your post but I'm sorry your going through wd's... You said it best when you said it ***** but what is a few days compared to a lifetime of freedom...

Ben gave you some amazing advice...
hang in there...

[Ben727]

The short answer to your last question is: No, opioids are incredibly effective pain killers, and there's no non-addictive alternative that manages pain quite as well. A combination of Advil/Tylenol (at recommended doses) is the best OTC pain manager I'm aware of. Unlike an opiate, it doesn't completely kill the pain, but it does take the edge off.

If you are able to take a fairly low dose of vicodin for less than a week, you should be able to cease taking them with pretty minimal withdrawal symptoms like you're having now. Just getting a screw out (assuming a small incision and minimal tissue damage), you should be able to manage pain with less than a week of opiates and then OTC meds after that.

Check out the "Thomas Recipe" on the lower left for some tips on easing withdrawal symptoms. You can actually speed the recovery process quite a bit with good nutrition. Good luck!