Sorry about the novel.........

[axeman25]

  Ok, So monday night the 19th I took my last Norco (before bed). I woke up Tuesday expecting the worst. I felt ok actually, little stiff and quite sore as always. I popped a couple of Tylenol arthritis and went about my day, waiting for hell to set in.  My back pain is just getting worse and worse.
The pain got so bad that I ended up going to the ER last night. I went to see if they would put me in an in house drug treatment program.
They had a couple of doctors come in and ask me several questions about why and I told them the truth. The doctor said that I may just be physically dependent on them and not addicted to them. WHAT!?!? They told me that they don't think that the inpatient treatment would be the best for me. It is the only one within 60 miles of where I live. She said that she thought what I was doing was great, but it may be possible that I need to take some kind of pain medication (according to my MRI she read). WHAT!?!? My doctor has made me feel like crap about taking pain meds. I have only been seeing this particular doctor since August.  So now I am at kind of a loss. I really need some advice from someone who has been through this. She talked me into getting a shot to comfort me and then when I was being discharged, she handed me a script for Vicodin. So I went from Tuesday to early Friday morning with absolutely no withdrawals but very severe pain and in the last 12 hours I got a shot of pain med and ended up taking a Vicodin just a few minutes ago because the pain crept back up. Did I screw this up? When I quit taking the oxy, I knew it was an addiction because of the withdrawal symptoms, they made every inch of my body hurt, sweats, chills, nausea, crawling skin, the works. This time, it was just pain right where my disc issues are in my back. Any advise would be great. Thanks and I apologize about the novel I just wrote. LOL.

[axeman25]

Yeah, I hear ya about the back pain. I have done the research and unfortunately the only option I have left is a surgery which right now has about a sixty percent chance of improving my pain and a good chance of making it worse. May be several years before the odds improve I've done the injections, PT, Chiro, alternative, voodoo, witchcraft, and pretty much anything that somebody's aunts friend tried once. I for some reason have no self control when it comes to taking them. I bought the lockbox for my wife because I got sick of the arguments after I'd find her hiding spots.  It drove me crazy knowing they were in the house.  And I learned to pick the lock to get into it. If she were to leave them in the open I would probably take them all at once. I have done some things that I am truly embarrassed about and would never wish on anyone.

[vicki595]

Okay...I get it now...I should have read your earlier posts...

It sounds like you do have a problem so you know what to do...You DO need to get that back pain under control so research other ways to help. There's more than pain meds alone...

You ALWAYS have a choice when you're trying to stop taking pills and a doctor hands you an rx. You don't have to accept it. You don't HAVE to have a shot either.  I understand you were in pain at the time and that's the worst trigger for anyone!  So, as I said, seek out alternative therapies, okay?

And you should tell your wife to get the pills out iin the open...what is the sense of locking them up when you can unlock it?    Getting honest helps us along with recovery care and after care.    There's no way you can have pain, white knuckle your urge to use, and expect to be successful. You need help to get clean like the rest of us!  Good luck!

[axeman25]

My wife keeps the bottle, in a lock box, that stays with her.  I know I have an issue with them. I can pick the lock on the box in about 3 seconds. I am like a kid with ketchup, if a little is good, a lot must be better.  Thats what I can't understand.  I have dealt with back pain since my early teens, I didn't start taking pain meds until my late 20's early 30's. I started with Darvocet and worked my way up from there. I woke up in the emergency once after too many of a mixture of Percocet and soma.  After my experience with oxy, I was sure I was going to go through hell when I quit these. My doctor has done nothing but told me that I have an addiction since the first time I saw her. She has a very heavy accent and I don't think that she understands me when I try to explain that I won't go on anything stronger than Norco because of the fear of addiction.  I have had the pain management docs want me to use pain patches which I again will have to wean off of.

[vicki595]

Hi there-  The doctor may be correct.  Many non addicts will have wd's when they stop taking pain med. it's a physical response...   So, you may be dependent because you take pain meds evy day but that, in and of itself, does not make you an addict.  Does that make sense?

I'll tell you what: Most addicts would have found their way to the bottom of that bottle of Vicodin by now. You only took ONE!  

Feel better and do some reading on addiction vs dependence.