What does an addict do when they have to go through major surgery?

Hi all. I am currently on day 6 of c/t and most of the symptoms have eased, but last night I was awake all night with absolutely no sleep at all due to chronic pain. I am exhausted this morning and still in a lot of pain from my back. I never stopped to think before I started to detox, but what happens if I ever have to have major surgery? Obviously they will have to give me heavy painkillers during and after that, so what happens to my sobriety after that? Would I have to start w/d's all over again?

[vicki595]

If you stick to the prescribed dosage for a brief period of time,you shouldn't have a huge problem if or when you have surgery.

It concerns me that you're having the "what if" questions at only 6 days clean. You should be focusing on all the things you need to do to stay clean.

Do you have support?  A doctor,AA/NA,therapist etc...After care of some sort is extremely important!

Good luck!

[gnarly_1]

HI....I agree with Vicki you need to plug into aftercare and start working it addiction just dosent go away because you detox you need to change the very way we think with aftercare thats possible you will learn the tools and skills necessary to lead a clean and sober lifestyle
I tell everybody....put as much effort into your aftercare as you did in your active addiction
and you will beat this thing....anything less is a crap shoot ...keep posting for support
good luck and God bless.....Gnarly

[Punkinhead75]

I did a lot of therapy early on and continue to go to AA mtgs.  The thinking about major surgery is just the disease trying to stay alive.  It's like a boxer, stickin and moving taking shots when our hands are down.  Sometimes it hits our own glove so we punch ourself in the face. LOL!!  Our disease can be very tricky.  Anyway. to answer your question:  Ask a friend to go with you and to be in your room until you wake up.  You ask that friend to make sure that any doctors and nurses who are taking care of you know that you are in recovery and can't have any narcotic pain killers.  You make sure the doctor knows you are an addict.  When they prep you for surgery you make sure you tell everybody that will be working on you.  There are plenty of non-narcotic pain killers that work just fine so you don't have to worry about starting over.  Keep up the good work!!!!!

[iwannabefree]

ok thank you everyone for your answers. The reason I am so concerned is that this is the second time around for me after a period of about 15 years clean. I say "About" because I really cant remeber when I started using again but Id say its been about 3 years now.  Now most people that have been clean that long stay clean, but because I had a spinal injury a few years ago, I started taking painkillers again thinking I would be fine because it was for extreme pain. The doctors told me that if it got worse over the years I may have to have an operation. Because I was in such pain last night I genuinly did worry about maybe having to finally have that op. I do agree though that even though I have been in huge pain with my back, maybe some of my worry is that demon addiction in my head saying "what if" just to coax me into thinking I may as well use those painkillers again. But I want a normal life back so bad that I WILL stick to what I have started. I am going to just have to find other ways to deal with the back pain when it comes. Thanks all. Im going to cruise the pain management section now..........Christine

[quitinoxys]

As a fellow chronic pain sufferer I know how you feel. There are alternatives to drugs such as acupunture and herbal remedies. One that helps me for pain  is Krill oil you can get it at any health food store and even some pharmacies. I wish you luck in your sobriety keep going it is well worth it.---quitin

[iwannabefree]

Thanks quitin I will check the Krill oil out straight away. Ive never heard of it before, but Im willing to try anything...apart from you know what.................cheers Christine

[bmdad]

Surgery doesn't always require "heavy" opiates. I had back surgery a few years ago. When I was discharged I was prescribed darvocet, one of the weakest narcotic pain meds. I almost laughed at the doctor when he wrote me the script but I didn't say anything. Although they didn't take all the pain away, it did take the edge off. Right after my surgery they had me on a morphine pump and the pain was still horrific. I spent one night in the hospital and talked them into discharging me. They wanted me to stay at least one more night but I just wanted to sleep in my own bed. I feel heavy narcotics are over prescribed. I was even prescribed oxycontin 80mgs last year for my chronic back pain. Granted, I loved that I was prescribed them but can't believe they give them out except for people that are pretty much on their death bed for pain.
It's amazing how fast our bodies heal up after surgery. My back surgery was by no means a simple surgery. It was a very painful one that left me with a six inch scar. When I left the hospital I wanted something stronger but that was the addict in me. But darvocet honestly did the trick just fine and I had no problem stopping them. Looking back it worked out great.

[iwannabefree]

Thanks bmdad thats helpful knowledge. It sounds like you didnt have w/d's from the short use of the morphine or the darocet, so I guess my main question is answered. I really just wanted to know that if I do have to have surgery and if theres no way other than the morpine afterward, that its not going to set everythign back. If I do have to have surgery in future I will remember to make sure to not have anymore than the 1 day on morphine. I will also make sure to talk to my doctor beforehand to see if anything else could be substitued.................cheers Christine

[janet19]

I had a fear of getting clean because I do have chronic pain and the thought of pain again scared me. However I did it and went cold turkey. I was prescribed naproxan 500mg and I had it in medicine cabinet and never tried it when I had other narcotic painkillers. So when my pain came crashing back on me after I detoxed I thought I would try the naproxan and to my surprise it worked very well, probably better then the vicodin and soma. I still use it and although I only take one a day I am feeling great and pain is has much lessened. That goes to show you how an addict always thinks.

I think it is an option you should use right now to keep your pain undercontrol and if you ever have surgery it might help ease the pain. I always used the strategy that if it is not narcotic it won't work. I would be thinking the same if I had back surgery and I don't think anyone has to suffer through something that major of pain and like bmdad said he used the morphine pump to get through and he did not abuse the medicine and if needed for severe pain I see nothing wrong with it, just easy does it when it comes to using it. Nothing is worse than getting drawn back into the life of active addiction, so easy goes it. I hope you get the pain under control with something like naproxan and then maybe surgery can be a further out option.

Congrats on your choice to live a normal life and getting clean.
                      God Bless..............Janet

[iwannabefree]

thanks Janet19 that is very helpful and very good advice. I know that a lot of addicts would think I may be just looking for an excuse to use again, but believe me when I say, I am extremely determined to keep going. I think some might be concerned also that if they gave me the go ahead to have morphine in limited dosage after major surgery that it would lesson my resolve and send me straight back into using, but its actually done the exact opposite for me. Its given me a feeling of relief to know that some limited usuage after surgery is ok. Its actually made me relax a lot more mentally, and strengthened my resolve to continue on with my life clean and free of drugs. God bless you.................cheers Christine

[dominosarah]

Are you planning on having surgery and morphine?

[bmdad]

My point of the post above was mainly to make you aware that even after a major surgery we don't need a heavy narcotic pain med. Like I said, I was on morphine only while in the hospital for the night. But I can say that my pain was still just as bad during the next few days and the darvocet did the trick. I was still in a lot of pain but I managed. If I would have been given a script of morphine, I'm not sure if I would have been able to just put them down like I did the darvocet. Many say tylenol is almost as strong as darvocet. So looking back, if I were to have to have surgery again, I don't even know if I would even take darvocet. I mean the pain post surgery was absolutely horrific for a couple days. I figure if I can make it through on darvocet I could probably make it through on tylenol. Where I'm at in my recovery now I don't think I could suffer enough pain to warrant any narcotic pain relievers.
If any addict is put in a situation where they need narcotics, we have to have someone hold on to them for us. I know if I could trust myself to take them as prescribed I wouldn't be an addict. Trusting myself is what put me in the position I'm in.

[janet19]

I would never put another narcotic pain pill in me again. I also would have to stop when released from hospital. I have found that the naproxan has been working very well for me. I do however think that if it is needed for severe pain, that I would use it but only as the very last resort. Actually I was clean 3 yrs about 11 yrs back and I had a car accident. I could not move I broke 3 ribs, knocked my knee out of place, crushed all my toes and I was in severe pain. I had been open and honest with my doctor when I got clean and we had some long conversations after my accident. They did give me tylox and I took it at home. I was able to control the use and never abused it while I was using it. The doctor gave 1 script for 30 and a 2nd script for 20. I talked it all out with him and we decided how to continue the pain control. I am not sure if this made me more honest or what. I had no problems when I ran out of script. I had no desire to have more, but that was like I said 11yrs ago. My addiction this last time around was far worse than my first go around. I absolutely know that I could never do that again. I am way to far gone to stick another painkiller in my mouth. I do not have the strength to fight it anymore, so for me it would be impossible to take another narcotic drug. I got so into being clean and sober when I went cold turkey off of vicodin and soma, that I did the same to 2 benzo's I was taking. Felt good to get that feeling and control out of my body. I went on to rid myself of my 2 anit-depressants and I am not going back there. I put 2 pills for BP in me and 1 potassiun poll and for now the suboxone. However i did detox cold turkey and made it through. My doctor and therapist wanted me on the suboxone for several health issues I have going on and they feared I would not stay clean under the pressure from all the health problems. I have been taking it about 5 weeks and when I see the suboxone doctor on the 11th I want to start my taper and I plan to be off of it within 4 months. I feel I am totally ready for the maintence and fight I have to be clean and sober. I have came so far and fought so hard these past 5 months and I now have faith in myself. I am determined to win this fight and hopefully the cravings we begin to disappear. I know I will be an addict forever and I am using NA for my aftercare. I attend meetings regularly and I am also doing service work for NA. It keeps me more involved and I love it.

[iwannabefree]

Thank you all for your input. Yes I will have to eventually have an operation so the question was a genuine one, not an excuse for my addiction to get the better of me. I cannot imagine going through a major operation without major painkillers. My God that sounds like something out of a horror movie ! But, if you all say to me that its possible then I will certainly talk to my doctors about it.
I also want to explain something that I did not mention before. I also fought active opiate addiction from my mid twenties until late thirties. This time around I got into active addiction from a back injury and the pain resulting from that. I thought I was safe doing that ecause it was a totally different situation than my first time around. This time around I have found myself a functioning addict, with a great job and international travel.
The first time around I started using from emotional trauma. I had been attacked late one night,raped,stabbed and strangles and then left to die. I survived from what became known as one of Australias worst mass murders. I was his only survivor from several women. I used opiates from my late twenties until late thirties and I used them so heavily that I spent most of that time a total vegetable in my bed. I was definately not a functioning addict or even a functioning human being. My two periods of addiction have been very different, but the hardest time of my life except for my attack was getting clean in a detox the first time around.
So in total, I do have a genuine desire to know what to do about a situation when I will have to eventually have my back operation, since it was my back pain that eventually sent me back into active addiction. Maybe I should be just concentrating right now about getting better since I am now just finishing my 7th day and entering into my 8th clean, but I am also looking at the rest of my life and I want that to be an amazing one, not one of addiction.If I can find other ways of pain relief during a major operation I will the the first to take it. My original question though, was that if morphine is needed (and if so I would also probably make sure it is limited to one night) would I still have to go through withdrawls from that?

[dominosarah]

As long as the doctors and nurses are aware of your addiction i think wd would be almost non existant if you only had it for one night.....The mental part will be another story.