Vicodin Addiction

[VicUser]

Hello, I have chronic back pain that I have been dealing with for about 8 yrs and have been taking three 5/500mg vicodin a day for. 5 yrs prior to the pain returning that I had back surgery for a herniated disk at L5/S1 from the time of the surgery until the time the pain returned I didn't take any pain meds. Since the pain returned I have been to two different pain Docs and received cortisone epidural shots, and MRI shows that there is not a protruding disk at L5/S1, but the Docs think it is due to scar tissue. One pain Doc said that as long as I don't need to increase the dosage there is not a problem, but my family Doc does not want to prescribe meds too much longer. I have also tried acupuncture and had great success while on a 14 day cruise and have 6 treatments, last year. For about two months I was more or less pain free and didn't take meds. Since then I have been to two different acupuncturist, the last one is also a Doc and have had very little success. Has anyone else been able to maintain pain relief for such a long time on only 3 5/500mg vicodin a day? Any suggestions on what to do about chronic pain, without meds? With meds I can live pretty much a normal life and without them it is very limited. I have not taken any meds for a week now and am having a quite a bit of pain. Sorry for such a long post, but I wanted to explain the problem of both pain and med use.

[VicUser]

Sorry if this off topic, but it might be helpful to some. Now about acupuncture for pain relief, my wife and I went on a 14 day cruise last December and they offered acupuncture as an extra service that you could pay for. I was in a lot of pain and couldn’t sit for very long and was very uncomfortable all around, even taking 3 or 4 vicodin a day. I went to the talk they had explaining what acupuncture was and how it could help. I was skeptical but at that point thought it was worth a try. I had a treatment every other day for a total of 6 treatments. I felt better after each one and after 3 treatments, stopped taking vicodin and the pain continued to go away. The pain was gone for about a month after the cruise and started to come back slowly. The acupuncturist on the ship said that this could and probably would happen at some point. I found an acupuncturist that was an RN near my house and after 5 visits there was no relief, so I stopped. After about 4 months I saw a Neurologist who recommended the Dr that I am seeing now for acupuncture, and it is helping. I think that more frequent visits would help, but can only go once a week.  Acupuncture is not cheap, about $90 per visit, and is not covered by most insurance.

[VicUser]

Well, I went to my Acupuncture Dr last night for another treatment, which is helping more on that in a bit, and told her what my family Dr said about my use of vicodin. Besides doing Acupuncture she is an ER Dr at a local hospital, I told her that I haven't taken any since Friday and she said that in a way it's a shame that some Drs can't appreciate the pain that their patients are in. Her opinion was that if I wasn’t going through withdraw, and she didn’t think that I was, I was ok. Anyway, my plan is to try and stay off of vicodin for a month and if the acupuncture keeps helping stay off of them forever.

[VicodinHelp]

I have the same problem. I am what I call a low-dose user.  I have a rather large constellation of problems and dont even like saying the name: undifferentiated ankylosing spondylitus (sp?)  My script is for 1-2 every 4hours and I generally take 1/2 to 2 a day - on occasions I have take 3.  I just went 7 days with ZERO and then yesterday the aches were so bad I took ONE and today I have taken TWO.

they make me a little itchy
sometimes a little nauseated
and i dont know if im imagining it or not - but it seems like my mid-back is aching worse.  esp now since my mid afternoon 1/2 wore off so I just took my 2nd and last for the day.

i'll be honest - the stories on this forum scare the **** out of me.  But then again, life is short and I want some quality to it for the remainder of my years.

[m_i_strongenuf]

I agree with Blot, it is amazing 3 a day are still helping your pain enough to 'be more productive"...I wish my body had responded like that!  ~soft tissue disorder, R/A & fused discs in neck!~

Good luck to you...

~shel~

[ashamed03]

My grandmother is going through the exact same thing.  She was sure she had ruptured another disc or had one buldging.  She went to her Neurosurgeon and they took some x-rays and said everything looked fine, so it had to be scar tissue causing the problem.  He put her on Neurotin.  It helps to kill the nerve endings, I think!  She has been on it for a couple of months and it is doing wonders for her!  Maybe something worth checking into!  Best of luck!

[VicUser]

I have been to two different pain Drs, both tried cortisone epidural shots, one said that as long as I didn't increase the vicodin dosage I was OK, but wanted me to see my family Dr for them. The second said that I was addicted to vicodin after the epidural shots didn't help. Let me tell you anyone that would go through epidural shots just to get drugs is a lot different than me. I would love to find a way to be drug free and have less pain!

[GoingToMakeIt]

There are also alternative methods. Have you considered acupuncture? Or find a good Natural Dr. They have at their disposal many treatments that aren't known to the general medical community. You sound like one that doesn't tend towards addictive behavior, so maybe you will be alright. From what I have heard from my Dr's. is they don't see a lot of help from the pain management clinics. With all of us it is trial and error to find out what works for you. Taking pain pills for 5 years may be affecting your body, though. Every prescription drug has a slew of side affects! Good luck.

[FLaddict]

Your story is like many.  Most times tolerance builds and the patient needs more to help the pain. Are you seeing an pain management doctor.  If you feel you need the meds for quality of life and you are not as risk of abusing them you should see a pain specialist who can help you manage your pain as well as any tolerance that would naturally occur for anyone on narcotics long term.

[BlotOutTheSun]

hell if youve been taking 3 a day for 5 years and havent felt you needed more it dont think it will happen, i think after ive been using/abusing for 1 year i have to take at least 3 5/500 vicodin at a time to feel good, hell if i just take 1 i might as well just be eating candy lol

[VicUser]

I agree, but my Doc says that this long of use it is only a matter of time before they are no longer affective. I have to agree that I enjoy the way I feel when I take them, but like having less pain and being productive, more than the feeling that they give.

[BlotOutTheSun]

well the way i see it, if your only taking them for pain relief and not abusing them for a buzz, then i think it would be ok, in may case i have back pain, and take pain meds, but i take more than i should just to get high