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Avatar universal

18 and scared s***less

I'm 18 have fibromyalgia, intractable pain, degenerative deterioration of the spine, bursitis of the right hip. Iv been on opiates since iv been 11 started with 10mg norco (which is vicodin with 325 tylonal) and started taking it 3 times a day and was up to the point where i was taking 12 a day, then i was taking 10mg percs, moved up to 15 mg roxies then they added 30mg oxycontins 3 times a day, then i desided to try and taper myself off pain meds completely at age 15 because it was scary and my tollerance was just to high.at 16 went back on the pain meds because i just couldnt take the pain and tried to start with lower dosed ones like nucynta 100mg, ultram taking 250mg at a time then went back to the 10mg norco  moved back up to the 10mg percs then they added the 30mg oxycontin back it was just a horrible cycle well last october i had a bad flair up and was scared because my doctors didnt really communicate with me they just throw scripts at me well i found a good doctor who put me on 30mg ms-contin 3 times a day with up to 2 15mg MSIR (morphine sulfate instant release) well now Im going on 30mg opana er and keeping the 15mg MSIR for breakthrough im very frightend of this after reading all the posts here but im hopeing for the best because the morphine just doesnt work and i hate the way the Oxycontin makes me feel and the personality changes. I just dont know what to do and i need some advice because i dont want to opt to have surgery at this age... this hole opiate scene just scares me and i understand there is a difference between being physically dependent and being a addict i just dont want to fall down the path of being a addict and abusing medication.
My current med list is
Cymbalta 90mg a day
lyrica 225mg 2x a day
Ms-Contin 30mg 3x a day
MSIR (instant release morphine) 15mg as need for BT
Mobic 15mg once a day
Zanaflex (tizanidine) 4mg 3x a Day
Adderall XR 30mg Once a day
BusPar 7.5mg 2x a day
Trazodone 50mg at bedtime for sleep
Please someone have input
7 Responses
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Avatar universal
I hope you get some relief from the fentanyl patch.  It's worked well for a lot of people.  It can make some people sort of nod off a bit (I was constantly falling asleep unless I was busy and moving.)  Hope you'll let us know how it works for you.
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Avatar universal
well got switched to the fentanyl patch today so lets hope it helps! :)
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Avatar universal
I hope your doctor gets back to you quickly and can get your pain under better control.  Let us know how it turns out.
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Avatar universal
i am just hurting so much to the point where even with my tens on and the pain meds i cant get up to even go to the bathroom i just hurt so much and want out.... I faxed my doctor a letter to propose and new pain plan including switching to opana going to a long term muscle relaxer and increasing my lyrica to 225mg this pain is excrusiating i would go to the er but no way there and no why im taking a ambulence and not having a way back home...
Helpful - 0
356518 tn?1322263642
Hi,
  I am sorry your having to go through this at such an young age. I have been dealing with chronic pain for over twenty years and have been where you are so many times! I get to the point where I just want to stop all the meds and I convince myself I can do it but in the end I always end up back where I started.
I do not think surgery is the answer for me and so I have tried everything there is to try and I always just end up back on the pain medications. There is no easy answer and everyone is different. you are so young you may conquer this and survive. Do not give up hope!
Talk to your Doctor and tell him how your feeling and see what he suggest.
I do hope you get to where you want to be with your pain control and feel better:)
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I feel for you, too.  You're so young to have to deal with all this.  I also understand how you feel about all the medication.  I was on a similar list last year, and I chose to taper off.  I have fibromyalgia and I also had an unsuccessful joint replacement in my thumb that necessitated me having 9 more surgeries and winding up with nerve pain as well as pain from RSD.  I was worried about addiction, even though I never took anything except as prescribed.  And I worried about what would happen if I needed pain medication for something more serious.  I was already on so much, how much higher could I go.  I was afraid I'd wind up needing something and they wouldn't be able to cover my pain.

I tapered way down to hardly anything.  I will say my nerve pain is pretty bad but I'd rather have that than be on all the medications.  There may come a time I'll change my mind, but I can always go back on more.  I also have learned ways to manage my fibromyalgia.  I had been on Cymbalta and it wasn't helpful for me.

In rare cases, being on narcotics can worsen pain.  I don't think that was the case for me as my pain is still there.  I have to say, though, it's not a whole lot worse than when I was on all the meds.  Nerve pain is hard to treat; so I don't think what I was on was helping with that much anyway.

I read some articles written by Forrest Tenant, MD.  Some of what he says is interesting and helpful, though I don't buy everything he says.  But that's just me.

For me, swimming was a great help with the fibromyalgia.  I had to start off ridiculously slow.  I initially would just walk a length of the pool.  It took me longer to drive there than it did to do my pool exercise.  But I built up very slowly and eventually was swimming 45 minutes to an hour most days.  From there I was able to add in some other exercises, and even some light weights.  It helped the fibromyalgia a lot but even better, it helped me mentally.

Living with chronic pain can be very hard, and it's even harder when you're so young.  I hope you'll be an active member on this forum.  It's great support.

If you're concerned about your medications, have a very frank talk with your physicians.  Mine were not too happy about me tapering down, but it was something I really wanted to do.  It took a long time, but they are finally working with me, and I am happier being on less, though I have days that are bad.  
Helpful - 0
1331804 tn?1336867358
I feel for you, having to deal with such high levels of pain every day at 18 years of age.  Intractable pain is very serious and requires pain medication.  Intractable pain that is left untreated can result in other serious health issues.  Forrest Tenant, MD wrote some great articles on the treatment of intractable pain and they are online as well.  Just do a Google search for Forrest Tenant, Intractable Pain.

As long as you take your medicines as prescribed and bring any and all concerns about your pain levels to your physician for the both of you to decide what medication changes should be made, you will be fine.

Opana is stronger than morphine and you may find that you will need less BT medication.  From looking at your medication list, your physician has you on all the right classes of medications for pain management.  

Just keep in mind that typically there is a some level of pain that must be managed everyday as pain medication rarely take away all the pain.  Understanding this may help slow the increase in tolerance.  It is important to find the pain level that is manageable versus trying to achieve the goal of being pain free, which is rarely obtainable.

I feel for you and I really hope the Opana gives you the relief you need to enjoy life more!
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