recovering addict hurt now on pain meds

[godguidesme]

im a recovering addict ben clean for over 6 years, now i find myself having to take highly addictive  pills for torn disks &sciatica im so afraid, im now at home living in my living room, cant do stairs yet, dont want to take the pills but then im not only in pain but feeling like i have to take them, I just had this happen about a month ago. was in the hos for pain mang, now im feeling worse then ever. I just found out theres pain mang dr's, going to find one monday, the pain is so bad even with the pills its moving now from lower back, to upper, i havent seen a back dr yet just my primary. and hes just giving me meds i dont know if this is the right forum, i dont want my husband to be mommy & dad to our 4 kids, what can i do & i havent told my hus im sick without the pills. any help or support, please?

[sandee1818]

kitty 51,
I am glad the tens works for you. I am sure the advice is noted and will help Thanks:)

[kitty51]

I have read all the comments and Mollyrae was offering an opinion she was not telling Chan808 to lie to her doctor,after all none of us are qualified to give any advice just support and idea's.Mollyrae has been very helpful to me and others,and I thought you were  harsh.So maybe we can get on with what we are suppose to on M/H.Now getting back to Chan808 I have a tens machine and found it very good and it eases the pain and takes edge off.I have hardly needed any pain meds.

[sandee1818]

Chan808,
I completely understand your position but I still think telling your PM Dr that you have addiction issues is the best way to help yourself and your pain. I will be completely honest and tell you that you may have to see several PM Dr's before you find one that understands and feels they can help you to the best of their ability. As I said a PM Dr who is also an addiction specialist is your best bet to controlling both your pain and addiction problems.
By taking the short cut and skipping around the truth as was suggested to you you will only encounter more problems I assure you.
I think it is great your husband is helping you and if that is working for you I am really glad, You could have your husband possibly go with you to the PM Dr and explain he is helping you and that will help ease the Dr's mind some.
Having the pain your experiencing and also having a baby can be overwhelming and make you feel drained and stressed which I am sure you already know adds to your pain levels and you do need some help with the pain I am just suggesting you go about getting it the correct way. I know you would rather be enjoying your beautiful baby than being in pain all the time and I know you will do what is right for you and your family I just wanted you to know all of your options and know we are here for you:)
I truly do wish you the best of luck with this and hope you do find some long term relief and I will help and support you all I can as well as everyone here:)

[ladymac777]

Hi there,
I hope and pray for your health, it can be  hard to deal with addiction but pain and using medication for pain management is two seperate things. I know your afraid to use the meds but if you need them then have your husband monitor the use of them according to your need if possible. I have never been an addict but use a lot of heavy pain medication, with my husband making sure I don't go too far. So far I actually don't use enough, I do what they call chasing the pain and that is making things worse. I also have back pain and am now using a tens unit at home. Have you heard of this? It is a portable unit that you can use to stimulate your back with electric pulses rather then using pain medication, or so you don't have to use so much medication. It seems to work fairly well for now. My daughter is a Physical Therapist and she helps quite a bit but it takes a lot of work. Ask your Dr about the tens unit just to see if it might help.
Good luck,
Ladymack777

[worried878]

i am an addict in recovery as well...sad thing is that most can not take pain pills again succesfully..the tolerence never goes away...the extra receptors lay dormant after a while when we stop using but wake up within days of using again..and tolerence is back at full force,,,beleive me i have tried to use narcotics succesfully and i can not...call me weak, call me crazy...call me an addict, I dont care cos i know i am....i wished i was not and that narcotics could take my pain away but they can not and this i know...long term narcotic use usually ends up here and i am fortunate not to have gone deeper than i did..and that was due to doctors who are very conservative in narcotic distribution here where i live...narcotic use long term  can cause alot of emotional pain on top of the physical pain..and that is where i was at....sounds like u have been here too..and i guess the question is "do they help u enuf with ur pain to make it worth it?"  I think if i saw an end to my pain and my tolerence did not build...i would stay on them forever..but that is not the case with me...but with others it can be different..some use for years for pain and do not become addicted..i wished i could be one of those but i am not...with a prior addiction of the nature u described...this could be a bad road to take...and i think u know that or u would not be afraid..it is so scary/addiction is/can be scarier than the pain itself/but i wished i had the answer for u...

[Mollyrae]

PS-That's rather harsh sandee. like I said, I'm not telling anyone to lie

[Mollyrae]

I will clarify my post. If the subject does not come up then I would not offer the info. I am asking no one to lie. Of couse tell the Doctor what has happened in the past.if necessary .It's just that if it does not come up then why offer the info. Sometimes it can only hurt especially when in so much pain.   This is my opinion.

[godguidesme]

my hus dispenses them but i am still not happy being on them at all. my dr knows about my past. but hes a primary, and is only dispensing them i just got this injury a month ago but i will say i went to a spec and as soon as i told him about my past he just about told me to deal with it and that ill most likly need surgery. he said take motrin thats a huge leap from oxys to motrin and i cant stand straight or even pck up my baby. the ruth is the amount of oxys arent working & i dont want to go up theres no alternative med at this time to my dr or pharmacy knowledge.

[sandee1818]

I also want to point out that while studies do show that one who is in pain will less likly abuse them that does not mean you will have no problem with abuse!
You have addiction issues so you are very likly to abuse them and this is a fact, only you can ascertain if you can handle taking the medications without addiction issues but I don't want you to get the idea that because your in pain you will not abuse the medications.
If there is anything at all I can do to help you please don't hesitate to ask:)

[sandee1818]

I must strongly disagree!
You should never lie to your Dr as they are there to treat you to the best of their ability and make choices with you as to what is best for your health. When you do not tell your Dr penitent information he/she can't treat you responsibly and that hinders your getting the best treatment possible for you.
I do understand your in pain and you need help. I know your scared and want pain relief but do not want to have to deal with the addiction issues, there is help. There are PM Dr's who also specialize in addiction medicine and that is who I would suggest you see as they can help you.
You made the first huge step in admitting you have a problem and  commend you for that as it does take a strong person to admit they have a problem.
Please keep us posted and know we are here for you and will support you and help you in any way we can!
You really are doing the right thing by telling your Dr about your addiction because you can bet he/she will find out and if they find out you lied to them it will harm you and keep you from getting the help you need. Honesty is ALWAYS the best policy. We hire our Dr;s to keep our best interest and treat our health problems to the best of their ability and to lie to them you will only hurt yourself. Remember today may be bad but with each new day comes hope.

Note: Medhelp does NOT promote lying or being dishonest in any way and as I said it only hinders your treatment and makes thing even worse. In the PM community we all know what pain is as we live in pain each day and we also know how bad things will get when the Dr finds out they were lied to. I don't think its a great idea to be telling anyone to do such a thing.

[Mollyrae]

Hello. It is said that when in great pain and taking pain meds, your less likely to abuse them. Knowing what you know about addiction, I feel that because your in such pain, you will use the meds as prescribed. Tuck had some terrific advise in giving a family member your meds and giving them to you as needed. I would consider that strongly.

I do feel that if you tell your Doctor about your previous addiction, you will not get the proper pain treatment necessary for your pain. That happened to me only I was not abusing the drugs, I was dependant and needed a change, they were not working for me. Well, I told the Doc and she got me off them alright but when it really needed pain meds again, I could not get them from her. I finally found a Doc that understood everything that had happened to me and was able to receive the help I really needed.

I would hate that to happen to you. Somethings are better left unsaid as long as you understand your own addiction.

Please take care and good luck in the future.

Mollyrae

[jollyman069]

dude i feel for ya u are caught between the  big rock and the big hard place... god bless ya

[Tuckamore]

Hello Chan808,

I am so sorry for your pain and predicament. I know very little about substance abuse and will be very little help to you in that area. As Coolio pointed out we do have the Substance Abuse Forum also.

This is from a non-abusers point of view so take it for what it's worth. If you are having pain, and I'm sure you are than what choice do you have but to take the pain medications at this time. Pain interupts our lives and can change it forever if not properly controlled. If you are aware you have a problem with narcotics please make you physician aware of this. There may be other medications than can give you that will help your pain and be none addictive. For now you have no choice but to treat your pain. You may have to worry about rehab later. I have heard that some ppl will give their pain meds to a trusted family member, such as your spouse and have them hand out the meds or leave them with just a few to avoid the chance they would abuse them.

Good luck to you. I wish I had better answers but when you have pain you certainly need to have it treated. Others will post that have more information than I do about substance abuse. Please keep posting. We are here for you. Take care, Tuck

[Coolio Hernendez]

Well your not alone in this....There are a whole lot of people in the same place you are and this forum has alot of people that will help keep you on track.

The substance abuse side of this site really helps with the addiction part and this pain management side will really help with the facts about pain and the proper way to mange it.

Personally i really am worried for you because i know that if i was in your place that i would continue to abuse. I pray that i dont have a major medical issue because i will deff not be able to handel myself correctly.
I take Subutex for pain and for recovery from using pain pills the wrong way.