What to do for pain after quitting

[nater941]

So I admit it I am a drug addict. I was diagnosed with syringomyelia 2 yrs ago and have been on pain meds ever since. I now take 2-20mg oxy, 1- 10 mg oxy and 4 percocet a day as well as 150 lyrica and 50 elavil (for sleep) I want to get off the narcs so bad. My behavior is getting more and more like a drug addict. I get very creative when it comes to finding more medicine when i have taken too much. I am married with 3 young kids and this is really starting to affect the home life. My wife is sure I am killing myself. So if I want to get off the opiates what do I do about the pain after. I think I can handle the withdrawals and get through that part but what to do about the reason I started with these meds. I would love to hear from chronic pain suffers and how they have done it or plan to do it.

P.S. I just found this website and I think it is awesome. Finally people who know exactly how I feel. Reading through the other posts it was like I was reading about myself. Thank you so much everyone for your honesty...you have no idea how supportive it is (or maybe you do). Anyway I love you guys already and I hardly even know you. We are in this together now.

[cathy5841]

welcome to the forum.. this place is really a god send.  i haveno ideas about chronic pain.  i was just a pleasure user.  but, i must say compared to my p;easure you are not on a lot.  lol  there are others here that will pipe up on the pain issue. most say  once they get off the meds the pain is not near as bad.  it seems the body creates more pain for more meds.  thus a vicious cycle starts.  stay with us and you will get tons of support here.
cathy

[worried878]

I have a chronic pain problem involving the spine as well...started with scoliosis and have had fusions etc....but the narcs started causing me more pain than my back....i find that ice, heat, ibuprophen, muscle relaxers at times, yoga, exercise, and my shiatzu massager are life savers...I also use chiropractic but i am not sure that would work for your condition...i also get steroid injections every 4 months....tis a pain to say the least but at least i am not chasing pills anymore...i dont think they were helping too much as my tolerence kept climbing....chronic pain is a hard one...lots of support here

[Crispy]

are muscle relaxers safe to take?

[poetrygirl1960]

My chronic pain is in my neck and shoulder area where I was injured two separate times.  I tried to become sober and clean over and over by c/t and tapering and even counseling and failed each time.  So this time because I have chronic pain and because I'm addicted to opiates my doctor put me on suboxone long term.  It's been a great blessing for me since I had pretty much exhausted every other avenue.  Eventually I'm going to taper off of it very very slowly.  This may sound bad because I'll be having w/d's but my suboxone doctor assured me they were NOT as bad and by getting my recovery to that point I will deal better with w/d I do have.  

[(Not so) Spunky]

I have SM too!! And I know EXACTLY how you feel.. Do you also have Chiari? I do and am having the decompression surgery on the 20th. Is that an option for you? I know it isn't guaranteed to help, but I'm sure hoping it does. As you know- SM's only remain or progress- they never go away unless you are able to treat the source, If your's is due to trauma, you may need to stay on some sort of pain med, but maybe alternative therapies will help too- You REALLY don't want the spinal shunting done if it can be avoided, That will ensure a life on narcotics - from what my NS told me.  You should discuss this with a Neurologist as some chiropractic therapies will aggravate your condition.. ASAP.org is all about ACM/SM- they have some great info there to help you too! GL!!

Tish

[joann1975]

Welcome to the forum it is a God Send! I just wanted to throw my 2 cents in on chiropractors (i know some people live by them so this is strictly my opinion) but working in a radiology center (mri, ct scan, xray etc) I have seen damage that is not repairable by chiropractors. I know there are good ones also but I tend to stay away from them due to the nightmares I have seen.

[nater941]

Thank you everyone for your input...doesn't sound like there is much hope for me. Spunky I have idiosympatic SM so they do not know why I have it. No trauma and no Chiari so  there is really nothing they can do except probably shunt one day when I am in a wheel chair. I would really like to kick this addiction though as I feel like a slave to my meds. I was thinking of the patch just to take the control out my hands but on here I have seen some supporters of the patch and others who seem to think it is the worst option out there. The   suboxone sounds interesting. Thanks  poetrygirl1960. I will have to do some research. Anyway thanks again everyone I think I have at least found a place where people understand.

Thanks again

[(Not so) Spunky]

The sub may be a good option for you to kick the addiction, but it won't help with your pain.. Being on Lyrica- just so you know- will lessen your W/D symptoms a bit.. Maybe you can up that dosage till you have control on the narcs? Of course, Lyrica has it's own set of withdrawals too... Have you tried Baclofen? Tizanidine? Those may help. In fact, they have a baclofen pump that some people swear by.. I've taken both but I really didn't like the "zombie" feeling. And I'm sure you're very aware of that feeling with nerve meds! I wish you so much luck- I couldn't imagine what I would do if I couldn't have my surgery. It's awful. I will say lots of prayers for you!! ((((((HUGS)))))

Tish

[worried878]

I do agree there are some quacks out there in the medcal profession...but not just in chiropractic...there are some regular physicians that mess people up as well...i have seen some surgeons screw someone upfor life on more than one occasion..it is a natural form of pain relief and it is not an option for everyone...it is homeopathic medicine and it has been a life saver for me as i had undergone every kind of doctor available before i found chiropractic...I really believe that if i could have found her/chiro years ago when all this first became a problem, that i would not be in the shape i am in...now i have so much nerve and muscle damage that it is chronic and will never go away...but when i see her I get relief...my nuerosurgeon did me the biggest injustice of all...made money off of my surgery when i think he had to know it would not help...and he did not fuse it correctly and a screw dislodged later...and i have seen a lot of doctors   All they ever did was throw meds at me..between the side effects, stomach problems and then addiction from taking medications...i will stick to natural relief as often as i can

[NautyOne]

I don't know.......I am in screaming pain a lot, but not like I was when on the pain killers.  I take neurotin and Motrin 800  doesn't do much, but betta than nuttin.

Hope you feel better.

Nauty............