How to tell when you have a problem - Darvocet

[JoeyR]

I would like some information please. I have been taking Darvocet for sometime now... about 8 months and take 12 pills a day...Usually 3 or 4 at a time. How do you know when you are addicted? I dont feel so good if I go without it for more than a day. I get nervous, sweat (god i hate that) and hurt. I am taking them for a sinus problem I have because I cannot afford the surgery to fix the problem. I really want to stop this, but am afraid to. I live in the Chicago area. My name is Joey.

I should also say that I have been living with clinical depression since I was 16... now 28 and I take wellbutrin twice a day. I also have Ativan which I use to sleep, but unlike the Darvocet, I do not find a "high" in taking the Ativan. I use that for what it helps me with. (Anxiety and sleeping).

After reading some of the warnings that go along with pain killers, it scares the hell out of me to think I am in that situation but just dont realize it I guess. I never in my life thought I would become addicted to "legal" drugs like this. This really sux

[confused.grl]

groovy, I am seing a pain specialist my problem is that when yoou first go to a pain clinic they start you on medicine, for me it was oxycotin, i quickly learned that wasn't for me. I went back to him and discussed the options with him and we decided that we would try methadone, at first is was a life saver, i could go on with my life almost pain free, i still had some pain but i could tolerate it. After i got a stable dose i signed a contract saying that my medicine would never be increased. A month later my medical case manager started pressuring my surgeon about going back to work. Thats when i started having my problem, i talked to my surgeon about limitimg my work hours but he wants to give it 6 months before he makes the final decision whether or not htis is something that is not going to heal. At my last appointment my pain doctor told me that out of all his patients, i am one of only three patients that dont try to make up stories about how they lost their medicine, and ask for early refills all the time, so i dont feel comfortable even asking.

  lifisbetter-tex3.
       thank you for all your kind wourds they do mean alot. I was in a really down mood last night, but after getting up and seing all your kind words, maybe my day won't be as bad as yesterday. I am going to give my medicine to my mom for 2 weeks and only take 1 a day until my next appointment. I will take this time off of work also.

[tex3]

Hi confused. I too (as several of us here are) the mom of three young children. I was in chronic pain for years. That's what got me started on the road to addiction, although admittedly it was a short drive. I used my pain - which was legit - and welcomed it as it gave me a way to keep getting what I wanted: not attention, but pills. I could barely function and was always stressed out. I felt like I couldn't manage my kids, could barely see to their needs. I didn't admit for a long time that it was the pills that was causing the grief, not so much the pain.
Don't get me wrong. Chronic pain sucks everything out of you. But I could at least get up and function and think like a normal person when I wasn't so doped up. I was always increasing my dose and being irresponsible with my pills, and told myself it was because my pain was so bad, but I was lying to myself. Truth was, I just took too many on a regular basis. The pain wasn't getting better no matter how much I took, so that wasn't it. I just liked the pills.
Once I admitted these truths I was able to quit using and start living. And I feel wonderful. I'm not saying at all that you're in the same situation, as I don't know what your pain is from and how bad it is. Mine got terrible at the end, but I had surgery that took most of it away, which allowed me to address the addiction. But by that point I was ready to live with the pain if I had to. I don't think you should have to live with pain; no one should. But being addicted, I had little choice.
If I got into a bad situation again (pain-wise) I would take the pills, but only if I could do so without losing control. I would have to be brutally honest with myself about it. I've done so once, when my migraines got out of control, and I did fine. But I did it with my eyes wide open.
I apologize for rambling, just wanted you to know you're not alone; many of us feel tremendous guilt for not being the mothers we think we should be. We can't change the past but we can work toward a better present and future. Best of luck and know we are here for you. tracy

[lifeisbetter]

Hi. I am so happy to see you haven't given up on us. I can't imagine the kind of pain your in, but I can admire you for not abusing the Oxycontin. If I had legitimate pain I would have taken everything the Dr. would give me. I do know about having three small kids though. That my friend is rough even for a supermom. I mean even Carol Brady had Alice to help her. So please don't compare yourself to any other mom. You said you can't bear to look at your children anymore because your ashamed. I know that feeling too, but you need to be able to look at yourself first and say "I am doing the best that I can". Thats all. You don't have to be perfect. You don't even have to be great for that matter. You just have to be Debra. And you have to be their "mom". Its hard for me to understand this myself but in spite of all my negative feelings, and all the self doubt, no matter how bad I think I screw up, at the end of the day my kids still call me mommy. This is one role God gave me that I have to accept. My kids love me...no matter what. As hard as that is for me to believe it is true. After all the whining and temper tantrums, they love me unconditionally.
I am their mom. They know that they are and will always be loved by me. Nothing can ever change that. You may have pain, addiction, low self esteem, whatever it is you beat yourself up with...it doesn't matter, your kids are gonna love you. Your stuck with it. So, accept it and give yourself a break, go look in the mirror and say "it could be worse, I'm doing the best that I can, and my kids will always love me!" I am blessed after all.

[groovygirl]

hi - have you told your dr. that your dosage isn't enough?  maybe if you tell him how you are feeling, you can get on some kind of program? i too suffer from chronic pain - migraines, and there isn't any easy answers.  unless they come up with a "cure" for headaches, i am going to be caught up in this cycle.  i finally decided, i would rather live with the pain than to continue my life the way it was going...lying to drs and family, stressing about my next prescription, etc.  the bup really helps with the headaches, and i feel like if i stop i will get a bad one and then i will look for something to take and this will start all over again.  people with chronic pain plus addiction are really in a tough place...i can sympathize with you.  

did you go into detox before?  is that why you don't want to tell your bf?  most people relapse, so don't feel alone in that.  if you haven't been totally straight with your dr., i would suggest doing that first.  if he gives you a hassle, i would find someone else quick...maybe a pain specialist.  if your dr. was to prescribe a higher dose, do you think you'd be able to stick with that, or do you think you would need to keep increasing?

[confused.grl]

I'm in a bad place again, i have chronic pain and am perscribed methadone for it (can't take oxycotin because it controls my lif and cant stop taking it) but i just can't take it as perscribed. I can't function without it (too much pain to move) but can't take the way I'm supposed to. I will be out of medicine soon i don't know what to do. I need to go to work and take care of 3 small children, and a house. I can't ask my boyfreind to shoulder all the responsibility again because i'm a weak person. I feel like  can't even look at my children anymore because i hate myself for not being stronger. I don't abuse my medicine because i want to get high, it is sttrictly for pain control, but my dosage just isn't enough to get me through the day,I'm even tired of hearing myself say " I cant do it i'm too sore" i cant imagine how my family hates hearing it. This injury is killing me inside.

[groovygirl]

why do you guys bother commenting to dive?  this thread started with a post from joey who was looking for help, then it turned in to a battle between gwh and radioboy.

we (myself included) need to refocus on what is important here - dive isn't...joey is.