Long Term Pain Killers

[TOMY]

I have had three major surgeries in the last 4 years.  One knee recopnstruction, a cervical fusion (C5/6) and most recently a lumbar fusion (l5-S1).  Needless to say, I have been on pain medication for about a year -  straight - since my last surgery (lumbar fusion).  I do have intense pain and don't tink I am just taking them just for the fun of it.

I am under the care of a pain specilist and take approximatel 5 Lortab 10/500 per day, as well as 6 or so Soma 350 per day.  Sometimes, however, I take double the amount of medication I should.  Usually this is because my initial doses don't work, or I'm afraid the pain will come back.

My pain is severe, and I have had a number of tests (CT, MRI, surgery, etc...) to determine the auses.  Sometimes I am unable to even function with the most basic tasks because of the pain.  Turns out that I have degenerative disk disease.  I would like to think that I'm taking these medications because I need them, but am I wondering if I am just fooling myself and just supporting an addiction.  Also, should I request something stronger, such as Oxycontin or MS Contin from my doctor?

Thanks

What is your opinion?

[June]

Hi there Tomy,

I feel for you, you sound like you have and are still suffering, I hope the pain does one day eleviate.

I am getting somewhat concerned about my pain killers, they are Zydol SR 100.  I originally took them because I had a frozen shoulder.  Heavens, I have never known such pain, in fact it was one of the most painful things I have known.  Frozen shoulder sounds such a mild illness, yet it affected initially my whole body.  It was like having a broken bone ( I know this feeling as I have had a compound break on my legs), but with this frozen should it seemed to have secondary pain.  I could not do any of the things I take for granted, no injections, tried many tablets but none seemed to enable me to get around.  

Eventually my doctor put me on Zydol SR 100, slow releasing.  It was like a dream come true, I had the pain, but nothing like it was before, and I could go back to work (with a struggle).

But now the problem is that this begun in 1998 and I seem to be addicted to these drugs, if I am late in taking them I feel like a woman of 75 years old.  Being only 46 this is awful.  I have pains in every joint, can bearly move, have no energy, my feet feel like every nerve is open to the elements.  The list just goes on.  When I am taking these tablets, Whatever I eat be it a small bread roll or a dinner, I just have to lay down.  My life now seems to be all sleep.  On my days off from work or the weekend, I just seem to want to sleep forever.

I know that my shoulder is okay now, nothing like it was, I do not need to take my tablets anymore, but I just can not come of these tablets.  I feel like my body has flue, or I have some disease which is throughout my body.  I really do not know what to do - if I go to the doctor she will tell me come off them, but I have tried this for two weeks, the side affects I mention above just got worse, so in the end I had to give in.  

So your query does leave a big question mark, is it the tablets or is it true pain.

If anyone else reads this I would love to speak with them if they have any idea if this is normal.  I do know that my tablets are 'opium derivative', which makes it all the more worrying.

I hope Tomy you do not mind me writing all this, but I you are not alone in your concern - if that helps at all.

Good Luck - I really hope you are not suffering too much.

June Crook (my email is:  ***@**** )

[sarinninja]

Strong pain meds like Oxycontin and Hydrocodone destroyed my life!!  
When i was 18 i was in a bad car accident. I broke C1, C7 & T1.  
Also have several herniated disc and bone spurs. And got labeled as
having degenerative disk disease what ever that means.. I was addicted
to Oxycontin for about 8 years and got to the point that i was injecting
it. Some ppl can take these drugs without ending up like this but
why chance it.. I have been off those drugs for over 3 years..
I am in a lot of pain everyday.. I get very bad head aches
and neck pain.. I now take Tramadol, Fioricet and Soma. Yea they are
not as strong as the other stuff but they help and i am not sticking
a needle into my arm.. My advice. Dont take those drugs.

[GoingToMakeIt]

Welcome! The bulk of this post is from 2000. But start a new post and let us get to know you.

[megs310]

Things you need to get that will help you through withdraw from pain killers:

Valerian- relaxs you
Nyquil- I found it to be the best sleep aid for me
Dark chocalate- It helps I do not know why
Warm baths- helps relax your body
Keep busy- helps keep your mind off how you are feeling
walks- I know this is hard but it will relax your legs so you can rest ( had really bad restless leg syndrome)

I hope this helps.  I have kidney stone removal surgery all the time and it ***** when u have to get off the pills.  I have withdrawn from pain killers I could not even tell you how many times.  It ***** and you feel like you are going to die.  Just know that everyday it gets better and one day upi will feel normal.  When you are going through this yuo feel like you will never feel normal.  Your body is just used of having pain meds in it and it is shocked to the system when you do not have anything. Wish you luck

[kpmc]

I too am worried about Zydol June. Everything you say is the same for me, the effects on my body were extremely fast and I am now more terrified of the effects of the Zydol than the pain from my back (herniated disc). For the first month I thought they were brilliant but then my body quickly needed more and more to stop breakthrough pain and then the other side effects set in. I am trying to go off them cold turkey at moment and it is HELL. I realise everyone has different tolerance to drugs so it will be different for everyone. The scariest things for me are the mental state it brings on from being in a trance to being so depressed you want to kill yourself. Every movement of your body is like you are up to your neck in water and then theres the tremors and the fact that you can sleep for 20 hours at a time. It's hard to imagine I'll ever feel 'normal' again... We need to be better informed of any opiate painkillers I think. My doctor went into no detail about them with me and gave me the impression they were like panadol!

[cjw5060]

My Dr put me on Methadone for pain. Have any of you tried it. I also have Lidocaine infussions done every 2 weeks. Should I be on somthing else?

[Magic Man]

I too will need pain killers for the rest of my life. My body has gotton used to the vicodin and I don't want to go over the allotment. Is it possible to get a new scripe for oxycontin which you all seem to say works for pain for a short time and then go back to vicodin?

[IBKleen]

Hello and Welcome To The Forum!

I see that you have concerns about your medications. There are a lot of people here who can help you. The problem is that you came into the forum through an old post. You need to go to the bottom of this page, click on "back to forum". Up top, on the left, you will see a button that says "Post a question". Click on that, and follow the instructions. Post exactly what you did here. That way, you will be taken to the top of the board and more people will see your post and be able to help.

Hope to see your new post........

[maggie beirne]

Hi I am 52yrs old. I have very bad ulcers on my left leg. I have been taking Cataflam 50mg three times a day. also Lyrica 150mg twice a day. plus Zydol 100mg twice aday for about a year. could you tell me if these are addictive?

[fishmeal]

I am glad that you are concerned about all of these meds.... they have brought a lot of people down!  I just don't know what to tell you about it because the more opiates you take, the more you are changing your brain's physiology...growing new recptors to catch the drug.  that's why these drugs are the hardest to get off!  Keep researching and pray for answers.

Best
Fish

[fishmeal]

thank you for your comment, I needed to hear that one because once in a while I rely on that and now hearing from you I know I could be headed into danger.  I haven't seen you post before and it would and could be good if you started a new thread. (even if it's just topical).  Welcome to the forum and again I'm so glad that I didn't miss your comment, I almost did. cause we don't always read everything here, (at least I don't).  

I encourage you to start a new thread about this topic.  People like me who think soma is so Innocuous need to hear stories like yours.

Best to you,
fish

[nancy123]

please stop taking any pain meds and get help another way. I have lost everything do to pain pills so please stop there are other ways of making the pain go away

[Simon]

I am wandering if you have ever heard of a drug called SPASMOPROXYVON? produced by Pfizer. As far as i know it is being used as a pain killer and i have not been able to track it down. I would be grateful for your comments.

My E-mail address is simon_clifton100***@****

[MIKE IN PA]

I HAD BACK SURGERY 3 YEARS AGO AND HAD BEEN ON PERCOCET, DARVACET, VICODIN, MS CONTIN, I HAD TRIED THEM ALL I FINALLY FOUND A DRUG THAT WOULD HELP ITS CALLED VICOPROFEN  IT CONTAINS 7.5MG OFHYDROCODONE AND 200MG OF IPUPROFEN.  THIS DRUG REALLY SEEM TO WORK THE ONLY PROBLEM IS I STARTED TO GET HOOKED MY SELF. I WAS TAKEN 3 PILLS 6 TIMES A DAY.  I WAS LIKE YOU WANDERING IF I AM TAKING IT FOR MY BACK OR TO SUPPORT A HABIT. IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT REASON IF I WERE YOU I WOULD TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT WHAT IS GOING ON.  I WENT THROUGH ONE HELL OF A WITHDRAW I DIDN'T SLEEP FOR 7 STRAIT NIGHTS, MY BODY WAS RACING, HAD COLD SWEATS, I WOULDN'T WISH THIS ON MY WORST ENEMY. SO PLEASE BE CAREFUL AND GOOD LUCK.

[MIKE IN PA]

I HAD BACK SURGERY 3 YEARS AGO AND HAD BEEN ON PERCOCET, DARVACET, VICODIN, MS CONTIN, I HAD TRIED THEM ALL I FINALLY FOUND A DRUG THAT WOULD HELP ITS CALLED VICOPROFEN  IT CONTAINS 7.5MG OFHYDROCODONE AND 200MG OF IPUPROFEN.  THIS DRUG REALLY SEEM TO WORK THE ONLY PROBLEM IS I STARTED TO GET HOOKED MY SELF. I WAS TAKEN 3 PILLS 6 TIMES A DAY.  I WAS LIKE YOU WANDERING IF I AM TAKING IT FOR MY BACK OR TO SUPPORT A HABIT. IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT REASON IF I WERE YOU I WOULD TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT WHAT IS GOING ON.  I WENT THROUGH ONE HELL OF A WITHDRAW I DIDN'T SLEEP FOR 7 STRAIT NIGHTS, MY BODY WAS RACING, HAD COLD SWEATS, I WOULDN'T WISH THIS ON MY WORST ENEMY. SO PLEASE BE CAREFUL AND GOOD LUCK.

[Tony K.]

Can you be called an addict if after months of taking 200mg of caffein every day, you still don't ask for more and yet get a horrible headache if you forget your morning caffein pill that day?

[Lady Jay]

I take MS-Contin.  There was a time when I took double the amount I take now.  It was all legal.  After my craniotomy... I kicked half out of my life.  I still use the other half to make my life bearable.  I agree that Soma is deadly.  So is Baclofen, which unfortunately, I still have to take.  I cut its dose in half also.  I have never been so messed up in my life just reducing.  There were episodes where my arms and legs jumped on their own.  Spasms like you wouldn't believe.  Kicking the MS-Contin gave me the pukes, diarreha, heart palpitations and crying spells.  The Baclofen is a ******* drug to try and get off of, like Soma.  Misery loves company.  I took a lot of Ritalin just to stay awake and focused.  Kicking it was the worst.  I had to do it last and I had to reduce as quickly as humanly possible or else speed my way into hell.  I kicked it though... through all the tears, shakes, racing heart, rapid breathing and constant dates riding the porcelain bus puking or the other, I kicked it.  So please... TAKE AS DIRECTED, if you don't... you are illegal unless the doc perscribes more.  Even if he/she did... you gotta kick some of it sometime and that, my friend, ain't fun.

[Frank in CT.]

Hello to all, im also an oxycontin patient, ( 50mg 3x daily ) and ive had wonderful result's. BUT as an earlier posting said----- be very careful on NOT over doing it! ive had 2 major back operation's, knee surgery, 1 ankle reconstruction, chest surgery, abdominal surgery, 2 eye operation's, and numerious other procedure's ( invasive procedure's )   and the pain from all of these surgerie's is NOTHING compared to the widthdrawal effect's if you run out too soon! no-matter what the doctor put's you on, your system ( body ) will get used to it, it cannot be helped, but if you have a good doctor he will realize this and adjust your med's accordingly, either with supplimental breakthrough med's or switching you to a higher dose, in my personal experience, instead of talking my 50mg 3x daily, I take 40mg 3x daily and  at the end of the day I take the last 30mg dose. This way if I feel i  need the extra dose im not hurting myself by using extra. It's such a complex delima,for us chronic  pain sufferer's im on so many different med's that when I go to my pharmacy I feel almost guilty ( like a dope addict ) but what the hell can you or i do about it....( nothing at all ) but do the best we can, i wish you well...Frank in CT.

[Sam]

Isn't there some energy herbs that can help with the lack of energy problem???

[Soma????????]

I just wanted to let you know my experience with Soma. First of all I personally think this drug should have a huge lable warning on it saying deadly!!!!! If you look up the definition of Soma it is a highly addictive traqulizer that metablizes in your body. I was taking about 4 a day then desided to quit cold turky. About 12 hours after I flushed the stuff I was on the couch not able to move because my body was stiff as a board. My neck muscles to my leg muscles were hardened up. My eyes were dilated to full blackness and my whole body was vibrating from my hart that was going about 200 thousand miles an hour. This lasted about 48 hours. I was sure I was going to die. My hart was so sore from going so fast and nothing helped. I was taking 6 sleeping pills every 4 hours and stayed fulling awake and wired!! It has now been 3 weeks and I get maybe 3 hours of sleep a night with alot of benadryl. I also know this couple that every body refers to as Soma heads. They are descusting!!! They will do anything for the stuff. I think Soma is EVIL and you should get off of it ASAP!! Since I have quit I have heard some horror storys of Soma's power.  Good luck to you.

[tracy]

I have been on 240 Mg of oxycontin for about 4 years, and although it has been a godsend, makes me functional, where i wasn't before, I also got into the same predicament as yoou. I started taking more than prescribed and at the end of the month, had severe and i mean severe withdrawals.  If you do decide to take oxycontin, take it as prescribed so you don't run out early. I'll tell you, the withdrawals alone, but especially on top of the pain, is worse than anything you could go through. Not that i would do it, but i totally understand why people rob, kill, and steal to get narcs. when they are withdrawing, it is awful and you will do anything to stop it.  JUST take it AS PRESCRIBED please!!!!

[Karen]

Tomy,
I have been on Oxycontin for about a year for back pain associated with scoliosis.  For me it has worked beautifully.  I take 40 mg. 3X per day.  The doctor started me on 20 mgs. and moved me up from there.  Your body does become accustomed to the drug, so there are withdrawals if you stop abruptly, but the pain and effective management of it is more important to me.  Discuss your concerns with your doctor.  Oxycontin doesn't work for everyone, but it has made a huge difference in my life.  Good luck!