severe back pain on top of everything :(

[Shmoozilla]

Hi All,

I haven't posted anything on here in a while since I hurt my back 2 weeks ago, and it was starting to get better (with no painkiller too!), and I went back to work on 18th Jan.  I lasted 3 days back at work before I threw my back out again, and have been struggling with it ever since.  The doctor said it's a quite bad lower lumbar sprain, but it means I can hardly walk - and so they gave me crutches to help me out.  The Physio said I'm not supposed to sit at all - that I should lie down instead on either my side or my tummy.  I found semi-comfortable positions to lie in, but after a while they become exceedingly uncomfortable.

Anyway - when i saw the doctor 2 days ago I said specifically to him that I didn't want any codeine, or any other opiate - and he suggested tramadol for the reason that it wouldn't 'clog you up as much as codeine' .  I don't really know anything about Tramadol, so wasn't sure if I should have said yes, but when he said tramadol is like codeine I instinctively said no.  So he prescribed me paracetamol for pain and ibprofen as an anti-inflammatory (since I'm allergic to some other ones).

I so badly want the pain to go away, but I don't want to ever have to go through WD again either, so am standing firm on this, but oh my gosh the pain is huge right now!!!!  I'm supposed to go back to work tomorrow - on 'light duties' the doctor said - so I have to move around a lot after doing short stints of sitting at my desk.

I wish my chair at work was nice and comfortable!!  It's an 'ergonomic' type chair, so has better back support etc than a lot of the chairs at work, but on the 3 days I was there last week it wasn't particularly comfortable, and my back wasn't as sore as it is now, so not sure how I'm going to cope with that.  Also not sure how I'm going to get to work given that I don't have  car, and the bus is a 15 minute walk at the best of times...  Might have to take a taxi, although don't want to have to do that every day since it's NZ$20 each way!!

Anyway - thanks for listening :).  Have a great rest of the weekend!!

[pharma9]

Good for you..you let your natural endorphins do their job and did not fall into the opiate trap.I am sure you felt some pain,but did not give in right away and found that it subsided and became tolerable.

[Shmoozilla]

Thanks for the support - at least I think it was support from everyone ;-).  Got a bit lost in the stats from Worried878...

My back is a lot better, and I definitely didn't take any strong pain medication, and managed ok, especially after I got crutches from the doctor.

Anyway - got through this one, and was determined not to take strong pain medication.  Thankfully I had read posts on here and when the doctor suggested Tramadol I thought the name sounded familiar, and when I asked him whether it was an opiate (since I had said I didn't want any opiates), and he said it was I refused it.

Would have been nice if the Dr had listened to why I didn't want to take any opiates, instead of thinking I didn't want codeine because it cloggs up the bowels...  Thankfully I'm completely determined never to take these pills again, or anything like them, so I was strong enough to say no.

YAY!!!


Rachel

[Charetti]

My Dad has knee replacement surgery and was given percocets. He only took one a night for about 3 days.  He said that he could manage on tylenol alone.  Us addicts believe ANY pain needs pills and we need to retrain our minds to stop that.

Worried878..I feel for you!  I know the pain is horrible and I wish you didnt have to go to work.  Is it possible for you to take more time off?

Hope you start to feel better very soon.

[pharma9]

You are so right worried...I deal with many people who are allergic or intolerant of opiates and they deal with their pain quite well.A lot of them are older people and I can not believe that their pain is less than that of a thirty year old.They have arthritic pains and sore backs as well,but do not take narcotics.Those narcotics cause more rebound pain than what they relieve and most pain can be controlled without them using NSAIDS and otc pain meds that do not cause as much rebound pain and are not addicting.

[worried878]

The First Step to Relapse is Mentally Paving the Road Into our Mind to Excuse Using Again..cos our mind has a way of making it seem ok//and it is not ok
Lots of pain described in ur post...lumbar sprains can be sore..not usually debilitating and as a rule they r short term injuries comparable to a bruise..most do ok without pain meds/rare to see a back, ankle, knee. etc..sprain get narcotic pain relief unless u have the "right" doctor..narcs dont really help much with pain other than our perception of the pain ..anyway...it is often just pill poppers who think they need a pain pill for everything..things that r part of life that most endure without a medication for pain..anyone//80% of the population over 40 has some sort of sprain, bulging disc, narrowing discs..ie compression of the disc/some with ruptured discs..some feel the pain of back degeneration with age//some do not//but pain is real//it is what we "feel"
Learning to endure things most folks can endure without a major narcotic//often becomes sumpin a person with a phobia to pain really believes they Need
Coping without popping a pill each time we hurt either physically or mentally can be tough///it is a different way of coping cos we r used to popping a pill and making Our world Okay..
I have seen many here in dire fear of a root canal cos they r afraid of pain and no pain pills prescribed due to fear of relapse//when in reality 80% of the population is not prescribed a narcotic after a root canal//nor do they ask for one//and of that 20%..10% r prescribed darvacet if they ask for a pain med..the other 10% of those who ask for a pain med after a routine root canal are turned down and told to take tylenol or ibuprophen/or given 12 percs or hydros at 5 mg a pill//hardly enuf for the majority here to get true pain relief

80% of the population in this day and time would not be prescribed a narcotic for a back sprain either//probably close to 100% would have a tough time getting more than darvacet/if that/for a back sprain//just doesnt work that way anymore and is one reason many addicts r having to throw in the towel cos narcotics r becoming harder and harder to obtain legally
Narcotics do not really help pain directly like heat, ice and anti-inflammatories..the list goes on.an addict can not get even the perception of pain relief on a normal dose of narcotics due to tolerence..so drs say "whats the point"? and as the fda comes down upon them harder and harder for rx-ing narcs for things that could be borne without narcotics//they stop.//cos their practice is at stake
Living without pain meds is a choice we made when we decided to abuse//whether we realized it then or not//tis scary //but if most of us were in a serious accident, there would not be enuf pain meds in a reasonable prescription dose to help alot of us//tolerence never goes away//it is there lurking the next time u cave//just to take u up to an even higher level of destruction//./when tolerence is built//it unfortunately sticks
keep posting...try hard to survive this pain episode without relapse..support rox..meetings/couseling//aftercare of some sort
when we find ourselves setting up a detour for pain meds to fit in again..we r slowly setting ourselves up for relapse

[fuzzypeach27]

Hi

Tramadol is addictive too. Its the addicts worst fear this one. Being ill and needing to or even having to take a form of there addiction. I hope you feel better, soon.

You too have great weekend

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