4 months!

[Dizzy73]

So 4 months! Who would ever think that I could wake up without worrying about whether I had enough pills to make it through the day? I never thought I would ever get here! So, my question. I need to have some pretty extensive work done to my teeth that I have put off for quite a while. How do I have major work done without pain medication? For those of you who know me, I can't risk it. I also can't risk anyone knowing about my addiction. I've gone this far without telling anyone, what do I say to a dentist? Please help!! Thank you to everyone who's been there through this!! I would have never made it without you all!!

[VICourageous]

Congrats on 4 months.

I have to agree with all the above.
Let the Dentist know and he will figure out something for you. I told ALL and had some dental work done too without the pain meds. Hoping for the best!
Staying clean & sober is a day to day mission for me. I sure hope you do reach out for Support. Any lil thing can trigger us back and even putting that one pill in your mouth can bring the Addiction right back, as the Brain will remember the pleasure and want more & more. I have experienced this over & over before I came clean and got my Support system going.

Be Safe!
Merry Christmas!

[dominosarah]

Congrats on 4 months!!  Why is it you cant tell anyone?  Remember our secrets keep us sick.  Can you have this dental work done over time?  Smaller increments will reduce the pain i would think.

[jifmoc]

Hi Dizzy. Congrats on your 4 months!

Since you've been around, you know that all of us who've been around a while hammer aftercare hard into people's skulls. Once we remove the drugs, we have our addict brains, the same brains that got us into this mess in the first place. We need lots of help, support, and understanding of ourselves. I'm assuming you aren't in any aftercare? If you are, I apologize. It's just that your statement " I can't risk anyone knowing about my addiction" is a big red flag. People who keep that to themselves are walking a very slippery sobriety slope.

My advice for this issue: tell your dentist you are a recovering addict and cannot have narcotics. Why would you not tell him? Who cares what he thinks. He's heard it before, trust me. You'll get some heavy duty motrin and I'm sure that will do the trick anyway.