Comments on: Relieving Pain With Abuse-Proof Drugs
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- for lily 2008-2009 I was in the same position as you. Oxycontin was working great but had to keep upping to dosage. My doctor finally added Gabapentin to the mix. (it is generic for neurontin) It is a non narcotic drug that is supposed to be for seizures but sometimes is effective for treating pain. It did the trick. It stopped me from having to up the oxycontin for the next 4 years. ask your doctor if it could help you.
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- marijuana helps a lot with chronic pain- it really does. I am thankful to live in a state where it's legal for medical use.
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- Wells said, Three12161! The rest of this is making me ill! Why is it assumed if someone takes pain medication they will become this crazed addict? What about those of us who actually have severe pain and require it to get through a day with any amount of normalcy? Do I NEED my pain medications? YES! Do I sound like an addict? Probably. Am I one? Absolutely not! I have been prescribed morphine, Fentanyl, OxyContin, OxyCodone and more. I have a pain pump implanted to give me a steady dose of a much needed pain medication. I also take them orally. I hate the way they make me feel I do not drink because I cannot stand the way it makes me feel. Blissful? NO. Drugged, confused and sleepy. That is not how I want to live my life. I don't have the option most days. I have a disease called RSD/CRPS. It is the most painful chronic pain disease on earth. I've tried accupressure, accupuncture, meditation and more natural treatments than I ever knew existed. They do not help with the pain. There is a difference between dependence and addiction. I do not abuse my medications, I do not take more than was prescribed (although at times I have wanted to), I do not order extra online. If my body is dependant on the medications then I trust my doctor to take me off safely. My doctor must trust I am not abusing them. Those that do make it impossible for those that actually need them to be able to get them. I'd like to thank all of you who make it next to impossible for many to get their meds because of your own selfish need to escape. It was once quoted, "A drug addict take pills to escape life while a pain patient takes pills to live life." Grows up and get help addicts. Quit making the rest of us pay for your weaknesses!
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- People most at risk for "addiction" are those who have a temporary need for narcotic medications due to surgery, minor trauma, or injury that will completely heal. Most of us who suffer from a life long chronic pain problem understand that long-term use will cause "dependancy." This is no different, for example, than a diabetic being dependant on insulin. We only want enough relief to feel as normal as possible. Most of us with true, chronic pain conditions hate having to take pain, nerve, nausea,(and "now let''s really party",) stool softener & laxative medications, and would love nothing more than to sail happily through our day with out setting eyes on a pill. Most of us only take what is needed to manage. That''s why it''s called pain management, not pain elimination. We don''t ever experience "pain-free". The amount of medication needed to be "pain-free" would mean "passed-out," which is the exact opposite of what we are aiming for. There will always be people out there trying to scam to get drugs to sell, or who fake pain to get drugs for recreational use...but they will be out there whether those of us with legitimate problems recieve the help we need or not. The actions of the dishonest should not condenm the rest of us to a future of misery, nor continue causing us the unbelievable frustrations we face everyday with the medical community in trying to get proper and effective care. God, please help common sense prevail!
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- I can''t believe....I finally found other ppl with pain like me. I''ve had nerve damage pain, severe, for 21 years. My life stopped the day of my injury. Now doctors just blow me off like I''m a druggie who wants a fix, even after I ask to be a guinnea pig, to try ANYTHING for relief.
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- I am a 67 yr old woman who suffers from chronic back and siatic pain. I''ve had 2 back surgeries and the condition was made worse by a fall at work about 5 years ago. My doctor has had me sign a waiver (in case I overdose and kill myself I guess,) so he will be absolved from any wrongdoing by prescribing me pain pills. I take my meds, oxicodene in this case, exactly as directed. They offer my just enough relief that I don''t feel like jumping off a bridge to end the pain. I am not addicted, but I do depend on the little relief that I get from this medication. The trouble is that the longer they are taken, the more one''s body becomes used to them and in order to get any relief from the paink, I have to take a higher dosage. In the beginning I could take 2 5mg three times a day (total 6 per day). Then it was 3 per day to get the same relief. Now, in order to get the same relief I have to take 2 10mg three times a day or 60 mg as opposed to the 30mg per day I started out with. I suspect that I am nearing the time when 2 10mg tablets per day will not be enough to take care of the pain. I know my doctor will not prescribe anything more. What do I do? Do I have the rest of my life(hopefully 20 years or so)to look forward to living in constant pain? I don''t want to knock out my kidneys or liver by taking too much, so what is left for me? I hate waking up every morning knowing what''s in store for me.
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- Chronic Pain suffers are people who just want to be able to function. They work, and drive cars and have families. The hardest part of having pain is that some day you will not be able to go to work any more and you know how people will look at you as a lazy, good for nothing individual. After all, you are on drugs. I cannot go a day or two with out my thyroid medication because my thyroid no longer works at all. Does that mean I am addicted to that medicine. Does my blood pressure medicine count because they say I have to take that. What is the difference? I don''t get high from these drugs any more than I do from morphine or dilaudid. Why am I less of a person because my body doesn''t function at its best and in order to continue functioning I have to take medications. If some one took my thyroid meds they would get a rush after a few days as there body began to speed up. Does that mean I am on speed? If we cannot trust the people we license as medical doctors don''t give them a license. Why do we have people who are not doctors making judgements about my medical care.
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- Quit your whining and go do something about it. Go get a degree, or just learn on your own, and work on contributing to the scientific knowledge that breeds NEW interventions for pain. All your whining doesn''t help anyone. Quit expecting OTHERS to fix your life and step up and contribute!
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- I am so tired of hearing that chronic pain sufferers are really in it for the drugs. I truly doubt that 25% figure. I know they (DEA) watch your intake like a hawk, the stuff kills your kidneys and/or your liver (hydrocodone has tylenol - that lady who claimed to have been taking all that Vicodin had to be lying or she would have needed a liver transplant due to excessive ingestion of acetominophen.) I don''t have wine with dinner or a toddy when I have a cold any longer because I can''t risk taking the pain meds if I have alcohol in my system because I like having a functioning liver and two functioning kidneys. I am one of those fortunate persons who get night terrors from free opiates so overdosing on my pain meds to get high isn''t likely - any more than the minimum needed to push it back to managable ruins my sleep. Night terrors are to nightmares as athrax is to rhinovirus. I am looking at having to manage increasingly severe pain over the next thirty years, I don''t want to max out this early in the game by taking more than is needed. Katie, you are part of the hype. Having had a husband with severe pain, one would think you wouldn''t buy into the hysteria. Drugs such as hydrocodone and methadone are CHEAP and all these grand new pain killers (celebrex, et al) are EXPENSIVE, dangerous and don''t work well over time. Big Pharma buy you that necklace?
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- Would you please send me the information on how to try this i am will try anything to help i do not want to get hooked i have been in pain for over 9 yrs now please send me the information
please please
banes014@aol.com please help - Reply to this comment
