Re: New to the group and searching for info

September 12, 2007

Bea,

I am in the same company as you with regards to meds. I've taken meds

off & on all my life - beginning with digitalis for my heart as an

infant. Other than the digitalis, for the first 1/2 of my life I only

required narcotics when in the hospital for my surgeries & a short

while afterwards. Then I began having more back pain & had to take

them occasionally (very random) for about 7 years prior to 1997.

Forward to the 1997 car accident & I began with vicodin, Mepergan,

MSIR, & anything anyone thought might help. I struggled with years of

trying to get into a pain clinic with no success until 2002. All of

this to say that I have taken everything under the sun & I have never

been high, or gotten addicted (so many people -even docs- think if

you take them on an extended basis that will happen, but I think if

you are taking them for pain then that isn't even an issue).

I only take more if I am in more pain. As it stands now, I am able to

take fewer tabs than are prescribed per day, so I have extra to take

on days that are really bad...otherwise, it saves me money because

the bottle lasts at least 2-3 wks longer. The pain lessened to such

an extent a couple of years ago that I weaned myself off the

duragesic patches.

Before disability, I continued to work in a very detail oriented

legal field for 6 years; prior to that the detail was accounting for

8 years. My meds never affected my job performance. In fact, noone

knew I was on any meds. In both jobs I progressed up the ranks as

high as I could go, and I was the " go to " person if anyone had

questions. I have also trained new staff in all of my previous jobs.

For migraines, I took stadol nasal spray about a decade ago & I

discovered it made me irritable. A 6 month duration of trazadone

made my heart race. Coumadin made me nauseated. I stopped them all

when the side effects began. Other than those instances, I have no

side effects in general from most meds. I tried many different

statins, but they all increased my migraines, so I took them for a

short duration.

I seem to everyone I meet like just your average person. Neither

hyper nor zoned out. In fact my pain clinic doc was amazed that I

was taking so many meds that would induce sleep & was functioning

normally (other than pain) and requiring ambien - he said all the

meds I was on would knock a couple of 300 pound men out for days. Not

to mention that I was 5'2 " & 105 or less at the time. Lots of meds

that work for others are for me just like taking a placebo, but

without the placebo affect. With one particular drug I specifically

asked my doctor (this was my primary physician) on my next visit if

it was a placebo, because it did absolutely nothing. Turns out it was

the real thing, but I guess I don't have the receptors for certain

medications. Moonbeam

> I am a 56 yo female that has resisted scoliosis surgery all my

life.

> Also am an Rn and have seen several postop patients sorry that they

> have had scoliosis surgery. Now I HAVE to have surgery as I am

taking

> so much narcotic for spinal stenosis with SEVERE left sciatica that

it

> is affecting my relationship and me. I have a right 52 degree

thoracic

> curvature and now a compensating lumbar 40 degree curve. I am to

have a

> spinal fusion at L4-5, S1 at the end of Sept. I won't let them do

my

> whole spine but they would like to. I am wondering if anyone has

had

> this situation and did it help? I am so afraid that I might be

trading

> one pain for another. My chiro is afraid that the pressure on L2-3

my

> cause the same problem there.

> Any feedback?

> Debbie in Columbia

>

September 13, 2007

Hi Moonbeam,

How well I know what you are talking about! After surgery to remove the tops

of my rods, I was given IV morphine in the recovery room. I had gotten dose

after dose and I was still in extreme pain. I asked the nurse, as she injected

the med, if it was saline. I knew it had some real medication in it because it

would last for about 5 minutes and then I was back in the same degree if pain. I

had gotten 5 doses of 10 mg each in less than an hour!! As a nurse I would never

have given that amount of morphine to a 300 lb man, much less a 130 lb woman.

But I was still sitting up in extreme pain! The nurse called the dr- he said

" give her some more! " . I got no relief until I got 2 Tylox. My system just eats

up th IV stuff. I had been told I would probably have to spend the night in-

patient but was allowed to go home from the recovery room. The funny thing- my

husband was so tired because it was a 2 hour drive and early early AM for the

surgery. I had to keep him awake on the

drive home! After the 12 hour surgery in NYC, in recovery room I woke up

immediately and the nurse said " my gosh, what do you take at home?!:. That made

me SO mad! At the time the heaviest thing I had was a Darvocet-N-100! People

should not judge other people or what they have to do to live day to day. When I

had some outpatient surgery, before any of my back surgeries, I was given IV

Versed. The dr said I was getting up, going home, the entire time he tried to

operate. He said he had never had to give anyone as much medication, ever!

Taking all the narcotics I presently take I can drive my car with no problems,

but I would not have been able to work as a nurse in any capacity that I know

of. When I went before the judge in the hearing for SSD the occupational

therapist assured the judge that no one would want me to be caring for their

family member. I can totally understand that. I had to have SSD because I cannot

sit or stand for any length of time, nor can I be

reliable. Add to that the fact that Lyrica has caused memory problems and I

know my career as a nurse is over. It sounds like you were able to continue in

intricate work long after you were on a lot of medication- congratulations! I

was devastated when I first had to stop working, but soon realized that it is

what it is and that unless I wanted to be stuck hanging out with a totally drag

of a person (me), I needed to see it as a challenge and a chance to develop some

real character. So, it is indeed a challenge and a reason to work on my

spiritual life. And I biggie that I had said to me by a co-pain patient: you are

not a better person because you are on a less medication. I used to see it that

way and I would work on it all the time, being proud and pleased when I did

" well " and feeling like a failure when I had to go back up on a med dose. So I

had to accept that I may always be on narcotics. I wish there was better

education for the population in general. Most people

assume that there is nothing much worse than being a drug addict,that everyone

taking narcotics is just that- an addict, that everyone gets the same feelings

from narcotics. Like you said, we each have individual receptors so that we

react differently to the same med. After my 'big' surgery my body had become

physically dependent on the morphine I had taken for 3 weeks, but I had no

desire for it, hated taking it because it made me feel bad, and easily stopped

it when my pain diminished. I did have to wean off it but I was not an " Addict " .

Oh well- it is time to climb down off this soap box! I hope everyone has a good

weekend! Bea (or Beverlee- I answer to both)

moonbeamblessings <moonbeamblessings@...> wrote: