Re: Painkillers and addiction

July 14, 2010

I have been taking Vicodin for nearly 20 years for pain and my question to you

is what does " anywhere up to 5 a day " mean?

I have a badly and permanently damaged shoulder with a joint replacement, a

birth defect in both feet that causes swelling and pain, advanced arthritis and

Fibro so my pain can vary in location and severity a great deal. I always wake

up stiff and aching and give myself an hour or so to begin functioning. If I

can't get going, I'll take Vicodin and some days that morning dose is all I need

and some days I don't even have to take that. On the other hand, if I am in a

Fibro flare or my shoulder or feet are acting up, I may wind up taking Vic every

four hours for several days. However, the majority of days are the ones where I

either don't take any Vic at all or only take a morning dose.

Don't get me wrong on this - I hurt every single day but I am careful about how

often and how much Vicodin I take. For one thing, if I take Vic to the point

that I can't feel the pain levels in my body, I am sure to overdo it and make

things worse for the next day or days. I might chose to do exactly that though,

if conditions warrant it. For example, if I go on vacation with my family, I

take Vicodin every four hours every day even though I know I will pay for it

afterward.

If you are taking at least some Vicodin every single day, your doctor has valid

concerns and you need to be open to discussing those concerns with him. You

might want to look into going to a reputable pain center to explore other

options. GPs are under a lot of pressure when it comes to narcotics to the

point that many are flatly refusing to prescribe them and requiring patients who

need them to go to a pain center for them. While it is a hassle for patients,

it is also a recognition of the fact that chronic pain is a real problem and

deserves the management of professionals who specialize in dealing with it.

There are lots of ways to control pain and medication is only one of them.

Narcotics are one of the tools but I wouldn't want them to be the only one I use

if I have to deal with pain on a daily basis. That said, I also wouldn't want

to face life without my bottle of Vicodin there when I need it!

Good luck.

>

> OK _ I have been on Vicodin for about two years for pain. I usually take

anywhere up to 5 a day. My Doctor is starting to give me a hard time about

taking them because of the danger of addiction (I'm probably WAY past that point

though) but he is not offering any alternative. My tests with my liver and

kidney function all came back good. I have been on numerous painkillers before

that without any success as they just were not able to knock down the pain.

Whats really strange is that I cannot tell what is my " normal " state any more.

All I know is that I am either in pain or just going in it - nothing else. I

have a medical cannabis card but I get so stoned from even one puff that I can

barely function much less the dangers to any sort of snacks in the home... I

have the usual FM/CFS with Coccydynia thrown in for good measure. (Massive

tailbone and pelvic pain) Does anyone have any suggestions that I can bring to

my Doctor?

>

July 14, 2010

I would recommend finding a doctor who handles only pain management. They

understand the difference between dependence, which is unavoidable with long

term use of narcotics, versus addiction which is a totally different thing.

Keep your regular doctor for everything else, but have you pain management doc

handle the narcotics. Believe me, they will not hassle you over 5 Vicodin a

day.