Re: Family and friends

[Guest guest]

Robyn,

You hit the nail staight on the head when you speak about how our meds

don't give us that " high " that drug addicts seek.

I have had my friends and family see me without my medication and with it.

When it comes to my medications, I have alarms set on my cell phone to

remind me when it's time to take another round of pills. If that alarm

goes off and I don't move fast enough, my friends or family are finding

my medications and bringing them to me. They don't like how much I suffer

without the medications so they truly support me in my care.

I am truly blessed and I wish the same for everyone here!

Lori

>

>

Only people with NO pain get HIGH.  People just don't get that.  Your

body uses the meds for the reason that you need them so you don't get

that feeling that a druggie does.  It just suppresses some of our pain. 

>

>

> Robyn

>

[Guest guest]

I know just what you mean about the medicine. If I wait too long and start

hurting really bad I hate to have to wait for the medicine to kick in. Most

time it takes at least 45 minutes or so for my medicine to start. That's the

longest 45 minutes of the day.

I try to catch it in time but sometimes I just don't. Right now I wear a patch

which is good for 3 days. The first day it works okay. The second day it seems

to almost work better. By the third day it just isn't working at all. I hate

the third day. I dread it because I know how badly I'm going to hurt and the

medicine can only do so much.

Robyn

You hit the nail staight on the head when you speak about how our meds

don't give us that " high " that drug addicts seek.

I have had my friends and family see me without my medication and with it. When

it comes to my medications, I have alarms set on my cell phone to remind me when

it's time to take another round of pills. If that alarm goes off and I don't

move fast enough, my friends or family are finding my medications and bringing

them to me. They don't like how much I suffer without the medications so they

truly support me in my care.

[Guest guest]

> When it comes to my medications, I have alarms set on my cell phone

to

> remind me when it's time to take another round of pills. If that

alarm

> goes off and I don't move fast enough, my friends or family are

finding

> my medications and bringing them to me.

> Lori

>

Lori-

I had to laugh. I can imagine my family helping me find my pills.

Thanks I'll use the cell phone alarm if I ever have one again!

[Guest guest]

I have been going to my pain clinic and taking medication (MS Contin/

MSIR) for over 10 years. To this day, the only people that know

(except you guys!) are my husband, my mom and my sister; and even my

mom and sister don't know exactly what medication I take - they just

know it is " pain medicine " and it works for me. I won't tell anyone

else. You just never know how they will react.

[Guest guest]

My husband, my sons, and one very trusted friend know what medications

I take. Other than them, there is no one else I care to share that

information with.

Even though I'm the director of an agency that offers chronic pain

support, no one involved, including my board, have a clue what

medications I take.

I intend to keep it that way.

--

Lyndi

Dean wrote:

> I have been going to my pain clinic and taking medication (MS Contin/

> MSIR) for over 10 years. To this day, the only people that know

> (except you guys!) are my husband, my mom and my sister; and even my

> mom and sister don't know exactly what medication I take - they just

> know it is " pain medicine " and it works for me. I won't tell anyone

> else. You just never know how they will react.

>

>

>

>

>

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[Guest guest]

--- Dean wrote:

>

> I have been going to my pain clinic and taking medication (MS Contin/

> MSIR) for over 10 years. To this day, the only people that know

> (except you guys!) are my husband, my mom and my sister; and even my

> mom and sister don't know exactly what medication I take -

I'm in complete agreement with you, . I've " preached " on this list for a

long time

about not telling anyone about our medications except those closest to us who

absolutely

have to know. No one at my work even knows that I take medications, let alone

what I

take. It's just none of their business, and I know it could be used against me.

Only my

husband and my doctors know what I take. The rest of my family doesn't need to

know

either.

I can understand why some pain patients share too much information - because

pain is an

" invisible disability " it's really hard when people don't take it seriously. I

think by telling

other people about the strong meds we have to take, we're trying to make them

realize

just how bad our condition is. But as several people here on the list recently

have

reported from their own experiences, that can often (if not usually) backfire on

you.

I think if someone thinks you're lying or exaggerating or just looking for

sympathy when

you try to explain your condition to them, they are not going to change their

minds just

because you tell them you take medications! There are too many bad associations

with

pain medications because of the minority of people who abuse them, and there's

no

educating most people to think any differently.

But that's the beauty of a support group like this - here's a place you can

safely share, with

people who DO understand and who won't judge you! It is sad but true that we

have to

be very careful about sharing too much with others who aren't capable of

understanding

chronic pain because they've never experienced it and who aren't interested in

learning

the truth. Keep your medical history private, and protect yourself.

Remember, none of us needs to justify our pain to anyone!

Cheryl in AZ

Moderator

[Guest guest]

>Cheryl in AZ wrote:

>I think if someone thinks you're lying or exaggerating or just looking >for

sympathy when you try to explain your condition to them, they are not going to

change their minds just because you tell them you take medications! There are

too many bad associations with pain medications because of the minority of

people who abuse them, and there's no

educating most people to think any differently.

I totally agree with keeping the meds quiet. I remembered mentioning the

word " drugstore " in a chat room, and next thing ya know everybody thought I was

trying to start a party. All of a sudden, people who were ignoring me were

acting like my best friend.

I almost got kicked out because some yahoos decided it was time to get rowdy and

they had no concept of the purpose for which medications were originally

intended to be used. It was almost as bad as saying the word " sex " or " murder " .

Bonnadel Baggers

[Guest guest]

I have to tell you that this is some of the best advice I've seen and

made joining the forum worthwhile for this one tidbit of support. I

have had only negative experience from telling others what meds I am

taking. My employer didn't want me trying to return to work when they

found out what I was taking, and my family started treating me like a

drug addict. I would advise anyone to keep your meds to yourself, and

if someone asks what you take, just say pain killer, or that's between

my pharmacist and myself.

[Guest guest]

I don't necessarily agree with this. Although it is true that I wouldn't tell

*everyone* what meds I take, especially opioids, I do tell my close friends,

(should the subject come up), in other words I don't just say, " Hey, I take nine

schedule II opioids, " but I do tell my close friends and family for a variety of

reasons.

First, if I should have a problem or end up in the hospital and am unable to

communicate, or am in too much pain to remember all my meds, someone needs to

know what I am taking. Someone needs to know in case I have problems, needs to

be able to watch me when I start a new med, etc.

So, although I don't tell everyone, I think there is a fine line, and I think I

know where to draw it.

Now, it has gotten around at work, (through an ex-supervisor), that I take

opioids, and a few people think that I am no longer competent because of it. My

corps director heard about these people's opinions, and quickly assured the

corps that I was as capable and as competent as ever. Although people thought

these things, none ever said anything to my face. Wish they had.

As for family and friends, at first, yes, there were some negative comments, but

when I gave them the information on the drugs, and/or took them to my doc's apts

with me so that my doc could explain things, things calmed down.

I have found that most people are afraid of things they don't understand, and

especially with opioids, the media makes them out to be evil people killers.

People are afraid by what they hear, and unless they are given the correct

information, they will continue to be afraid.

--

Dodge

---- linda wrote:

>My employer didn't want me trying to return to work when they

>found out what I was taking, and my family started treating me like >a drug

addict. I would advise anyone to keep your meds to yourself, >and if someone

asks what you take, just say pain killer, or that's >between my pharmacist and

myself.

[Guest guest]

--- Dodge wrote:

>

>

> First, if I should have a problem or end up in the hospital and am unable to

communicate, or am in too much pain to remember all my meds, someone needs to

know

what I am taking. Someone needs to know in case I have problems, needs to be

able to

watch me when I start a new med, etc.

I agree this is an important issue, but it's one that is more easily and safely

solved by using

a medic alert bracelet. I think anyone who has any chronic condition or takes

any

medication on a regular basis MUST wear one!

I personally prefer the real " Medic Alert " company (www.medicalert.com), because

then the

bracelet itself doesn't have to contain any private information - it just tells

the emergency

workers that they need additional information, then they call the company to get

it. All

emergency workers and medical personnel, in the US at least, are very familiar

with these

items and how they work.

This is a much more dependable - not to mention fast in an emergency! -

solution than

relying on a friend etc being available (and remembering the right information!)

at the

exact moment the doctors need this information. My husband knows what I take,

but I

can't assume that he'll be available at every moment when I might need emergency

care.

Assuming the emergency personnel even know or bother to call my spouse, they

might

not be able to reach him, and those minutes or hours between when I am hurt and

he

arrives could be deadly. The Medic Alert bracelet makes sure that the

information is in

the emergency personnel's hands the moment they need it. Ambulance workers are

not

going to stop treatment to call next of kin in a life-threatening emergency,

but they

absolutely will stop and call Medic Alert to know what kind of treatment is

safe!

Another benefit of the Medic Alert system is that when they get a call from

medical

personnel in an emergency, they automatically will contact any family

member/friend you

specify to let them know that you have been hospitalized. That way I know my

husband

will be notified as fast as possible. (Moreover, I don't think I'd want to rely

on a person

close to me in a real emergency to be able to remember everything the doctors

need to

know - I think my husband could be too upset to be a reliable source of

information in

that situation! - but I know the Medic Alert system will share exactly what is

needed at the

right time.)

Just another thing that we can do to help ourselves.... Thanks for bringing up

this topic,

Dodge.

Cheryl in AZ

Moderator

[Guest guest]

,

I agree that the people who need to know are limited. I only say

anything (except here) on a need to know basis.

I also get concerned on who could try to break in to my house to take

my medication if they knew what I had to take for pain control.

Lori

Dean wrote:

I won't tell anyone else. You just never know how they will react.

[Guest guest]

Thank you for this reminder about a very good way to make sure no one forgets

what to tell the first responders & ER staff. Heck, it'll help me not to forget

some of the information that slips my mind at times.

Lori

Cheryl in AZ wrote:

I personally prefer the real " Medic Alert " company

(www.medicalert.com), because then the bracelet itself doesn't have

to contain any private information - it just tells the emergency

workers that they need additional information, then they call the

company to get it.