Each of us has our own feelings about pain medication...none are all right and none are all wrong. Here are mine. I was on a morphine based long acting during the last 6 months before my surgery...Since 1995 I also had two sessions where I needed to detoxify to get off them. Reason is, our illness ebbs and flows...you may be in extreme pain for a month, then minimal pain for a few weeks and so on. By being on addictive medications all the time, which is what the use directions are "Do Not Stop Taking This Medication with out talking with your doctor", we set ourselves up to become addicted to them. That creates it's own set of problems, none of which are pleasant. None of these med's, if I'm to be completely honest, really provided much in the way of adhesion pain relief. I was given mental relief to help cope with a life interrupted by serious illness. I don't know that there is ANYTHING we can take by mouth that truly takes this kind of pain away. I hope others can enlighten me on this..
The other thing to consider is side affects. You need to really look at how the pills affect your bowel. I was already bunged up to my throat when put on morphine....I could hardly swallow after that...but I felt much better in my mind! When I finally came off these med's, after my surgery that took care of the adhesions/bowel issues, it took over 6 weeks for my bowels to kick in gear because of the drugs. My doctor and I agree of this fact, that I am one of those people who cannot tolerate drugs that slow down my already sluggish bowel.
By far the very worst side affect of taking pain med's is the doctors reaction to them and you being on them. There is no sense of stability or confidence that finally I am taken care of. No. All my doctors would think of was "when can we take them away". Or, they would be away for a week or two vacation but not renew your prescription even though the request was in before they left! These sort of mind games can just drive you bonkers. These sorts of behaviors by the medical team we are supposed to trust only cause the patient to overreact, thereby causing, for example, ER staff to look at one with distrust.
I don't believe there is one answer for anyone and don't think of this as my hard and fast stand, it isn't. Just thought I'd share some of my own experiences.
Just one little story...I was on an automatic renewal for pain meds a few years back. I had run out though, and was just waiting to go pick up new ones. In the meantime I had taken a turn for the worse and couldn't even get out of bed I was in such pain. My empty bottle was in my purse and although the purse was closed, someone had opened up the purse with the empty bottle there for all to see! I was mad, Felt violated and somehow made to feel ashamed...needless to say they gave me some IV fluids some Tylenol and sent me on my way. I never did get the chance to say I am not looking for drugs as I can get a whole months worth this afternoon...no, they automatically assumed I was without merit and not in need of actual care. This is what makes being on pain med's so difficult Needless to say I was back in the hospital within a week and let them know I had a whole bottle this time....things were better but not perfect.
Donna J
-----Original Message----- From: adhesions@adhesions.org [mailto:adhesions@adhesions.org] On Behalf Of Cuddy Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 9:54 AM To: Multiple recipients of list ADHESIONS Subject: Re: Dear Cheryl/Sally/pain meds worked out
I have Fitz-Hugh-Curtis Syndrome along with the PID. My pain specialist: "CANNOT UNDERSTAND WHY I AM IN PAIN!!" I originally did not believe in pain medication until now. I had the pain specialist (the one that understood I was in pain)take me off the percocet and drop me down to Lortab 10/500 because I figured if I suffer a little, I would not get "hooked." The last visit, the doctor told me he cannot keep "giving me pills" because he cannot see why I am in pain. (Keep in mind that it takes a referral to get into one of these clinics) My next visit is in March. The reason why I am writing is because if there is any other way to deal with this, please let me know. And, what is going to happen when they take me off of the Lortab all of a sudden? (I am barkbark@cox.net). I feel as though politics are involved and this is the price I have to pay because "Las Vegas" has a reputation. I am more afraid of that pain comming back more than I am afraid of dying. Please someone send me an e-mail.
At Tue, 30 Oct 2001, Sally Grigg wrote:
>
>Dear CHERYL, I'm sorry you're going through such problems, I was too
>for a little while, I have a wonderful local doctor, but he had decided
>to cut back on my meds to see what happened, well, what happened
>was pain, pain, pain.
>
>I've tried mind over matter, but it hasn't worked yet. I wish there was
>some way you could ommunicate with your present doctor that it doesn't
>have to be either this or that. I'm trying a combination of opiates,
>including the patch and oxycontin, plus a few other milder ones.
>The point is not to take more pills or medication. The point is to be
>pain free or relatively pain free with the minimum quanitiy of
>medication. When you mix them, it works best for me.
>If I'm feeling in so so pain, I take a less potent pill, If I
>feel like screaming I take a very strong pill. I'm on the patch
>continuously and
>it help tremendously. But it needs to be supplemented with other pills.
>
>Is there any way you can get this across to your doctor, without
>offending him. Mine gets kidney stones, and I really believe it
>has made him a more compassionate man. Everytime, he starts to
>withdraw my meds, and I start to begin to get upset, I believe
>he remembers his pain and listens to me and we work something out.
>So far, so good.
>
>Your doctor unfortunately sounds a little childish, sorry, but you
>probably already think this. He shouldn't be emotionally attached to
>his diagnosis, and he should be aware that extreme pain needs to
>be treated in any way possible.
>
>We're not in the way of clear lives with no medication, we just
>want to live somewhat normally without laying in bed all day and
>moaning and crying. I'm reading the book, Full Catastrophy Living,
>and So far, so
>good. Keep up your good spirits. Maybe if you wrote him a letter
>with the board editing it, he would understand. Good luck., Love,
>Sally
>
-- Dr.Cuddy