Hello all: I am a regular on the back boards but I have been reading quite a few of these posts in the addiction section and I want to respond. I had back surgery last December and was implanted with an artificial disc in my lumbar back at the L5-S1 level. My doctor put me on Hydrocodone 3 months before my surgery and it is now 10 months after surgery and I am still on it. I am still in lots of back pain and nerve pain in my legs and feet. I questioned my doctor about taking this medication for so long and he told me that he would not let me get addicted to it. I can honestly tell all of you that as long as I have been taking it, I have never experienced a high or a state of euphoria as I have read about here in these posts. My doctor says that as long as my body is in pain and the medicine is used for pain that I will not experience a high; and as of today I have not. In the long run, I have been on hydrocodone for over a year now. I take about 4 pills during a 24 hour period. I am sorry to read about all these horrible experiences that you all have been through. I can honestly tell you that my body does not crave the pills nor do I worry about them or worry that I am going to run out. I don't think I am addicted - at this juncture, who knows. I only know that I am in tremendous pain and have to take them. I pray for those of you who are addicted to anything. I would appreciate someone giving me updates of your experiences for such a long use as mine. Thanks.
briley...
if everything you've said is true, then i do not think that you're addicted either. if you get no pleasant rush from it, and no urges to take it outside of a medical context, then it seems like you're in good shape. even if you experience physical withdrawal when you don't take your scheduled dosing, that would be considered physical dependence and NOT addiction. i read somewhere that when the body is in pain, the brain uses these painkillers in a different way than when the body is not in pain.
if you're concerned about using them for such a long time (and it seems to be a pretty long time to me), maybe you'd want to get a second opinion from another doctor. this is your right and you shouldn't feel obligated solely to your current doctor. don't sweat it though, from where i'm sitting, you don't seem to be in danger of being addicted, the only thing that would cause a little alarm to me is how long you've been on them.
also, i cannot believe that you don't experience euphoria from hydrocodone! (i believe you, but it just shocks me.) if i reacted the same way, my life would be in a lot better shape right now!
Thanks for your input. I am concerned about the length of taking Hydrocodone but at this juncture, I need it for pain. I can assure you, and I have no reason to lie, I have NEVER experienced anything short of pain relief from taking this medication. You are right, the brain can discern where the pain is and it allows the medication to give relief instead of euphoria. I see my ortho doctor in November and I am thinking about asking him to try me on Neurontin to see if that helps. THe pain in my lower back is related to the implanted disc but the pain in my legs and feet (God, the pain in my feet is horrible!) is nerve related. My nerved had been impinged for a long time before anything was done. God help us all with back problems. Good luck to all people on this board who are suffering, whether it be from pain or addiction. May we all get better.
The pain/addiction story gets talked about a lot on here. There are many out there who don't have much of a choice when it comes to pain relief....it appears that opiates are the best medicine to kill hardcore pain. I think there are some posts on the Pain Management board about managing medication and all that. I hope that you get some relief.
What people dont realize is that there is a differance between addiction and tollerance someone who uses a medication like vicodin over a period of time will need a higher dose in order to properly manage pain as far as feeling a high I think that body chemistry would also be a contributing factor meds work on certain individiuals one way and will affect others differantly thats why there are the need for different meds besides diffentent types of pain or pain levels
I can sympathize with someone who is put on medication for a reason and has to stay on it for a long amount of time if you are on any narcotic for a signifficant amount of time you will most likely build a tollerance
But for those of you who buy the stuff off the street and stuff as many as you can down your throats for a high.... I have no sympathy whatsoever for you its becasue of people like you that folks who are in real serious hurt cannont get proper help and have to suffer becasue their doctor is afraid of DEA crackdowns so if you start on a medication for recreation and get addicted gotta an issue, here is a tissue!
Im not trying to be harsh but I am a brutally honest person
Please look at long term use/lawsuits before you take nerontin (sp?), it affects all in so many diffrent ways, PLEASE be safe with it, in my pain management, it did nothing but cause trouble with the loss of sensation to my bladder, & half of 2 fingers. (double truma for me, long story short, I have tumores in three fingers, & plam in other hand, so alreay have trouble). Please reasearch, & good luck
What people dont realize is that there is a differance between addiction and tollerance someone who uses a medication like vicodin over a period of time will need a higher dose in order to properly manage pain as far as feeling a high I think that body chemistry would also be a contributing factor meds work on certain individiuals one way and will affect others differantly thats why there are the need for different meds besides diffentent types of pain or pain levels
I can sympathize with someone who is put on medication for a reason and has to stay on it for a long amount of time if you are on any narcotic for a signifficant amount of time you will most likely build a tollerance
But for those of you who buy the stuff off the street and stuff as many as you can down your throats for a high.... I have no sympathy whatsoever for you its becasue of people like you that folks who are in real serious hurt cannont get proper help and have to suffer becasue their doctor is afraid of DEA crackdowns so if you start on a medication for recreation and get addicted gotta an issue, here is a tissue!
Im not trying to be harsh but I am a brutally honest person
From reading your other posts I see that you are on Vicoden for pain. I am just wondering why you would come over here to the addiction board and give your opinion about people who are addicted. I am a recovering addict and happen to agree with you about sympathy. I did it myself, and I don't want any sympathy, but I question your motives. What possible reason could you have to voice an opinion like that other then to try and upset people? I mean this is the addiction board not the pain management board. Does it make you feel good to try and make other people feel bad? What possible purpose could there be to post something like that? You say you are brutally honest, which is fine, but what in any of those posts caused you to display this brutal honesty.
Anyway I hope you made yourself feel better.
__________________
"How to you stay on track when you are up against something bigger then you are?"
"Just keeping showing up. Thats all guys like you and me can do."
What people dont realize is that there is a differance between addiction and tollerance someone who uses a medication like vicodin over a period of time will need a higher dose in order to properly manage pain as far as feeling a high I think that body chemistry would also be a contributing factor meds work on certain individiuals one way and will affect others differantly thats why there are the need for different meds besides diffentent types of pain or pain levels
I can sympathize with someone who is put on medication for a reason and has to stay on it for a long amount of time if you are on any narcotic for a signifficant amount of time you will most likely build a tollerance
But for those of you who buy the stuff off the street and stuff as many as you can down your throats for a high.... I have no sympathy whatsoever for you its becasue of people like you that folks who are in real serious hurt cannont get proper help and have to suffer becasue their doctor is afraid of DEA crackdowns so if you start on a medication for recreation and get addicted gotta an issue, here is a tissue!
Im not trying to be harsh but I am a brutally honest person
From reading your other posts I see that you are on Vicoden for pain. I am just wondering why you would come over here to the addiction board and give your opinion about people who are addicted. I am a recovering addict and happen to agree with you about sympathy. I did it myself, and I don't want any sympathy, but I question your motives. What possible reason could you have to voice an opinion like that other then to try and upset people? I mean this is the addiction board not the pain management board. Does it make you feel good to try and make other people feel bad? What possible purpose could there be to post something like that? If you are not addicted then great for you. I am truly happy for you, and hope it continues for you as long as you have to take this med.
You say you are brutally honest, which is fine, but what in any of those posts caused you to display this brutal honesty.
Anyway I hope you made yourself feel better.
bigtuna,
I take offense to your post. As an addict, I have a disease that is every bit as legitimate and deserving of care as someone with cancer, or CHRONIC PAIN. I did not choose to have this disease anymore than someone chose to have a brain tumor. Yes, I am responsible for my recovery, and I don't think anyone here is saying that obtaining drugs illegally (and that includes doctor shopping and taking too much of whatever was prescribed to you) is a good thing.
Most of us have enough guilt and shame over what we are dealing with in our lives and come to this board for help and support. Many of us find comfort in this board because people with addictions are unfortunately still very much shunned by almost every group in society and therefore it is difficult to get appropriate, affordable treatment.
Many of the pain pills are wonderful medications when used by someone who has a legitimate need for them and used properly. I also think it is unfortunate that people struggle to get adequate and appropriate medications. But as someone who is in the medical field and whose whole family is in the medical field, the problem with doctor's reticence to prescribe narcotics at times really has very little to do with people like me. It is much more a factor of inappropriate training in medical school about BOTH the fields of addiction and pain management.
Please have some respect for people who come to this board for support. I do not go to the pain management board and blame chronic pain patients for the existence of narcotics that I then got addicted to...
There is a difference between brutal honesty and displays of ignorance.
I am not laughing at people who are suffering at all, I think you need to read a little bit closer into what I am saying to anyone I may have offended I offer my appologies all I am saying is if you are buying pills off the street for a high you are part of the problem, you are the reason why many of us whom suffer are unable to get sufficient treatment because of scared docs pill seekers make life a living hell for people who are in chronic pain and trying to live with it.
So if you are getting these narcotics by illegal purposes and using them for the wrong reasons shame on you! Its becasue of people (using illegally) that docs write scripts for tylenol 3 and darvacet when people have broken bones its because of people buying pain meds, and people selling them (those of you selling your meds arent off the hook either!!) That we are unable as a society of people in chronic pain to get proper treatment because of a need for government intervetnion because this has become such a hudge problem in our society today.
I wasnt trying to be mean just voicing my opinion thats the nice thing about this country I feel for the people who are in chronic pain and have to take meds for long periods of time of course they are going to still have some physical dependance even taking meds as prescribed for the abusers looking for a good high those are the folks I have problems with.
Be a part of the solution, not part of the problem.
What people dont realize is that there is a differance between addiction and tollerance someone who uses a medication like vicodin over a period of time will need a higher dose in order to properly manage pain as far as feeling a high I think that body chemistry would also be a contributing factor meds work on certain individiuals one way and will affect others differantly thats why there are the need for different meds besides diffentent types of pain or pain levels
I can sympathize with someone who is put on medication for a reason and has to stay on it for a long amount of time if you are on any narcotic for a signifficant amount of time you will most likely build a tollerance
But for those of you who buy the stuff off the street and stuff as many as you can down your throats for a high.... I have no sympathy whatsoever for you its becasue of people like you that folks who are in real serious hurt cannont get proper help and have to suffer becasue their doctor is afraid of DEA crackdowns so if you start on a medication for recreation and get addicted gotta an issue, here is a tissue!
Im not trying to be harsh but I am a brutally honest person
I really don't understand the reason for this post. Yes I got myself addicted to vicodin for quite awhile and did it to myself. But your so-called honesty does nothing for anyone, and quite frankly I doubt that anyone really cares about your opinion , only to say that I find it annoying that you feel a need to go off on others.
Addiction is an awful struggle for anyone. And you need to listen to this Nobody ever woke up and said, "gee let me see, I really think today I am going to become a raging drug addict."
For me I was hooked on vicodin for 19 months and it was a living hell. I never set out to get hooked on it and I had a helluva time getting off of it.
So do us a favor and keep your opinion to yourself. There are those on here who are having a hard time and don't need an armchair quarterback.
Last edited by hardknocks; 11-08-2004 at 02:18 AM.
HHHHHHmmmmmm.
Now lets see.I don't know where to go on this one.
BRILEY who started this post:How ya' doin? I also had back surgery,and a number of other treatments to my back I won't bore you with.
You're Md. sounds like a good one.If you are really in pain,Vicodin stinks.When I was in pain the stuff was nOT what I wanted...I wanted to get out of Pain!!
It's funny looking back.....you just brought back a memory.I remember when I was in your shoes,I used to give away my meds to all these guys who reeeeally seemed to need/want them bad.I had a seemingly endless supply,and since THEY DON'T REALLY MAKE THE PAIN GO AWAY I couldn't care less about them.They would all tell me how bad their back/knees/ankle/whatever hurt,and hey! they aren't workin' for me..take 'em!
I ended up in a chronic pain center,and would be given 100 norcs at a time being told to take 3,3 times a day.I couldn't IMaginE taking that many!!
so......
after a full recovery and NO more pain!(different story) I had about 800-1000 pounds fall on me at work......NOW the fun began...I was really angry about the circumstance of the accident,my bosses attitude,etc,etc.My hand didn't work for two months so no guitar,baseball or work...depression!!
So....5 years later I'm finally off the vics(on sub) for 2 weeks and feeling good about my prospects for getting off for good.
Because you are concerned about addiction,you probably never will be.That thought never crossed my mind back then.
BigTUNA is entitled to his opinion.I actually agree with him/her that it's not a disease.I do wonder why he/she had to come on this board with it.I don't think I've ever bought or sold hydro on the street,or if I did it was .01% of my total consumption....No..I had those dope-pushers in the white suits get me all my dope...you know the ones. The ones with the stethoscopes hanging around their neck...they glance at your chart and then throw a scrip at you because they're late for their golf game.
Hey BigTUNA...I don't have a disease..but I AM addicted to hydro and doing something about it,and so are all the other people in this forum,whether they know it or not.
The fact that someone comes to an ADDICTION forum and participates,generally means they know they have a problem and are working away from it.Sometimes when I clean my house,I temporarily have to make it look worse as I tear it apart to re-assemble it.
I came here to NOT do them,as has everybody else here.
Buying dope illegally on the street is no longer needed. All one has to do is go to a "pain clinic" and tell em about a "tummy ache" or some nonsense. The addicts aren't the ones to blame.....docs are too loose with scripts.
Like I said,the hydro plague was rampant at my work(the motion picture industry) there were a few guys on stage who sold them,but generally,all we had to do was go down to the Motion Picture hospital.
whine about our backs: 60 10/500's with 3 refills
Whine about insomnia: 30 restorils with 3 refills
Whine about stress: 30 valiums with 3 refills
Whine about anxiety: 60 xanax with 3 refills
If you ran out,there's even a clinic in LA where you go in for "Therapy" and the "therapist" gives you a jar of ES's,no pharmacy or middle man,a wink,and ..have a nice day..
I think their orders were coming from the top.The Movie industry will do anything to keep their money machine rolling.
A friend of mine in the Housing/construction industry in FL,says it's the same way...just keep working and we'll give you whatever it takes to keep ya' going.
FYI>> It was a Movie studio Teamster who bragged on one of those 48 hours type shows,about how easy it was to buy hydro on-line that got the whole internet pharmacy deal exposed.
-out
---Baseball
Last edited by Baseball65; 11-08-2004 at 04:10 PM.
Baseball, not trying to start a war with you I am just making the case for the chronic pain sufferer, FYI the reason for the rant is becasue I know so many people who are in an enormous amount of pain that cant get addequete treatment becasue of underhanded docs/patients my mother in law buys the stuff off the streets and if you look back on my posts I actually had a situation where my wife and I stayed with her for awhile this summer and low and behold I have meds missing taught me a lesson if im going somewhere I just bring what I need and watch them like a hawk pretty sad but these steps are neccesary you never know who is an abuser and I got taken advantage of didnt think anything of it just left my meds in my bag now she has the nerve to ask me for them (of course I tell her no way in hell) !! Thats what makes me upset abuserers dont think about who they are hurting they just want the good ole high my wife and I both are chronic pain sufferers my wife was diagnosed with fibermyolgia (sp??) at a young age and has an wide array of back problems hell, poor kid just broke her wrist in two places too boot! I didnt come to this board to be an aggressor and again if that is the way I came off I appologize when people have problems they dont think about how they are hurting others they are more concerned with how they are going to get their next fix more than anything, I have just seen it happen in my own family and can see what it does and after reading a few posts on this side of the spectrum I thought I would comment again, not trying to start a war just exercising my god given rights to voice my opinion, god bless America! I wish anyone who is hooked best of luck in their recovery and hope they can get and stay clean if you got yourselves into it hope you can get yourself out without hurting anyone I just think people need to really look at the big picture
This board is for alcholics and addicts who are trying to get clean and into recovery. It's not a place to tell addicts what they are doing wrong and that they are part of the problem. If you cannot offer support, then do not post in this forum.
HHHHHHmmmmmm.
Now lets see.I don't know where to go on this one.
BRILEY who started this post:How ya' doin? I also had back surgery,and a number of other treatments to my back I won't bore you with.
You're Md. sounds like a good one.If you are really in pain,Vicodin stinks.When I was in pain the stuff was nOT what I wanted...I wanted to get out of Pain!!
It's funny looking back.....you just brought back a memory.I remember when I was in your shoes,I used to give away my meds to all these guys who reeeeally seemed to need/want them bad.I had a seemingly endless supply,and since THEY DON'T REALLY MAKE THE PAIN GO AWAY I couldn't care less about them.They would all tell me how bad their back/knees/ankle/whatever hurt,and hey! they aren't workin' for me..take 'em!
I ended up in a chronic pain center,and would be given 100 norcs at a time being told to take 3,3 times a day.I couldn't IMaginE taking that many!!
so......
after a full recovery and NO more pain!(different story) I had about 800-1000 pounds fall on me at work......NOW the fun began...I was really angry about the circumstance of the accident,my bosses attitude,etc,etc.My hand didn't work for two months so no guitar,baseball or work...depression!!
So....5 years later I'm finally off the vics(on sub) for 2 weeks and feeling good about my prospects for getting off for good.
Because you are concerned about addiction,you probably never will be.That thought never crossed my mind back then.
BigTUNA is entitled to his opinion.I actually agree with him/her that it's not a disease.I do wonder why he/she had to come on this board with it.I don't think I've ever bought or sold hydro on the street,or if I did it was .01% of my total consumption....No..I had those dope-pushers in the white suits get me all my dope...you know the ones. The ones with the stethoscopes hanging around their neck...they glance at your chart and then throw a scrip at you because they're late for their golf game.
Hey BigTUNA...I don't have a disease..but I AM addicted to hydro and doing something about it,and so are all the other people in this forum,whether they know it or not.
The fact that someone comes to an ADDICTION forum and participates,generally means they know they have a problem and are working away from it.Sometimes when I clean my house,I temporarily have to make it look worse as I tear it apart to re-assemble it.
I came here to NOT do them,as has everybody else here.
Love ,peace and woodstock
----Baseball
Morning Baseball: Sorry that I caused such a stink with my inquiries about Vicodin! I had an appointment with my back surgeon last week and we discussed my pain problems. I told him that my butt, thigh, legs and feet hurt every day, all day long. He suggested that we try Neurontin along with the Vicodin and, lo and behold' it does HELP. I had been inquiring about that particular medication which is primarily used to treat nerve pain - so I was extremely happy that he wanted me to try it. I have been on it now for 5 full days and I can honestly say that my pain has diminished about 75%. It is not a narcotic. Thank God. I have spoken with other people who have been treated with it and they say it works for a while, but after about 2-3 months, it quits working. I am going to be optimistic and at least give it a good long try. If I didn't have to sit for 8 hours every day, I probably would not have all this pain. Let me say however, that if anyone warrants taking pain medication, it is people suffering with back problems, surgery. etc. I do long for the day when I can say, "I am pain free!" I feel for all the people using this forum for help with addiction. My heart goes out to anyone suffering, whether it be physical pain, emotional pain, or addiction, etc. We need to try to comfort and encourage each other in whatever way deems appropriate. Good luck to all of you. May we all reach our common goal - freedom from whatever.
Re: Hydrocodone/Vicodin 
Thank You!!!!
It was a Movie studio Teamster who bragged on one of those 48 hours type shows,about how easy it was to buy hydro on-line that got the whole internet pharmacy deal exposed.
