i HAVE BEEN TAKING OXYCODONE FOR ABOUT THREE MONTHS NOW AND WONDER HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU ARE DEPENDANT? I KNOW HOW EASY IT IS TO GET HOOKED ON THESE LITTLE THINGS AND I AM TRYING TO CONTROL MY INTAKE ... I ONLY TAKE 1- 2 PILLS A DAY THAT ARE 10/325 AND AT TIMES I TAKE THREE A DAY ..I CAN GO ALL DAY WITHOUT TAKING ANY BUT IN THE EVENING I JUST ABOUT HAVE TO TAKE THEM FOR PAIN AND WITH NO PAIN i FEEL BETTER THERFORE I TAKE THEM? I dont feel as if i am abusing them but feel myself getting dependant on them. counting how many i have left and worrying about running out .. is this the first stages of addiction/ remeber i am taking them for pain?
Oxycodone? I am going to hop in here, Friend, because that happens to be the opiate I tapered from this past year. It was the last of many, many opiates I have been on for pain in the past ten years. it is powerful, indeed.
Bass, there is addiction, there is dependency, and there is a VERY grey area inbetween. All cause problems of one kind or another. All are painful to get out from under when they occur.
I guess we can determine if a problem exists when we determine if we are using narcotices for strictly legitimate pain each and every time we take a dose versus if we take a dose because it is prescribed and we are in pain. I am talking physical pain only, only, only... if we determine we are taking them to mask emotional or mental pain, then there is a problem. My own use was probably more dependency initially, but surely crossed into that big grey area before all as said and done.
Share some more of the who, why, where and when stuff. Then we can share our board thoughts with you more comprehensively.
Bass, welcome --you ask a pretty serious question that unfortunalty we can ADVISE you on , but only YOU can answer. I know that FOR ME, I started taking the pills for the RIGHT reasons, but looking back, YOU ARE addicted when you take them for anything but there prescribed purpose. I have NO problem with people that take pain meds as prescribed. THE BIG PROBLEM is that everyone develops a tolerance with the meds, therefore they should not be taken for a long period. That is where I feel dr's screw up. If someone is in chronic, long term pain, then that is a different issue. If you have an injury and need a pain med, then it should only be taken for a VERY short time, and REHAB should be the main goal. The bottom line is if the pills make you feel good or if you take them to change your mood etc, then you are becoming addicted and will become VERY addicted. Your dosage is very low and you can get out of this very quickly and easily. Please read our stories. We have been through hell with this medicine.
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"1 is too many and 1000 is not enough" -
If you're counting how many you have left, get help now before it gets out of control. This will be the easist time to time to leave them behind you.
What are you doing now??
yes, I do feel addcicted to them , I have been taking them for a herniated disk and sciatica pain ,yes it makes me feel better and makes some of the numbness go away and even helps me walk a little better. It does change my mood also ,that what scares me. I am scheduled for surgery for this problem in 4 weeks and will need to take them after surgery anyway. so should I just quite cold turkey or wait till after surgery and taper off of them. today I have taken two 10 /325 oxycodone and that is about all I take usally only in the afternoon but I did take one this morning and this evening. if I quit cold turkey what can I expect?
This is strictly my own opinion. There is addiction, and there is dependency. An addict is an addict before they put anything into their body. It's a personality disorder (remember this is my opinion).
When you take narcotic painkillers on a regular basis for a length of time, you will become dependent, because they replace certain chemicals in your brain, and your brain stops producing them, so if you quit taking them, you go out of whack and have withdrawal symptoms. That's dependency.
Addiction, is when you take them when you don't need to, you take more than you need, you start obsessing about them (even when you have a full bottle) and you don't want to stop taking them. Or you want to to stop taking them, you just don't want to stop feeling the way you feel when you are on them.
An example---my husband has a chronic painful condition which requires him to take painkillers daily. He is not an addict. He is dependent because of the amount he has to take and the length of time he's been taking them. I am an addict. Here's an easy way to explain the difference......if we both have 5 pills and they have to last 4 days, my husband will wait until the pain is so bad, and probably break one in half to make those 5 last the 4 days. I will take all five within 4 hours and go 'oh cr*p' now what am I going to do????
He has control, I am powerless.
Even if you decide you are not an addict, dependency can be just as much of a problem because withdrawals off these types of meds won't kill you, but you'll wish they did cause they can be so bad. I'm so sick of these things controlling my life, I'd stop in a heartbeat, but I know what I'm going to have to go through, and just can't bear to do it right now.
But if you are being prescribed them for legitimate pain, you may (or may not) have the help of a doctor to wean you off them so the wd's aren't so grueling.
And if you aren't an addict, it's not as hard, because you won't have the desire or obsession to take more than you are supposed to.
The reason I said (or may not) is I have experienced many dr's personally and from other people whose dr's gave them these pills freely, then when they confided that there was a problem, left them high and dry. I don't want to scare you off about talking openly to your doctor, you should have a 'feel' for what he/she's like.
Sorry this post is so long, I'll say this last thing and shut up. I started taking hydrocodone for a bladder infection from a dr feelgood type dr. Then I had a major surgery that I didn't research enough, 8 weeks after having a 3rd unplanned pregnancy all the while my husband's health was declining. I was very depressed and had a very long and difficult recovery from the surgery that I did not expect. My surgeon cut me off (he did not know by this time I was abusing) about 3 months later, so I kept going to Dr Feelgood, and had one excuse after another why I was in pain and he was doling them out like halloween candy. All the while he was getting suspicious, and one time gave me a script with a refill, and when he found out I had refilled them within 3 days (bad, bad pharmacy practice I might add), the next time I went in, he cut me off. I came clean and told him I needed help and he told me to go home and dry out, or go to a rehab, knowing at that time I didn't have any insurance or other resources.
I'm not blaming him, but he could have helped me some, considering he's the type of doctor if you go in with a headache, he has an automatic cocktail of lorcet plus, soma, and cataflam. He's even offered me xanax on more than one occasion-thank goodness I said no. (I have some family members who have heavy 'bar' problems, and don't even want to go there)
Okay, really just one more thing and I'll shut up. In my opinion, if you can go the whole day without taking them, but have pain at night, I feel you are probably maybe more dependent than addicted. But in any case, if you feel comfortable, and hopefully everyone should feel comfortable with their doctor, or find another one, just be honest and tell him you have concerns about getting addicted and discuss it openly and honestly.
What really bites, is narcotic painkillers are meant for short term use, and unfortunately there's not really any other options for people with chronic severe pain issues. A good pain management dr can offer successful ways to manage pain, if you have good insurance of course, cuz they are usually very expensive (like steroid injections, etc). And it all depends on the source of the pain. My husband could be helped tremendously by other means, unfortunately we can't afford 10,000 dollar procedures two or three times a year.
I hope some of this helps you and I didn't tell my life story for nothing. I just wouldn't wish this life of hell on anyone.
