Shoreline

Hey Blue, Nobody can really answer that as everyone is different, Your use is minimal, as long as yu keep it that ay, tolerance will buld slowly. If yo u can work and get by on one perc a day or 3, your doing well. There just isn't a way to say how much pain someone is in by any diagnostic test and how medication it takes to help. The thing to keep in mind is that if the meds start hindering you more than helpng it's time to reevaluate things. The LA meds may be the next step or maybe things will progress to the point of needing surgery.

Meds can mask a fixable problem to the point the problem can't be fixed so get several opinions and educate yourself as far as other methods of pain management. If the only method you ever use is opiates simply because it's a gaurenteed instant fix, it has a price. Nobody has crystal ball to see what that price may be, but your doing the right thing in taking an advil with the percs, why take 2 perks if 1 perk and one advil will help.

There are dozens on non opiate pain rlieving modalities to look into, PT, Chiro, Acupuncture, Tens, Epidural steroids injections,Self hypnosis, bio-feedback, guided imagry, TINS, TENS, nerve blocks, trigger point injections etc etc. If a non opiate method works, this wouldn't b an issue, but folks tend to swant instant relief, I did, I still did all that stuff, but if someone would have prescribed aI certainly would have taken pain meds my frst 7 years of pain management.

There are alllso mrore PM docs that won't prescribe opiates than will. Eventually your GP becomes uncomfortable with continued use, you will likely be cut off or referred to a surgeon or pain maagement.

Sounds kind of quick to condem yourself or let some doc condem you to alife of pain and medication. Some docs will start you on LA opiates without having tried another method to manage your pain. Those docs put themself at risk because they may have to justify their prescribng practices, and if you have never tried anything else, It's pretty hard to justify OxyContin as your only option because you needed more and more percs.
Good luck, Dave