I wont waste all your time with all my back surgeries, LSI injections, facet joint, Rolfing,chrio's, rehab, and everything else you can think of. i just had 2 disk fused with artifical spacers placed between the disks.
Needless to say years of having to take the pain pills are hopefully over. i am getting off the hard meds. there are some that require them to function, I hope I am not one of them anymore.
My question is, I still have soreness, stifness, and a hard day of work at times causes some small pain. what are some meds that arent addictive. I will go with nothing before I do the devil stuff again. I am not saying its not right for some, just not me anymore. I have taken something called Propoxy or something like that. Anything else you guys know of that is good on minor pain WITH no addiction
Hey ADS, Propoxyphene is darvecet and is an opiate , it's very mild, about 1/100 the strength of methdone but is in the same family as Darvecet. It does have the potential for abuse just like any drug. People get high on cold medecine. Aside from tylenol there are NSAIDS, but most docs don't want you taking them this close to a fusion, they can prevent bone growth,. I wasn't allowed any for a year when they atempted to fuse me for the tthird time. That failed too, but there are some NSAIDS that have pain relieveing abaility. Toradol isn't a bad drug if your only talking a couple times aca month, but aside from medication and injections how they used to manage pain was all psych, Self hynosis, guided imagry, bio feedback, relaxation techniques, Yoga etc etc. Even light excercise is better than sitting around hurting and it releases endorphins. Some people benefit from acupuncture, massage, anything that takes your mind off the pain is a good thing.
Just like recovery from adiction, you need to find something to occupy your mind and time rather than sitting around thinking how much you hurt at the end of the day. Going med free is a complete lifestyle change and I do hope this surgery was a success and you find a way to deal with the remaining pain. I doubt any doc is going to gaurentee being pain free after back surgery, but the same techniques are available that were available prior to the invention of oxycontin in 96 when opiates became a somewhat exceptable way to manage back pain. I say somewhat because it's certainly not something that's agreed upon amongst the entire medical community.
The rest may be up to you, their may not be a pill or another injection. Aside from pain medecine, excercise is the only thing that keeps me sane, at least I feel I'm actively doing something to get better, whether I am or not, I still benefit from the other aspects of excercise. It's distracting and if I do things right it tightens my core and relieves some of the pain while releasing endorphins.
There are alternatives to narcotics, as Shoreline has explained. In addition to his offerings, there are some medications that have provided great relief for many with back and spine pain. Cymbalta is one of the best. It is indicated for pain and can work very well. It is somewhat similar to the newer antidepressants, but is for pain. Lyrica is another in the same family. Do your best to avoid propoxyphene, as it is a narcotic and will most likely cause cravings. Also avoid Tramadol (Ultram) for the same reasons.
Your doc should be familiar with these meds. If not, try to get a referral to a pain management specialist and ask about these meds. Be sure they know about your history.
My question is, I still have soreness, stifness, and a hard day of work at times causes some small pain. what are some meds that arent addictive.
Hello Addictionsuxs,
Welcome to the board. I hope your most recent back surgery turns out to be successful.
I might recommend Celebrex, which is marketed for arthritis, but I was taking it for back pain, mainly stiffness, prior to having a fusion. I was also taking Ultram ER...you take it once a day and it's not addictive. I would recommend talking to your doctor about both of these RX drugs.
addictionsux:
I am also a recovering addict and want to say that it is a HUGE challenge to be in chronic pain and also have addiction. It does matter thought what your drug of choice was and what you were addicted to. I was addicted to cocaine and that sets off completely different receptors in the brain compared to the opiate type medications. I am currently on the fentanyl patch & Percocet for BT pain. I easily could become addicted to them if I do not follow my doctor's rules & recommendations or I start to abuse them. However, I do not want to do this so that I can have the pain relief without setting off my addiction. You pretty much know instantly when you take something if it is setting off your addiction. I would recommend going to see and ADDICTIONOLOGIST(a doctor that specializes in treating recovering addicts and is specially trained in medications that can be prescribed to them). Can you tell us what you abuses and what you were addicted to? Or were you merely dependent on them?
I will tell you that there are many medications that I have tried that are non-narcotic. It also does depend on what kind of pain you have as well. If you have nerve pain then there are specific meds to treat that and most opiate/opiod meds are uselesss against this pain although they are helpful for other types of muscle/bone pain. I would recommend Lyrica which is what I am also taking. I have been on Ultram(a mild opiod with anti-depressant qualities) but it can be extremely difficult to get off so I don't recommend it. There are many anti-seizure meds to help nerve pain: Lyrica, Neurontin, Topomax, Tegretol, Gabitril. Anti-inflammatory meds: Celebrex, ibuprofen. You could try taking tylenol(acetaminophen) & Advil(ibuprofen) to see how this manages your pain. The good thing is that they are OTC(over the counter) and non-narcotic. You can usually get by with taking up to 3000mg/day of acetaminophen & up to 1600mg/day of ibuprofen. Please make sure that your doctor is knowledgeable about medications & addiction. Oh, one other thing you could try is Suboxone(used to treat opiod addiction but can also be used for chronic pain). I have heard it is difficult to get off Suboxone as well but it's worth a shot.
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