for the first time for the condition(s) you are treating today?

Looks like the majority is in the range of 24-35

I was 22 years old when I was first diagnosed with degenerative disc disease. The doctors were surprised and said they felt sorry that I was so young and had that condition. They said I was too young to have to feel so old. After cortisone shots in my back, medications for muscle spasms, 4 months of physical therapy, manipulation therapy, a consultation with a back surgeon, and a meeting with an anesthesiologist, they put me on pain meds. Percocets were the only thing that was able to help my pain.

39 chronic myofascial pain syndrome, sleep disorder, chronic fatigue... etc.

I was only 15 years old when I started having bad anxiety and insomnia. At the time I was using nearly every over-the-counter sleeping pills. I've also suffered from migraine headaches since I was 9.

sometimes when you needed medications and when you actually were diagnosed and prescribed the medications, could be many, many years apart

Agreed

My first episode with my neck (due to DDD) happened when I was 26. I struggled along for many years until finally, when I was in my early 40's I had to quit working due to the pain in my neck, back and hips.

I was about 48 when I needed to take pain meds regularly. I'm now 53.

I was diagnosed about two years ago. I was forty. I find that the docs are more liable to give meds to us older folks.

I never thought about any meds when I was younger. I guess I just drank alcohol then. However, I have not had a drink in over six years. I guess that comes with age, too!!

I imagine some docs might be more willing to prescribe to older people but I haven't found them...

I had a sleeping problem throughout my childhood and was 16 when during a hospital stay that I was given a sleeping med because I couldn't sleep. I have been on sleeping meds ever since.

I was on ADHD medication during elementary school and it made me a zombie.

Same way with me bunny (25,lil older) and that was their biggest hang up/worry/hold back prescribing narcotics that they would express to me was that I was too young to be taking these strong meds cuz I'll be on em for rest of my life(degeneration just keeps on goin & goin)to start now would have me on em for too long in their opinion.But the other meds I had to try for em have done way more harm to the rest of my body that used to not hurt or have something wrong there.From bad reactions to no reation or relief, lightheadedness to insides feeling as they were wanting to come out.Finally,from the doc injecting those needles in my back and finally getting to the spine just to realize he was at the wrong disc/area and had to withdraw and start over, to the ulcered bleeding stomach I now share with my dad & grandads from the latest & most promising(and pharmacutically pushed) non-narcotic wonder drugs they could write 4 me that did not ever wok till they gave in & wrote me what they said was gonna hurt me more in the long run to take.If they would have asked me(but why should they,I'm just a patient. A married father of 4 that was owner of his own paving company so any relief would help to be able to stand upright on a jobsite and tell my employee's what needed done. Or just to walk up to the homeowner and collect the pay for the job we just completed without exusing myself and sitting down,sometimes lying down, and worrying if I am gonna have to ask them to help me up.Or just to be able to push my babies on a swing or on their first bike like I was a normal cause of my meds without the docs thinking I am just drug seeking or trying to feed my addiction if I told em something didn't work or worked better than something else,ect..We all have been there.Sorry 4 the rant.Its Just this thread got me to remembering just how long it has been going on now that I have been arguing 4 myself to have pain relief,have some pleasant days put into the bad days we all have.And not have to feel labled and ashamed that something helps me.To feel what its like when my daughter asks can I do something with her outside and I'm able 2 say yes instead of holding back more tears as I watch her facial expression as I say "not right now,mabey later" and she kisses me on the check and says she understands,loves me, and its ok.U rest your back now.I Damm anyone who has ever dared to judge anyone here and not faced those feelings or the condeming looks, or to just be able 2 do the simplest thing without that owwch or aarrrgghh!!!, or "let me get it daddy".I know I and all of us here have known some form of pain everyday,Just for me its been 4 the last fifteen years. Sorry again. R

Started on Hydro when I was 21, from a motorcycle accident. Been on it ever since. 36 years now with no end in sight.

thats my deal too. I needed them...a good 10 or more years before I recieved them. but I posted age range received.

Many physicians don't like to start older patients on opioid analgesics. first, the elderly may be more susceptible to opioid effects which in that population could be measured in terms of increased rates of pneumonia--or worse. Second, the elderly tend to be on more medications than younger people, so the potential for drug interactions is greater. last, the elderly sometimes have abnormal metabolizing function which can lead to adverse drug events (see the first point above).

i don't think it is right to make a blanket statement that no elderly person should ever receive opioid analgesics, but i think a very strong case can be made to try other medications first or to start the dosing of opioids very, very slowly.

hope this helps,

chemsynth

Wrongly diagnosed @ age 22 with depression. Took SSRI's for a while. Was having episodes of horrendous chest pains and was sure I was having little heart attacks...very uneducated on medical issues at the time and scared to death. I kept seeking out help and had to change doctors many times. The SSRI's made me depressed and did not help with what I thought to be little heart attacks. Finally, after 8 years of suffering I was diagnosed with panic disorder agoraphobia/social anxiety. I was started on xanax (which seemed like a miracle drug)! Finally, I thought to myself I know what is wrong with me and I don't have to suffer anymore!!!! I went through nursing school and found out more on my condition....then found out xanax was not approved for long term use and researched...I was taking medication that could cause me to have seizures if I stopped it cold turkey...scary! The fact that I have two kids and now living with my fiancee have two more...which I take care of because he is in the Army...even more scary. New doctor because of new area. I am being tapered starting the end of this month because she doesn't believe in the medication. I am a little scared, but mostly for the kids. I don't want them to see me withdrawal from a medication. The doc says paxil, been there done that along with every other SSRI. I am going to do the taper, but refuse to be back on those other medications ever again. I had withdrawals from them way back and never knew what was going on with my body, just assumed I was sick. I've been on the xanax for 3 1/2 years. Ignorance is not a virtue! Educate yourself on as much as you can about your condition....only you know what is going on with your own body.

I goofed when I did my poll vote, I knew I needed meds at 16 but wasn't prescribed them until after I had a rage problem at the age of 30 and got arrested for belting my husband in front of the cops!! so I really can't tell!1

I started suffering from chronic pain at 19. Diagnosed with bulging discs and Fibromyalgia. Since I was so young, the doctors wouldn't even give me muscle relaxers.

I was only eight when my migraines became so intense my mom tells me I began hitting my head on hard objects, I guess to stop the pain. I am 33 now and although have began finding my way, still have a migraine every week!

I was 21 when I was in a motorcycle accident. I was in the hospital for 1 1/2 months for my many injuries. My doc didn't think I would make it, but I'm still here. That was the start of my having to use opiates. Been on them now for about 37 yrs. I've been lucky enough to not have much trouble in my doctor prescribing for me, tho he does not give enough. For some reason, he doesn't take tolerence into consideration and I've had to take more than he will prescribe for yrs. Thus, my need for going the online route.

During Katrina, I was without meds for months, since my doc could not be found and we had to evacuate to Fla., where no doctor I went to see would give me anything, even tho I had all of my med records. They wouldn't even look at them. I went thru pure hell for months with the pain and the stress of loosing everything I owned in the storm. All I know is, I NEVER want to go thru that again EVER. It was horrible.

Does the hydro still help you? you have been on them like 15yrs. i took them for 13 yrs and they simply stopped working only thing they did was give me tiny relief the last 2 yrs i timed them and they worked for about one and half hrs. i am older than you (alot) and this could play into the situation too. does your doc give you any thing for break through pain. sorry about being so nosey, no offense.

Sorry for your pain. You make me feel young.

56 is young Old and Worn? You must be bad at math? Jut trying to give you a hard time since Bris is not around.

I had my first migraine at 21. I was given many useless pills that were not effective.

Finally my physician gave me codeine.

56 is the new 40.

I was 13 when they took my guts out, untangled them and replaced them. Pain relief? 1 paracetamol suppository which immediately reappeared on the chair upon which I was sitting, and 1 dose of morphine in the 5 days or so I was there both pre- and post-op. I moaned and groaned for those 5 days in a side-ward, getting no sleep and hallucinating with the combination of severe pain and no sleep. I was convinced that I heard them discussing transplanting abdominal muscle, and told my parents when they came to visit what they were going to do. They put it down to a bad dream.

It angered me later on in life when I found out that there was such a thing as an analgesic. I had no clue at that age, but immediately realised that the one injection they gave me afforded relief. I didn't even know what it was at the time, and can only assume it was morphine based on what my mother said when she looked at my chart.

Later in the same year a turbinectomy, not painful until they took the packs out, which really hurt, and again, no pain relief.

There still remains the issue of whether children need pain relief, believe it or not, and some doctors still think not. Some even believe that children don't feel pain. It's insane; kids feel pain just like adults do - no more and no less.

My experience will haunt me forever, and for the sake of a few doses of an opioid analgesic, it didn't have to be like that.

They also tried to force me to walk upright following the op, which was just impossible with the abdominals being sliced horizontally. Subsequent vertical incision has proved a lot more bearable and recovery much quicker.

That is awful. There was a time when they would extract a tooth with no Novocaine. Of course that sounds like a walk in the park compared to what you have been through and at such an early age.

I always had a fever when I left my dentist's office. My mother liked him because he took payments. It was awful and I don' t think we ever forget the pain we suffer as children.

Wow....you went through alot at such an early age.......

I also agree that children DO have pain and need pain relief, if deemed necessary....... As most of you guys know, migraines, are a big thing in my family and unfortunately my little boy is already having to take medication for his and he started a couple years back.......

Needless to say, I think each individual (child or not) knows when they are in pain and sometimes doctors are just too dumb or nieve to believe it......Kinda off topic, but when I say some drs. are idiots, that is the honest truth......My mom fractured her arm/wrist last week and she went to the ER...Well they sent her home with 2.5mg. hydrocodone and told her to call the surgeon the next day to schedule the surgery.......Well she did that and needless to say the 2.5mg. hydrocodone was not working at all and she is not one that takes narcotics often, hardly ever......Anyways.......she went into the surgeon and told him that she is still in pain and what the dr. at the ER had given her.....Guess what this surgeon said???? He said "Yes, that is about the best you can get!!!" OMG, my dad went off.....he basically told the surgeon what he thought and my mom ended up leaving there with 15mg. oxycodone and 10mg Hydrocodone....I guess they looked it up after my dad went off because my mom had not been able to sleep and was in so much pain........

Anyways, sorry for going off topid but I wanted to state how dumb some doctors are......

I had a traumatic birth apparently, which kind of set up the rest of my life in general.

Anyway, it does seem that having a knowledgeable supportive family member there with the patient often results in more sympathetic treatment.

The Hydro still helps tho I now have to take 2 10/500's about every 4 hrs. on bad days. They don't work as well as when I first started on them, of course, but it's better than nothing. My doc only prescribes 1 tablet 3 times a day. That doesn't work. When I told him it wasn't helping as much anymore and could he maybe up my dose at least one more pill a day. He told me no and suggested I try a pain clinic. I did that, but the doc there said they wouldn't help me unless I did the back shot series. Sure, I have problems with my back, but the most pain I have is from my 2 blown out knees. He didn't seem to care about my knees at all. Just kept pushing the back shots. I never went back. I am just carrying on with my regular doc and getting the extra meds I need online.

The things we have to do to just TRY and have a somewhat normal life. UGH!

BTW, no offense taken. We're here to try and help other members and I'm glad to answer any questions I can. Within reason. LOL

Have a good evening.

HaHa! I make everyone feel young.

It is older than me and yes, it is relatively young. Don't worry, BB is around here somewhere ready to smack me around. Not that I am complaining.

It is only a metter of time and you shall pay.

one more question do you have insurance? sometimes docs want to really rack up a big bill to get more money. if i was still in pain and all he could write me was 90 a month and give those steriod injections and i was still in pain i would go to a pain mgmt. doc, one with a speciality (sp) in neurology IMO i think you have nerve damage (radiucolopathy) hope i spelled that right, does your overall quality of life suck? my pain mgmt doc has a degree in internal medicine , neurology, and a sub speciality in psychiatry. i am sorry i am such a horrible speller and bad grammar. i would definitely be interviewing some more doctors, they are suppose to work for you. good luck.

I have been to doctor after doctor and they all can see my problems, but won't prescribe anything stronger than Advil. This war of prescription drugs is taking a heavy toll on us with chronic pain. Doctors are afraid to prescribe it anymore, no matter that they know nothing else helps. That is why I stick with my old doc who does give me Hydro. It gets very expensive trying to find a new doc that will help. Being on total disability, I can't afford to do that. It's the rock and a hard place situation.

My doc is getting kinda old and I don't know what will happen when he retires. I hate to think about that.

PoPo - I am so sorry that you have had to deal with this....fill in the blank.

Pain management is like any other condition requiring treatment. Truly it is. But we, we CPers are made to feel somehow LESS. In addition to pain, we have to deal with all kinds of $hit. Can you imagine my doc denying chemo?? Or insulin?? Or, or, or????

Ya know - I don't CARE if a doc feels uncomfortable. It is their JOB! When I managed an investment management firm - there were a couple of people who had inherited money. We invested it. They kept drawing it out. Yes, concern - denial - NO! It was THEIR money. Not a direct analogy, but this power play crapola just sucks. If a patient requires pain management, they should get it - period. And not stupid treatments and meds that often cause more harm than good. Can you tell this sets me on fire lol?

I also worry about my doc retiring. He is the same age, almost exactly as I (57). Then what? Guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Pat, my pharmacist is also not young. I don't want to think about it.

I always write a book. Hope it doesn't annoy anyone.

To the original poster: I actually started having back issues in my late 20s, after my third child. Didn't really "get" it - just figured it was all those late nights with a new baby. Even if I had figured it out, getting chronic PM at that age is difficult, almost impossible.

I've had liver disease since a child, which only recently has started to cause me problems. Nerve damage from chemo upped the ante on the pain and that's when I started on PM. I was, let's see, 48 then. So, I went thru alot of pain for some time. Had a couple of failed back surgeries (can't "cure" nerve damage by cutting). But, boy, if you're trying to limit your range of motion, it works great (LOL).

OK, novel over. My hat is off to all of us. We endure. That says alot.

Right about that ROM stuff. I feel, and look like the TIN MAN right now. The only way my neck turns is if I turn my feet and body too.

I had a minor break in my back at age 6, walked around for months in pain before a Dr even took an x-ray, they just attributed it to growing pains. Even after finding it they didn't give me anything, that time it wasn't that bad though.
At 9 I got thrown from a horse and seriously crushed 2 vertebra in pieces. I was on bed rest for 2 months, and limited activity after that. I remember MANY MANY nights being up all night in pain crying. Even after I was supposedly ok again, it was bad, to the point where I had to stop going to school. We later found out (at age 14?) that they hadn't healed rite at all and I had a ton of scar tissue causing even more problems. Through this whole time I don't remember being given any medication. A few years ago I was expressing my frustration to my mom about no non narcotic medicine working for me, and she told me they didn't work for me as a kid either, and that she kept asking them to give me something stronger, just on the 2 am ER visits and stuff like that and they never would.
The first time I got anything that worked was at 19, it was great, but I didn't want to be dependant on anything. When I asked the DR for alternatives, she suggested morphine maintenance. Not quite was I was looking for and I thought she was too drug happy so I stopped seeing her. Now I'm in another state, and have spent days and weeks not being able to get out of bed because of the pain, and I wish for a Dr like her.

To the person who commented about kids not feeling pain, that seems to unfortunately be common. Even at 24 and 26 Ive had Dr's walk in the room and the first thing they say is something like "Didn't anyone tell you 24 is too young for back pain?" and Ive had quite a few tell me, after I told them my history that I don't know what pain is, and its only going to get worse so I better learn to live with it.

the same with me. started with chiropracters but only made things worse.that was at 14 finally after several doc's telling there's nothing wrong with me,and self medicating when i could ,drinking, i finally found a doc to give me an mri,and what do ya know, they found several things wrong.that was around 42yrs old.46 now.

i decided along time ago that doctors are like plumbers. some are pretty good and are worth their pay. the rest ain't worth $hit!

nothing against plumbers, i was one at one time. but so many people think dr.s are all knowing beings that can do no wrong.but they are just like everyone else. some are good at what they do others are not. what i should have said is that dr.s are like toilets,some work great while the others are just full of *hit.

I am 20 and am on 10mg of oxycodone a day (a percocet in morning and one night) Only reason my doctor is sympathetic now is because I came in complaining of severe abdominal pain but was treated like drug addict. Few days later broke out in a bad rash called the doc and was told to wait a day or two and see what happens.

Turns out I had a severe case of shingles and the doctor failed to see the warning signs (even though I told him about my swollen lymph nodes, the pain and my rash). I was not able to start antiviral medications because of this, it is only effective in the first 24 hours of the rash. Now i am left with permanent nerve damage.. woohooo for judgemental doctors.

However i dont want to just complain, i feel my doctor has a more sympathetic outlook after this. Hopefully it prevents other patients from getting screwed, not that i have it that bad off anyway

sorry for the double post

I first started regular meds when I was around 8 or 9 (anti-depressants), but it was only one prescription. Around 15-16 I had at least 10 prescriptions at one point. I'm back down to one now though, it's nicer taking less.

I was 46 when i was put on pain meds for DDD/RAD. The sad thing about being on pain meds is the tolerance issues. At first i was given lortab 5mg. 2 times a day and that knocked it. Then i was put on lortab 7.5 one tab three times a day. Next was lortab 10 one three times a day. Now i am on 4 30mgs. of oxycodone along with 4 percocet 10 mgs. for break through pain this was all over a 12 yr. period , no need to ramble any further i think everyone should get my drift.

when i was 17 i was prescribed seroquil (not sure how to spell it cause i wont take it) im 18 now and was prescibed lortab 10/500 for my thumb. i tore all the ligaments in it.

i was 19 when my PD first manifested, abruptly. was rxed stuff that didn't really help (librium). finally at 26, got switched to xanax. while it scares me due to the seemingly more addictive aspects, it WORKED. librium really didn't.

Probably putting this in the wrong place, but my doc is getting old too, he is a neurologist (sp) , internal medicine, and sub speciality in psychiatry (sp) I am almost 57 and i am finally getting some quality of life, however he informed me today that the DEA is putting him through hell because he is over prescribing, i sure wish the DEA would stop practing medicine and leave us legit pain patients alone. If the DEA would walk a mile in our shoes maybe they could gain some understanding. I think chronic pain has no age, its what has happend to you whether it be genetic , accidents ect. ect. If i had my way the DEA would ALL be down on the border helping fight the mexican cartels. Here in TN. meth is on the rise again because its coming from Mexico, but the DEA is cowards and they chose to go after legit pain patients and their doctors.

DEA needs to get a real job.

And I am restraining myself, big time.

And who the heck came up w/the controlled substance levels? Tranquilizers that one can become dependent or addicted to and can kill you when you stop taking them, is a lower level than narcotics which can be stopped w/out life threatening results. Now that I do not understand.

you know, i agree with this statement. as much as i hate the controlled med schedule and wouldn't want benzos at class III, not sure why minor tranquilizers (benzos) are IV and opiates are II/III. note: barbituates are class III.

if i had to guess, i'd say it's the "high" potential/danger potential. benzos will eventually (if you take enough) put you to sleep - but probably so would enough benadryl, and it's not scheduled.

barbituates and opiates can make you stop breathing...much, much faster than any benzo (unless the benzo is mixed with other CNS depressants - as we've seen with heath ledger, anna nicole smith, michael jackson).

example - one i gave a friend recently: the ld50 for valium is about 65 bottles of 90 10mg tablets. yeah, only 50% die after the equivalent of 65 bottles of pills. the ld50 on barbituates or opiates is much lower than that.

OTOH, death can't be the criteria (hence my guess about getting "high"). hell, only one bottle of tylenol will kill you - because it will destroy your liver.

Wanna hear something really backwards?

Fioricet - butalbital (barbituate), APAP and caffeine is not on the DEA scheduled list.

Fiorinal - bultalbital, Aspirin and caffeine is SCH III

both are SCHIII when codeine is added, which is logical.

I still don't understand why Fiorinal is Scd III and Fioricet is not.

16 y/o for me. Severe Migraines. Up to now that was my only issue (with the exception of a broken rib once, and some dental work - short term routine use of pain medication)

But now after my car accident.....I have no idea when (if ever) I will be off of pain medication in one form or another. Granted I will not need them on a constant basis, but there will be days that are REALLY bad, and a Tylenol or an Advil won't help things at all.

Mine started about 7-8 years ago with migraines and now I have back problems too.

I was about 23 when I was diagnosed with FM. I was in university studying chemistry and got so bad I had to take a leave.

I realize this thread started some time ago - but I read the entire thread and I am so sorry most posters are very young.

I really did not need much in the way of pain meds until I was 55 years old and had moved from a very warm climate to a very cold one. Diagnosed at that time with lots of bone issues, among others. Still have cronic pain. Most of you either know or will know the story. Could not afford the high cost of pain management. So I am not productive in my life, cannot work.

Again - so very sorry about so many in pain at very young ages.

I am a severe FMer too. I tuffed out pain for years until the fatigue from it brought me crashing down - couldnt work, that killed me - so depressing.

I spent another few years getting no relief from any meds drs gave me.

wasnt till two years ago I realized there WAS meds that helped me live a better quality of life. Wish I had known that 15 years ago.

unfortunately, drs wont agree with my protocol for pain management.

(so I was early 30's when I needed meds for pain)