Anyway, back on topic. I posted this same message on another thread but wanted to post it here as well, so if anyone is looking for advice or help, they can check it out.

Just a friendly FYI, I was on Hydro for awhile and used Tramadol as a "step down" method for a couple of months with Fioricet here and there for headaches and/or overwhelming (I thought it was anxiety but in hindsight it was cravings). I then weaned down from the Tram. and D/C'd the Fioricet all together. I then took a different medication in conjuntion with getting off of the Tramadol that is non-addictive. It is called Neurontin. It works for anxiety, seizures, and pain. And also a touch of Seroquel for anxiety and a higher dose for sleep...Works great and also non-addictive! The very last day of the Tram.(1 pill) I started taking my antidepressant--which I held off on while on the Tram. and the next day increased my dose by 25% and will be maintained on it until my endorphans build up again on their own. Oh, and I had absolutely little to no withdrawals from either and I had been taking Hydro for years on and off. Hope this helps!! Best of luck to you!

Yes, a good antiemtic is Tigan and of course Immodium--a lot of it if needed. Luckily I didn't need it.

There was another doctor that was on almost every NROP order back then, he was a gastro doctor that did weight loss surgery.
He was all over the "DolphinRX" and "NewLevitra" and "Tropical" bottles.
I can't think of his name, but I think he got in some trouble.

hello all!

i have been off pain meds for almost 2 months!

This experience has been real hard, but truly meaningful and worthwhile. I have to remember how bad my first first few weeks were and i feel so much better than then. it is just not worth it to go thru this again.

I am finally over the initial hump, and the keey for me is exercise. this keeps my mind active and away from the negativity that drags me down. I have done this on my own and am very proud of myself.

Like i mentioned to another member, sometimes i feel that this site can be a trigger to me so i apologize for being away for a while.

Thank you for your continued support.

Take care, all the best.

watson,

That is great. Taking a break from the board for a while was a good idea. I have read that other members had to do the same thing because being on here would be a trigger for them.

Keep up the good work and keep us posted.

Good Luck,
Khilee

Congrats! I am six weeks off. Was taking up to 20 a day. I agree with you that you have to remember everything you went through, and I mean everything! It was the only thing that got me through the one month, "Oh, I would be okay if i just took a few" thoughts that will came and went. I worked through withdrawal with no days off and that will always be fresh in my mind. Good luck to everyone and please believe in yourself. I am not out of the woods, but I am feeling stronger each day.

Congrats to you! That is quite a major accomplishment!

Amazing... I salute you and will pray for your continued strength.

Klynn

I offer my congrats also & am so glad that you did not need all of the medication that you were taking every day! What an accomplishment!!!!

I hope that this success continues for you!!!! Please keep us informed!

Hi winter and congatulations on your progress. Let us know how you are doing.

Good Luck, Khilee

Good luck. Stay strong.

For those who are here who got so addicted - I worry about that due to the Hydro I take for my back pain. I don't get much euphoria, but I don't take that much (a couple of 10/325 a day on bad days.)

Just for the warning signs, what were the steps that led to so many per day? I cannot imagine taking that many in one day!!! But I know it wasn't an overnight thing.

I can't imagine breaking such a habit - I can't even stop myself from eating crappy food!!!

I think the first sign is to take more than the doc orders on a regular basis. I think most of us take more on some days and less on others. But if you stay w/in your docs script, you should be ok.

I think there are no sure signs to watch for except your own personal behavior. For so many people the concept if simply "if I feel this releif by taking one, then surely if I take two I will feel even better" and then it takes more and more to get the same relief, assuming that you are taking them for chronic pain issues to begin with.

Another issue which was my problem was that I lost my good Dr. who wrote my scripts and was unable to find a new Dr. so I turned to the internet in the good ole ROP days. I had a real pain issue, had great MRI's & records, just not a good Dr. It was easy to get what I needed, or thought I needed, so I really was self medicating at that point and stopped taking my "hydro holidays" and things my other Dr. had insisted on. I also didn't really worry about taking more on a given day since refills came early. When all the ROPS days were numbered, I started looking for a new, compassionate PM Dr. and was unable to find one that did not require extensive surgery, shots, etc. prior to going to opiates and since I had been on a regular opiate schedule, I found myself in a pickle and went to Sub.

You sound like you will be O-kay though. The most important thing that I have learned is to be open and honest with your Dr. and either except what the Dr. gives or move to another Dr., but do not under any circumstances take your care on yourself! As long as you keep within your prescribed amount you will be great! Rather than taking more on a regular basis is your pain increases, talk to your Dr.

Take care!

There is such a fine line between dependence and addiction, and it is very easy to cross the line without realizing it.

A good part of the issue is that physicians refuse to prescribe proper pain medication for each individual patients needs. These doctors seem to think that 7.5mg Hydrocodone is a 'one size fits all' dose. Or that Hydrocodone in general is the only pain medication.

So after a while the body builds up a tolerance to 7.5mg. So to compensate we instictley double the dose to 15mg. When that doesn't work we add to that, and so on and so forth.

There is no shame in addiction, and it can happen to ANYONE regardless of social status, medical condition, race, sex, etc.

The physicians are the ones to blame in the end. They are the ones that we entrust our treatment to. It is when they fail to do their jobs properly (whhich the majority of them do) that addiction occurs.

I've seen it happen with my own family members. One leads to two and two leads to three, etc. It's a viscious cycle - one that came close to killing my aunt.

Lucky for her, she moved to a different state. Her new physician caught on immediately to what was happening and sent her to a pain management specialist. The pain doc took her off of the hydrocodone and put her on 10mg Methadone which was slowly increased to 20mg per day. She has been at that level now for about three years I believe and is now living a relatively pain free life. And the best part is that she can function normally on just the one 20mg dose daily.

If these so-called doctors would realize that treatment for pain is not a one size fits all issue every chronic pain sufferer would be in a much better position.

Thankfully my pain issues are only temporary (so I'm told). I just pray that if they are not just temporary, I have the good fortune of finding a physician that will cater a treatment plan designed for ME - not a generic pull out the prescription pad and write for #90 of whatever and say come back next month.

While I agree with you that there is often no shame when dealing with addiction and it can certainly happen to anyone, I completely disagree that physicians are usually the ones to blame in the end.
Have you read any of the stories posted here on this discussion board? Almost all of the blame I see related to doctors is their reluctance to treat patients who are suffering with chronic pain.
There will always be some instances involving doctors who don't pay appropriate attention to the levels of addictive drugs prescribed to their patients but, in today's medical atomsphere, that is very infrequent.
One of the most healthy ways to deal with the solution to substance abuse is to avoid spending time and energy placing blame. Regardless of how it happened, if it has become a serious problem, the emphasis should be on how to fix it rather than whom you want to blame for it.

I agree w/both MD and WarVet. I think dependence leading to addiction is the 'fault' (wish I could find a better word) of the individual as well as the medical care system.

Chronic pain patients get desperate for relief and sometimes because noone (doctor wise) seems to believe them and how horrible their pain is, they may self medicate or supplement - just trying to survive.

And so the cycle begins, since one is self medicating, there are less controls in place.

I don't judge those CP'rs who do this (self medicate, supplement, whatever) as I can't say I have NEVER done it.

However, when one is taking care of their own pain this way, one must be EXTRA careful not to over do the medicines.

I have a question about this. The doctor doesn't really know how much pain you are in. You tell him. He chooses some pain med to give you and sets some dosage. Plenty of times (especially recently) I have been prescribed way less pain medication than would even moderately make me comfortable for even short periods of time. I have suffered through a lot that last few weeks until I found a doctor willing to prescribe stronger medicine. I know I could have taken 40mg of hydro at one point and probably been decently comfortable, but because I wanted stay within the script I only took 10 and suffered. Actually not being able to sleep for several days because off constant pain. I look back on that especially after receiving a prescription for stronger medicine and I don't feel proud that I stuck to my doctor's orders and am not an addict. I feel like an idiot who suffered a bunch of unnecessary pain.

All in all, pain doesn't kill you and I'm really not worse for it. I'm just saying. It's a dangerous game though. The docs need more standard training on pain meds. Not just "how to cover their own asses" training.

You need to talk to your doc. Are you on any long acting med or just the short acting? If the doc was willing to prescribe something stronger, then they are probably willing to listen to you when things aren't working.

Something to do before you talk to him, start a pain diary if you don't have one. Write down times, a number for your pain 1-10, what you did to help the pain, what number it was finally, etc. That generally gives the doc something to look at and let's him know something more specific than "I'm not getting relief like I should."

Anytime you are on a narcotic pain med for chronic pain, there will be a time you have to up the doses, change things up also.

Well everything's handled now, I got a different doc. Originally the doc I was telling the pain med wasn't working just went from a dosage of 1-2 7.5mg hydro. When I told him it wasn't strong enough, he prescribed me 1 10mg hydro every 6 hours and told me that was the strongest thing he could give me orally.

1. That's a lie, obviously there are stronger drugs.
2. 1 10mg hydro is less powerful than 2 7.5mg hydros. I have to assume he was assuming I was going to take more than he prescribed. I don't know.

I really don't know how some of these guys get through med school. I mean, they are smart in some areas, but clueless in others.

I mean I had the same experience in the hospital. I was prescribed 1 mg of IV morphine and then 1 more if that didn't cover it. Well, none of it covered it, but every 3 hours I had to argue with the nurse to give me what was prescribed. Sorry, I don't think this is what this thread is about. I'm going to shut up now.

Well some are scared to prescribe stronger than Lortab, with good reason. The DEA tends to get all up in their business.

Also you have some docs that never had to deal with pain and they really don't understand. The original doc I had for my headaches was great, he suffered from headaches also, which is why he treated them. He retired and it took me years to find someone else that would listen to me.

JITA, I think I was referring to folks who had a prior addiction and now are seeking pain relief but are afraid of over-doing or taking more meds than needed.

I am glad you found a doc who treats your pain appropriately.

I agree w/Stacy that folks who are undermedicated should talk to their doctors as you did. However, as we all know too well that is not always an option.

Sorry, meant to say that you went to a different doctor which is also a good route when possible.

You were a lot stronger than me!!! That is why I self-medicated because the pain was too great for what my script was and I could only focus on getting relief....not what my scrip said! It is hard to stay in pain when relief is just an extra pill away, but I am glad you did and were so strong! I hope you are treated greatly now and do not have to suffer any longer!

I just read on the net.....that pain killers will give you high blood pressure....I google it any one have that problem?

Personally, the only pain killer that seems to raise my blood pressure is Tramadol; if anything, my BP tests lower on vicodin.

I believe you, but it said hydo,,,,with all the studies....I dont get it...

try Kratom or suboxone

My blood pressure has gone up slightly, but there are many possible reasons for that in my case, not just hydro.

My blood pressure went down after I started taking hydro. That's probably not why (might have something to do with the 20 lbs I lost)but it's the case in my situation.

Dawn, I have not heard if pain killers give one high blood pressure, but I do know that pain does. Meon