If you suffer from neck or back pain and have to take pain medication, then you need to take the time to read this. I want to tell you about just one of the many experiences with back pain and the pain medications that I have heard from patients,over the years. I hope that this story is able to give someone else an idea of what to expect when going through this. Neck and back pain can be very excruciating, so a lot of people turn to medication to help ease their pain. Many patients, before coming to my office have, unfortunately, become addicted, and addiction to pain medications is a possibility for anyone.
My patient had been through numerous doctors and specialists over the last ten years. Every one of them had always given my patient pain medication. He just wanted the pain to stop and to get some sleep. The medicine did that for him. For the first five years or so, he would just take the pain medication as needed. It would only be a few times a week. The last five years, he started taking more medication because his pain had intensified because he was treating his symptoms and not the cause of his condition. After doing this for some time, his body adjusted and grew used to the pain medicine. So it took more and more medication to help control the pain.
At some point during all of this, my patient became addicted to the pain medication, and he suffered through two types of addictions. I want to tell you about both of them. The first addiction started when he would hurt more than usual, so he would take just one extra pill to help with the pain. That one extra pill made him feel wonderful. The pain was gone, and he had more energy than he usually did. He was really happy, happier than usual. Then over time, he started taking two pills more, instead of one, because he wasn't getting the same feeling as before. His family stopped coming around as much, as they didn't want to be anywhere near him when he was taking this much pain medicine. My patient then realized that he had a big problem. Although, he never really went through withdrawals with this level of addiction when he didn't take the pain medicine for a day or two.
According to my patient, the second addiction showed up when his doctor took him off of pain pills and put him on a pain patch to control the back pain. He had started this medication just over a year ago. He finally agreed to try it and soon realized that it helped tremendously with lowering his pain. He wore the pain patch every day and changed the patch every three days. The pain was just about gone. He loved the idea of not having to worry about taking too much of the medication, because it was time-released. He felt more comfortable with the patch as he had not been very responsible about taking the pain pills correctly. After being on the pain patch for a few months, he ran out before he was able to pick up his medication. It was a weekend, and he just assumed it would be fine to wait, just like all the times before with the pain pills. He did not realize that you can be addicted without knowing it.
Suffering through a withdrawal was awful, and according to my patient he was shaking, shivering, and vomiting, he hurt in places he didn't know could hurt. It was miserable, and he was terrified. Nothing made it stop. He wasn't able to drive himself to the hospital. His wife had to take him to the emergency room. The doctors put a pain patch on him, and after it got into his system, he was fine. After that incident, he made sure to never run out of his medication again. He wanted to just stop wearing the pain patch and taking pain medicine, at that point, but he still had the problem of back pain to think about.
I am not trying to scare anyone. Yet, I just want to make sure that you understand the extent of an addiction. When Mike got to the hospital, they gave him a pain patch to put on, and after a few hours when it got into his system, he was fine. The point is he had never suffered anything like it before,and he always thought that you could not be addicted without knowing it. He had no idea that his body had become dependent on pain medication. It would have been nice to know this from the beginning. Mike had actually thought about the possibility of becoming addicted,but the back pain he felt without pain medication was severe, and the medicine helped him function. He would rather have something that he could do for back pain other than the need for medications, and to avoid the likelihood of becoming dependent.
Mike has wondered numerous times, was it worth it? I don't know if I'm the one to answer that for everyone, but for Mike - he thought it was. He had suffered through the pain without the medication, and the pain is crippling. He could not function doing even everyday tasks. He would like to be on a pain medication that is not addictive, but the pain medication was only masking his symptoms of back pain and not treating the underlying problem.
Just keep in mind that it is a serious chance you take when dealing with pain medications. Neck and back pain can seriously alter your lifestyle. There are alternatives for treatment of chronic and severe back pain that do not include pain medications and invasive procedures such as surgery. Take time to invesigate the options, because you can take your medication exactly how it is prescribed and still become addicted. Mike did not know this in the beginning, and thank goodness he discovered a successful option that did not include pain pills.
My patient had been through numerous doctors and specialists over the last ten years. Every one of them had always given my patient pain medication. He just wanted the pain to stop and to get some sleep. The medicine did that for him. For the first five years or so, he would just take the pain medication as needed. It would only be a few times a week. The last five years, he started taking more medication because his pain had intensified because he was treating his symptoms and not the cause of his condition. After doing this for some time, his body adjusted and grew used to the pain medicine. So it took more and more medication to help control the pain.
At some point during all of this, my patient became addicted to the pain medication, and he suffered through two types of addictions. I want to tell you about both of them. The first addiction started when he would hurt more than usual, so he would take just one extra pill to help with the pain. That one extra pill made him feel wonderful. The pain was gone, and he had more energy than he usually did. He was really happy, happier than usual. Then over time, he started taking two pills more, instead of one, because he wasn't getting the same feeling as before. His family stopped coming around as much, as they didn't want to be anywhere near him when he was taking this much pain medicine. My patient then realized that he had a big problem. Although, he never really went through withdrawals with this level of addiction when he didn't take the pain medicine for a day or two.
According to my patient, the second addiction showed up when his doctor took him off of pain pills and put him on a pain patch to control the back pain. He had started this medication just over a year ago. He finally agreed to try it and soon realized that it helped tremendously with lowering his pain. He wore the pain patch every day and changed the patch every three days. The pain was just about gone. He loved the idea of not having to worry about taking too much of the medication, because it was time-released. He felt more comfortable with the patch as he had not been very responsible about taking the pain pills correctly. After being on the pain patch for a few months, he ran out before he was able to pick up his medication. It was a weekend, and he just assumed it would be fine to wait, just like all the times before with the pain pills. He did not realize that you can be addicted without knowing it.
Suffering through a withdrawal was awful, and according to my patient he was shaking, shivering, and vomiting, he hurt in places he didn't know could hurt. It was miserable, and he was terrified. Nothing made it stop. He wasn't able to drive himself to the hospital. His wife had to take him to the emergency room. The doctors put a pain patch on him, and after it got into his system, he was fine. After that incident, he made sure to never run out of his medication again. He wanted to just stop wearing the pain patch and taking pain medicine, at that point, but he still had the problem of back pain to think about.
I am not trying to scare anyone. Yet, I just want to make sure that you understand the extent of an addiction. When Mike got to the hospital, they gave him a pain patch to put on, and after a few hours when it got into his system, he was fine. The point is he had never suffered anything like it before,and he always thought that you could not be addicted without knowing it. He had no idea that his body had become dependent on pain medication. It would have been nice to know this from the beginning. Mike had actually thought about the possibility of becoming addicted,but the back pain he felt without pain medication was severe, and the medicine helped him function. He would rather have something that he could do for back pain other than the need for medications, and to avoid the likelihood of becoming dependent.
Mike has wondered numerous times, was it worth it? I don't know if I'm the one to answer that for everyone, but for Mike - he thought it was. He had suffered through the pain without the medication, and the pain is crippling. He could not function doing even everyday tasks. He would like to be on a pain medication that is not addictive, but the pain medication was only masking his symptoms of back pain and not treating the underlying problem.
Just keep in mind that it is a serious chance you take when dealing with pain medications. Neck and back pain can seriously alter your lifestyle. There are alternatives for treatment of chronic and severe back pain that do not include pain medications and invasive procedures such as surgery. Take time to invesigate the options, because you can take your medication exactly how it is prescribed and still become addicted. Mike did not know this in the beginning, and thank goodness he discovered a successful option that did not include pain pills.
About the Author:
Looking to avoid pain medication for back and neck pain. Then click on Dr. Richard E. Busch's site about treating the cause of back pain without surgery/pain meds.
No comments:
Post a Comment