Pain meds and fibromyalgia

[JamieMarc]

@Ian waxman You are not responsible for your addiction. You are only responsible for your recovery. You did what you needed and felt you had to do at the time. Please remember that and take comfort in it.

I have been reading your posts about your journey to recovery and you're suffering, and it's something I know a little about because I was addicted to alcohol at one point in my life. My concern for you right now is that you do not take matters into your own hands, but rather work very very closely with your health care provider on getting you through this safely. And if you have no faith in your health care provider or they are not taking this seriously enough, please find help elsewhere.

I worry that without proper guidance you will inadvertently harm yourself or make matters even worse. I hope that you will accept what I have said constructively and with only your best interests in my heart.

In the meantime, I'm just really so glad that you come here to vent and lean on all of our shoulders collectively. We do have some big shoulders. Keep coming back okay. I care about you.

Hugs!

 

[Ian waxman]

@Ian waxman ....you have a lot of company. Many good people have fallen into addiction by using opiates, and it's not your fault or theirs. I think the problem comes usually because the dose stops working and so it is increased, and that is the deadly road. When I was taking tramadol, and they increased the dosage, and then that stopped being enough I stopped taking it entirely. I was afraid it would put me on that road. I think if a person is very careful with opiate medication it can be used responsibly by some people and it can help if a person has bad chronic pain and nothing else does the job. But unfortunately, no one knows when they start out if they are likely to become addicted to it or not, and it's almost certain to become addictive if a person increases the dosage over and over. In your case, they did that and then put you on an even more addictive drug --fentanyl -- and increased that as well, so it's no wonder that you got addicted. Again, not your fault.
I am so sorry you are in a worse place than where you started. I have hope for you that things will get better, and I want you to know that I am puling for you. Is there anything like an addiction center or clinic where you live where you might get some help with this?

I’m taking it day by day.i’m getting really bad body zaps and when I wake in the morning it feels like i’ve honestly done 10 rounds with Tyson.i’ve also started getting really bad restless legs again.i’ve just had a full blood count and other bloods for cholesterol and other things.i was diagnosed with lower lumber spondoloysis when i was 25.i think it’s all stemmed from there.i think just ripping the patch off has not been the best move.i’m well and truly sick of fentanyl.its hell.my docs just upped and upped my meds till i reached breaking point.plus tramadol plus diazepam.i just think it messes you bad mentally and physically.just want to put it out there so everybody knows just how bad opiate use is.thanx for the kind words i will see if there’s opiate addiction centres.i’ll ring the doc.keep battling on all

 

[JamieMarc]

@Ian waxman High five and hugs , Ian. You're smart, you're strong, you're perfect...you will get through this!

 

[Ian waxman]

@Ian waxman You are not responsible for your addiction. You are only responsible for your recovery. You did what you needed and felt you had to do at the time. Please remember that and take comfort in it.

I have been reading your posts about your journey to recovery and you're suffering, and it's something I know a little about because I was addicted to alcohol at one point in my life. My concern for you right now is that you do not take matters into your own hands, but rather work very very closely with your health care provider on getting you through this safely. And if you have no faith in your health care provider or they are not taking this seriously enough, please find help elsewhere.

I worry that without proper guidance you will inadvertently harm yourself or make matters even worse. I hope that you will accept what I have said constructively and with only your best interests in my heart.

In the meantime, I'm just really so glad that you come here to vent and lean on all of our shoulders collectively. We do have some big shoulders. Keep coming back okay. I care about you.

Hugs!

Thankyou so much for your kind words.i started with co codamol and ibuprofen,it eased the pain and headaches,chronic headaches.i should have thought there and then that the drugs are reacting but the pain got worse,spreading all over my body especially my back.went to the docs they did various tests and said you’ve got fybro i was shocked,never heard of it,I really was ignorant of what it really was,I kept working,I was a plasterer working myself and the pain increased so I went to the docs and asked them for stronger pain relief so they put me on tramadol,bad news the pain was getting unbearable,I was taking 10 tramadol a day,loads of ibuprofen,I was spiralling out of control so I went back to the docs and they put me on reletrans,kept working,ringing the docs to increase it,I ended up on 70mcg patches,they were burning my belly with me sweating so I went back to the docs and they said we will try you with fentanyl,I was telling them that reletrans wasn’t working started on the road to fentanyl.i also went to the pain clinic,they wanted me on duloxetine and I refused.bad move,I was saying I want to stay on fentanyl so the docs kept upping the fentanyl I was on 75mcg.hooked on that and tramadol,10 a day.the docs were giving it freely to keep me quiet.i switched to another doc who had knowledge of fybro.she said I’m stopping your tramadol and putting you on duloxetine and your gonna slowly reduce your patch.its absolute hell.body zaps,sick as a dog,stomach upset like you’ve never known.here I am a total wreck but I’m listening to the doc.30 years of wasted life with my wife and 3 kids.ruined my health and the rages I’ve had with taking the meds.i feel sick thinking of the mess i got myself in.pain took hold of me and wrecked me!keep battling on

 

[Roch123]

Has anyone w fibro used gummies for pain w success? If yes can u reveal which ones?

 

[Drummer76]

I done the injection and it worked for 1 week. That 1 week was amazing and I haven't been pain free since 2006. Unfortunately, it only worked for that 1 week and I'm scheduled for more in a different spot for February.
I manage my pain meds well. I get an extra bottle from the pharmacy and take 3 pills out per day and lock the rest in the safe. I do this because I forget and I'd take to many,which is unsafe. I do the same with my Klonopin and I've never ran out of either to early. I know it's very addictive and was on them 10 or so years ago and took myself off of them since I got addicted. I was addicted so badly that I really don't know how I didn't overdose at least 1 time.
Bad news about my dad,he passed away on Christmas Eve. It's been extremely rough since his passing and depression has been a huge problem. It will take me a long time to get through this. We watched football the Sunday before he passed and he was awake but wasn't able to talk. He was struggling to walk and his oxygen machine was set at 8 liters for 2 weeks before he left us. My mom is such a mess losing him. They were married for 55 years. His funeral was very nice and they made him look so peaceful. I miss him,but he's no longer suffering.
I'm in the process of making a shadow box of stuff he had of the Indianpolis Colts and my dog that he told everyone was his but she didn't like to stay there only visit. He loved that dog very much and I have several pictures of them together. I tried to give her to him when I first got her,but he said no and my mom told me after he passed that he regretted not taking her when I offered her to them and before she got attached to me. She's a 15 pound Chihuahua and they would fall asleep together in his chair. She misses him. When we go there,she looks all over the house for him. Thanks for letting me vent and rant. I do start therapy for my mental health in a few weeks. I think i really need it now.

 

[sunkacola]

Has anyone w fibro used gummies for pain w success? If yes can u reveal which ones?

Yes, many of us use cannabis gummies or tinctures. People report various results.....some say they do not help at all, but most will report that they are at least a little bit helpful.

It doesn't matter which brand you use, in my experience. Just get whatever is available to you at the dispensary you have in your area.

I do find that the most helpful gummies or tinctures are the ones that have not only THC but also CBD and CBG. That is only my experience, of course, and others may have different experiences to tell you.

 

[JamieMarc]

@Drummer76 I take pain medication and clonazepam as well.

With my pain med, I don't take the same amount every day or at the same time every day. I don't have them in my pill box to take on any set schedule, although I do take some everyday as needed. I keep a spreadsheet of how much I have and then enter how much I have taken that day so that I always know how much I have left. This is my safeguard so that I don't run out before I will be able to get a refill. Some days I will take three or four tablets another days I will need five. My pain management doctor said this is actually a good way to do it because the body is not expecting a dose at a specific time or a specific amount per day. She said that this can help to prevent building up tolerance.

As for my clonazepam (Klonopin), I take it exactly as prescribed, 1 mg three times a day. Although my doctor has given me permission to take an extra dose if I am facing a particularly difficult social anxiety or PTSD episode. However, that rarely happens. With my clonazepam I find that spacing each tablet equally among my waking hours works well for me. I take my first dose when I wake up, my second dose around noon and my final dose at 9:00 p.m.

I'm glad to hear that you are going into therapy. I have been in and out of therapy for decades, and I just started up again a couple months ago. I just felt that it was time for me to go back since I'm dealing with a lot of difficult issues in my life right now. Particularly with my social anxiety and PTSD. I hope that you have a good therapist and if you don't, be sure to fire them if you can and keep seeking for one that you like and that you are comfortable talking with. I am very fortunate to have a really wonderful therapist. After every session I leave feeling much better. I hope that you have the same positive experience with your own therapy.

Best of luck my friend. Be well.

 

[sunkacola]

I am about to start a medication that I have not tried yet. Honestly, I didn't think there was one I had not tried! I was referred to a pain specialist and I didn't know what to expect, because the last time I went to a pain clinic I was treated with no respect at all, and had the typically terrible experience that so many of us have had, of being treated like a drug seeker. (when in fact I am the farthest thing from that, as are most if not all of us!)

I am happy to say that my experience at this new clinic was entirely different. I was treated with respect and what I said was believed. The doc wants me to try a very small dose of "naltexone". (I know that I misspelled that word, there's an "r" in it. But we had a problem a while back with someone who was blanketing the forum with posts pushing that medication and we put a catch in the system so any post mentioning it would go to moderation, and I am deliberately misspelling it to avoid that.)

To be honest, I don't have a great deal of hope, because nothing else has worked for me for the long term except tramadol. But if it did work for me that would be great, as I would then not be needing to ask for an opiate medication. I don't know if any of you here now have had experience with this but if you have, I would be interested to know what you experienced. (Just be careful how you write about it so that it doesn't get caught in the system. )

 

[Drummer76]

I am about to start a medication that I have not tried yet. Honestly, I didn't think there was one I had not tried! I was referred to a pain specialist and I didn't know what to expect, because the last time I went to a pain clinic I was treated with no respect at all, and had the typically terrible experience that so many of us have had, of being treated like a drug seeker. (when in fact I am the farthest thing from that, as are most if not all of us!)

I am happy to say that my experience at this new clinic was entirely different. I was treated with respect and what I said was believed. The doc wants me to try a very small dose of "naltexone". (I know that I misspelled that word, there's an "r" in it. But we had a problem a while back with someone who was blanketing the forum with posts pushing that medication and we put a catch in the system so any post mentioning it would go to moderation, and I am deliberately misspelling it to avoid that.)

To be honest, I don't have a great deal of hope, because nothing else has worked for me for the long term except tramadol. But if it did work for me that would be great, as I would then not be needing to ask for an opiate medication. I don't know if any of you here now have had experience with this but if you have, I would be interested to know what you experienced. (Just be careful how you write about it so that it doesn't get caught in the system. )

My daughter tried it and she said it didn't make a difference to her,even when they upped they dose it made no difference, but we all are different and it might work for you.
I know how pain mangemnet doctors are. There a 2 in town I refuse to see since they treated me horribly. I have the bulging disc and narrowing issue and have done physical therapy that was doing nothing. All the years I suffered because no MRI was done,only x-rays that didn't see the problem. I think if it was caught sooner,not 19 years later,I would of had a better chance of physical therapy helping. I have done the injections that didn't work for me so I am doing more in February in a different spot in my back.
I control what I take and am given 3 5mg percocets a day. I space them out and try not to use any,but some days it's rough. I asked the pharmacy for a second empty bottle so I take 3 out each day and the rest are locked in the safe. It helps me keep track of what I use and I never run out that way.

 

[sunkacola]

@Drummer76 that seems like a good system to have, to regulate your intake of medication. I'm sorry that things were handled so badly for you and the problem in your back went undiagnosed for so long. That kind of thing happens all too often, I think.

 

[Drummer76]

I think it does also. A friend of mine is having the same issue with not getting a proper diagnosis. I told him where he needed to go so he wouldn't have to suffer any longer.

 

[JamieMarc]

@sunkacola I hope it helps, and I am very interested to hear in the future your feedback on it. I have not tried that either.