Fibromyalgia?

[johnsalmon]

being addicted to anything

been addicted to caffeine for most of my life. sit down and think of what apart from your medication you have become addicted to over your life.

my essential tremor medication is addictive even though it is not opioid I will be on that for the rest of my life. my definition of addiction is where one tablet is no longer enough you want two then two is no longer enough you want three and on and on. With my spinal problems I have been on some strong opioids over the years from Fortral, Tramadol ,codeine etc - these are highly addictive if you let them be but used correctly they treat pain. If you use them like aspro then yep you will most likely be addicted or dead. All medications have side effects check out the side effects of aspro !

"Why would anyone want to spend the last few years of their life on a drug that they may be addicted to" - simple quality of life - no pain no uncontrolled shaking etc etc

however you consider that using a medication that may be addictive will make you addicted - not always true depends how you manage it.

when you get to your senior years you tend to have a different outlook

 

[0716]

Well, this took a turn! Thanks to all who actually answered what I was asking…. Turning off alerts on this post now.

 

[JayCS]

TLDR: is it fibromyalgia or something else? /
Well, this took a turn! Thanks to all who actually answered what I was asking…. Turning off alerts on this post now.

In case you missed it: From the scant info we can't know if it's fibro, but it's probably also something else...
Threads taking a turn is a much-loved "vice" here, but
interest in our actual answers will easily keep us on track or at least turn us back.

 

[sunkacola]

been addicted to caffeine for most of my life. sit down and think of what apart from your medication you have become addicted to over your life.

my essential tremor medication is addictive even though it is not opioid I will be on that for the rest of my life. my definition of addiction is where one tablet is no longer enough you want two then two is no longer enough you want three and on and on. With my spinal problems I have been on some strong opioids over the years from Fortral, Tramadol ,codeine etc - these are highly addictive if you let them be but used correctly they treat pain. If you use them like aspro then yep you will most likely be addicted or dead. All medications have side effects check out the side effects of aspro !

"Why would anyone want to spend the last few years of their life on a drug that they may be addicted to" - simple quality of life - no pain no uncontrolled shaking etc etc

however you consider that using a medication that may be addictive will make you addicted - not always true depends how you manage it.

when you get to your senior years you tend to have a different outlook

I get your points, johnsalmon, but I personally am not addicted to anything, drug or otherwise.

If a person truly needs a medication, cannot function well enough without it (like your tremor medication) then taking it and accepting the addiction (if such is present) is entirely reasonable.

you consider that using a medication that may be addictive will make you addicted

It is understandable that you, pretty new to the forum, might make that assumption. But just to clarify - I have written that I know it is possible to take Tramadol, oxycodone, or other opiate medications on occasion or as needed and not be addicted to them. I do that myself. It is entirely possible to manage it well. Just not if you take it daily and, as you say, need to take more and more to get the effect you want. You are completely correct about that.

What I try to do is encourage people not to go there when they are first diagnosed, but rather to try the many things there are that can help to manage fibromyalgia that are not medication-based.

My own journey started out with opiate medication, and I took it because that is what the doctor said I should do. After a few years of that, and realizing that 1) nothing was improving, in fact my pain and disability was worse, and 2) I had had to increase the dosage once to get relief and it was again not working well enough, I decided to try to find other things that would help instead.

That is what led me to the exploration of all of the many things a person can do for him or herself that will change the experience of fibro for the better without depending on drugs, or at least not depending entirely on drugs to do it.

These days I encourage newcomers to go in that direction first, rather than using drugs first. I do this because if I had had that advice and had done so, I would have better relief from the pain and a much easier time physically, mentally, and emotionally dealing with and managing this syndrome at least 3 years earlier than I did.

I indicated that I don't understand why someone would choose to be addicted to a drug for the last years of their life, but that doesn't mean it cannot make sense for some people, as you have so well noted above for yourself.

Each person must choose what is truly best for them. I just like to encourage folks to realize that this really is a choice, and mindfulness in making that choice with knowledge of the alternatives that may exist, is always beneficial.

As for being in "senior years".....Being of any particular age doesn't tell you much about how that person thinks or what their perspective is on things. While a lot of people change certain perspectives with age, others don't change at all. It's not something one can predict.

 

[johnsalmon]

one needs to understand that addiction is not dependency -
Medication tolerance is when your body gets used to a drug’s effect, meaning you need higher doses this can happen with a range of drugs and can be normal depending on the drug and the condition
. Dependence is when your body is so used to a drug that you develop unpleasant or dangerous symptoms if you go too long without taking the drug again this can happen with a wide range of medications and should point to a need to seek a different medication

. Addiction is a mental health condition where dependence disrupts your life, where you are compulsively seeking and using the drug despite adverse consequences. Here the drug has nothing to do with the medical condition any more the drug becomes the most important thing. Here you need quick and expert help.

I simply have a condition that if I stop medication my ET becomes uncontrollable and if I stop my Fibromyalgia medication I end up with extreme pain both of these drugs are classed as addictive especially the ET medication. I take them because they produce a quality of living not because I am addicted to them. If they no longer stopped the tremors and no longer stopped the pain then I and my doctors would seek another medication

In my early day with the spinal problems I had I would use Codeine or stronger to stop the pain I was not addicted to them I was addicted to the fact that the pain stopped once it stopped I had no need for Codeine etc

It is true that there may be non drug paths to follow that give the same quality of living to a person and if so good on you follow that path while it works. But if a Doctor has prescribed a medication then don't just stop it or stop and start it you could be doing more harm then your original medication condition.

 

[johnsalmon]

opiate medication

opiate medication I do not believe will have any lasting effect on fibromyalgia pain - good for spinal pain but each pain is different in its cause and action

 

[sunkacola]

one needs to understand that addiction is not dependency -
Medication tolerance is when your body gets used to a drug’s effect, meaning you need higher doses this can happen with a range of drugs and can be normal depending on the drug and the condition

True, to some degree.
For instance, if you have diabetes you are dependent on insulin and that is not an addiction, but it is a physical dependency. A person with diabetes is dependent on insulin in order to stay alive. And there's no problem with that of course, including if you need to increase the dosage or delivery system.

. Dependence is when your body is so used to a drug that you develop unpleasant or dangerous symptoms if you go too long without taking the drug again this can happen with a wide range of medications and should point to a need to seek a different medication

In the case of a body needing and being dependent on a medication such as heart medication or insulin or many others, developing dangerous symptoms if without the drug doesn't point to a need to change medications. It simply means that the body cannot live or function without the needed medication.

. Addiction is a mental health condition where dependence disrupts your life, where you are compulsively seeking and using the drug despite adverse consequences. Here the drug has nothing to do with the medical condition any more the drug becomes the most important thing. Here you need quick and expert help.

Addiction is definitely a mental health issue but is also a physical condition. If it were not, then recovery from addiction would only involve the mind, and there'd be no need for medical supervision, hospitalization, methadone clinics, and so on. The body can become addicted to a drug ( including alcohol of course) and withdrawal can be very dangerous. If withdrawal from it is too severe the withdrawal itself can kill a person. Were addiction purely mental, this would not be the case.

The drug may still have to do with a medical condition if it is pain medication, and the person has taken more and more to deal with the pain, but you are correct that the addiction itself is separate from the need for pain medication.

if a Doctor has prescribed a medication then don't just stop it or stop and start it you could be doing more harm then your original medication condition.

I agree completely. A person shouldn't mess with medication without discussing it with a doctor, and I always suggest to people that they discuss and review their medication with a doctor before changing things.

However, I did not. I simply started doing other things while still taking the pain medication as prescribed.
I think this is the best way to go about it, and it is what I recommend.

The more I worked with my diet and exercise and mental attitude and activities and stress levels and so on, the less I seemed to need the medication. So, rather than waking up and taking a pill and waiting for it to take effect before getting out of bed, I simply got up and started my day and did not take the pain medication until/unless I needed it. Some days, especially at the beginning when I was still experimenting, I took the full amount, but increasingly on other days I would find I only needed half the prescribed amount, or none at all. When I reported this to my doctor he was fully supportive of what I was doing.

Over a couple of years or so this eventually transformed into not needing to take it at all on most days. Currently I take medication only when other things are not working and the pain is too intense for me to just deal with it. And I have a variety of ways of dealing with the pain with medication, including medical marijuana and tramadol and muscle relaxers combined with advil and so on, so I am not always taking the same pain relief medication even when I do. This works for me, and seems wise, and is another thing I advocate. But as always, mileage will vary.

If all of my days were like those few days I have each month when I really need to take something to avoid just spending the whole day doing nothing but enduring serious pain then I would probably take the pain medication more regularly. As you say, quality of life is important. And only you know what you are going through, what you can handle, what you need to do in your days and what you need in order to live a reasonably good quality of life.