[Sugah]

My pain tolerance got better the longer I was off opiates. When I was taking the pills, I didn't stop to assess the level of pain. Why, if I could just pop a pill (or a dozen). When asked by the doctor to rate it, 1-10, I was always assigning a score it the upper regions. These days, the pain I would have rated as a 9 or 10 I now give a 4 or 5, and I can work through pain like that. When I get to a true 9 or 10, I take a break. Perhaps, with your busy schedule, you don't see that as an option.

As for your withdrawal being easy this time -- I don't have an explanation for it, except, well, maybe you're getting a pass this time? My withdrawal seemed to worsen each time I went through it (usually because I ran out, not because I wanted to quit -- only the last time did I seriously consider that I might be better off without it). You might do well to treat it as a gift and take the time now to talk to your doctor about alternatives to opiates.

I couldn't tell you how long it took my pain tolerance to increase. I can tell you it greatly increased at three months after an accident, and I did have to take opiates at that point -- but without relapse. I had a treatment plan in place, a sponsor, meetings, a trusted person to monitor what I took, and in three weeks, I was off of them, never having taken more than I needed or more than was prescribed. The standard course of pain meds for someone with my injury was 6+ weeks. I wasn't willing to give my life back to the pills, so I got off early and toughed it out.

Meetings last between an hour and an hour and a half (NA meetings are more likely than AA meetings to be 90 minutes). In San Diego, you should be able to find them just about anytime between 6am and midnight -- and even if it's just a few times to determine if you belong there, it'd be time well spent. I urge you to consider squeezing it into your schedule.

I'll put in a good word for you in my prayers, and I'm glad to hear you're doing so well after three days.

Peace & Love,
Sugah