[namommy]

Billy,
Welcome to SR. I can certainly relate to some of your story. Although my issue is not life threatening, the pain I am in can be unbearable some days.

When I first got clean, I had a sponsor who, God Bless her soul, also had issues with mental and physical health and had to take medication. Some of her medications were narcotics. She was a very well respected person in NA. When she passed away, she had 17 years clean. She died of lung cancer.

Anyway, when I started having problems, I was very confused about what I should do. The first thing she suggested was to get the booklet "Illness in Recovery" which you can ask for at just about any NA meeting, or go on the NA web-site and purchase it from there. It is great for information on how to deal with medical problems and medications in recovery.

Next, she told me "We came into recovery to STOP suffering." There is no need for any of us to play the martyr.

She told me to be absolutely honest with ALL of my doctors. Make sure that they are aware of the fact that I am a recovering addict and demand to try non-narcotic options. If, for whatever reason, non-narcotic options don't work for you (make sure you exhaust ALL non-narcotic options first), then you have no other choice but to try a narcotic. If this is the case, there are a few things you need to do to avoid relapse. Make sure to do some soul searching, and be absolutely honest with yourself and your doctors about your pain level. Sometimes our disease can convince us that we are in more pain than we actually are. Next, make sure you take your medications EXACTLY as prescribed. Set a schedule for yourself for daily medications. I find using a medicine case that not only has the days of the week, but it also has 4 block for each day. This way I can seperate my medications for the day. This helps me to avoid the temptation of taking any extra meds. If I don't see all the pills in the bottle, and I only take what is in my case, I am fine. Make sure you have a support network who is aware of what you are taking, and how often you take it, so they can help you stay on track. If you need to, give your narcotics to someone else to distribute to you. Be sure to find someone you can trust who will not be tempted to take the medications themself.

In the Basic Text of NA, it states that we leave certain problems in the hands of professionals. We leave legal problems in the hands of lawyers, and medical problems in the hands of our doctors. This is important to remember, because you may come across people in recovery who will try to tell you what you can and cannot take while in recovery. Keep in mind, that these people are not doctors, if they happen to be a doctor who is in recovery, they are not YOUR doctor. I have seen too many times, someone tell another addict that they should stop taking certain medications only for that person to end up seriously ill, and in some cases, dead. I have been to funerals of addicts who stopped taking their meds at the advice of another addict, only to end up committing suicide.

You, and only you, know the level of pain you are in. Your doctors know what problems you have and the pain that comes from them. Be honest with your physicians, be honest with yourself, and do whatever works for you.

I will keep you in my prayers.
Soft Hugs.
Laurie