Pain pumps

[cassandra2]

I have a question about pain pumps. My RAB is recovering from oxy's and percs. He injured his back in 06 and had a L5 S1 fusion. Because his accident was work related he had to fight for over a year to get the surgery. But by that time the pills had taken hold and he was snorting the oxy's on a regular basis.

3 months into recovery he is still in ALOT of pain. He is fighting each day not to break down and get the pain pills. He started excersising and swimming and has had some relief but the leg pain and the shooting pain are pretty constant.

Anyway I was reading through here and noticed a thread about pain pumps but didnt really get alot of info.

He had a pain pump right after surgery that went directly into his back. This was heaven sent for him. He could get up and do the therapy and was quickly released from the hospital.

SO my question is being in recovery can he get a pain pump?

It was my understanding that since the meds are delievered to the affected area the same "high" is not received if you were taking the meds orally.

The pain management doc he was seeing abruptly told him that since he was an addict that he could no longer help him. He is setting up an appointment with another pm doc.

I read here I think it was by Sugah that if you dont treat the pain then they will start treating it themselves. I think this is his biggest fear right now.

Any thoughts or anything that some others have tried and it worked would be appreciated.

[DesertEyes]

Hello Cassandra, and pleased to "meet" you

Originally Posted by cassandra2

...SO my question is being in recovery can he get a pain pump?....

Recovery is about _actions_ and pain pumps are about health. The way to "measure" if a person is in recovery is to look at their _actions_. Only their actions. If they are living an honest, dignified life that you can see as the kind of man you would want your children to grow up to be then that _is_ recovery. What medications he takes or does not take has nothing to do with it.

There's a lot of people in the halls of recovery who have not had a drink or drug for _decades_. They have also remained the same offensive, abusive, temperamental, immature losers they were when they were drunk and loaded. Just from looking at them, you really can't tell if they're drugging or not.

A person in recovery, you _know_ their mind is sharp and their soul is clear, with just a few minutes conversation.

Originally Posted by cassandra2

...The pain management doc he was seeing abruptly told him that since he was an addict that he could no longer help him. He is setting up an appointment with another pm doc.....

Some docs are like that. He needs to find a doc that is _both_ experienced with treating addiction as well as pain management.

Am I making sense?

Mike

[Sugah]

Yes--I said that I was cautioned by docs that if I didn't allow them to help with my pain, I would be driven to take care of it myself. That was for an acute injury, not chronic pain. I crushed my lower leg and have additional pain conditions that made it inhuman to consider trying to tough it out without some type of (short-term) medication.

I would urge him caution in considering this option. Even if he doesn't feel high from the drug, it doesn't mean that something in his body won't "remember" and begin craving. It's been a few years (2001) since I had the pump, but I do remember not feeling "satisfied" with the dose it delivered.

I don't know how much the technology has improved, though I can tell you I had to have mine removed because of a life-threatening leak.

Is this the post you saw?

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ml#post1802257 (Morphine Pump for Chronic Pain; My Decision.)

I have a plethora of chronic pain issues (degenerative discs, RA, FMS, RSD, and others that would be overkill to list), and I don't chemically medicate the pain. Relaxation techniques, meditation, a good mattress, good diet, sleep, a healthy spiritual life--these help to ease the pain and make what's left tolerable.

Peace & Love,
Sugah
(who's off to get some of that sleep)

Peace & Love,
Sugah

[cassandra2]

Thank you desert eyes and sugah.

I still have been looking into the pain pump and trying to educate myself about this. I havent been able to find whether or not it does give you the high or not.

Sugah you said it could trigger the craving. I guess I dont understand that.

And if that is so then how really could recovery and health issue be seperate as you were trying to point out desert?

He is going to see a new PM doc and hopefully they will be able to help him better then the one he went to. We have also looked at spinal stimulator and not sure which route would be better to go with. Its my understanding that they do alot of pysch testing before they will even consider giving you a pump. So I am sure that if he goes in and admits he is an opiate addict that will probably nix him from the pump right away.

That is something else he is struggling with. He went into the PM doc and was up front and honest about his addiction and the doc told him he couldnt help him. I was appalled that a doctor would treat someone that way. Its like telling an AIDS patient that you dont agree with how they got infected so therefore you cant treat them.....

Makes me angry because its responses like that that would cause one to rethink being honest and trying to receive help for the pain.

[DesertEyes]

Originally Posted by cassandra2

... Sugah you said it could trigger the craving.... And if that is so then how really could recovery and health issue be seperate as you were trying to point out desert?....

A "craving" is a whole different issue from actively drinking or using. All kinds of things can cause a craving; stress at work, a divorce, financial problems, or sometimes just driving by a bar. The whole point to meetings, sponsors, books, and all that jazz is to have something to turn to _instead_ of the drugs and booze.

I've had all of the above problems, and I have _craved_ the old feelings of booze and drugs. But instead I turned to my "tools" of recovery and did not relapse. Today I take a variety of medications that keep my heart pumping, and I am involved in my program every day. Someday I expect I will get a craving from the meds, and I am prepared to run to my sponsor and meetings when that happens.

Cravings are a fact of life for most addicts/alkies, regardles of medical problems.

Originally Posted by cassandra2

... I was appalled that a doctor would treat someone that way. Its like telling an AIDS patient....

Yup, the world is full of idiots.

Originally Posted by cassandra2

... its responses like that that would cause one to rethink being honest and trying to receive help for the pain.....

well.... pardon me for disagreeing on that one detail. As a person in recovery, _honesty_ is something I cannot afford to ignore. Lack of honesty is one of the "character defects" that kept me drunk. If I want to stay clean and sober, I _must_ stay honest. Even if it means doctor shopping until I find one that has a clue.

Mike

[Sugah]

Wow. This is digressive, but I have to comment. This is a lesson for those of us with chronic pain: I see my post was made at 12:51am, my time. I got up at 6:30am yesterday morning, drove two hours, unloaded my car, drove to campus, met with my son, held seven student conferences, ate a horrible fast-food dinner, sat through a three hour class, stopped at the pharmacy on the way home (for soda, shampoo, soap--not for drugs ), got home & called my husband, read an article for class, and was still awake and posting at nearly 1am.

I was so tired, it didn't register that you and I "know" each other. I signed my post twice.

I had two commitments today, and I was only able to keep one of them because of my stupidity in over-extending yesterday. I thought about how nice it would have been to be medicated--not to get high, but just to be able to move without wanting to cry or puke.

I guess it wasn't so digressive. Living with chronic pain without chemicals is possible, but, at least for this chica, it requires some knowledge about limitations as well as some humility to counteract stubbornness.

Peace & Love,
Sugah

[DesertEyes]

Originally Posted by Sugah

...Living with chronic pain without chemicals is possible, but, at least for this chica, it requires some knowledge about limitations as well as some humility to counteract stubbornness....

That is so true. I do exactly the same thing, although at a much smaller scale. Overdo in the morning, crash in the evening and then feel terrible for several days.

I've heard, in my various 12 step meetings, about something called "balance". On those days when I force myself to live within my limitations, I make it thru the whole day. And the whole week. I guess that's what "balance" is all about.

Mike

[Freedom1990]

Originally Posted by Sugah

Living with chronic pain without chemicals is possible, but, at least for this chica, it requires some knowledge about limitations as well as some humility to counteract stubbornness.

Amen to that! I've found by finally accepting my limitations, I can effectively manage a lot of my pain without medications.

[lizw]

For myself I take pain medication for fibro and have done for the last two years. I have never been tempted to abuse it. If anything I have thought of taking an overdose and killing myself or selling it. That's how my mind works anyhow and I will be 11 years clean and sober this year.

Personally I think there is middle ground between the black and white hardlines of 'take it' or 'don't take it' and that each person has to work out what this is for themselves. Trial and error.

The idea that if a person with addiction issues will become a raving pill popper overnight by taking pain medication, while common, I don't think is true as that is still buying into the belief the problem is 'outside ourselves' and lies in people, places and things which goes against what we learn in recovery, that being it's an inside job.

But in saying all that part of trial and error is being sensible and if a doc offers medication, one has had issues with in the past, it would be wise not to take it and seek an alternative.

[Frog_2hop]

For what it is worth, my XH got a pain pump implanted about three years ago. The intent was to allow him to have the relief needed for some very real and very significant injuries that cause chronic pain....without the 'high'....hoping to allow him a 'chance' to deal with the addiction issues that have now become the primary issue. Although I still believe it was a good plan, it didn't work. With a pump you still occasionally need break through meds....his break through meds are constant and the pump levels have been increased to almost max in just the short time he has had it (in addition to the orals he takes every 4 hours). My 'non-medical' understanding of the 'craving' part is that the part of the brain that is impacted by the addiction, is still tickled by the small amount that it gets through the pump, causing it to never be able to 'kick' the craving....therefore the pump, although not providing the 'high', continues to provide the 'trigger'. Kinda like picking at a scab in the brain, and never letting it heal.

[Freedom1990]

Originally Posted by Sugah

I have a plethora of chronic pain issues (degenerative discs, RA, FMS, RSD, and others that would be overkill to list), and I don't chemically medicate the pain. Relaxation techniques, meditation, a good mattress, good diet, sleep, a healthy spiritual life--these help to ease the pain and make what's left tolerable.

I don't have nearly as many health issues as Sugah, but I do have chronic pain from degenerative disc disease/sciatica.

I completely agree with Sugah on the above mentioned techniques. I also see a pain management specialist for injections into my tailbone area every 6 months or so, and that knocks out the sciatica (the burning pain down into my legs). I'm never completely pain free (still have lower back pain), but it's certainly managable through several areas, including recognizing my physical limitations, using an orthopedic cushion to sit on when I am at my computer, etc.