nacona

I have a disc in my lower back that is nearly flat. The neurosurgeon said surgery would be a 50/50 deal so I opted out of it.

I was moving stuff around my house last night and my back went out. It took me at least 5 minutes to get from my bedroom to the bathroom. My legs felt like they were going to buckle.

I have a dr's appt today for another reason but I am scared that I might get pills for my back. If I take pills then it's on.....my history is that I will then do it all.....any drug I can get my hands on and of course alcohol.

WHAT do we do in situations like this? My body is shaking and I don't know if it's due to fear or excitement.....

I was on the second level of my house and there was no way I could get up or down stairs.....I thought about calling 911 cuz I felt so stuck - couldn't move up, down, forward, back...nothing.

Today it feels better, but the idea of drugs is in my head and it scares me.

ZZworldontheweb

You have a choice sister. Be honest with your doctor and come up with a plan together. Just because you get a prescription there's no reason you have to abuse it.

When you are actively drinking, it can be very hard to stop, but once you're sober, resuming again is a choice, it's not a foregone conclusion in any situation. Be strong. Trust your higher power, get to a meeting and call some people.

tsmba

Sobriety won't (unfortunately) immunize you from pain. Be honest with your doc about your concerns, and follow directions!

rws177

I went to a meeting once where this issue came up and the one person gave there pills to another person in AA to regulate how much they could have....Not sure all the exact details.... Maybe a family memeber can hold on to them and give you 2-4 a day as needed.

bellakeller

I have the same issues! Weird. Anyway, it helps if you can ask someone to stay with you for a few days or if you can ask someone to come by to give you your meds. They can keep them so you don't have to mess with it until you need the next pill. It takes obsessing off the table if the pills are in somebody else's possession.

I hate this for you. Back pain suck suck sucks.....

Hang in there.

nacona

I would LOVE to be able to follow directions. I honestly have never even tried it in the past. I have just done what I wanted to do.

I will tell the doctor first thing about my addictions and then we can go from there.

"Maybe a family memeber can hold on to them and give you 2-4 a day as needed"

I will do that - If the dr thinks that I will benefit from them. (still not sure if that is my sick head saying this or not)

nacona

What are you doing for your back pain Bella? Have you ever had issues with pain meds in the past?

bellakeller

The pain itself got so much better when I quit drinking because drinking messes with your nervous system and that was really the origin of my pain.

The trouble I had with pain pills was that every time I took them, it made me vulnerable to drinking - I lost any sort of judgment. So it was a gateway for me.

My husband has my pain pills but I haven't had to use them for about a year and a half now. I sort of live with and through the pain, use ibuprophen when needed and ice packs/ heat, stretching, chiropractic when desperate. That sort of thing.

Anything to avoid the pain meds. I hate those damn things. I'd rather be in pain but that's just me.

nacona

Wow - that is the opposite of me. I LOVE the energy I get from pain pills.

I started reading AA literature (started out with the pamphlet about sponsorship) and I got excited to be a part of a group of people recovering and I realised that if I do "go out", not only do I lose my precious 91 days, who knows if I will EVER make it back. Last time was touch and go - it took me 15 MORE months of drinking and using before I had had enough.

I have also been praying a lot this morning. I am leaving in an hour to go to the dr and will do ONLY 2 things. Pray and be honest. I think I can do those two things for now. Oh and REALLY try not to manipulate (I guess that's part of being honest.)

Fandy

i hope you can find some way to get physical relief from the back pain, maybe through extensive physical therapy and moist heat to manipulate your back into place.

BullDog777

Nacona,

I broke my back years ago, and i got hooked on painkillers too.

to this day, it can be hard to stand if i over do my physical activity the day before.

during my recovery, someone recommended this heating pad to me:

Amazon.com: Thermophore Moist Heating Pad Size: Standard: Health & Personal Care

it's unlike ANY heating pad on the market. it'll get way hotter than anything you can imagine. it is the only thing that exists that can alieveate my back pain.

seriously...10 minutes on this is better than a stomach full of Oxy's. I had mine next day shipped, and now i have one in every room of the house.

in my opinion, it was made by the angels of sobriety because it's the only non-drug that can take away my pain some days.

it's pricey, but IT WILL WORK!

nacona

Thank you Bulldog - I will order it now.....I can't believe I have never heard of it. I have had back problems since a sledding accident when I was 19 and no doctor has ever mentioned it - it was always pills, pills and more pills until I started taking them for the effect and not the pain-relieving abilities. (oh and....I don't blame the doctors at all - I learned early on that I liked the drug, so I would lie to the doctor to get what I wanted.)

I'm on my way to the dr's - it's an hour drive, so I will have that long to pray and get help from a higher source.....driving is a scarey time as I am not online reading recovery stuff nor am I texting and then the sick part of my brain will take over and say something like....New Year's Day would be a good sobriety date.....or you have two weeks off from work, take the drug and get your house in order during these two weeks....or you NEED these pills....yikes

Fandy

thanks for posting this link Bulldog...(I am suffering from a round of sciatica this week...even looking at the BackTo Life gizmo available at BBB)

BullDog777

if doctors prescribed this heating pad, the pharmacies would be out of business. i swear by these. for the life of me i can't remember who told me about them, but after i took it to my physical therapist, she made it apart of her at home therapy for alot of her patients.

i remember laying on it for the first time...i had chronic pain for weeks and i was sleepless, and hopeless....10 minutes on that, my wife found me sobbing tears of joy.

i also used to teach martial arts and i still tell old students of mine whom i'm still in touch with to get these when they pull muscles and have grappling pain.

i can't say enough good things about them.

LaFemme

Thanks for the inch on the heating pads....my Mom has bad RA and Darvocet has been taken off the market so I hope this helps her.

Nacona, what about accupuncture? It has been proven to help with pain. My sisters ex was a neurosurgeon who specialized in helping addicted vets deal with pain...accupuncture was something he really believed in.

Xoxo, LaFemme

CarolD

Ouch....gentle
Sorry to know of this situation.

laurie6781

I am sorry for your problems. I have read all the responses. I have lived with chronic pain from Osteo Arthritis for years now. It is hereditary in my family. From the OA I have lived with the 4 lower disks in my back slowly denigrating for about the last 10 years (also heredity from the OA) so ...................... I KNOW what CHRONIC PAIN is.

First be very honest with your current Dr. Then ask about seeing 1 or preferrably 2 Orthopedic Doctors/Surgeons and a NEUROLOGIST.

Ask them about ALL solutions, be it surgery, pain medication, heating pads, Tens Units, physical therapy, etc There are solutions out there for most of us. Please remember, pain medications DO NOT REMOVE ALL PAIN, they are designed to bring the pain level DOWN to a tolerable level (ie one where we can still function although in pain).

BTW I did have to have some major surgery to correct some damage from an accident in fairly early recovery. My Dr was aware of my propensity for alcohol and drugs but insisted on prescribing some 'heavy duty' pain meds, which I promptly gave to my sponsor who was willing to dispense them as prescribed to me.

One of the neat things I found in sobriety is the clear headed decisions I can make and have made for over 29 1/2 years now. You can do this.

Not sure what area of CA (I found recovery in the San Fernando Vally) you live in but there are numerous 'pain clinics' throughout the state that have and use alternatives to medications and narcotic medications. You might want to start checking some of them out also.

J M H O

Love and hugs,

Dee74

Laurie pretty much nailed it for me.
Be totally honest with your Dr and go through the full range of options open to you.

I've had back pain for many many years due in my case to my disability - personally, I find a little physical rehab and a microwavable heat bag do more for me than painkillers ever did

D

Fandy

i have found my current heating pad I stowed away in the linen closet....it will at least loosen up the tightness I feel tonight...

when my lower back hurt, i would compare it to walking around with "a bag of ground glass" in my body....

artsoul

Sooooo sorry to hear, nacona - I have "episodes" (Osteoarthritis and degenerative discs) and they're incapacitating......have to spend a week or two in bed. My back went out last Christmas eve (I had 10 people coming for dinner the next day!)

My episodes seem to be related to inflamation (overdoing it one day and then it hits the next day....) What helped me most was when my doctor prescribed anti-inflamatory stuff (muscle relaxants/steriods).

I've done Chiropractic, which used to help before the arthritis got bad. I really like the idea of accupunture and I'm going to look into that heating pad, too.

Have you had an MRI?