digdug

So I will be having some major surgery soon and a long, painful rehab process.

I am an alcoholic through and through, but I am also a drug addict, even though I haven't touched a drug in ages.

Throughout my life, I have been able to take opiate pain medication as prescribed when I truly needed it (surgery, painful injuries etc.), and never to the point of withdrawal.

But this was before my alcoholism was in full bloom. I am honestly scared to have that feeling of inebriation again. I am afraid that it will set something off in my brain that says, "hey, I remember what it feels like to be in an altered state. This isn't so bad. It's actually kinda nice."

I have grown so accustomed to sobriety and I don't want to feel any different. But I know I will need the meds to recovery and rehab.

I am trying to come up with a plan with my doctor, sponsor and family on how to deal with this. Suggestions have been made to maybe have a family member dispense the medication so that I will not have personal access.

Has any other alcoholic had to deal with pain management because of surgery or other illness in which it was absolutely necessary to take opiates for pain relief? How did you manage without threatening your sobriety? My doctor says it will be impossible to handle the pain without the meds.

I am scared of relapsing.

Dee74

I have chronic pain issues.

Mostly I manage it through non med means but I do take some pain killers sometimes.

It's never affected me in the way that alcohol did, but then I'm not the guy I used to be - my priorities have changed massively.

Myself and my Dr also did a lot of research

There are a variety of approaches around - noone should have to live in pain.

Be scrupulously, bluntly honest with your Dr - if your Dr doesn't seem to know much about addiction issues, find another one.

I know you were saying these surgeries aren't imminent - that's good - it not only gives you time to change and grow in your recovery too, but it also gives you time to get all this stuff right

D

longbeachone

I have Reflexive Systemic Dystrophy, a very painful chronic condition. I am not a drug addict, but I could see how some of the narcotic drugs could be difficult to take responsibly. I found that fentanyl patches work without any of the "high" feelings that drugs like oxycontin give you. I've used them as prescribed for years now, without having to increase dosages too many times. This is just my own personal experience. Talk with you Doctor. Good luck!

robgt350

alot of the time i went through pain as long as possible without medications (narcotics). i try non-medicaitons such as hot showers, stretching, hobbies ect ect. to relieve the pain before i take narcotic pain medication.

PhaseTwo

I know personally when I had ankle surgery that the hydrocodone didn't give me a high just sort of masked the pain. I've taken them before just for recreation so I know the difference. I think if used as prescribed when you are in actual pain these drugs are ok. obviously speak with your doctor.

Alysheba

Good luck DD. I hope this goes well for you. It can be a challenge.

john44

Hi digdug, I just went through this concern.

I had surgery on Monday, nothing real terrible...a basal cell carcinoma removed from my nose. It was two procedures, at different doctor's offices in the same day. It was exhausting and not a little stressful.

Anyway, everything went well and the doctor prescribed 5mg Percocet for pain. Now, I've never had a problem with drugs (except alcohol) and have taken opiates a few times before as prescribed without any problems. Now honestly, I can't say I've ever really liked the feeling I get from opiates but they do relieve pain. I can't take NSAIDS like Naproxin, Ibuprofen, etc. because I'm on Plavix and Tylenol does absolutely nothing for me.

So, I think, speaking for myself, that pain medication used when necessary, judiciously and as prescribed is ok. However, if you feel yourself taking them for the high, perhaps look into alternatives.

I wish you the best with your surgery, you will be in my prayers.

As a side note, today is my last day taking the medication. Thank God! I honestly don't understand how people like this stuff.

nandm

At 6 months of sobriety I had a major motor vehicle accident which left me with multiple broken bones in several places on my body. The multiple fractures to my thigh caused the doctors to have to do surgery to insert a metal rod into it. I also had a severe laceration that required surgical debridement. They put me on a morphine drip after surgery and wanted me to be on it for the first 4 to 5 days. I was so afraid that taking pain medications would affect my sobriety that I demanded they remove the morphine drip after just one day. My refusal to take pain meds until the pain was unbearable caused my body to take much longer to heal. There have been multiple studies that have shown that when pain is not managed properly the body does not heal as effectively. Fortunately for me I had a coworker who sat with me for a day to try and figure out why I was not recovering. What she saw was that I was not asking for pain medications even though I was clearly in severe pain. She pointed this out to my doctor and they both discussed with me the fact that my body needed pain relief to heal. I agreed to allow them to put me on a daily narcotic pain reliever and an as needed pain medication. Once that was done I started to make more progress. I wound up a month in the hospital and it took me nearly a year to get back on my feet after the accident. After 3 months of the daily pain reliever I decided that I could manage the pain with Ibuprofen and the as needed pain reliever. I did not discuss this with my doctor I just quit taking the medication. This is not something I would recommend anyone do. By that time my body was physically addicted to the medication but fortunately for me it took me nearly a week to figure out that I was in withdrawals after I stopped it. I never mentally craved the medication like I did alcohol but clearly my body was addicted to it. I suffered through the physical withdrawals and fortunately have not needed to go on a daily dose that like since.

I say all that to point out that pain needs to be managed for our bodies to heal. I had to make the choice of chancing physical addiction to a pain reliever long enough to let my body heal. Even when taking medication as prescribed out bodies can become addicted to them but that does not mean our minds have to become addicted. I don't know if it is because I continued to work my program of sobriety while going through it all that I did not wind up with the mental obsession/addiction or what but I am just thankful it didn't happen. I do realize that is a real possibility for some people. I think sometimes we have to make a choice when it comes to pain management that we might not necessarily like but one that allows our bodies to heal. One thing that helped me was every time I went to take one of the as needed pain meds I would check my motives before taking it. "Was I taking it as prescribed?" "Was I taking the right dose in the right time frame?" "Was there a non narcotic way to manage the pain that would give me enough pain relief?" "Had I tried all the non narcotic pain management techniques?" "Was I taking the pain med to manage the pain or alter my sense of reality?" Today I still have to take the occasional pain medication, about one day in every 6 months, but I still ask myself those same questions prior to taking it. So far that has been my experience and what has worked and not worked for me.

zjw

I had horrible insomnia once night and some pain in my legs so i took some cough syrup that had codiene in it. Yeah stupid I know. But it knocked me out cold and I slept great. I woke up the next day a bit unhappy with what I had done out of total desperation for some sleep. I also didnt feel so great. But that voice in my head started talking to me. You know the one that tells you how awesome that was and that you should do that again this evening too etc.. I didnt I didnt like how it made me feel.

A few months went by I did it again the next day my running suffered I didnt feel so great I thought how did i do this sorta thing day in and day out and function? I guess I never realized Just how crappy i felt when i did all that stuff all the time. I spent my days feeling like garbage from my sins from the night prior only to relieve them the next evening with more garbage again.

I thought the same thing after that what am i going to do if i ever need pain meds for real? There going to relieve the pain but make me feel aweful otherwise.

Now I wont touch stuff like that and thankfully I have not had any horrible pain yet. I'm not sure I'd get hooked pain meds where always fun but never addictive to me. Now adays I dont even find it fun I rather despise it thankfully.

karate

Pain meds taken in the prescribed amounts ,don't cause any altered mental states for me , that i liked .

I think id rather fight a grizzly bear than take pain meds ,they seemed to make me feel worse -every time .

CousinA

Some background. I'm 31+ years into recovery. Just your run of the mill alcoholic garbage head junkie.

I have chronic pain due to a neurological condition and the recent onset of some arthritis. Some days are worse than others but we have to play the hand we're dealt. I may not know much but one thing I do know is pain will eff us up. I'm grateful that we've been able to manage my pain with non narcotic meds but opiates are part if the conversation. If and when the time comes, I'll deal with it with the help of a few trusted friends in AA and whatever it is my HP is at the time.

I broke my wrist a couple of years ago. I won't get too graphic, but it was sideways and no lie, it hurt. A LOT!. Long story, I spent 14 hours in the ER. They had to set it twice and they gave me percoset before and after each time they set it. I'm glad they did because it's not the kind of thing you want to feel twice. And no lie, I felt high and enjoyed it. My bestie of going on 27 years was with me. We met in recovery and she told me she got to see "Junky Allan" for a night. I took some Vicodin AS prescribed for a couple of days then switched to Iburprofen and I got trough it. About a week later I couldn't sleep and my mind told me there was Vicodin in the medicine cabinet. Then my sober mind kicked in and told me to flush it.

Sobriety has taught me that there will be times I will have to make tough decisions. I have to be careful with this gift I've been given. I have to take care of it and check my motives and be honest with myself and my people. There's my $0.02

-allan

karate

I find Capsizan hp ,is great for pain ,I also have a tens machine .

digdug

Such great info here, guys.

Thanks so much!

When I was 21, I had a collapsed lung that required major surgery. In got infected pretty bad after so the recovery was extra hard. I was on a morphine drip and I had an epidural.

I took dilaudid (morphine in pill form) for two months while I recovered. I remembered getting buzzed off it, but I needed it for pain. It wasn't an "enjoyable" buzz. More like relief. I was able to taper off under doctor's orders. I still remember at my two month check up and the doc asking to if I wanted another 100 pills. I turned him down.

I was abusing a lot of drugs at the time too. But not opiates. Weed and club drugs (E, ketamine, a bit of meth). I stopped using hard drugs after this ordeal.

I feel a pretty confident that I can control my intake with the help of my sponsor and my family. I'm worried though that the changes in my brain due to severe drinking will enable the pills to trigger cravings for alcohol.

I have only had 2 cravings in 6 months. Both passed quickly. I hear all the time in the rooms about how once you relapse, the cravings increase exponentially each time you try to get sober. I am praying that won't happen to me.

Thanks again

digdug

The pain is getting progressively worse. It's starting to affect every day activities like getting out of bed and getting dressed. NSAIDs are not doing anything. I'm probably not able to get surgery until January because all of the good surgeons are booked up.

My psychiatrist is recommending a low dose of opiates to deal with the pain until I can have surgery. He knows I'm in recovery (he helped me get into rehab). But he says the pain will eat me alive. When he made his recommendation, I started to cry. I don't want to take the pills. I don't want to relapse on alcohol or get hooked on opiates. If I relapse with alcohol, I'll probably be dead within days. But I don't know how I'll be able to make it until January.

I'm having a consult with the surgeon on Thursday. I'm scared.

karate

Have you tried a tens machine ?

Amazon.com: tens unit

digdug

I appreciate the suggestion, but, sadly, it won't work on me. I have avascular necrosis in my hips so it's just bone on bone (alcohol eliminated the blood supply to my hip joints, so the bones "died"). There is no muscle tissue to stimulate.

Zebra1275

I've taken pain medication when needed, as prescribed. It's never been a problem for me.

Alcohol is another story.

Vandermast

i relapsed after cracking 2 vertebrae in my neck and ending up on painkillers and drank