28 replies to this topic

[Carolie]

I deal with this question on a daily basis. I tell myself "I'm tough, I can handle the pain and the spasms without medication. I'll just tough it out."

Then on the other hand, I ask myself, "Why shouldn't I be comfortable so I can be more functional?"

Does anybody else have this Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde problem?

Carolie

[wheeliebear75]

Yup!

[The Black Sheep]

Yes, and I've bounced back and forth with medication only to find everyone around me backing away. In some ways I'm glad I have that bit of depression and nasty old woman on meds that tips the scale and makes the decision for me. Apparently I'm really hard to be around when I'm on anything, from baclofen to valium.

Edited by The Black Sheep, 28 June 2011 - 02:49 AM.

[davjed]

YES!!!!! I just got out of hell withdrawing from hydrocodone the past two weeks and that was bad. But now my usual pains and aches are kicking in and I can't take any of the NSAIDs because of liver and stomach problems. hydrocodone would take the edge off and allow me to function but I was up to 30mg a day and headed upward. I tried cold turkey and had to go back and wean off. boy do I miss the comfort of an hcd to ease it off. Be as comfortable as you can but don't let it sneak up on you......

[pistol_pete]

Nup!
Why be a matyr. These modern medicines are available to us for a reason.
I don't understand why some people have such paranoia about our western medical science. ( I'm not implying that you are Carolie)
Those people who won't vaccinate their kids because they think it's some government conspiracy are plain and simple idiots.

Toughen up and take the drugs.
Drugs are good, they are my friend. I like the little blue ones best. Hee Hee Hee hee hee....oooh look pretty colours. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

But I shouldn't tell you what to do as I have no idea of your situation. everyone is different and often the drugs create more problems.

Edited by pistol_pete, 28 June 2011 - 03:03 AM.

[Stand]

I agree with Pete. If it's available and it's going to help you, why put yourself through the misery? It's unfortunate already that we have to deal with this. Might as well be comfortable!

Edited by Stand117711, 28 June 2011 - 03:15 AM.

[stillgotswag]

Its a tough choice. I take hydrocodone, but only at night to help me sleep. Pain meds help alot, and I found myself giving in taking them all day...but it kinda ruins your attitude and wqithdrawing is a bitch. Get what you need, but dont get comfortable...sometimes you gotta take it. (my opinion)

[sh1wn]

I hate the bullshit I have to go thru just to get the pills I need to have in order to make the best of this life as a cripple. The stress of taking what I need to knock my pain down, knowing all along that I will run out before the months up.
I think dealing with pain is the worst part of living with SCI.

[Snakeye]

I take opiates when I can't stand the pain no longer..Only when in very severe pain...Rarely actually..Taking them makes me cranky and I can't think clearly for shit plus opiates sometimes give me severe headaches..Also, I can't stand the idea of any substance controlling me like that..Stubborn I guess...I prefer alternative pain-control methods....All in all: If you can live without them.. do it (at least as much as ya can)..If ya can't.. don't...It's up to the individual really and I wouldn't slam anyone with sci for getting some relief in whatever form ..

[Ratticis]

I had to fight like hell to get a pain killer subscription. I only ever take them when I'm beyond desperate, and even then usually only when i'm trying to sleep. Although while in ICU they gave me demerol. That was . . . interesting. I could fly and travel through time on a unicorn. Also some pretty awesome dreams.

[spot]

Oh, boy, do I ever. I am trying to get off them right now, which is very uncomfortable. I would say, "Do what is best for you." The reason being, everyone has a different situation, a different tolerance level for both pain and drugs.

To make this personal, I have to get off them, because I need to think to work all day as an engineer. I have two weeks to drop everything, including baclofen and gabapentin. Make sure your decision is made by you and not by anyone else!

[pinkcloud]

Lets do a world wide survery - 'let them people in ethiopia and india and new zealand and with progressive last stages of cancer dont feel 'tough' coping with agony. More like no ******** choice becaise there is no such pain relief- like me with sci and loads others on here.

Being 'tough' got nothing to do with stuff, i always refer meself as being 'hard', no i aint, its just unfortunate i had to suffer loads of pain in life and i built up the tolerance and got help how to cope with pain with emotional responses.

Also I was into hard core physical sports so i put up with pain in order to do what i enjoyed, same now i into hardcore stuff like sitting up on me wheels..or i'd be even more bed bound than i am now.

In that way putting up with pain is a choice, to be honest pains horrid. Only having positive gains makes its tolerble.

due to sci, in some parts i feel no pain, thats lucky for me

Not being on meds i feel, does wonders for self esteem as i learn about listening to the body
and felt proud I learnt coping skills. I come off everything 3 weeks post op - i did sci for 2 years just on paracetamol. I'm qualified to talk on this subject.

I love not being in agony, it great fun. Meds take a little of that agony way sometimes, I'm lucky I got mental stamina and even worst shite than sci happen in me life previously, that they dont fry me brain.I'm also lucky I got help with any head issues I had from past trauma, so I dont drive meself mad with loads of time on me hands and mind bending chemicals.

Meds keep me body from deteriorating further, give me quality of life..i will pay for this at a later date...with effects of drugs on me body - however, its either that or a life full of torture and agony bed bound fulltime 100 per cent of me life, rather than the 30 % less agony i gain from meds and being only 3/4 of me life lying down.

Better not just for me - more important for me kids and loved ones as seeing a loved one in agony aint pretty - for me to not take meds just so 'i feel tough' aint a behaviour i want to grow in meself

I dont write to blast you here caroline, i write about meself throwing such words around, i never realised what harm this can cause others.I do when people say to me 'i just cant be like you..apologizing for this..NO no no way, how awful for them...never before was it said this way to me before this spinal injury. It was always 'how do you do this...?'

Edited by pinkcloud, 09 July 2011 - 08:51 AM.

[switney]

I am not taking any meds except for when i am attacked by uti. i believe the holy spirit helps me endure this pain. the burning sensations ofcorse.

[pinkcloud]

switney, on 09 July 2011 - 11:45 AM, said:

I am not taking any meds except for when i am attacked by uti. i believe the holy spirit helps me endure this pain. the burning sensations ofcorse.

hi switney, i too have me faith to turn to in moments of unbearable i think i going to die bouts of agony and no meds or friends are with me(only been 3 thankfully with sci - i managed to keep away from surgeons knives and forks many times - i mean that in a good way, i think surgeons are wonderful and i dont mean in a fancy way, and when i pray to learn how to cope with the pain and thank Him for helping me cope real well (personal views here sharing with one member only, not recommendation to others)

I also meditate too.

I really glad you put on here you take antibiotics too as well as rely on your faith, not enough people do mention this, and God did allow medicine for good reasons, its our choice if we abuse them aint it.

A good mixture of as many coping mechanisms we can get is a great idea i think.I happy you got a good mixture of the two.

Edited by pinkcloud, 09 July 2011 - 12:05 PM.

[evilmac64]

i love my meds pain sucks if god gave us uti meds for sicknes he has to reconise pain as a sicknes to. folks kill them selvs over it and go crazy over it. my god is a loving god and doesnt want me in pain with surgery and pain meds with docs help when i lived through my car wreck my injury were so severe my doctor told me 1 in a 1000 live because of all the internal damage a tellaphone pole at 80mph will do that. any way he said it was as close to a miracle ore was one he had ever seen either way he said god was or a angel was in the room.because he didnt have the skill to fix every thing fast enough to stop the bleeding i died 2 times on the table.yes i seen the light 2 times but thats another storey im not going to disscuss here in respect to others folks feelings on the subject. my point is meds are good for a lot of things to pick and choose what my god thinks are good ore bad is mans attemp to put his will in front and try to tell other folks how to live if you take to many of any meds it can harm or kill you as we have seen with uti restance to meds and good folks dieing as a result of living with pain mental or a result sicknes or injury or the combo of the three.so if any meds help with your qaulity of life dont think any god should have a problem with it i know mine doesnt

Edited by evilmac64, 09 July 2011 - 02:33 PM.

[LeviM]

You're not alone with this at all.

For me I have a hard time giving into medication because of ego. I don't like to admit that I cant control or suck it up and get through it on my own. That's not a very healthy way of thinking though and I am working to get over that.

If a pain med or spasm med can give you back quality of life and function then there's no harm in trying them. Why would you deny yourself that freedom? I mean there's no reason you can't come back off of the meds if you decide it's not for you.

[Millard]

There is the fact of Quality of Life. The drugs are prescribed to improve the quality of life instead of having greater pain and suffering along with our paralysis. We are all going to die sooner or later and I would rather die in no pain and happy rather than being in horrible pain and suffering. I don't use any mind altering drugs but if the doctor thought it would improve my quality of life, I would use them.

Good luck to all.

[Tetracyclone]

The question that started this thread comes from several assumptions-

that alleviating pain is somehow immoral. Good people tough it out. weak people take drugs. If you believe then you believe it, and no argument is likely to persuade you differently.

or, that drugs are always bad for our health. Certainly most drugs put a strain on the liver Is that "bad?" It is if you have a weak liver, but only then.

[Edinburgh Colin]

Tetracyclone, on 14 August 2011 - 12:55 AM, said:

The question that started this thread comes from several assumptions-

that alleviating pain is somehow immoral. Good people tough it out. weak people take drugs. If you believe then you believe it, and no argument is likely to persuade you differently.

or, that drugs are always bad for our health. Certainly most drugs put a strain on the liver Is that "bad?" It is if you have a weak liver, but only then.

I'm not a religious man but respect those that are. If it gives people the strength to deal with the rubbish hand we have been felt then good for them.
I'm with TC on this though, 'each to his/her own' and no judgement should be passed on anyone choosing either path.
EC

[greybeard]

Tetracyclone, on 14 August 2011 - 12:55 AM, said:

The question that started this thread comes from several assumptions-

that alleviating pain is somehow immoral. Good people tough it out. weak people take drugs. If you believe then you believe it, and no argument is likely to persuade you differently.

or, that drugs are always bad for our health. Certainly most drugs put a strain on the liver Is that "bad?" It is if you have a weak liver, but only then.

There is also a certain degree of masochism involved here as well, it seems to me. Why tolerate pain when it can be alleviated? Perhaps there is, maybe subconsciously, some gratification being derived from experiencing the pain.

Personally, although I have a fairly high threshold to it, I dislike pain and will do or take whatever is necessary to diminish it.

[MTB John]

Thankfully I do not have many issues in regard to pain. I do take meds for my spasms but I take as few as possible. The reason being I have a fear of building up a tolerance to said drugs. This is a result of having to change hayfever meds every year because the same drug would not work two seasons in a row. Im only 32 and I want to keep the good stuff for when I'm really going to need it..

[Niceparalegs]

You didn't ask for this disability. You deserve comfort. Use meds, just dont OVERuse them.

[Cathelena]

As has already been said, meds are there for a reason. I do take alot of meds, which dont completely alleviate the pain, but do take the edge off it, I, myself, just dont see the point in suffering when there is something that can help. However, i do understand not wanting to rely on meds, but, at the end of the day, you can always wean yourself off these. They are there for a reason and i dont see the point of sufferig in silence.

[Rabih]

what's the best med for neuropathic pain?i tried lyrica & neurotin and a couple of others but nothing changed...i have a baclofen pump for spasms buut the pain is very annoying.(burning sensation in my legs mostly and its like burned worms moving in my legs........any suggestions on how to ask my dr. for strong pain meds cause he doesnt want to give me morphine or something like it because its addictive and by time i'll have to increase the dosage.does anyone know if we can put morphine with the baclofen in the pump(mixed)?

[Tetracyclone]

greybeard, on 14 August 2011 - 09:35 AM, said:

Tetracyclone, on 14 August 2011 - 12:55 AM, said:

The question that started this thread comes from several assumptions- that alleviating pain is somehow immoral. Good people tough it out. weak people take drugs. If you believe then you believe it, and no argument is likely to persuade you differently. or, that drugs are always bad for our health. Certainly most drugs put a strain on the liver Is that "bad?" It is if you have a weak liver, but only then.

There is also a certain degree of masochism involved here as well, it seems to me. Why tolerate pain when it can be alleviated? Perhaps there is, maybe subconsciously, some gratification being derived from experiencing the pain. Personally, although I have a fairly high threshold to it, I dislike pain and will do or take whatever is necessary to diminish it.

To add to this, I suspect the "drugs are bad" or "giving in" dates to a very old Christian attitude promoted by the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages, when the Church preached endurance of pain rather than objecting to injustice. It was an attitude used to control people- pleasure is bad, pain is good. Sex was bad and you could purify yourself with flagellation. The attitude still works fairly well today.

[andycans]

yes every day

[brockit79]

I am battling this right now as I type. I have a script for diazepam in my bag ready, what is it that holds me back? I enjoyed bible stories as a kid in school other than that Christianity can do one. *sorry if that offends any one* From what I understand of Karma, to avoid the suffering that has been bestowed upon us would mean that purification of the soul is prevented; I guess one could apply this to pain relief???? I guess it depends on how deeply you were to think about it and whether you believe in karma, not to mention if my understanding of karma is evencorrect!

My spiritual beliefs are tainted with ambivalence because I enjoy hearing different theories and those who believe what they do usually provide reasonable arguments.

I therefore, in keeping with the topic, have accepted that this life of mine will have a level of pain that I will never be free of because of a series of decisions and reckless behaviours that I made/chose; any meds that I take are to assist my body in trying to achieve a purpose such which will have some positive effect on others too.

I'm still in 2 mind re the valium because; on one hand I may get a good night's sleep which will give me a clearer mind and a positive attitude for the day; on the other hand I will not be able to perform physical and mental tasks to the best of my ability even with my obvious physical limitations.

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[Wobbly]

Hmmm, I've had to withdraw from several types of pain meds as scripts have changed. Interested work colleagues are keen to know about this as to them i am clearly drug dependant, ie a junkie no matter what the reason for the drugs is. I treat this as simple ignorance, understandable on their part as they havent been to the pits so far intheir lives. I explain that i have a physicaldependancy due topain, not mental duetobeing ajunkie. I associate thesemeds with pain not pleasurethere is a bigdifferencetome, no pain, no drugs

[HairsOnFire]

I would not wish unrelenting pain or suffering on anyone. I just want to live my life the best, fullest and most "alive" way that I can. I don't want to feel "dopey" but do not want to have such pain that I can't think clearly, function or just want to give up.

Isn't that why the plants that medication comes from were put on the planet... whether you believe in God putting them there, natural selection or whatever....? Same thing goes for the knowledge on how to use them.