Any CCrs on very strong pain killers?

[Dave7]

I was listening to the Doctor on the radio discussing this sad situation. It was very moving.
My heart has always gone out to people with serious long term pain eg painful nerve endings.
But I had no idea how debilitating these Opiate pain killers can be once you are on them.
Some people have choice a) live with the pain b) take the opiates and (probably) become hooked on them.
I count my blessings.

 

[roadrash]

yes , I am ,including the strongest opiate painkiller there is, Fentanyl, approximately 75 to 80 times stronger than morphine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fentanyl ) and it certainly can be, and is debilitating, I sometimes wonder if it would be better to put up with the pain

 

[Drago]

I've been on amitriptelyne, but it made me feel like a 60s hippy on quaaludes, so I came off them right quick. I decided that I could at least function with a bit of pain.

 

[cosmicbike]

Like @roadrash , I spent too long on Fentanyl, using morphine as a top up for breakthrough pain. 2 years of near constant use which made sleep near impossible, muscle spasms, depression, anxiety and some serious mind games which led me to some very dark places. I've been lucky, my underlying cause has been found and can be managed with an alternative drug which needs to be taken only as required, it has potentially nasty side effects so blood tests go with it.
Getting off the Fentanyl/morphine mix was tough, and not something I ever want to do again. Quitting smoking after 25 years was a breeze in comparison.

 

[raleighnut]

Yep, got a choice between Codeine and Tramadol but I prefer not to rely on them due to the side effects.

 

[vickster]

Celebrex, pregabalin, prednisolone currently. Trying to taper down. None are opiates though which I try to avoid.

I have tramadol but rarely take it unless I have really bad nighttime pain. Avoid codeine due to side effects

 

[roadrash]

current list after amitriptyline was raised just before Christmas..

fentanyl patch ..50 microgrammes an hour , changed every 72 hrs
gabapentin 600mg x4 daily
amitriptyline 50mg x1 nightly
rampril 25mg x1 daily

 

[Andrew_P]

Opiates are awful, very fast addiction cycle and hard to come off. Never taken more than 2 days worth. The only time I had intravenous Morphine I hated it could feel it rushing through the system exactly how Heroin is portrayed on TV, I wias rough for 24 hours after so not sure I could get addicted to that.

The biggest problem really is the GP writing the prescription rather than going through the pain of getting the person off of it. My Mother in law has been on Codeine for 14 years for recurring headaches that she has not had in 13+ years but cannot go without the 6 Codeine tablets a day, the pain of withdrawal seem to be weighed up vs making a 76 year old go through withdrawal. Tough decision, I think I would probably keep the prescription going too.

Recall watching a programme about it with people learning how to remove the Paracetamol part of OTC Codeine meds to keep the addiction going.

I have quite a few prescriptions for pain, never sure if its the right thing that I choose to not to use them, or why I resist it so much, although I know I have a addictive personality I also look down the most common side effects and think I don't think they are any better than the pain. Not one person has told me the would cure the pain estimates range are 20-40% less at best and for me that's just not worth it.

 

[Andrew_P]

current list after amitriptyline was raised just before Christmas..

fentanyl patch ..50 microgrammes an hour , changed every 72 hrs
gabapentin 600mg x4 daily
amitriptyline 50mg x1 nightly
rampril 25mg x1 daily

I liked your post just because you are still standing and awake after the farking lot! As I have said to you before I would be away with the fairies

 

[roadrash]

I liked your post just because you are still standing and awake after the farking lot! As I have said to you before I would be away with the fairies

according to mrs roadrash ....I am

 

[Dave 123]

Luckily I don't have too much experience in this area, though about 10 years ago I took codeine for a few days (for what, I forget)
It didn't take long to ditch it as it was starting to make me feel dreadful, as in really weird, lost in a fog, teary etc.

Never again.

I too heard the program. I just had the general ignorance standpoint of, well ignorance. Listening to some of the tales was an eye opener.

 

[LeetleGreyCells]

I was on tramadol (300 mg daily) and pregabalin (150mg daily) for 10 years . It took me 8 weeks reducing the dose to stop taking the tablets for each type and simply living with the withdrawal symptoms for 6 months until they disappeared. My health improved dramatically. From wheelchair to bicycle. No brainer.

I still have the amount of pain I had before as my body became accustomed to the medication over time and basically stopped working so I was only topping up the side effects . I live with the pain now. It let’s me know I’m still alive.

Now off them both (and an antidepressant) and I have never felt better. I can do more with my family and more for myself. In fact, I feel ready for anything

 

[roadrash]

I was listening to the Doctor on the radio discussing this sad situation. It was very moving.
My heart has always gone out to people with serious long term pain eg painful nerve endings.
But I had no idea how debilitating these Opiate pain killers can be once you are on them.
Some people have choice a) live with the pain b) take the opiates and (probably) become hooked on them.
I count my blessings.

is it available anywhere do you know , I would like to here the programme

 

[swee'pea99]

my body became accustomed to the medication over time and basically stopped working

This was the gist of a programme I saw a while back, in which one of those nice telly doctors investigated people who'd been on strong painkillers for, in some cases, many years. He used simple drug/placebo 'track your pain' charts to demonstrate, indisputably, that the drugs, once the initial period of effectiveness had passed (typically within a matter of a week or two) had, literally, no effect whatsoever.

 

[LeetleGreyCells]

This was the gist of a programme I saw a while back, in which one of those nice telly doctors investigated people who'd been on strong painkillers for, in some cases, many years. He used simple drug/placebo 'track your pain' charts to demonstrate, indisputably, that the drugs, once the initial period of effectiveness had passed (typically within a matter of a week or two) had, literally, no effect whatsoever.

Then I have the same pain now as I did for the last 9 years and (conservatively) 42 weeks. Which means I’ve been making myself more ill, on doctor’s orders, for 9 years and 42 weeks.

I could get upset about that. But what’s done is done and I’m far better off now. And I can ride my bike