pain management?

Question

had a motorcycle accident last April - fractured wrist/leg/etc....developed premature arthritis from muscle tissue healing around fractures from accident and impact to body - my body has been working overtime using other parts to compensate for disabled parts - diagnoised with 40% loss of function in hand/wrist, since then, pain has been unbearable at times. Working with docs on pain meds - now on Naproxen twice a day and Percocet twice a day - it's working, but personally i'm concerned because it's the only way to function - would this be considered an addiction???? or a lifelong pain management step in a better direction. Without any meds, I can't move, stiff, sore, cry in pain - I'm 38 yrs old, was extremely active before the accident, work full time, one daughter, one husband, 3 acres of land to care for - full time all around care giver. Any suggestions or alternatives? or stick to what works for now????

went through intensive physical therapy, no improvement, have a counselor to handle the emotional strain. Saw a chiropractor (lots of smoke and mirrors for me - pain intensified after a few visits)

Answer 1

You're going to get a lot of people saying you are an addict for using a pain medication long term. It is true that you will develop a physical dependency for the Percocet but there is a big difference between physical dependency and addiction.

Addiction means your whole life revolves around your next dose of the drug and/or that you will take it even if the pain magically stopped one day.

If you are getting a better quality of life from taking these medications then consider it a blessing. This might very well be a life long solution to your problem, or a long term one until such time as there is a breakthrough in treating ailments such as yours.

I am about your age and take similar medications for my chronic back pain. My quality of life is absolutely better while taking them. I am more active than ever now because I am not constantly focused on my back and my pain.

I would stay with what is working if I were you. If you should develop a problem then talk to your doctor about another form of treatment or using a different medication. Be responsible and don't let the medicatin control you, instead let it control the pain and nothing else.

And again, if I know these boards and if I know people you are going to get people saying you are an addict now. These are people with no compassion and probably limited or no experience with chronic pain. Yes, some people develop problems from using narcotic pain medications but the vast majority of people who use them for valid medical reasons do not have a problem.

Answer 2

Have you been for physical therapy? It sounds like you need to gradually learn / re-learn how to use the injured areas. Either in the old ways where possible or in new ways that won't put the strain on (A) other parts of your body and (B) the injured areas.

This does not sound like addiction. Addiction would be needing the meds whether or not you were in pain or in increasing dosages out of proportion to the pain. Just needing the meds for the 'high'.

If you can't function without the meds because of the pain you are not addicted.
If you can function with the pain, just can't function without the meds you are addicted.
See the difference?

Check into a good Chiropractor as well if you haven't already. It will take several visits but regardless of the accident just stress and pain can leave you twisted up and a good Ch. can help straighten you out and that will relieve stress and pain and hopefully begin to reverse the cycle:

So: Short answer - Pain meds, yes - add physical therapy and chiropractor.

All of this can be very depressing as well, I hope you have someone to talk to. Most communities offer counseling services, please give this a try too. Can't hurt can it?

Good Luck!

Jen

Answer 3

I guess one question I have is what caused this issue to begin with. At your age it is very unusual to have tendonitis that to this degree. Do you do something that requires repetative motion.? The first thing I would do is to start wearing braces when you are at rest and especially when you sleep. The routine that I used for my tendonitis was to use IcyHot and massage it in completely, then used my braces that also kept my thumb at the correct angle (according to my Physical therapist). Then would use my Rice Pack first heated for warmth and then would use the packs cold. The braces can be bought at Walmart, and the physio should be able to set the angle correctly. Some one else suggested you get a second opinion and I agree. The issue is that the DR. has said nothing about the braces and that is the first thing most of them go to. Also have you tried muscle relaxers like Robaxin? And one thing my dr did was to use Lidocaine injections which does not leave the scaring taht coritisone tends to do.. Also I did not find the injections unbearable, painful but they did give me weeks of relaxing time off from the pain. The thing with pain pills is you do not want the pain to be completely gone because you may be doing something to aggravate the injury. Again I am very curious as to if you have any idea what caused the injuries. If you would care to chat some more about this, my email and IM are on my profile page. God Bless ReggieR The pain medication in of itself is not that big of an issue as long as that is not the only thing being done at your age.

Answer 4

Oh sweetie I can relate so well to u!! I was in a car accident & continued working & raising 2 kids alone-2 yrs later was lifting a patient & pulled the old lumbar out-had surgery-didn't go to well-que sera :) I am prone to scar tissue, so shots, cauterizing. etc didn't work. On ssd & take roxicet & muscle relaxants daily. This is MY life now! ur 12 yrs younger than me I still did & do it all. It's hard to predict how ur pain will get placed in ur body & what will come out later in life-arthritis YES! when ur body compensates something else will show up becuz of this. But if u have to be on pain management for chronic(long term) pain u will eventually need a med without additives, as I have. Good luck to u, & hope u heal without any more complications. Only time will tell -but take care of u or u won't be any good to anyone.( ONE DAY AT A TIME) bless u-u will get thru it. xoxo Donna P

Answer 5

It doesn't sound to me like you're addicted to pain meds, but I'd say you're probably depending on them at this point. That's not to say that's a bad thing - addiction and dependance are completely different. If you need meds to function that's ok - you're not abusing them in any way. Talk to your doctor about the risks and pros and cons of continuing your meds long term. If it seems you need to start weaning yourself off them then there's alternatitives (none I've found that work quite as well - but do help)
Physical therapy is important and probably the most effective. Exercises that rehabilitate the damaged portion of your body will help with pain - and exercise in general will also help. I am not familiar with your type of injuries so I can't suggest anything specifically, but keep this in mind when talking to your doc.

Answer 6

Addiction is a behavior issue. It's characterized by continuing to use the drugs even when doing so has caused significant detrimental consequences as well as spending a significant amount of time obtaining and doing the drugs. You clearly need the narcotics-- sometimes they're the only thing that works. I myself take Oxycontin and Oxy IR because I have pain that is so debilitating I can't get out of bed without the meds. Don't ever let anyone tell you you're a junky or an addict because you need the meds. Diabteics need insulin every day in order to function, but no one calls them addicts. It's the same thing: you have a medical condition, you take a medication to control it. Dependance is very different from addiction. Like I said, you depend on you meds the same way a diabetic or someone with high blood pressure does. Narcotics are the oldest form of pain medication, and they're also the safest. If you take your meds exactly as prescribed by your doctor and never increase or change your dose without his supervision, you stand less than a 1% chance of addiction. If God hadn't meant for us to take the narcotics for pain management, he wouldn't have made us with receptors in our brains for them to attach to. You sound like you're being very responsible and you genuinely need the meds. If you don't have a pain management doc, I would suggest seeing one. Family docs can sometimes get "opiophobic" simply because they don't have as much in depth training about pain, but pain docs have more understanding about it and are more willing to use medications and other modalities to give relief. Don't be afraid or ashamed to take the meds, and don't be afraid or ashamed to tell your pain doctor if they don't work the way they should. The pain doctor is there to help manage your pain, and there are other dosage or different meds or other treatements he can try in conjunction with the meds if you still have pain. No one has to live with pain. You have a right to a comfortable life.