(Hypothetically) How to manage unseen pain?

I don’t touch pain meds. I can handle a lot of pain. I’m scared at the idea of addiction.

I have had several operations where they gave me percocet or darvon or something for the pain afterwards. The first operation, I tried the medication and I felt so doped up that I couldn’t think. I stopped taking them right away, and instead relied on ice. Ice was fine. It kept the pain down sufficiently.

I don’t have any worries about getting addicted to anything because I don’t think I’m an addictive type. I don’t enjoy the feelings these drugs provide. They don’t make me happy. Perhaps that’s because my brain chemistry is different than most people’s.

For me, the pain of depression is far worse than physical pain Physical pain actually feels good because it blots out depression (this is why people harm themselves).

So I would definitely not take the pills, unless I really needed them. And if I needed them, I would take them as long as I needed to. I’d see what happened then. But I’m not worried about getting addicted. There are other things that are more likely to addict me. Drugs are not the problem.

I was once having almost unbearable back pain due to a herniated disk. Having had one surgery, I refused to go through it again, so on my doctor’s recommendation, I went to a pain management clinic. I limped in on crutches and walked out without them.

Hallelujua, @Pachyderm_In_The_Room! Did they have a faith healer in there?

Well, I had faith they could help me ‘cause nothing else was working. And they did.

I honestly don’t find the concept of addiction scarier than that of chronic pain. I’ll take the pills any day.

I can handle pain, doesn’t mean I want to.

@Mariah You’ve had some mean medical issues. I’m lucky that way. I’ve broken a few things, but I still fear addiction more than the pain.

From what I’ve read, opioids are the best long term pain medications available, though the body can develop a tolerance for them that means the doses have to be increased gradually to manage the same level of pains over time. It is also unlikely for a patient in need of the pain relief to develop an addiction to them (as pain medications) in the same way that recreational users are prone to. (That’s also less likely if you have a doctor that will prescribe them adequately and you don’t doctor-shop to try to self-medicate at a higher level than the physician will prescribe.)

The problem is that since these are the drugs that are targeted by many recreational users, they are the ones most heavily regulated by the DEA, and the DEA will often crack down on doctors who are willing to prescribe them, without much investigation into whether they are prescribing responsibly or not, and without regard to the patients in actual need of the drugs. The result is that many reputable doctors give up a practice that involves this kind of prescription, and we’re left with less-effective (and in many cases more addictive) drugs as a result.

Reason Magazine has been discussing this for years.

I’ve been using oxycodone (an opioid) for years for occasional muscle spasms in my back. I have osteoarthritis thanks to whiplash from getting rear ended by a bus. Totaled my car and darn near totaled by neck, too. From time to time, the lack of disks between those vertebrae will pinch a nerve, and start a muscle spasm in my back. The pain just makes it spasm more, and I need something to break the syndrome or I can be laid up for weeks. Oxycodone during the day then diazepam to sleep and as a muscle relaxant break the curse. I’ve never gotten addicted, but I worry that the war-on-drug insanity the DEA pursues will eventually leave me unable to legally deal with the condition.

I take two painkillers every day, even though they are contraindicated for my kidney disease. For me, the quality of my life is more important than the quantity, and without the meds I’d be barely functional. I’ve never been tempted to take more than I’m prescribed, and they don’t make me high or knock me out (but they do knock out a lot of people who aren’t in such bad pain). Those two things make me inclined to agree with @CWOTUS…people who need them for pain probably won’t get addicted. Don’t be a hero. When you need ‘em, take ‘em – whether that’s every day or only for extra bad days.

I can’t take many pain medications for various reasons. So I use heat or massage or mild pain killers in moderation. I think the type of pain killer is important. For example those with codeine should be used on a shorter term basis. Each to their own.

Some people that have had hypnosis for pain find they can reduce their medications or change the type.

I have always hated the feeling of opioids. They practically scolded me for not pushing the morphine button after my hysterectomy, at which time I begged them to take the minimal-dose drip out of me. I felt so much better when they did. Similarly, I did not take the pills prescribed after car accidents because they made me nauseous.

I have never had a serious illness or super-strong medical treatments, so I have never really been tested, but my hysterectomy was abdominal, with 13 staples after and I tolerated that well.

In the scenario you describe, I would fill the prescription for the other pain-killer, just to have it on hand for the bad days. I generally have a high-tolerance for pain, but I do value the healing benefits of sleep, so I would take it on days when the pain might be interfering with my sleep.

@Adirondackwannabe Do you have an addictive personality or a family member that is an addict?

Also why is having a high pain threshold a good thing? I am curious because until recently I thought mine was brag worthy, but now I wonder where I got that idea and if it just means I have learned to dull my senses.

@wundayatta I know people who feel the same way. They have no tolerance for drugs because they never take them. In fact I am probably that way. Though I wasn’t always. I suppose it is just a pro/con list.

@Pachyderm_In_The_Room. In one visit? Amazing. Yes we do have alternatives don’t we. Well it is always nice to hear of a good outcome thanks for sharing.

@burntbonez Pyschosomatic pain and the healing power of the mind as well as actual limitations of alternative treatments are of great interest to me.

@CWOTUS Reason does some interesting pieces doesn’t it? Actually I almost never buy the mag but I often stumble upon their articles on other topics. Thanks for the share. That was all completely new information to me.

@Mariah Good point, you and cwotus complement each other nicely on this topic.

@ETpro It is scary having to trust your future health and wellbeing to things you have no control over. Makes you wonder which philosophy is better to adopt in the given circumstance: Not to borrow tomorrow’s problems. Or to be the change you want to see (Couldn’t think of the exact applicable truism here so I referenced the one that sort of applies.)

@augustlan Wow, thanks for that take, so I’m curious did you battle back and forth between quality v quantity for some time? How did you find out which you valued more, did you feel weak for caving?

@Shippy Heat does work I suppose it would be dependent on the type of pain. But overall sound advice.

@Tropical_Willie Interesting. But I have never heard of anyone offering those services. I wonder what type of provider would offer that.

@hearkat Sleep is a healing tool but what if you woke up in pain?

@rosehips Here’ a page from WebMD on pain management and hypnosis.

If I wake up in pain or with a stuffy nose/allergy fit, I check the clock to see how much time before I have to get up and base my decision on what to take, if anything, accordingly.

@rosehips I don’t have an addictive personality, but the opiates scare me. I’ve seen them break some strong people. And I think a high pain threshold comes in handy. I don’t need drugs. i have really bad knees from sports, but I can tolerate it.

@rosehips I have a chronic pain condition, and spent 4 years in constant agonizing pain before I got treatment. I was unable to do more than the most basic things (feed and clothe my kids, get them off to school, then collapse), and spent most of those four years lying on my couch. It wasn’t much of a life, you know? The medication allows me to have a somewhat normal life, and I’ve been taking it for well over ten years now. What I take is a prescription NSAID. Over time, it is known to damage kidneys and since I have kidney disease it might shorten my life. But what kind of life would I have without the meds? It wasn’t a hard decision at all, when it came down to it.

FWIW, I have a very high tolerance for short-term, expected pain. I’ve had three kids with no epidurals, often have dental work done with no Novocaine, and barely took any meds after my hysterectomy. I also have a high tolerance with opiates…when I had a slipped disk, the morphine they gave me didn’t touch the pain and it didn’t knock me out either, damn it. Since it didn’t do anything worthwhile, I stopped taking it. So, you know…I kind of pick my battles. ;)

@Tropical_Willie Thanks for the source. Frankly I am astonished that wedmd would cover that. In my experience traditional medicine has been very dismissive of any methodology that doesn’t function on pharmaceuticals, expensive machine’s/procedures or surgery. Worth exploring more.

@Adirondackwannabe @hearkat you may have prompted my question. I still might not ask it.

@augustlan It sounds like you have been through a lot. I like how you distinguished the difference between chronic pain and recurring pain due to injury.

It does seem like you made the most practical and the best interest for you and your children choice.

I think once again the clarification between high pain tolerance and the need to justify taking meds is a melody that I once took at face value but now I find increasingly odd.

@rosehips This question or another one?

Another one.

Something to do with the social acceptance of the unseen pain… or why having a high pain tolerance is desirable. I guess I need to refine what I want to know though.

Working in health care, I see things from different angles than others. Such as people bringing their kids with chronic ear infections and respiratory illnesses in – and they and their kids reek of cigarette smoke. They know full well that exposing their kids to smoke is unhealthy, yet they want the medical establishment to treat a problem they create and perpetuate with pills and surgery, rather than making changes in their own lifestyles. That’s just one example.

As for unseen ailments, I am in the early stages of what appears to be rheumatoid arthritis (it’s so early that the definitive tests are inconclusive). I have a high pain tolerance, but something about the chronic achiness was different. I could tolerate it, but I wanted to know what it is and hopefully prevent it from worsening. Acting quickly with RA has been proven to slow the progression of the disease dramatically. Thus, my specialist and I decided to put me on a low maintenance dose for one of the long used medications that has anti-inflammatory and immune-suppression properties. I have felt general improvement over the 6 months to where I am now nearly back to my ‘normal’. Now the next step is mine to take. I have to become more active to improve my fitness and lose body fat. I eat very little processed foods, but need to reduce portion sizes and fat percentages. I know that in order to keep the disease at bay, I have to give my body the strongest foundation from which to get itself in balance.

A close friend of mine has had invisible illnesses for decades, and does not get taken seriously by many. I confess that there are times I get frustrated with her changing plans at the last minute because she isn’t feeling well.
This article offers a very nice explanation for what it is like to be living with chronic pain.