Am I a pillhead?

C

Casiucs

New member
I am a 60yr old man with a myriad of ailments. My doc had me on Prozac, flexeril and Lyrica for fibromyalgia. I was on neurontin for a facial neuralgia. I was on Mirapex for RLS. You get the picture. Lots of pills and I felt like a zombie with no real improvement. Then one day he gave me some Lortab. What a godsend. In just a few months I was off all those other pills, only Lortab. I felt great and had a normal active life again. That went on for 5 yrs. Then my doc joined some ethics committee and decided to stop giving pain pills. After just 3 weeks of being off them I am already stooped back over like an old man. My legs are lead weights. My face hurts. I can't sleep cause my legs twitch and jump like a labratory frog. My question is this. Are there legitimate instances where pain pills are the answer for long term treatment. Do I need to go back and talk with my doc? Do I need to find another doc? Am I just another pillhead?
 
No, you certainlyh aren't a pill head. What you are is chronic pain person. You need to ask your doctor for a referal to a Pain Management doctor/clinic. Their prinmary job is to handle people with chronic pain.

The doctor or clinic will usually offer several different modalities to help with pain, from injections to accupuncture, therapy, medication...you get the picture. I have been in PM for alamost 5 years now, and my PM doctor has given me my life back.

It may take you several attempts to find one that you like...don't give up...and check out the Pain Management board here at Health boards.
 
I am really surprised there were only 2 replies to this post, but then I realized we are not health professionals here. But it seems everyone has an opinion about narcotics. Before I went to the doctor, I was stooped, my legs hurt, I didn't sleep because of jumpy legs, my face hurt, and I had cortisone injections every 3 months in my shoulders. I sold my business of over 20 yrs. because I was not physically able to run it. After my doc gave me pain pills, I built a house, played guitar in an oldies rock band, and hired on as manager of an oil & gas company, busier than I ever was. I was happy. No one ever knew I was on drugs. I didn't take them for the buzz. I never got that. I never took more than 4 in a day. I just got relaxed and the pain and cramps went away. Now, after a month off the pills, I hurt like crazy, I quit the band because I cramp too easily, I cannot stand for the 4 hrs. required of it, (thank God I finished the house), and my job is just too much. Is it because I am coming off the pills? Or am I reverting to how I was before? I am 60. How many more years will I live? 20? I'd rather spend them happy, active, and busy on pain pills than clean, straight, and feeling like crap. I am just like I was before I went to the doctor. Not to mention the $250 a month I was paying for pills as opposed to $20 for Lortabs. If I am an addict, then so be it. I can live with it better than I can without it. I'm going to my doc and tell him this very thing. If he doesn't like it, I'll find another.
 
Thank you for your supportive words. I just dread that all-knowing look that they give you when you ask for pain medicine. They look at you like you are dirty. I feel like I have a compelling argument, but then so would an addict. When you say "something for pain" you can sense the air get still and see the doctor's furrowed brow. He is weighing it. I dread that part. That is why I was trying to get some assurance here, to give me the courage to go see him.
 
You are not an addict! People who use meds for legitimate reasons-such as you and me, may become dependant upon them, but they are not addicts! Addicts are people who take narcotic for the high snd the buzz that they get, not to releave pain.

find a doctor that will releave your pain with narcotics if needed-so you will be back to your "old" self. There is nothing wrong iwth that.
 
What I would suggest is going and seeing your doctor and just say "what you gave me for the pain isn't working to control it. What do I do now?" This way you have laid the ground work without asking for pain meds. It's non confrontational, and not seeking. AND it puts the issue right back on your doctor. If he comes back with "I prefer not to bla bla bla." Then ask him for a recommendation to a pain management doctor who can work with you to get this under control.

And I do know how you feel. We all do. But some of us have been at it longer than others!
 
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