F
filter4ever
Guest
I am 27 years old, and have recently been diagnosed with Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD). It is rather disabling. It causes terrible pain in my back legs (as if someone shot or stabbed me in my thighs and my low back, especially when I move or bend), at random times. Some days I have no pain at all, some days I can hardly reach out of bed to grab the phone to call my boss and tell him I am not coming in today. It has caused me to miss many, many days of work. I started out with chiropractic therapy first, which used to relieve the pain for a few weeks, but the pain would come back and has gotten worse. I cannot get the same relief that I used to. I have been prescribed 2 medicines from my doctor, salsalate for the day and oxycodone at night. The salsalate works better than Ibuprofen for the minor pains and aches, but nothing comes even close to the oxycodone at relieving my severe pain. Taken with the salsalate, it feels as if I am almost pain free. It has gotten me to work, where otherwise, I would have been in bed trying not to move (leg movement causes escruciating pain). I have done extensive research on the drug 'oxycodone', and have found out that it is an addictive, controlled substance related to heroin. No wonder my doctor was stressed out when he gave it to me, he must have to go through a hell of a lot of paperwork. Is it appropriate for me to be prescribed this? If so, would it be approprate to take it during the day as well as at night? It seems to work wonders for keeping the pain at bay, but I do not want to get myself, nor my doctor, in trouble (he has been my same doctor my entire life and I have a pretty good relationship with him). I would also like to avoid surgery as an absolutely LAST resort (my greatest fear would be to wake up in a wheelchair and have them tell me