Effective pain med on horizon?

@ckahern , I am not knowledgeable about this, but isn't suboxone only used to treat opioid addiction? And once you are past that, shouldn't you stop taking it? It is only approved by the FDA to treat addiction.

It is highly recommended, in what I have read so far, that it not be taken long-term, as it has ravaging effects on the body. There are many other ways to treat chronic pain, and it is not supposed to be used to treat pain, so I am very puzzled as to why your doctor would tell you there is "no alternative". Can you go see a completely different doctor for a second opinion? I would like to suggest that you do that if there is any way you can.
 
When I was diagnosed in 1994 the doctor I went to had done a research paper on Fibromyalgia, but that was before it was so prevalent and he gave me Loracet for the pain and so began my rollercoaster with opioids. I ended up having to go to rehab to get off the opioids, but I was still suffering with pain to the point that I had to stop working as a hairstylist. That is when I was given Suboxone.
They’re reletrans patches which I was hooked on.i then moved to fentanyl patches on 62.5.i’m a opioid addict and now slowly weaning off them.its hell.never be prescribed opiates.you will regret it.i’ve took them for 30 years for fybro starting with co codamol.it messes you up physically and mentally.all opiate drugs should never be administered for fybro.you get hooked very fast and before u know it your a addict.dont go there,i did and now paying the price.and ive took everything in that 30 years!!!
 
then moved to fentanyl patches on 62.5.i’m a opioid addict
its no wonder - Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic piperidine opioid primarily used as an analgesic. It is 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine;
normally used for pain relief for cancer patients in their last stage. I hoped you changed doctors!
 
its no wonder - Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic piperidine opioid primarily used as an analgesic. It is 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine;
normally used for pain relief for cancer patients in their last stage. I hoped you changed doctors!
I’ve got a great doc now that’s weaning me off fentanyl but the withdrawal effects are hell.never felt so poorly.down to 37.5 but my body wants the patches on.mind over matter.i wish they never administered it to me.plus tramadol
 
Wishing you well @Ian waxman thats the bastard side of strong meds, they just dont let you go easily. Weaning off. Is the only way. Take care
 
@Ian waxman ...wish there were something I could do to help you. If I were there, I'd at least bring you tea. But at least, know that there are people, and I am one of them, really rooting for you.
It must be hell that you are going through, and it is no fault of yours that you are in this position. I am so sorry. I know that you will hang in there, because I have been reading your posts for some time now and I have a feeling you are a very strong person. You can do this. But I really hate it that you are having to go through such a hard time to get over a medication that the doctors gave you, and that you took because it worked for you. Keep strong, Ian. We are on the cheering squad for you.
 
Yes we are all rooting for you, and wishing you a time with no pain!!
 
I am glad you are here. It has been helpful to know I am not alone in this struggle.
 
You can do it, @Ian waxman We're all here for you. 🫂
It’s worse than being a druggie.the side effects are overwhelming.it grips you and you’re itching for the meds.my body is so battered with fybro and athritis due to plastering that I honestly think it’s here to stay.every med I’ve took has been useless and I’ve had everything in the 30 years.even the fentanyl I kept upping to 70mcg.i’m on duloxetine which my doc has insisted I stick on and having more blood tests this week.they’ve said I’m anaemic which they have put me on tabs.i’ve had 3 cardiograms recently so the docs must be concerned about something.i had covid pneumonia in 2021 which I was hospitalised.i suffer with recurring chest infections with the last causing me to cough up blood so a trip to a and e which they did multiple tests and a mri where they found it was just another infection.i’m sure I’ve got scarring on my lungs due to covid and my fatigue is worse.i think I was Jack the Ripper in my previous life and I’m being punished.you’ve got to laugh or you would cry.i’ll keep battling on👍
 
@Ian waxman ......yes, you've got to laugh when you can. I do the same thing....make light of it, especially when speaking to others, because there's no point in crying. You have a whole forum full of people here who are rooting for you, so hang in there. I am truly sorry that this is so hard, and I really hope that it gets easier for you soon.
 
@Ian waxman This is exactly why I keep on seeing specialists, continuing with imaging and blood testing, etc...why I don't give up searching for an answer for my own pain. Because I am reliant upon pain medication myself -- not as strong as fentanyl -- and I don't want to be reliant upon it forever. At this point, I'm going slow and careful -- no rash decisions -- but everything is on the table for consideration, even surgery as a last resort. I'm just starting out now with a new arthritis and rheumatology doctor; still early days with her. I need to get the imaging and blood tests done that she ordered, but I'm overwhelmed with hurricane repairs and there just doesn't seem to be enough relatively pain-free hours in the week yet to get them all done. Getting closer though.

Hopefully, by January I will have been able to get the testing done, go back to see the doc, and plan our next course of action. My newest pain is inflammation and very painful stiffness in my hands every morning for several hours, and then again at night. We're working on that and my osteoarthritis in my spine and right hand.

But I digress. My point is I agree with you, and I look forward to the day (knock wood) when I can be opioid-free. I do want to say here to anyone reading that pain (our kind of severe, chronic pain) is worse than opioids. Better to choose pain-relief and have some quality of life than none at all because that's not living, not to mention what the pain does to our mental health as well. Opioids are serious business, not to be taken lightly, but as so many will attest to, without them my quality of life would be zilch, nada, not worth living. They do what they are supposed to do for me -- help relieve some pain -- and nothing more. I don't get high on my med. I don't feel my med or dose is mind-altering at all. And I thank God for that because hydrocodone, for example, was mind-altering for me...so much so that I couldn't take it and switched to tramadol.

I don't look forward to the day when I will be weaning off my own pain med. I get your point, and I know others who have gone through what you are going through right now. Your point is well-taken: the true danger of opioids and other addictive substances is becoming so dependent upon them that without them you suffer physical and mental anguish.

I'm glad that you can laugh, Ian. I try to do the same. The alternative is not an option for me for it would bring me down to the deepest depths of despair and depression. I cannot let that happen. So I laugh, and I remain grateful every day. I'm sorry for the hell you are going through. Reading about your health problems makes me even more grateful, and I hope you understand that I mean that in a kind way. When I begin to feel sorry for myself or angry at my conditions, I remind myself that compared to hundreds of thousands of others I have it "good."

Anyway, I meant it when I said I'm here for you. I'm glad you are writing and staying in touch with us. I'm glad that you love yourself enough to do that for yourself. Let us be here for you just as you are here for me.

Hang in there, my friend. Hugs!
 
@JamieMarc ....I am with you on this.
I took Tramadol for about 3 years and then went off it, wanting to manage the fibro without medication. I was very determined, and I did have quite a bit of success, at least at first. That was a few years ago. Unfortunately, and probably simply due to the fact that my body is getting older, the pain crept up over time to a level that it is now as you say: I don't have a life at all without taking pain medication. So I am once again taking Tramadol daily. Like you, I do not get anything like a high or any mental effect from it at all, apart from the fact that if I am in so much pain all day that I cannot do anything but lie on the couch wishing I hadn't woken up that morning it is pretty depressing. So if I am able to take the dogs for a walk and accomplish something on my list of "to-do" during the day, I naturally feel much better mentally.

I decided that even if it means I become dependent on the drug, that is better than having no life at all, and it's not as if I am buying it on the street or stealing from people to get it, or taking more and more, or something like that. I think maybe if I were a lot younger I'd still hesitate to take it, in case I became addicted. But at this point in my life I just no longer care if I am dependent or addicted to a drug. I am not going to spend the last years of my life unable to do anything interesting or fun or important due to pain when there's a medication that can lower that pain level to the point that I can live more or less like a normal person, and feel like a human being instead of a lump on the couch.

I used to have the attitude that everyone should try not to take strong pain medication. But I now know I was very wrong about that. I have come to see that it's a decision that only each individual can make for themselves and no one should try to tell another what to do. We live and learn.....at least I can say I have learned.

I hope that you have success in your quest to remove the medication from your life, Jamie. I think you can have some success, because I did and so have others. I fully support your efforts in this, and wish you the best of luck.
 
How are you guys able to get Tramadol prescribed? Where I am, opioids are a non-issue. The docs are so stuck on all the opioid abuse stats, it's like they're not allowed to touch it!
 
How are you guys able to get Tramadol prescribed? Where I am, opioids are a non-issue. The docs are so stuck on all the opioid abuse stats, it's like they're not allowed to touch it!
I guess it depends on the doctor. You could ask for a referral to a Pain Specialist or pain clinic, and see if they will do it. I am currently taking some that is left over from when I was going to a pain clinic a few years ago. I have a new doctor I am seeing for the first time this week, and don't know if they will prescribe it for me or not, but if not I will go to a pain clinic and try to get it there.
 
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