Re: The Fork in The Road - Potent Opoiod Pain Relievers

Jamie; I took oxycontin and percocet with muscle relaxants, etc for some
years and instead of upping these, I actually went off them and now take
non-narcotic pain meds and I actually feel somewhat better now than I did
then. As far as I know, nothing has been made to 'take the pain away' - it'
always there, it's just a matter of extent. I dunno, it seems to me that if
you're getting a few hours every day that you're productive, that's pretty
good. Sorry, I just looked at your letter again and see that you haven't
taken narctics yet for pain. In that case, I certainly don't see any reason
why you shouldn't try them - they may work very well for you and at least
you'll know. Good luck.

dingaling deb

This would be really funny if it weren't happening to me.

"Jamie Dolan" <jamiedolan@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1151196430.704529.307910@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
HI all,

Hope you are all hanging in there and doing as well as you can. I have
something I want to throw out at you, espically aimed at thoes of you
that are using more potent long acting opoiods (oxycontin, mscontin,
methadone, fentanyl, etc.).

Basically I have reaced what I feel is a plateau in terms of my
functionality, or perhaps I should say, how far I can push myself in
any given day based on my pain and fatigue.

I don't know if I am explaining this properly or not, but what I am
trying to get at is that on any given day (and yes it does vary a lot)
it seems the very most I get on average is about 3 hours of being some
what functional. I still have too many ups and downs to know that I am
going to have thoes several good hours every day, so it makes it
virtually impossiable to work.

I am at the fork in the road:

As many of you know... I have tried the antidepressants quite
extensivly, the muscle relaxants, mirapax, requip, nsaid,
anticonvulsants, benzo's, betablockers, CCB's, etc, etc, and I have not
come anywhere close to regaining the life I had just a few short years
ago. Or even regaining enough life to be able to work and earn a
living.

What I am debating at this point are the Pro's and Con's of going onto
some more potent long acting opoiod pain relief program. Here is what
I have come up with:

Pro:
Very likely reduction in pain levels
Verly likely reduction in general stress caused by pain
Very likely to have better sleep due to not waking up in pain
Might increase functionality to the point where I can be employed at
some level.


Con's:
Possiable unplesant Medical side effects
Might cause problems with concentration / motovation
May need to continue medication long term
May need to increase the dose as time goes on

I guess I am really just looking to get some feed back from thoes of
you who have made the decison and started taking them. I want to know
if you are glad you are taking them or if you feel like it would have
been better to suffer with the pain?

Thanks,

Jamie



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