"Managing Pain Without Opioids- Changing Patient Perceptions"

[tinhorn97062]

Not to stir anything up, but have any of you chronic pain sufferers tried marijuana? It seems that the medicinal benefits are gaining quite a bit of traction. Some or all of you may or may not be against it, and this isn’t meant to fire up a debate on that subject, but rather to bring up a possible other option.

I see one person above chimes in on the matter.

[Traffer]

i have been on opioids for about 12 years. First vicodin then oxycodone AND morphine for the past 7-8 years. I got the cancer two years ago and found out that the opioids have permanently messed up my guts AND much of the pain I suffer now is actually from withdrawal symptoms because I have not increased the dosages of opioids in those 7 years. So now I have to go off this stuff. BRUTAL. My health is such that I am almost bedridden (haven't even fired a gun in 2 1/2 years. Can't get to the range. and NOW I have to kick morphine? No bueno. I am down to 15 mg morphine per day from 60 mg and not taking any oxycodone (used to take 20 mg on top of the morphine.
My advise is ...If you don't need opioids don't take em. If you really REALLY need opioids like your life depends on it ...STILL DON'T TAKE THEM. Just learn to endure the pain.

[RED BEAR]

I am not in constant pain thank god because opiods make me sick and don't really do much for pain. My wife on other hand has been in constant pain for years has had neck fused several disc operations constant shots in back and must take pain killers constantly. After seeing the pain she has to deal with i really feel for people in pain.

[truckjohn]

You forgot the do-gooders who equate pain with moral and ethical failure and are driven to distraction by the thought of ONE 80-year old in Hospice who is addicted to opioids because od chronic pain. Give me a break!

My issue is this:
Pain is not a lifestyle and it's not a moral failure.
Let people have some dignity....
Especially if they are old and there are no other options.

Seriously - you hit 80 and your life expectancy is 5 years or less.. Who cares about addiction if it helps you to cope.

The ONLY reason opiod use is under attack is the big drug companies don't make high enough profits on the sale of opiods. If opiods are gone then it easier to sell their new designer drugs. Also, opiods complete with medical marijuana, another cash cow for the rich.

BB

[BigAlofPa.]

I get monthly nerve blocks. I have percocet for breakthrough pain. I have not got a new script for them in months. I take aleve and or ibuprofen and use my tens unit. I find if i save the heavy hitters they work better. My pain doc did try to push the medical weed on me. I said no thanks i enjoy my guns and reloading. Found out he reloads too and loves shooting then.

[flyingmonkey35]

in 45 and have been road rough and out away wet more times then I can count.

i have two bad knees that need surgery. two slipped disks in my lower back that flare up fro. time to time.

and a blown rotatercuff on my right shoulder that has had two surgeries on it and still hasn't fixed it.

I've told my wife and doc that if I could event one thing. it would be device that would let the doctor know exactly how much pain I'm in and make them feel it to.

as no one will ever understand the pain one feels

on my bad days with out my meds I wouldn't get put if bed.



Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[MrWolf]

Even with my 80mg time released med it barely takes the edge off. Those of us who really suffer are not pain free. I would guess most here are like me and only being able to sleep an hour or two at time. Try doing that for years and see what it does to you and that is being on a pain med. I have had nights where you just want to scream every ten minutes for the pain to stop so you can grab a few minutes of sleep. Listen to someone who has thrown there back out and they would swear they were dying. We endure that on a daily basis. I used to get some relief from accupuncture but over the years worked less and less. Even found out electronic stimulus gives me migraines. Yea for me.

[condorjohn]

You forgot the do-gooders who equate pain with moral and ethical failure and are driven to distraction by the thought of ONE 80-year old in Hospice who is addicted to opioids because od chronic pain. Give me a break!

My issue is this:
Pain is not a lifestyle and it's not a moral failure.
Let people have some dignity....
Especially if they are old and there are no other options.

Seriously - you hit 80 and your life expectancy is 5 years or less.. Who cares about addiction if it helps you to cope.

Just like the doctor that told my 94yo Great Grandfather he had to cut back on his coffee.

[alamogunr]

I have just read this thread from start to last post. My first thought is to thank God that I don't have such issues. Second, is to offer prayers for all those who deal with pain every day. Too many are like I was and don't understand what others deal with.

While I am not personally acquainted with most here on this board, I respect and have learned from many of those that have posted in this thread and had no idea they were dealing with these issues.

[tinhorn97062]

I have just read this thread from start to last post. My first thought is to thank God that I don't have such issues. Second, is to offer prayers for all those who deal with pain every day. Too many are like I was and don't understand what others deal with.

While I am not personally acquainted with most here on this board, I respect and have learned from many of those that have posted in this thread and had no idea they were dealing with these issues.

I would like to echo this.

The subject as a whole has been very eye opening for me. Due to many years of “various abuses”, my body has been permanently rewired in such a way that medications do almost nothing to me. Example: for a tooth operation, a dentist would normally offer Vicodin as the “heavy hitter”. Unfortunately for me, I have to take so much to have any kind of a reaction, that I end up touching the edge of the danger zone for the Tylenol. So, while I don’t suffer from chronic pain, I do have some understanding of what ya’ll deal with.

[JimB..]

The opioid epidemic is the result of organized crime and fraud, but instead or dealing with that and moving on we need to implement more control over all the law abiding folks.

BTW, been using them off and on for almost 40 years. I feel cheated because they never did make me high, so I just can’t relate to the addiction. One day I’ll try THC, but can’t do it now.

[Traffer]

The opioid epidemic is the result of organized crime and fraud, but instead or dealing with that and moving on we need to implement more control over all the law abiding folks.

BTW, been using them off and on for almost 40 years. I feel cheated because they never did make me high, so I just can’t relate to the addiction. One day I’ll try THC, but can’t do it now.

You don't have to get high to get addicted.
But you are correct about organized crime and fraud. It's called big Pharma. Morphine is very VERY cheap to produce but the drug companies get crazy amounts of money for their pills. Big Pharma is one of the most corrupt plagues upon our society.

[Three44s]

What do I use?

None of the above thank you!

Several years ago a friend brought me a tiny little sample of something cutting edge. I thought what a farce, but I tried it. I trusted my friend and the cost of trying it was zero.

In my case much of my issues stem from year around allergies but as I get older wear and tear etc have added back pain and general joint and muscle issues. In short, soft tissue inflammation.

Now the naysayers to what I use point to the fact that this product is merely “salt water”. Well it breaks down in your body to salt water once it is used up but it is not that until then. So if you are salt restricted I find you should approach the product topically with limited ingestion until your body adapts or just stay with topical and be done with it.

This product I use (actually two different carriers but one active ingredient) is not sold on store shelves and the naysayers also pick on that as well. In the web site I post here, it goes into how much money you will potentially make by joining (becoming an associate). Yes it costs an annual fee but it is not onerous at all.

I pay little attention to that.

What I concentrate on is feeling better and being more healthy, period.

The criticism I get from friends who try this and find relief, which almost every one has is that Medicare does not pay for it (if they are on Medicare) in the first place. Well I am not there yet and when I am I will keep buying the product as I do not wait for Uncle Sam to give me a green light (green bucks in this case).

So if anyone dare look at the following web site and cares to inquire more, PM me and we will discuss the topic further.

amazingmolecules.com

Three44s

[6bg6ga]

I blew discs in my back in 86 and the pain was so bad they put me on Percodan and they told me I would get hooked on it but don't worry because they would get me off of it when they operated on my back. A month later I was going thru the maximum dosage with hardly any relief and they finally operated on me. I woke up to be on morphine and din't know where I was for three days. I left the hospital a week later with 3 scrips for percocet . Went to see the surgeon a week later and they handed out more percocet like it was candy. It did take away the pain and I never got hooked nor did I feel I couldn't live without it.

Recently I needed some pain reliever for my knee after surgery. I was told to take Tylenol. Well that didn't take the pain away and I asked for some percocet and you would have thought I kicked someone in the groin by the looks I got. I told them listen I'm not an addict I simply need some pain relief and the over the counter stuff simply doesn't work. Finally I receive a 7 day supply of it. I think the crackdown on some of the pain killers is ridiculous. Let people have it when they need it.

[Land Owner]

If your doctor KNOWS YOU, there should be no question when you request a pain killer.

[6bg6ga]

If your doctor KNOWS YOU, there should be no question when you request a pain killer.

That's the way it should be unfortunately Dr's are buckling to pressure to not prescribe pain killers and it doesn't make any difference if they have known you 40 years or 4 months they simply do not want to prescribe them.

[GhostHawk]

Three 44's ordered some Asea today. We'll be testing this together my wife and I.

My only criticism was that browsing through the site reminded me rather strongly of a multi level marketing or Pyramid scheme.

But the proof will be in the product. I am willing to keep an open mind until we see how that fly's.

Would love to have a chance to chat about this, any information you have would be helpful.

PM, if interested and if needed we can exchange phone numbers and schedule a time for a call.

[Three44s]

GhostHawk,

Congratulations on your willingness to try ASEA. I would be most happy to work by PM, email and phone with you anytime.

And you are correct that the big push is the marketing stuff. It turns me off to this day. If you care to watch the video named Genesis on the web site one can understand why it is done this way and not plastered over the airwaves and sold by a big Pharma like you would think. Also the main person that saved the floundering company is Verdis Norton. He was a marketing man for the likes of Kraft Foods and another big giant in his “prior life”. Without him, there would be no ASEA but as an old dog can not change it’s ways he also slicks up the marketing end, too much for my taste.

It is what ASEA has meant to me as a supplement that counts. From the very moment I sprayed the first bit of the liquid into my sinuses to now I have never been disappointed years later. To be sure I use it for so many more things and places than that but that is where it all began for me.

I have bought copious quantities of regular saline nasal spray since being introduced to them in the early eighties. I still buy them on occasion but with one difference. Now I buy the saline spray bottle and dump the contents and after rinsing with ASEA, I refill the new bottle with that, yes ASEA!

To just list a few other uses, muscle cramps (yes back pain in that category), burns, scrapes, wounds, insect stings, sun burn, eye issues (yes the liquid form goes in right in the eyes).

When my friend came back who introduced me to the product with a good friend (retired Physical Therapist) they brought more product and the retired Therapist began giving me the biology on it I was stunned. I had enough biology and chemistry between HS and College to be certain the talk they were giving me was crazy and yet the result was intriguing. So I told them that they were with the biggest hog washers in the world or this thing called ASEA was the biggest discovery in many years and was a huge leap in medicine and supplements.

Over the next 3 months I found no hog wash and none since.

Best regards

Three44s

[JimB..]

You don't have to get high to get addicted.
But you are correct about organized crime and fraud. It's called big Pharma. Morphine is very VERY cheap to produce but the drug companies get crazy amounts of money for their pills. Big Pharma is one of the most corrupt plagues upon our society.

I guess I meant that there is no motivation for it, or maybe I’m just not genetically inclined to addiction. I’d take several Percocet a day for months, and then just stop, no big deal.

About big pharma, their business practices are sometimes unethical and sometimes illegal, but I’m talking about organized crime, not the illegal actions of a generally law-abiding firm or industry.

[PerpetualStudent]

In Hawaii at least they searched for overlap between weed cards and firearm permits and told the firearm owners to turn them in. It's still illegal at the federal level and I doubt SCOTUS is going to step in in the near future. So for people who are passionate about shooting that's not a great option.

In general I've been very conflicted about watching this get covered in the news. You can and do build up resistance to these drugs which means increasing dosages as time goes on. If you're waiting for the end that's one thing. If you're looking at a decade or two, I'm leery of saying "you should be on narcotics for 2 decades". What the answer is, I don't know. But I do know that I want to avoid getting on them if at all possible.

My issue with laying the blame at the feet of "big pharma" is that these are prescriptions. We have already societally recognized that these drugs are dangerous to muck about with. Your doctor is already supposed to be looking at what the best form of pain control for you would be. S/he is already supposed to be supervising you and making sure you're not getting addicted. Why has there been such widespread failure on the part of the medical establishment? Are our doctors really that suggestible? How do we fix that?