HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

vicodin addiction?

Support Forums
>
Rheumatoid Arthritis
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 5/4/2006 8:22 PM (GMT 0)
2 years ago I had ileostomy surgery due to crohns and now have the dreaded bag (It's not so bad actually. I'm much healthier and have gained 20 pounds back). Although I do still suffer from arthritis in my neck, hands and feet and neuropathy in my feet, most probably due to the having had crohns for over 30 years. My doc gives my vicodin and I take 1 to 1 1/2 tabs (500mg) each night. My pharmacist says I won't get addicted to just one a night, but sometimes when I'm in more pain, I feel like I need one during the day as well. Can I get addicted by taking 2 Vicodin daily for a number of years?

Posted 5/5/2006 1:49 AM (GMT 0)
I was told that as long as it's being used for what it's prescribed for you won't. It apparently can happen when we start using it for milder pain like maybe a headache or something the doc didn't approve it for. My hubby took vicodin for months due to several surgies and although I worried about him, he didn't get addicted and he was taking them every few hours. Trust your pharmacist, they are often more educated about drugs than doctors. But it wouldn't hurt to check with your doc. He probably should know if you need more pain relief than what you are getting now. I take darvocet every 6 hours 24/7. I know it's not as strong as vicodin though. I worry that one day I may build up a tolerance and it won't work as effectively at this dose but I'll cross that bridge when that day comes.
Posted 5/5/2006 5:25 AM (GMT 0)

sorry to say that i have been on vicoden for 2 yrs now as my primary source of pain reliever as i can not take nsaids. i was on oxy but got off this when i couldnt urinate well it caused me to have retention but did wonders for the pain. now the vicoden i am dependent on and i am taking only 2 pills a day 10/325.

i f i go off them after one day i get into wd's. this is not a nice drug to wd from.

i had no problem getting off the oxy as i taper down slowly and was off without any wd problems what so ever. vicoden is altogether a different story for me.

i dont like being on this but cant take any of the nsaids at all.

this leaves me with no alternative. i will most likely be on this until i die the doc told me unless i can get onto a homopathic remedy taht works better than this. so far i take glousiame chrondriotn with msm whixch helps, celadrin whixh helps my high cholestrol b/c it has salmon oil and that has been the only thing ever in my life that has taken down the high cholestroil, i can not take statins.

xanax etc.

Posted 5/5/2006 3:08 PM (GMT 0)
Dear KateLyn,

Hi & welcome to HealingWell...not sure if we've met before.

 ** I'm glad for your success with your ostomy!**  yeah Way to go! yeah

 

The dose of vicoden you're on is very safe.  And if you recieve adequate pain relief from it, that's even better.

So we want to address the fear of addiction.  When it comes to pain managment and chronic illness, opioids are almost always needed especially for severe pain and if you cannot take NSAIDs.

Addiction should not be a problem for you.  You take the medication for pain and you take it when needed.

 

Addiction comes into play when and if a person is seeking to use the drug recreationally for pleasure and or if the person also has an addictive problem. (And addiction can range from smoking to alcohol to gambling).  So when I look at a person worried about addiction, I always caution them to beware of their own habits.  So if a patient has addiction problems in general, that is cause for concern.

 

Now, what you may experience and what is also quite normal is drug tolerance.  After a few years, the dose you are on now might not be enough to relieve pain.  This just happens, the body just gets used to it and it is a normal physiological response.  So if you need to take the vicoden in the daytime too, that is still within normal limits.

 

Keep track of how the vicoden effects you.  If it seems like as time goes by you need more and more of it to handle the pain, then a new pain regime might be needed.  This in no way labels any person as an addict.

 

Personally, I take an extended slow release morphine for pain & dilaudid for BT pain, and even tylenol as well.  After 3 years on darvocet...it just didn't work well for me & ended up taking far more than the recommended dose of it. So we tweeked my treatment and it's much more effective now.

 

So be at ease about the medication. :-)   If you take it for pain and disease, the chances of becomming "addicted" to it are very very slim.  Addiction for the chronically ill patient is really never a problem.  Tolerance to drugs is however, but again...it is only the body getting too used to the dose. It is also a good idea to speak with your M.D. about withdrawal effects should you ever stop taking Vicoden or even if it is something that concerns you. Docs are more than happy to know and hear their patients looking out for their own best interest.

I think you'll do just fine! :-)

Sincerely,

Erin

Posted 5/6/2006 2:34 AM (GMT 0)

i am on the vicoden and do not considered myself 'addicted' to it but i do consider my self 'dependent physicially' on it. which means i dont want to take this stuff like an 'addiction' to  like erin said gambling or smoking etc, but i have no choice since i cant take anything else for the pain.

i do know the difference between 'addicted' and' physicially dependent' on the med. physicial dependent means that your body gets used to it and when it doesnt have it you can go into wd's.  but since dont 'want' to take or have a searching desire to take other than to relieve the pain that fills my  body, i dont consider myself 'addicted'. just physicially dependent. there is a difference in that one is looking for the rush from the release of the meds one gets if not used to treat pain and one who takes it to control pain.

either way a person can still be 'dependent upon it' and goes through wd if not tapered down slowly. this can happen to anyone who takes a controlled substance.

✚ New Topic ✚ Reply