Wthdrawl Syptoms

Crohnie - I'm not sure what you mean by saying that the only cure for withdrawal is to up your medication? Unless you stop a medication you shouldn't be experiencing any withdrawal symptoms. A way to avoid - or deal with minimal withdrawal if you HAVE to stop a medication and are not getting help from a doctor is to ween yourself off of them.

Thanks for the input, I was asking the questions about withdrawl because I think I will be on medications for the near future, as I am like most I would prefer to be pain free using the minimal amount of meds. I think I might be experiancing withdrawl symptoms because I have been in morphine for a long period and I might have built up a tolerance. I don't get the same releif as I did in the past. I don't know where to go with my dosage, I am sure I am not alone with my situation. I am seeking the best option verses having surgery.

Crohnie - just a little bit of info for you.

There is a huge difference between withdrawal and tolerance. The same holds true with addiction versus dependence. Many chronic pain patients become dependent on their medications. Meaning - we need them to live as pain free as possible, we don't necessarily crave them - we use our pain medications the same way a diabetic uses insulin - it helps us to make it through a day. As you build up a tolerance to medication, and it varies from person to person how quickly this happens, they don't work as well as they used to. For some people this happens very quickly - in weeks - and for others (like me) I've been on the same medication amount for five years. Sometimes it's a simple as switching between medications that work for you, and other times it requires raises in the amount of medication you are taking.

Withdrawal symptoms happen when you drastically reduce, or stop the amount of pain mediation you were taking. Withdrawal happens in both people who have built up a dependence on the medication, and those who are addicted to it. Withdrawal can vary from person to person, but can involve hot and cold flashes, shakiness, headaches, runs to the bathroom, upset stomach, intense cravings, anger and depression. I'm sure there are other symptoms I haven't heard about as well. If you want more information on addiction versus tolerance/dependence it is a topic that has come up several times in this forum, feel free to do a search for it.

A few questions to ask yourself is are you taking more medication that you are prescribed? Do you NEED your next dosage - or do you mentally crave it? (Are you using it for pain control or do you just want it?) Is the medication that you have working for you?

If you start taking more medication than your doctor wrote for you - that is a problem. It will cause you to build up a tolerance much more quickly (in my opinion). If you are sticking with what you were wrote, and need more to help keep your pain under control - then bring that up with your doctor.

Another thing that you might want to remember is that the idea is to "manage" your pain. Very few chronic pain patients live pain free lives. My day to day living I'm at a five on the pain the scale. I live at a five pain level. Some patients live at a seven, others get it down to two or three, very few I feel actually manage to be pain free. You know how some people go "wow, I have a kill headache". I can remember each time in the past three years I've been pain free because, and so can my husband - because twice I've woke him up in the middle of the night in tears telling him "honey, I don't hurt, not anywhere".

If you are opting not to have surgery - and are going to be in pain for an extended period of time, you need to get in with a pain specialist - these are people that are trained to help you manage your pain.

Good luck!

Thank you so much for the postings, they put alot of my questions to rest, yes I know I never will be 100% free from pain I know that. I have an upcoming visit to PM Dr. I can come more prepared to ask questions and choose a better combination of pain meds. The question about being addicted verses dependent (like insulin) from reading postings on this website have helped me to put a name to my particular situation. I need pain meds as I have tried so despartly to go without, I just need to get a handle on what works. So far I am always in this mode of just making it month by month with the scripts provided and I try to adjust the doses as the pain leven dictates, no I don't just take pills if I am not at a pain level that disturbs daily tasks. I just hate chasing the pain I rather prevent the pain. I am going tp try the patch again to keep a better (and more consistant) level of releif. 

Wish me luck