I have to say that it sounds as if your meds need to be changed to something more long acting so you can pull more then a few hours of relief,thus the problems with short acting meds,the ups and downs and high and lows and getting no more then a few hours out of them before your in dire pain again and not time for more yet! I say talk to your Doc and find out why you cant be moved to a 12 or 24 hour med maybe with a BT med for the low times?
I went thru the entire 1st 3 years of CP much like you,having to plan my entire day and night around the few hours of relief I was getting and most of the time it just wasnt worth the effort or the pain I had to deal with afterwards so like many I just didnt do much of anything.
I was eventually blessed with methadone and my whole life changed seriously I became more normal in my can and cant do's and actually felt like I had been reborn. Sounds weird huh? Not really since I had avoided so much for so long and had actually withdrawn from family and friends since I couldnt ever go here or there or take part in much of anything,family reunions,girls night outs,school plays,afterschool activities,barbecues,yard sales,taking my kids pretty much nowehere and relying on my adult kids to shop and take the younger ones anywhere, I was a mess and rarely even cooked a meal if it required more then popping it into the microwave,no this isnt an ad for the makers of methadone as I have many many friends who found the same return to the living on oxy-c or even morphine as long it is time released and long acting and generates the relief needed for you.
Still I do alot of corner cutting like cooking,when I make say stuffed peppers and I hate preparing these but sure do love them, I make double and freeze the other half leaving me a whole other meal for another day. Same with chilli,soups,about anything can be frozen and making double when you do make something of this caliber gives you one day of stretching yourself tot he limit versus 2.
I do my shopping during my best times of the day or night and since my meds are taken on a once a day timeline if that means shopping at 6 a.m. when I have just taken them then that is what I do,Walmarts open 24 hours a day! I also like shopping at that time as the crowds are far less and the check out lanes are empty with no waiting in line!
I use online bill pay as well as banking and my cell phone services are all online. These days ao much can be done online that this cuts out alot of running here and there and standing in line. Phone is the same versus going in somehwere to search for something or ask questions. I have to say that over 10 plus years of this I have gotten real good at cutting corners and still getting the job done.
If I forget something I always ask a friend or neighbor to let me know if they go out to the store as I need them to pick up something for more if they dont mind and no one ever has yet. I also noticed you have adult kids like me and I use them like they have used me! If they want to drive my car to the mall? Dont forget to stop at Krogers and get my cupcake foils along the way honey! Utilize what you have and make use of todays technology and gadgets.