Geez......

OMG! I can't believe I just finished a 7-day detox at the local rehab facility  ....... I have to really admit that drug and alcohol rehab facilities are NOT equipped to handle people with chronic pain. On the upperhand, my pain meds are working better than ever! I can't really say whether or not it was worth the experience, though.... Because I'm not a crackhead or a heroin junkie, I really didn't have much conversation to offer, and the staff didn't have the capacity to handle me. There should be a detox/rehab facility for chronic pain sufferers. If there is, I guess I wouldn't know about it because I STILL don't have any health coverage..... I'll get it together sometime......

Awww.... Thanx! To be honest, I havent even seen or talked to most of my friends or family yet! I just had to ge on here and post.....

Hi Dagogirl, Sorry you went through that....wow....I am glad that at least something good came of it! I went to family day when my daughter was in re-hab and felt that the staff there was very educated, as far as addiction, but I can see where they did not have much to offer you! Also, there is the whole tuff love with the addiction recovery that really is not the same thing you were going through! Anyway....just wanted to say glad it helped but I am sure it was not an easy road! Hang in there!

Hugs,
Beckey

Hi Dagogirl,

I'm sorry to hear that you had such a rotten experience . As your experience confirmed, I would have guessed that a detox facility would not be equipped to handled a CP patient without addiction issues. In the past, whenever I've come off of pain meds, I have just found it easiest to follow a taper schedule created by my doctor. But despite your bad experience, I am really glad to hear that your med holiday has produced good results. Hopefully the increased efficacy stays around for quite a while!

hugs,
Skeye

Thanx so much everyone! I've been feelin pretty darn great for the past 3 days! White Beard, I'm so sorry for you, having to experience such ignorance from what's supposed to be one of the best clinics in the world. The bottom line is, NO ONE lives inside our bodies but OURSELVES, and it is completely ludicrous for anyone to assume how much pain we experience. In the future, I will do everything within my power to try to manage my pain, and, if indeed my meds stop working again, I will do my best to find a way to stay OUT of drug and alcohol rehabilitation facilities. It was the worst experience I have ever had, besides the car accident that resulted in me having RSD. All I can seem to compare it to is kind of like a "scared-straight" program (lol). I've never been an illicit/street drug user, so the entire experience was terrifying. I shared a room with a crack-cocaine addict, and I had to keep any and all valuables on me at all times. I never removed any of my jewelry (I was the only person who even owned any) and, at bedtime, I made sure that she fell asleep before me, so that I could empty out my pockets (money, cigarettes, Colibri lighter, etc.) and hide everything in the box of tissues that was on the stand RIGHT next to my very uncomfortable bed (that had a plastic-covered matress and pillow). Then, in the morning, I had to make sure that she didn't know about my "hiding place," so I made sure that I was awake well before she was. What a nightmare! I had to attend drug and alcohol counseling and group meetings and discussions ALL DAY LONG, suffice to say that I could not relate to anyone or any of the discussion topics. The patients and counselors kept asking me to "share my experiences" and tell them about my life before and during my so-called "drug use," and after sharing the truth about my disease and history of pain management, they stopped asking me anything! So, if anyone with chronic pain out there on this forum is reading this and may be thinking about taking a "drug holiday," please talk to your doctor or PM specialist FIRST before doing anything so hastily like I did. Please, everyone learn from my experience. I would do anything not to go back to a place like that, and I suggest everyone to PLEASE take my advice!

Hi Dagogirl. Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm so sorry that it was so awful for you. I had no idea that rehab is like that. Wow. Thank God you got through it and are out now.
It's good that you posted this for anyone that is thinking of going.

Thanks and hugs,

Flower

Bay Recovery Center, which is in California, is one of the few places that I know of that deal with addictions in people with chronic pain. So there is a place out there that deals with both, but I'm sure it's very expensive. I'm just stating that places for addiction and chronic pain do exsist, but I think there should be more. Better yet, all of the people that work at rehab/detox centers should take a long class in chronic pain. I'm just glad that things did work out for you in the end, but they are working on the tolernce issues, actually thats one reason why I love buprenorphine, it doesnt cause tolerence, but there are other medications out there that their reformulating (oxycodone and morphine are two that I know of for sure) to help stop tolerence. And there is an old medication that they use to use for stomach ulcers a LONGGG time ago, but new medications came out and kicked that one of the shelf, but they found out that that old medication does something that make it so you dont build a tolerence to narcotic pain killers, but of course they wont even consider using it for that reason (for reasons that I wont get into cause it would take up alot of space and most of it is speculation and not fact)....the answer is there, but it all takes time to become FDA approved, I guess we shall just wait and see what happens.

-kitty