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The difference between being an addict and being dependent

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Chronic Pain
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Posted 5/30/2014 2:46 PM (GMT 0)
We often talk about this subject in other posts but I think it is important enough for it to have its own topic/post.

There is a big difference between being addicted to drugs and being dependent on them.

Being a true addict to drugs is someone who is mentally hooked on needing them along with a physical need for the medication. Addicts often look for ways to increase the "effectiveness" of the medication such as chewing them, dissolving them in water or other liquid so they can be injected, etc or they are constantly asking for medication increases from their doctors.

Being dependent on the medication is someone who has only a physical need for the medication. They take their medication as prescribed and report any problems they are having to their doctor rather than begging the doctor for stronger doses all the time.

I could go on about what an addict does and how someone who is dependent copes,but I hope that I have explained things well enough for an understanding of what an addict is and what someone who is dependent is. We sometimes get people coming in here thinking they are addicts when it reality they are merely dependent.

Sadly the media often leads to this misunderstanding and it can take a lot to convince someone otherwise.
Posted 5/30/2014 4:14 PM (GMT 0)
"Addicts often look for ways to increase the "effectiveness" of the medication such as chewing them, dissolving them in water or other liquid so they can be injected"

That is definitely a symptom of an addict.

When I take Extended Release Medicine I want it to last as long as possible.

I'm dependent on pain meds and Xanax.

But,I take them because I have to.

If I didn't medically need them I wouldn't be popping them to get high.

 

Posted 5/30/2014 4:25 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks!
I agree its nice having a med that lasts longer than 3-4 hrs at best. Theres definately no way to get high with ms contin. I dont get how people get through daily tasks being high anyways. wether they use drugs, meds,alchohol or whatever. pointless imo
Posted 5/30/2014 8:53 PM (GMT 0)
Good topic, and I believe it's important for people, (medical as well as patients, not to mention media), understand this distinction.

My previous PCP was the one who introduced me to the understanding of 'dependent' vs. 'addicted.' I was very fortunate that I had him, especially in an age where there seems to be an immediate, and erroneous, judgment made when narcotic meds are involved.







M.
Posted 5/30/2014 11:08 PM (GMT 0)
Amen to that!!!

There is a very big distinction between the 2 and people should be made aware of the difference!
Posted 5/30/2014 11:46 PM (GMT 0)
Dependent is when your body is use to a med. This happens with pain meds as well as other meds that aren't pain meds or are addicting, like Effexor. Addiction is when you crave the med for psychological reasons. You can be addicted and dependent because your body is use to having the med. But, you don't have to be addicted to a med for your body to be dependent on it.
Posted 5/31/2014 3:23 AM (GMT 0)
I like comparing dependency of pain meds, like dependency on allot of other meds, you take a pain med to relieve pain and your body becomes physically dependent on it, and if it is suddenly withdrawn your body will react to it, i.e. withdrawal! If you take heart medications, and suddenly stop you most probably have a withdrawal too, and that could be fatal, diabetes is anothe one, if you use insulin, if you sudenly with draw from that, your body will react. It is all because your your body becomes physically dependent on these different medications.

The thing about pain meds and also some others, that they can be misused and that is where you can get the addiction problem, it is common knowledge that if a person is in pain and is using there pain meds as prescribed, there is little chance that they will be come addicted, but they will become physically dependent. When your physically dependent, you can be weaned off of the medication and the physical symptoms of dependency will go away. But addiction is another story, and it often requires allot of therapy and relaspe is not uncommon..

White Beard
Posted 5/31/2014 2:13 PM (GMT 0)
Ever since a pm doc refused to prescribe pain meds for me in April, I have been putting a lot of thought into this subject. Questioning if I could be an "addict"?

I have horrible headaches (migraine type) that come up from my shoulders and neck and are horrendous. My back, shoulders, and neck hurt worse as the day goes on, or with increased activity.

When my Neuro stopped rxing narcotics last May bc of what the migraine clinic said..(that I was having rebound headaches due to too much Maxalt and too much narcotic). It was then that my pain became so much worse, probably in huge part due to coming off my meds, but I also began to slowly realize that there was really REALLY something awful going on with my neck or back.

It scares me to think what could have happened if I hadn't stopped taking those meds, and if this pain was masked forever! Problem is now, she thinks I have a problem because I went to my PCP last winter who re prescribed the narcotic for me.

I really was in awful pain...had just come through spine injections that didn't help, and had no hope for any relief. That doctor who did my injections told me AFTER she did them that I could never have radio frequency ablation because I had had prior fusions! She KNEW THIS going in!

So, what are you supposed to do in this situation? Luckily, I finally got a new PCP, under the umbrella of a great teaching university hospital who HEARD ME and said U really needed second surgical opinion OUTSIDE of the practice who had potentially botched my first two fusions.

Man, was she right. Going back to the pain management doc associated with the first clinic was disastrous. Both she, the radiologist, and the surgeon who looked at my MRI and flexion X-rays said "arthritis". The Duke spine surgeon was a man of few words, but he shook his head when he read my MRI and the X-ray and the reports.

He said he was 99% sure I was unfused per the X-ray, and that's why he did the ct scan to confirm. Scary isn't it?

Being denied narcotics could have been the best thing to happen to me because I could have continued limping along with some level of relief..due to pain meds and NEVER FOUND out about THE FAILED SURGERIES TIL IT GOT MUCH MUCH WORSE.

My mission now is to go back and clear my name with the facts I have found in my records and proceed to correct the real medical issues that hurt so dang much.

I feel like I am trapped in a maze of misunderstanding and misinformation in my files,but I sure hope to be able to clear it up. This forum has been such a source of help and great information, thank you!

Post Edited (poplargrove) : 5/31/2014 8:22:41 AM (GMT-6)

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