Posted 11/6/2017 12:17 PM (GMT 0)
Hello Littlegreen & welcome to the forum. I am sorry to read about the diagnosis of cancer. As far as tolerance to an opiate it takes a very long time for tolerance to build up. Obviously if a person abuses the medication, meaning taking more than prescribed yes it will happen much quicker. People can go years & not have to have an increase in their medication. If a person finds the medication is not as effective as it once was, then the dr can either give a small increase or switch a person to something different. Understand any medication taken long term has the potential of building up a tolerance. We have have to change my blood pressure medicines up every now & then because after several years they are not as effective.
There is so much media hype out there about opiates & much of what you read is not accurate. I could write a mini novel here about all of the garbage out there but will spare you. Keep in mind you cannot believe everything you read on the internet or in the news.
I am assuming you need some pain medication & I urge you to discuss your fears with your dr.. Your dr will discuss with you exactly how to use the pain medication. I cannot fathom having cancer & not take medication to help with the pain. I lost my mother to terminal lung cancer & all I can say is she was relatively pain free but quite able to function. She was not drugged up or loopy, that is not the goal at all with pain medication. If a medication were to do that to you, then contact your dr ASAP, it is too strong. You need to be honest with the dr about your pain level that way he/she can properly treat your pain.
Keep us posted on how you are doing. Take care.