First off let me say to anybody reading this post that I am not against anyone taking pain pills. I never believed anybody should have to hurt. The only reason I don't take them is Doctors just wouldn't think of giving you any in the 1950's so I learned to live without them. But believe me, after nine surgeries, six major resections, numerous other blockages that were broken up with IV's of Pred. I know what Pain is. But it's likes a lot of other things in life, when you can get it you don't want it.
Matthew - I found it a little humorous that I was not understanding addiction at all. and that what I and lots of Doctors were seeing was dependance. Then I found out I was uninformed, and it was just your body adjusts to things like meds. And then you decide to use "long time pred use will call for a phased withdrawal" as an example of dependance. Long time Pred. use calls for a phased withdrawal has absolutely nothing to do with dependance. Its main function is to get the Adrenal Glands back to producing Cortisol. It really doesn't have much to do with how you ween, you can ween down by leaps and bounds until you get to the 10mg part. That's when you play it safe and reduce by One mg a week for ten weeks, that gives your glands plenty of time to recover. So I don't think Pred. would rate as a dependant except in a case where your adrenal glands failed to restart and then you would become steriod dependant. In that case you would have to take pred. for life but you wouldn't have to increase the dosage as time went by, you would stay on the same dosage. My wife had to continually increase her dosage of percs and oxys so I think that even in your thinking would take her out of the dependence class to the addicted class, wouldn't you.
Addiction is the compulsive uncontrolled use of habit forming drugs beyond the period of medical need, my wifes medical need was continous because the spinal stenosis was gradually getting worse and worse, but unlike the steriod dependant who stays on the same dosage, she couldn't.
I'm not saying addiction is a bad thing in her case, it was a must have situation, they even gave her epidural shots to try to ease the pain and finally they decided the only chance she had to relieve the pain was surgery on her back that would freeze it in a fixed position which would restrict her movements. She agreed, and had the surgery, but her heart had weakened and within a week she was gone.
MMMNAVY - I apologize to you and others for not making my theory more understanding, I meant If you can control it, you didn't need it again until the next medical need. Thanks for throwing it out of the water
PS sorry I'm a day late, I got up yesterday morning, had breakfast, took my pills, read the paper, then came down to the computer, and then heard what the stock market was doing to my 401-K and IRA so i decided to watch them go down the drain, then it hit me, no pun intended, my dependance was addicted to losing.