oceanfisher58 said...
I have many stresses in my life also. My stress makes my chronic pain worse. I know you may not want to up your Lexapro but if it helps you then its worth it. A few months ago my pain management dr said something which absolutely floored me. She said I WOULD NEVER come off opiate pain meds. Just the thought of that scared me to death. Because of having cancer and all the invasive treatments I have gone through my pain is really spiking. I let it worry me till one day I said I am just sick of worrying all the time. I don't care if I take pain meds everyday of my life if I can live my life with less pain. It more important for quality of life in my opinion.
God bless you all
Oceanfisher, a friendly suggestion: You have a right to switch doctors or seek a second opinion re: pain mgmt. options. Any doctor who tells their patient that they "will NEVER come off opiates" strikes me as unethical and/or incompetent. There are MANY safer, non-addictive options to reducing, managing pain, from other pain meds to alternative medicine (biofeedback, aqua-therapy, PT, acupuncture, massage, meditation, CBT, medical marijuana). An ethical, competent doctor should have at least discussed them with you, if not asked you to try them to assess your comfort level without opiates and help you avoid addiction and side-effects.
Opiates are supposed to be used sparingly, either during/shortly after surgery or if a patient is in hospice. You want to be sure your PM doc doesn't have a vested financial conflict of interest in keeping you hooked on opiates. I hope not, but one can't be too careful these days.