Re: dependence NOT ALWAYS addiction-- different

[Guest guest]

Debra,

You are certainly correct with the prednisone! I was on such high

doses in the hospital that I am currently on the tapered dose at home

(down to 2 a days....lolol). I certainly don't crave the stuff - it

makes me poofy and even though I've dropped weight, my face has the

prednisone puffiness. Yet, I have no desire to throw the adrenals

into crisis and land back in the hospital! Soooo, I'll tough out the

puff, knowing it is temporary!

As for the narcotics, I agree. I was honestly afraid to take the

darvocet at night when I needed it because I didn't want to

get " hooked " . All that changed when I woke up in the middle of the

night one night and my knees felt like they were being ripped from my

body. You better believe I reached for the darvocets then! And

because, like an idiot, I was " behind " the pain, it took several

doses to get above the pain.

Folks who don't have this don't understand. Folks who have never

lived with any chronic illness don't understand. My asthma is still

not under control after a year. I am slowly learning my triggers, but

quite bluntly - a room that is too hot/stuffy can set it off; strong

perfume can set it off; cigarette smoke can set it off (and I used to

smoke....the irony is fantastic!)......plus, I am so immuno-

suppressed because of the amounts of prednisone I have had to take

over the past 2 years, I catch virtually everything that passes by.

So I am very very careful during this cold/flu season. I pretty much

haven't gone out since getting home from the hospital. Not paranoia

exactly, just cautiousness. I think if someone who has never been ill

would walk a day or two, maybe a week in our lives and see what it

does to us, the tune would change...........

We didn't choose to have this; it chose us. How we react and respond

to it really depends on where we are in our own skins. Most of us can

deal, using medicines to cope and finding support networks, either

thru this group or locally with family and/or friends. Some don't. I

am choosing to try to learn to cope where " I " am in charge, not the

beast. So I'll eat what I should, sleep when I should, nap for my

energy level and take what is given, but I'll continue to look for

alternatives to get myself as healthy as possible!

((Hugs))

Darlene

>

> Just a thought. People who are taking narcotic pain meds for pain

are not always " addicted " . They are " dependent " because the body

does not withdraw from them without some kind of withdrawals if they

are taken away suddenly. However, this goes to say with alot of

other drugs that are NOT narcotic. For example... lets say steroids

like prednisone that some people take for chronic inflamation. If

you have been using prednisone for an extended period of time... it

is to be TAPERED off because it can throw your adrenal glands into a

crisis and make you very ill. That is why steroids are prescribed

with gradual decreasing doses after long term use in order to stop

them. Lets say SSRI antidepressants such as Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa,

Prozac and others of its class. I am NOT addicted to Zoloft ...

however if I stop it suddenly I can promise you I will be in major

pain and have a fibro flare out of proportions. (I know this because

I had stopped my prozac once cold turkey).

> The list goes on and on of drugs you cannot suddenly stop without

some kind of response from the body.

>

> Now, if I was addicted to my pain pills, I would crave them. I

would continue to pop them when I was not in pain to reach a euphoric

high. I would continue to seek higher doses to achieve that high.

(legally or not legally). Kind of like any street drug out there

that people take to " feel high " . I do not crave them. I take it

only for pain. BUT I PROMISE YOU if I dropped hydrocodone today cold

turkey, yes I would go through some major withdrawals within a day or

so. This does not constitute addiction.

>

> Ok, now lets say you stop your blood pressure medication that you

have taken for many years. You WILL get a very high blood pressure

and feel like crap unless you have put another one in its place to

take over. Maybe even have a stroke.

>

> I know people who take prednisone would not be " addicted " to

it..... but would suffer consequences of withdrawing it suddenly

after long term use. THEY would not CRAVE prednisone. But they

would be sick.

>

> See what I mean? Just a thought. I refuse to give up the only

medication I have ever found that lets my pain up and allows me to

function without the fibro beast taking over. If I ever have to, I

will certainly try to reason with a doctor that takes them away and

ask him to PLEASE wean me off them.

>

> love and hugs,

> Debra V.

>

>

> ---------------------------------

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>

>

[Guest guest]

This is very accurate, very true. I wish all docs felt the same way. I

think some of them do worry about losing their licenses for over-prescribing

narcotics. My PCP monitors my tramadol very closely. I never get any

refills without getting a new prescription from her. I'm not sure why she

does this, except that it might have to do with her knowing about my psych

issues and not wanting me to have too many pills on hand? That's just a

guess. She's really a wonderful lady and I'm not complaining. If and when

the day comes when my dosage of tramadol needs to be increased I will have

to have the talk with her. Well, I'm rambling. Hope everyone is doing OK

so far this morning.

Jeanne in WI

> Just a thought. People who are taking narcotic pain meds for pain are not

> always " addicted " . They are " dependent " because the body does not

> withdraw from them without some kind of withdrawals if they are taken

> away suddenly. However, this goes to say with alot of other drugs that

> are NOT narcotic. For example... lets say steroids like prednisone that

> some people take for chronic inflamation. If you have been using

> prednisone for an extended period of time... it is to be TAPERED off

> because it can throw your adrenal glands into a crisis and make you very

> ill. That is why steroids are prescribed with gradual decreasing doses

> after long term use in order to stop them. Lets say SSRI antidepressants

> such as Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa, Prozac and others of its class. I am NOT

> addicted to Zoloft ... however if I stop it suddenly I can promise you I

> will be in major pain and have a fibro flare out of proportions. (I know

> this because I had stopped my prozac once cold turkey).

> The list goes on and on of drugs you cannot suddenly stop without some

> kind of response from the body.

>

> Now, if I was addicted to my pain pills, I would crave them. I would

> continue to pop them when I was not in pain to reach a euphoric high. I

> would continue to seek higher doses to achieve that high. (legally or not

> legally). Kind of like any street drug out there that people take to

> " feel high " . I do not crave them. I take it only for pain. BUT I

> PROMISE YOU if I dropped hydrocodone today cold turkey, yes I would go

> through some major withdrawals within a day or so. This does not

> constitute addiction.

>

> Ok, now lets say you stop your blood pressure medication that you have

> taken for many years. You WILL get a very high blood pressure and feel

> like crap unless you have put another one in its place to take over.

> Maybe even have a stroke.

>

> I know people who take prednisone would not be " addicted " to it..... but

> would suffer consequences of withdrawing it suddenly after long term use.

> THEY would not CRAVE prednisone. But they would be sick.

>

> See what I mean? Just a thought. I refuse to give up the only

> medication I have ever found that lets my pain up and allows me to

> function without the fibro beast taking over. If I ever have to, I will

> certainly try to reason with a doctor that takes them away and ask him to

> PLEASE wean me off them.

>

> love and hugs,

> Debra V.

[Guest guest]

> This is very accurate, very true. I wish all docs felt the same

> way. I

> think some of them do worry about losing their licenses for over-

> prescribing

> narcotics. My PCP monitors my tramadol very closely. I never get any

> refills without getting a new prescription from her. I'm not sure

> why she

> does this, except that it might have to do with her knowing about

> my psych

> issues and not wanting me to have too many pills on hand?

With a person who's fragile emotionally, having a limited number of

pills of certain types is sometimes done. It's been important for me

at certain times in my life.

I have been followed by the same " meds shrink " for 11 years. She

prescribes my Prozac, and has worked with me over the years with

various anti-anxiety meds and antidepressants. She authorizes month

by month, I let her know what's going on, and I go to see her about 2

times a year. I was there today, as a matter of fact. I showed her

my pain logs and filled her in on what I was doing. BTW, my pain

logs showed that from December, when I had very few low-fibro-pain

days, to January, the number of bad-pain days dropped dramatically,

to just about 50%.

I think it's irresponsible of docs to prescribe psych or pain meds

and then send the patient off on his/her merry way. Meds don't

always work as intended, and sometimes they need changes or tweaking

of dosages. It's important to have someone who really understands

the meds. Back in '97, my PCP freely admitted that she was out of

her league when she couldn't get me stablized on Wellbutrin, and sent

me off to this meds shrink. It's been a very successful collaboration.

You know, another factor: We discussed my going back to work. She

said that going back to work at this point would be a step backwards,

because I would not be able to care for myself like I'm doing.

Being able to exercise, eat right, and look after myself is really

starting to make a difference, as shown by my pain logs. But I need

tremendous amounts of sleep, have my " mini-flare " every afternoon,

and going back to work would essentially put the brakes on any

progress that I'm making. I also pointed out to her, with the

discussions on these lists in mind, that the only reason why I was

able to get on track with exercise is because I did the rehab from my

knee replacements while on pain meds!

This long-term relationship is important, because when my initial SSI

evaluation came up in 2006, she was there with 9 years of records.

When it comes up again end of this year, she'll (hopefully) still be

there, this time with nearly 12 years of records.

I know that I'm incredibly fortunate. Even though it wasn't covered

to any great extent by insurance, and is not covered at all by

Medicare (she doesn't participate), I can budget the cost and manage it.

Of course, it would help if we had a health care system where people

at the bottom of the economic rung could actually manage to be

followed by a doc...

Z