At a loss - not sure what to do/take meds or don't take meds?

[Kristen2015]

It is a little hard to type.  I am having some stabbing shoulder  pain.  my first post was at the end of July.  I was on pain meds for surgery and weaned myself down.  I had a cortisone shot in july to hold off having to have another shoulder surgery.  well, my dog yanked my arm and I don't know if the cortisone shot has worn off or the dog yanking my arm caused the pain.  This was last week.  I don't want to take pills again so I put on a 12mcg fentanyl patch.  The problem is I have had the patch on for almost 48 hours and it is not managing my pain.  I had to schedule surgery on my left shoulder for several reasons.  one was pain and the other money.

Should I take a few pills here and there to manage the pain or white knuckle thru it?  I just don't know what to do.  advantages to not taking pills is I will not have a tolerance built up for post op pain management..  Disadvantages are that I can't get all the house work, Christmas wrapping and gifts mailed to those out of town.  all I can do is sit on the computer and try to type without moving my shoulders too much.  sorry if I don't make sense.  when I am in pain it is hard to think

[pillguy]

No one minds you being here.  :-))))      You thoughtful questions make us all stop and reflect on our own situations.

Cheers,

[Kristen2015]

I appreciate your honesty and that is definately what i wanted - honesty.  I haven't needed to take anything yet.  It hasn't gotten that bad.  I want my body to get back to normal function without any chemicals in it.

I have been reading the posts here.  I don't abuse the pills and i take  less than prescribed.  I was taking 40 mg per day.  The dr prescribes 60mg per day.  I will need to monitor my use to ensure i don't get into any addictive behavior.  I did taper off meds faster than my dr suggested.  I suggested far bigger jumps each month than he wanted to take.  He seemed quite surprised the two times i suggested big jumps (by as much as 50% per day)  i hope no one minds me being here.  my dad was an alcoholic and had two cousins become crack addicts.  i want to be careful

[pillguy]

I tried to be honest about how things looked.  As gnarly has said, only you can determine what your motivation for medicating is.  My comments were an attempt to get you to look at the situation with honestly and make the best decision you can.  It seems you will be medicated for the shoulder surgery and will need to wean off pain pills when you are recovered.  You've read many of the posts here and you should have some sense of how overusing these meds has been a disaster for many of us.  Be careful and wean off of your meds ASAP

[gnarly_1]

Hi  well to use or not to use is a often posted question....only you know if your a addict  if so you dont need to be a marter to pain  just have someone give them to you as scheduled  in N/A they recamend that as well as keeping a chart with time and amount taken  try to alter it with otc stuff  that will keep your dependency down as well as keep the craving for more at bay as well the key here is to use less and less narcotic and only take it after you try the otc stuff  also with a chart you can try to go a little longer each time  just use caution the line between dependency and addiction is very very thin and ez to cross over  keep us posted........Gnarly

[Seanimanadict]

*if

[Seanimanadict]

Hey there this is tricky as I also had surgery a few years back and it sparked my receptors back up. I thought hey I had surgery I should be entitled, how wrong I was the biggest mistake I made. I'd say try to white knuckle it and maybe take some OTC pain reliever. I'd hate to see you make the same mistake I did I'd you can get through it. Sending strength and prayers, Sean

[Kristen2015]

thanks for your reply.  I didn't take anything yet.   waiting for it to be unbearable.  the comment about all the things I need to get done before surgery was an excuse to use gave me something to think about.  I am not sure how to answer that.  since recovery is two months, I have to get a lot done before I have surgery.  you think it is possible that I could be addicted and using as an excuse?  I think I had a slight physical dependence after prior surgeries but I don't think it ever amounted to more than that.  

[Kristen2015]

what kind of shoulder pain?  I had one shoulder replacement already and I am getting ready to have the second replacement.  I have bone on bone.  no cartilage left and I hear crunching when I move my left arm.  

my first surgery was probably the worst pain I ever felt when the nerve block wore off

[Kristen2015]

Thanks to everyone for replying.  Even though I had some really bad pain in the left shoulder ( surgery is in October) and just a surge of pain here and there in the right shoulder (surgery in March) I didn't take anything for the pain.  I did take a Celebrex yesterday and today.

However, I have drastically cut back on my activity.  The surgery I am having is a shoulder replacement and I am not looking forward to the recovery at all.  According to the surgeon this is the most painful surgery of all joint replacements.  Far worse than a knee or hip replacement.

[VICourageous]

Well???
One is to many and 100000 is not enough. By feeding this Addiction you will only spark back up that Pleasure part of the Brain. This will want more and more and more.
I am 30 days or so from 3yrs and dealing with some serious pain. I have decided to just do PT and take some OTC pain meds. Last month my addiction behavior sparked up and was calling for meds since I have a excuse. I took a good step back and realized I do NOT want to be in a FOG or get Addicted one more time. I do not have one more time.

However, if you do go at get that surgery..Talk to the DR on what you can do for a short period. If you do have pills, then make sure someone hands them out to you and ONLY when you a in BAD pain. If we have these in our own hands we will get carried away one more time!!
Whatever you decide...I would think about the who circle. Is a Short term fix worth a Long term repair again. I do wish you the best and please let your DR know how you feel about this. They sure will come up with something.
Bless

[pillguy]

My inclination is to tell you to take the meds.  You are going to be on them after the surgery so it's going to need to be dealt with sooner or later.

Now for my concerns.  Your reasons (I need to get Xmas stuff mailed, clean the house, etc) sounds like, pardon me, but classic addict justification for using.  

You have my views on both sides of the issue.  Do what you think is right.

[Briancsu]

I'd try to stay away from the pills. I have a bad shoulder also and I also had the cortisone shot,it really helped for about 5 years. I was in pain about 8 months ago and decided to take some Percocet for the pain. Next thing i know I was taking roxys,what a big mistake i made. I was spending over 400 a week on those things. I finally broke down and told my mom about my problem. So i've been clean for 2 weeks now and I'm finally starting to feel normal. I have found that Aleve helps for the pain.

[Kristen2015]

the money issue is that my deductible has been met for the year and it would be best to do it this year.  recovery is a MINIMUM of 8 weeks.