a friend needs advice!

[irishann]

Hey everybody....so I am about 30 days off my opiates! Its good...but I am having debilitating lower back pain. I can't stnd, walk....I lose the feeling in my left leg, or it tingles..its awful! He put me on tramadol,which is stupid...no help at all.....any advice? Im dying over here!
irishann

[tigerlily705]

Irishann, Im so glad to see you back here!!!!!!!! We got clean at the same time and your motto "One day closer to health and that lady going to Russia" still plays in my head hee hee!  It has helped me in many rough moments so maybe you could try it hee hee =) And I was wondering how you were doing! Im happy to see you are still here and as you say around 30 days clean from opiates! Im 31 days clean today and it feels great!!! I also have lots of pain, that I was originally put on the pills for. I have several different female problems, all messed up in my stomach :( and I have a slipped disk and 2 herniated disks in my back. And then just for fun I broke my dang tooth about 2 weeks into this. UGHHHH So yes I know about pain. Like Gnarly1 has said, i think its just rebound pain right now though and I really believe because soooo many people here have said you will experience rebound pain as the pills try to trick you into thinking you need them but it WILL get better, and the pain is actually less than you ever thought while on the pills. And I have to agree with him, I definitely believe that its gotta be better to deal with some physical pain than just be numb to the world, because right now for me at 31 days, Im just noticing more and more how numb to the world I REALLY was. And its wonderful to start living and actually seeing and experiencing and feeling, but also scary that I lived in that fog for like 12 years and had NO IDEA!!! But anyhow, you have to really believe and have faith that it will get better, its just rebound pain right now! And I dont know if tramadol is a good idea...I mean I dont know, Its you and your situation and Ive never been on Tramadol, so I really dont know...BUT I have seen many many posts here about how addicting it is so I would be careful and maybe talk to your dr more about that. For my pain, I have been taking the Ibuprofen 800 and I got some Aleve, which I used to make fun of on the commercials, like really 2 pills for 12 hours yea right that would never work for me...Well I tried it and IT WORKS!!! And I really like and believe what Bubulous said...The mind body and spirit feed off each other!!! So true! And goes right along with Gnarly1 advice...This battle is 1/3 physical and 2/3 mental, and you have to be preapared to fight it! Having a positive attitude and faith that its better on the other side is half the battle...Get your mind right and think positive thoughts and it will help pull your physical through!!! And if all else fails just sit quietly and repeat to yourself over and over Its one day closer to health and that lady going to Russia :) And then eat some fruit loops! ;)

[atthebeach]

hey you stopped taking opiates and now you are prescribed tramadol.?. i would really really try and hold off on taking those read all the different threads about how hard it is to get of the tramadol . just saying dont want you to switch addictions.
ask for other forms of pain management BESIDES PILLS

[Bubulous]

The best thing I can say, perhaps, is somethin I told a soldier one time who had accrued very severe back injuries whil on active duty.

The mind, body and spirit feed off of each other.  Those with a broken body have to compensate by strengthening their mind.  If the mind gets strong enough to raise your spirit to a descent level, along with a healthy diet, the mind will take in knowledge of how to treat the pain without narcotics.  He tried yoga and it helped a little.  I was very proud of him for that.  If you decide to fight this thing as if it was your worst enemy, physical therapy and activity therapy will be just as important as the reachable goal of considering the opiates an enemy and fighting the cravings and "stinking thinking" that makes us believe people in the past who dealt with extreme pain were less fortunate than us because opiates weren't available to them.  They were actually more fortunate.

[gnarly_1]

HI.....WELL getting off this stuff is hard enough but it really complicates things when there is chronic pain involved it sounds like you have the same kind of back problems as I do ....right now your on the tail end of whats called rebound pain it is a amplified version of what you will feel once your brain starts to produce its own endorphins this should let up a little.... try alive and tylonal mixed ibuprofine also the 800mg I get from the doctor work good for me it just getting past this hump thats hard once your threw it you will find like many of our members that your in less pain without the narcotics then with them I still have 2 herniated disks l4 l5 and l5 s1 and 3 more deteriorating  today im in less pain then I was the whole 16 1/2 yrs on pain meds I know you have herd this a million times but just give it a little more time try the otc stuff and remember it ok to live with a little physical pain verse being numb to the world ....good luck and God bless......Gnarly  

[jess212]

haha, I feel ya! I joked with my doctor that I'd like to trade spines with him. Ugh, I'm only 23...lol

[jess212]

Okay, well there are some websites that caution the user that Carisoprodol may be habit-forming.... But my pain specialist told me it is not, and in my experience, I have not found it to be at all, whatsoever (coming from someone severely addicted to stuff). All it really does for me is give my back a couple minutes to chill out.
Talk to your doctor.

[irishann]

Thanks for the advice! I wikk ask him about thr carisoprodal. I blew 2 of my disks in 1989, that started me on the lobtab...I just wanna get my lower spine ripped ot....just kidding

[jess212]

I'm sorry I don't have some better advice but just know you're not alone. Did you have a preexisting lower back condition before quitting the opiates? From someone who does, the only SOMEWHAT relief I've found is from many hot showers, IcyHot on the area like every 2 seconds, and some sort of OTC back pain medicine, like Excedrin "back and neck" or something.

Also, again, not sure if you have a back condition or not, but if you do, you might talk to your doctor about Carisoprodol. Its a non-habit-forming muscle relaxer that has given me a bit of relief.