tramadol kept a secret by my doctor.

[Nez37]

i have posted a couple of times in the past few days and i have been reading the posts on here and find some of them very helpful. it's amazing how many people are addicted to legitimately prescribed pills for pain from their doctors. i take lots of pain relief such as morphine s/r tablets, dihydrocodeine, baclofen, paracetamol,arthrotec ( which is diclofenic that i can take with my stomach problems ), i also take another pill called maxitram and this has recently been changed from another pill which i had been taking for almost 5 years called zydol. when it was changed to maxitram i asked what it was and i was told it is tramadol but the one the doctors have been told to prescribe. i didn't know until recently how many of the pills and meds i have been taking for 5 years now are highly addictive. i obviously knew about morphine being very addictive which is why when i was first prescribed it all that time ago i was very reluctant but was told that it would only be for a short while as i was due to have an operation soon. well to cut a long story short i was kept waiting and waiting for the operation and each time i went back to my doctor to say i was in more pain they just increased my morphine dose. i am also on oramoprph solution and i now get 3 x 500ml bottles at a time and take between 80ml and 120ml a day. when i was first prescribed this by my doctor he prescribed me a 500ml bottle and said " just take as much as you need as and when you need it". having absolutely no idea how much was the right amount i asked and was told "well start with 30ml and see how you go with that and increase or decrease as you see fit". i didn't feel comfortable taking that amount and only took 10ml at a time every 4 hours but that was 5 years ago and as i said i have had it increased more and more over the years. i have been doing some digging about in my local village and the amount of peolple i have been told about that have been prescribed morphine is frightning.at least 4 elderly people i know of have been prescribed it for minor back pain rather than something less addictive and not so strong. interested to hear any comments on this post. hope you are all ok and i think this site is great even though i am still fairly new to it.

[Nez37]

first of all thankyou for your kind words. your right i didn't really post a question i wanted to give a brief description about what has been going on. if i do get into the in-patient detox then apparently as i have so many things that need to be sorted with my back i will then be given psychological help with dealing with things aswell as medication of some sort and after the initial 5/7 day detox i will stay as an in-patient with full 24hr support for a further 4 or 5 weeks. i haven't been told exactly what it will all involve yet but i am waiting for my first appointment down in london.i also have developed osteoporosis since my accident and i have twice fractured 2 vertebra in my back at different times without having a fall or any sort of trauma at all. the way i have felt these past 6 days is very similar to these two times that i have been told i had fractured my back. i don't feel too confident to go to the hospital to get it checked out as i know that even if it is fractured there is nothing they can do anyway.
i have been told that i will never be pain free and i understand that but i am in so much pain at the moment that i just don't know what to do for the best. i have increased my oramorph on several occassions but this is only very slight & very short relief.
   i feel totally useless to my wife who i have to say has been my absolute rock through my whole ordeal and i can honestly say that if it wasn't for her then , well, it doesn't bare thinking about. i also feel useless as a father too. i have 3 kids, 16year old lad, 14year & 5year old daughters. they are on the school 6 week holidays at the moment and once again, because of me and my situation we cant book a family holiday due to our income of only my wifes wage and also as i'm waitng to find out if i will get to detox.
  i feel like i am just going on now and will go till next time.

[JadedSweetheart]

I think Tuck covered it all very well, asking all the questions I would have asked and commenting what I would have said.  
I just wanted to say Welcome! and I completely agree with Tuck.

[Tuckamore]

Welcome Nez,

I am glad that you found MedHelp. Apparently your post was moved to our Pain Mangement Forum. You are more than welcome here. I am sorry to hear about you chronic pain. We can relate to the challenges that it brings to our lives.

Don't be fooled into believing that the average chronic pain (cp) patient becomes addicted. We actually have the smallest percentage of addiction rates. Studies prove that less than 4% of CP patients ever become addicted. Some reliable studies have that percentage at less than 1%.  However if you listened to the media reports most of us are looked at as addicts and abusers. Physically we are dependant on the opiates that allow us some level of functioning. We will endure withdrawals just as an addict will but in all actuality we are very different from them. Addiction is a disease, just like diabetes or other diseases.

You're correct, according to what I have read, Zodel is tramadol hydrochloride. Apparently this brand name is not available in the US but it is tramadol none the less.  Maxitram is also tramadol but appears to be a slow release version of the drug.

I don't see an actual question from your post. If I have missed it please let me know. Can you tell me what the goal will be after you go through in-patient detox? If your pain levels are high how will you function with out narcotic pain management? Is the plan to gradually introduce a narcotic again, possibly a different narcotic or a different combination of medications?

My heart goes out to you. The journey through Chronic Pain is a difficult one. The challenges we meet at every turn are far from easy. It saddens me to know that even with all the medications you are prescribed your pain is still not controlled. I think we all realize that we will never be pain free. However our goal and hope is to have our cp at tolerable levels. It sounds like you are not yet there.

I don't know if your pain is amplified by that amount and combination of meds that you are prescribed. One would think that they would just make you rather numb. But we all react differently as does our pain. I assume you have discussed this with your PMP. If not I encourage you to do so. I would think that there would be more options to the medications that you are currently prescribed.

It is my sincere hope that this new in-patient center will offer you some solutions. I hope it is not simply a detox, goodbye and your out and on your own.  

I am glad that you have found our community. Our members are supportive and informative. I hope that you will be an active memeber. Feel free to ask additional questions, respond to posts and make yourself at home. I'll look forward to hearing from you again soon.

Take Care,
~Tuck

[Nez37]

i live in the uk. no i haven't tried posting to the chronic pain section but i'll give that a try thanks. i have been seen by the pain clinic and i have been referred to in-patient detox which the funding has just been approved by our local government but these things take time so i am looking at approx 2 - 3 months before i even get the first appointment to go down to london and have the first consultation. i am in so much pain at the moment and i know that some of my pain is probably coming the combination of my meds but i just don't know what to do.

[lmccoy]

Where do you live? My understanding has always been that strong narc. have to be dispensed very carfully to elderly because it can effect them more strongly and the risk of a fall is so much more dire. You sure have a tricky problem. Have you tryed posting to the cronic pain section of Medhelp? There may be more people there that have experience in the type of situation you are in. I don't' know why you are not getting more postings here. It may be that your health issues are so sever that nobody is comfortable offering any advice. It seems to make sense to try to consolodate some of the meds and see if you have the equivilent of our pain clinics where you live. Good luck and hopefully someone will come along with better advice for you than I have.