Pain medication tolerance ( it is not what you think, read on)

[sandee1818]

I learned something today from my PM doctor.
He said that as far as tolerance your body becomes tolerant to the meds after a couple months. Therefore the need for a raise in meds due to tolerance is simply bunk. Your body gets adjusted to the meds and the tolerance after two months and when the meds stop working as well as they used to it is because your body ( pain) has simply become worse.
Now I am like you and have always heard that after taking a medication for too long it becomes ineffective. But he says he has the research to back this up and is currently getting me copies to post here as I explained that no one would believe this because we have been told that tolerance is a huge issue when taking narcotics.
I had been explaining that I needed an adjustment because the dose I am on and have been on for years and years just isn't cutting it anymore. Well I had my annual MRI and he showed me on the scan results where indeed I am definitely worse off than when I had my last MRI last year. Anyone with degenerative disease knows it gets worse over time just as injuries to our back does.
So tolerance has to do with our bodies and injuries getting worse and the meds are effectively working just as they did we just got worse.
I will post the results and research when I get it. It does make sense to me and although it also makes sense that the meds lose its effectiveness after time. But My PM doctor is one of the best in the country, he actually got into pain management because he broke his neck and never got sufficient relief. He invented the blood transfusion machine years ago and is very up on anything to do with pain management. So I trust he knows what he is talking about. Something to think about in any case. We are not getting tolerant to our meds we are just getting worse. Not to scare anyone though:)

[sandee1818]

Something else he was telling me is that when we as chronic pain Pt's have surgery for a any reason it is extremely important to have the surgeon consult with your PM doctor or you will be in alot of pain. As Tuck said a medication that would not phase us would be sufficient for someone who does not take meds regularly like we do. I am sure you all know this but I thought I would mention it anyways.
I know it is really scary knowing that instead of us becoming tolerant to our meds we are getting worse. I don't want to scare anyone though and you should not let it bother you or depress you as we all know we will get worse before we get better. We are waiting on the miracle pill or cure and until that happens we will continue to deteriorate. But that is true with everyone. with age we all deteriorate every day. We have to remain optimistic and hopeful. It has been proven that remaining postive does help:)

[jollyman069]

you just wrote something that really got me to thinking.. I have been going to my pain dr for 3 years this month.. about 5 months ago he put me on avinza 30 mg 1 per day plus the percs 10/325's that i was taking.. i thought i was just gettring use to the percs.. now i have noticed this last month to month an a half that i am not getting the releif i was.. i go back on the 6th and am going to tell him i am hurting more then i was..plus i had a series of back injections too.. it really scares me to think of were i will be pain wise in 5 years????

[Tuckamore]

Sandee this is exactly what my physician believes. I have not shared that with you all because I was afraid you would like think I'm batty and I had nothing to back it up. My physician has been telling me this for 2 years. And it goes against all I have been taught or learned here or elsewhere. My physician says my condition is deteriorating and that is why I require stronger doses of narcotics. I am not becoming tolerate to the meds.

Now it is a medical fact that we build some tolerance in another sense. Meaning we can tolerate a larger dose and still function better than the person who breaks a leg and is prescribed a narcotic for the first time. So in that sense we build a tolerance. But if our pain stayed at the same level the 15mg's of what ever, would continue to ease the pain as well as it did the day it was prescribed.

Think about it and it makes sense. Four years ago I didn't have significant trouble walking short distances. Today I cannot walk long enough to shop for a weeks worth of groceries without being laid up for 24-36 hours. Does it not make sense that the same dose of medication I took 4 years ago will no longer ease my pain?? And Adam I know how you feel, it is scary. How will we be in another 4 years? I guess that's where hope and faith comes into play.

I will look forward to the information from your PMP. I would like to share that with my physician. She may have seen it as she beleives the same as your PMP but I would still like to see the research.

Thank you so much for sharing this information with us!!  Peace, Tuck

[HawktheSlayer]

Hi,

   Please post the research as soon as you get it. I have been bouncing between drugs for the pain, and I can never have a MRI of Cat scan again till the SCS unit installed in me is removed. This if the research is good does make me scared that mabey I have blown out another disk or the scar tissue is cutting through my nerves. Thanks in advance the info would be great to see.

R/
Adam

[sandee1818]

I was just as dumbfounded. It is just common knowledge among us CP suffers that our bodies get used to the meds and we build up a tolerance resulting in having to raise our dose. But he says our body actually gets tolerant of the meds the first couple months.
I am anxious too to see the research results and data.
As I said though he makes a point to keep up with every thing having to do with pain management and even attends several seminars every year to keep current and to make sure he knows all there is to know.
He is a very good doctor and he is a chronic pain sufferer himself so he knows how we feel.

[jollyman069]

hi sandee.. that is unreal.. i thought exactly they way you did that my body had just gotten use to the meds. because when i go back in january i was going to tell my dr that iwas getting the releif that i was..so that is very interesing i cant wait to see the post on his research