At that point he had figured out his body was addicted, and he was doing everything he could to manage his pain responsibly.
I am that patient. I only took percocet for 6 weeks before my back surgery -- but it was the maximum amount prescribed. I never missed a dose.
Because the surgery was so successful, I had zero pain when I woke up in recovery, so I stopped the percocet cold turkey, because no one told me not to. I had no idea I caused myself withdrawal.
My primary care doctor, who knows not only my history but my family history, told me, "You have an addictive physiology. Look at your family." And gave me a scheduled to taper it off, and it sucked, but less than cold turkey.
The kicker, though, was that my brilliant surgeon, who is the reason I can walk today, reacted to me telling him about the withdrawal by saying, "None of my other patients have ever had a problem stopping meds. Are you sure you weren't just sick?"
How do doctors who prescribe this stuff NOT KNOW what it does?
Oh, Strix, I'm so sorry.
Congratulations to Katefate and Kathy!
I should have gone to the gym to lift weights tonight (my new years resolution) but instead I'm eating carbs and watching Agent Carter.
was it here flea was saying Casper had the thing of not knowing hope to pronounce a word she's read?
if so Jessica mentions that same thing with regard to misled and ita's response:
"Persephone, I went as far as to think the infinitive of the verb was "to misle". I didn't find out until university, at which point my sister realized she'd independently made the same mistake."
I have little to add on pain management nor on the hell that is the medical system, but I do want to say it's been nice reading posts from all of you.
If you think about it, it makes sense. ita was one of the people who brought us here and she still has that ability. There's something beautiful about her building community still.
Hubby stopped filling his pain prescriptions because we had such a stockpile. He never took all the pills he was supposed to.
It sounds like something terrible, but he actually got better pain relief from booze. A slug of rum before bed would help him sleep better than three different kinds of opiates. And apparently that's one of the signs of alcoholism.
How do I meet grown doctors who don't know what CP is? A million Americans have it right now(admittedly we all have it our own way, sort of) and it's not fucking great.
I stopped the percocet cold turkey, because no one told me not to. I had no idea I caused myself withdrawal.
I remember that, and I almost said something to my mother after her mastectomy (and she's back on meds again after a knee replacement). But her doctors were very on top of things, so I figured it was better to keep my mouth shut rather than bring up another potential complication to her. And she's done fine both times.
But jesus, I want to punch your surgeon in the face, Steph.
My aunt's withdrawals after cancer treatments were a nightmare even WITH supportive doctors and daily IVs of whatever substances and fluids they were supporting her with. That people go through that not only unsupported but degraded? It's sickening.
This "good" drugs and "bad" drugs and "good" users and "bad" users paradigm is completely unproductive. Drugs can have undesired effects. Tolerance and addiction are among them. Here's some crazy shit - treat your patients as individuals and address whatever problems they develop.
