I had OxyContin prescribed to me after surgery. I enjoyed it up until I had to take a shit.
Never, ever again. It’s been 4 years and I am still traumatized.
Edit: judging from the replies to my comment, the way to keep people from getting addicted to painkillers after surgery is simply to tell them not to use stool softeners or laxatives. We’ve solved the opioid epidemic, everybody! /s, obviously
Edit edit: I also can’t help but be amused that the advice is directed toward easing my way into opioid addiction! 🤣
Between this and the family history of opioid addiction, I’ll never use it recreationally. However, I have to say about 3 days post op my pain meds and edibles hit at about the same time and that was a magical feeling. But again, not something I’ll do just to do.
But not shitting for 10 days was truly an awful experience, I almost remember that pain and discomfort more than the pain and discomfort from the shoulder surgery lol.
After my surgery I only had ibuprofen and acetaminophen, but the anaesthesia caused me to not poop for 5 days. When I finally did I didn’t just need the poop knife. I legit needed the whole Reddit cutlery set. I couldn’t imagine adding opioids on top of that.
FYI, you were likely given some extremely strong opioids as part of your anesthesia.
The ibuprofen-acetaminophen combo worked surprisingly well for my most recent surgery, which was a laparoscopic hernia repair. They also gave me some methocarbamol but I didn’t feel like I needed them at all and never took them.
I was on percocet for a few weeks following a foot surgery I had this year, and the worst part was the constipation from the opiods. I don't know how the addicts are doing it.
I really thought I was going to die on the toilet
Isn't that how the turd killed Elvis?
Edit: To clarify, a post mortem found he had 30 lbs of compacted stool that was four months old sitting in his bowel. Comperable to being pregnant with 4 pooptuplets.
So when he died. And I assume everyone's bowels release when they die. Would that mean that all 30lbs of shit came out of him? Or would the bowels still be shut off due to the drugs?
Hospice aide here, most likely if it was too stuck inside of him to pass through during life, I'd find out highly unlikely it could make its way out in death. The reason your bowels release is because the muscles are no longer holding everything in, but it wasn't the muscles preventing the bowel movement, it was the friction from the stool itself
I’m not a poo doctor, but constipation from drugs is usually due to the dehydration and compaction of the poo isn’t it? That wouldn’t change just because you carked it.
Elvis likely had undiagnosed Hirschsprung's disease. That's what his twin brother died of too, when we was a baby. It's a disease where the bowel lacks nerve cells after a certain point which causes horrible, potentially dealt constipation.
Checks username, nope, you are not me.
You know you're allergic right? Same here. Breakfast is my fave meal of the day and I looove eggs. But it's guaranteed that they will act as an avalanche for my lower gut.
Right! Like are doctors not telling patients this, or are they not listening? Start your stool softeners early and you'll be golden.
ETA: by stool softeners I actually meant something like Miralax which is a miracle after surgery.
I had to have emergency surgery and didn't have time to even think of all that. By the time I started taking them it was too late and it did nothing :(
Those were not fun times.
I'm having surgery in a week and just had my pre-op appointment ever the nurse went over everything. I will be given Oxy and she made sure to mention the stool softener and laxative due to side effects. If patients aren't being told about that, their medical care is lacking.
I was on opioids round the clock for about 12 days after my tonsils and a few more days as needed. I didn’t poop for 13 days. They had me on stool softeners, but it obviously didn’t help much.
Mine wasn't due to opioids, but I'm still traumatized after having one insane BM that was violently stretching my anus. My husband was close by and I was legitimately scared for my life.
I once found an absolute chode of a turd chilling in a public toilet because it was too big to flush. I always wondered what kind of person left it behind... I think now I know
Ya, I'm an ex addict. 5 years 10 months clean. Mostly heroin. I have TERRIBLE IBS that made life almost impossible and either shit my brains out all day or am constipated beyond belief for a week at a time.
The opiates made me normal compared to anything I ever experienced, and it was amazing. It's the only thing I miss about them. It cured my IBS instantly. No more stomach pains or cramps no more dying in the bathroom everything I eat.
Some people will feel sick when they take them
Most people will have the intended effect of the pain being taken away and they stop using them when they no longer need them
Some people will feel insanely euphoric and start chasing that feeling
That’s how genetic predisposition to addiction works. Some drugs just really click for some people
Same. I get few to no euphoric effects- they actually make me a little nauseous. But I still love them for pain management because it completely disables my sense of urgency surrounding pain. You can still feel a dull throb but it doesn't bother you at all, it's a god send for dental work where you have enormous clusters of sensitive nerve banks all over the place
I dont get the nausea, but I get a different side effect. For me it that malaise you get when you have influenza. I feel terrible. At first I thought it was because of the surgery or maybe I was getting and infection. As soon as I skipped my next dose the world felt like it had been washed with windex. I remember thinking wow, people enjoy abusing this stuff. Then I learned about how different it can effect different people.
I wish I got nausea or malaise. I get paranoid delusions instead, but it *does* take away the pain so sometimes I have to weigh if I’m in enough pain and if it’s effective enough that I can sleep through the worst of it.
I tend to stick to ibuprofen/acetaminophen unless I absolutely can’t.
Oh wow. Now my own experience with morphine makes more sense. I broke my femur in a car accident and they gave me morphine (only discovered that's what it was when I got the itemized bill). All it did was dull the pain enough for me to realize I could suddenly feel glass in my back. Thankfully they were able to brush it away instead of having to dig it out like they did with the shards in my arms.
I was given morphine recently in the ER for severe pain…it didn’t reduce the pain in the slightest, and I broke out in hives from head to toe within seconds. The hives were raised and itched for 24 hours. They then administered hyrdomorphine, which did help and did not cause an adverse reaction. I’m pregnant right now, and it’s so crazy to me that they can give me those things. 😳
Pretty wild since I’d been in the ER the week before and the guy next to me had a kidney stone (which my mom said looked more painful than birth when my dad went through one), and morphine immediately managed his pain.
Yep, my first kidney stone I thought I was going to die. The ER didn’t give me morphine right away, had to go through cat scans and exams all while in deep agony. When they finally decided I wasn’t faking it they gave me some morphine and the pain completely disappeared. I had tears streaming down my face from the relief.
When I had a kidney stone and went to the ER they gave me morphine until they couldn’t anymore and it didn’t do anything for the pain (im not a redhead btw since I see a lot of people asking others in this thread). Finally they threw in some dilaudid and the pain relief literally felt like a wave washing over me. Never had any addiction issues to the meds.
Same experience. I was so surprised because I only knew of morphine from movies like Saving Private Ryan where soldiers get shot and it takes the pain away. But it literally had 0 effect on my kidney stone pain. Dilauded turned the pain off immediately, though.
Had Dilaudid when I broke my arm
The way I always put it is I still felt all the pain, my perspective just radically changed and it wasn’t a problem anymore
I am so, so sorry you had to go through that 😭 I’ve heard it’s honestly one of the most painful medical emergencies men can suffer from.
That sounds exactly like what this poor man had to experience…and even worse, it wasn’t his first rodeo, so he already knew what it was. He was a big, tough looking dude, just doubled over from crippling pain in the waiting room.
He got very chatty through the curtain after getting the morphine, named his “baby” kidney stone and everything lol. Turns out, we were actually family friends with his brother…small town stuff haha
I had severe gallstones and nothing helped the pain. Destroyed my liver trying to manage it while waiting for surgery. Hydromorphone, dilaudid, morphine all sorts of ibuprofen.
Yep. It's like drinking alcohol to dull the pain of a tooth abscess or back going out. The pain burns through it. You can drink enough that you'd normally be staggering drunk, and still be totally coherent, you just don't hurt. Been there, done that. I am visibly intoxicated with pink cheeks and shiny eyes at 2 shots. I drank more than a pint of Amaretto (not sure how big the bottle was, but probably a third of a wine bottle?) and looked and felt stone-cold sober, roommates confirmed this, just didn't hurt.
Morphine was the same when I had some pretty severe pain due to a "spontaneous demyelination event". Took the pain way way down to nearly gone but I didn't get the morphine-high effects in the slightest other than my pupils.
People forget that alcohol is an excellent pain killer and honestly if I had a chronic pain issue I would be far more concerned about becoming a raging alcoholic than a drug addict
Alcohol can dull emotional pain and mental anguish as well as physical pain. Other drugs do this too, but theres no doctors to convince to write a scrip, no sketchy people to seek out to score a high, or demand so much higher than supply that it will cost a fortune just to feel good for a week. It is in every facet of our society. Its advertised while I’m watching Hulu, while I’m pumping gas, watching the Super Bowl. Free samples are given on weekends at the grocery store. Its tasty, versatile, and easily accessible. It’s dirt cheap, and when times are hard, there’s always a cheaper option. I can buy 750ml of cheap vodka for $5.79. In much of the modern world, It’s socially *encouraged.* And then eventually it becomes the pain, but the only medicine that will make that pain go away is to drink more. The very thing killing you is the only thing keeping you alive, and the only thing you have to live for. It is a dangerous chemically addictive poison that generates incredible wealth for its makers. Its ubiquitous social acceptance despite the horrors it can lead to is what makes it so insidious.
I am one of the lucky few to climb out of the bottom of the bottle. Hope this doesn’t come across as preachy.
Can confirm that alcohol will dull my Fibromyalgia pain or a migraine, but so does MMJ and that doesn’t give me a hangover or cause me to do anything I’ll regret lol.
When I first started having migraines, I vomited a lot, so I’m sorry you experience them. 33 years later they’ve become more manageable for me, especially after my hysterectomy. ATP, I’m satisfied just taking the edge off the pain, and I haven’t vomited from them in decades. I hope yours get better!
I might be weird but I've tried it and can't get it to do that. It might be mildly distracting from the pain but that's about it.
Mind you, I pop awake on operating tables so i could be the weird one.
I thought that redheads needed more anesthesia and pain medication not that we were resistant. I’ve had a talk with every anesthesiologist about this prior to be putting under. I don’t want to wake up!
Oh is THAT why I went to the ER for 10/10 pain and the morphine they put in my IV didn't make me high at all? I was just really nauseous, and still felt some pain, which surprised the nurse, and me.
That just happened to me last week. I was moaning in fetal position & after 4 morphine injections, I was still crying out in pain. The nurse was pretty shitty about it, like she gave me so much, so why I was still in agony. She asked me if I frequently use narcotics at home & I was like, UMM, NO. Maybe it’s because the surgeon was digging into my organs for 6 hours? Such a terrible experience & Nurse Ratched did not help. She also told me to be quiet when I woke up from anesthesia screaming. Such compassion.
Some people also react differently to certain opioids. I had spinal fusion surgery at 15 and morphine was not working well for my pain. I guess because I was a kid they didn't question it. I was put on oxycontin, which is crazy to think that they gave it to a teen but this was the early 2000s. It worked and just took the pain away, I never got a high or anything. I just don't think I'm very sensitive to opioids. Percocet is just like better ibuprofen to me, I don't get the hype!
Dude when I got my wisdom teeth out in 2012 they gave my ass a month of oxys. I was in pain for like 3 days lmao. Thankfully opiates make me sick as fuck so I disposed of them
Right, I've taken hydrocodone for dental pain (impacted wisdom tooth, agony) and just felt relief. I have taken a few recreationally and it's a completely different sensation. To the point I was like nope, too close to the sun with that stuff, I'm saving them for a day I need them.
This was my experience too. I used to have some oxy around because I would get kidney stones. I never took them recreationally because I was terrified they wouldn’t work when I needed them to.
And then I had a prescription for some Percocet and i got way too cozy with that shit for the two weeks I was on it.
Also, I haven’t had a kidney stone since I quit drinking soda about 12 years ago.
Yes, I had to have multiple surgeries at one point and they gave me ridiculous amounts of drugs back then but it's not like I enjoyed it.
Recently had to have my appendix out and it was absolutely criminal how little they were willing to give me. If I hadn't had let overs from in the day I would have suffered so much needlessly.
And I am an addict of other things so its not like I'm just one of those people that is hard to get addicted to stuff either. I just only used them when I was in terrible pain and switched to ibuprofen as soon as it worked because I don't like the brain fuzzies of it.
OMG, I had my gallbladder removed and they gave ibuprofen and Tylenol a few years ago. Then I broke my kneecap this year and not even an offer for any perscription strength meds, just told me to take Tylenol for the pain. Thankfully I have a high pain tolerance and did have a couple of left over pills from a surgery about 7 years ago. The pendulum has really swung back the other way. It really needs to be back in the middle where you get the level of pain killers you need for the amount of pain you're in.
Yes, its barbaric making people suffer like that. What alternative are they leaving us? Drinking in order to quell the pain?
This is especially ridiculous because... it isn't as if I or most people know where to buy opiates illegally so, once the pills are gone they are gone. It isn't like alcohol where I can go buy more anytime I want.
So how risky is it to prescribe 15 or 20 pills to get through pain from surgery when they can't get more anyways? *smh*
You can thank the joint commission ( hospital inspection/ standards ) for that one. In 2000 they dropped a new protocol for pain rating and Perdue pharma & the Sackler family had just come out with their perfectly safe & non addicting OxyContin. Am a RN in Tennessee and the stories from Pt’s and family’s I’ve heard…. SO much death & misery & destruction. But for the Sackers only profit.
It is absolutely ridiculous. For some people opioids are honestly the answer for the levels of pain they’re in but they’re not ridiculously hard to get.
It’s definitely weird how some drugs just “click” for you and you could totally see yourself developing a problem, and others won’t appeal at all. I never drink, I just don’t like it, think it’s a shit buzz. But if I’m around benzos or Valium, I will take them recreationally until they’re gone, and could see myself having a big problem if I had consistent access. Every time I’ve had happy gas, I’ve wished I could have some of that around my house! But a glass of wine, the one that’s legal to buy and easy to obtain—completely uninterested.
Very fair statement. I totally understand what you're saying.
It just annoys me that the main thing most of us are addicted to (alcohol/tobacco) can be bought at any corner store but people are being denied real relief by doctors and meanwhile folks who just want it recreationally are still finding it on the black market.... it's just a mess.
It’s insane - I had neurosurgery earlier this year and two days after they cut MY BRAIN OPEN, they cut my painkillers and told me to take ibuprofen. I was furious.
I had a similar experience with my first maxillofacial surgery!
They said only Tylenol after a day or two. And they had completely sawed through my skull to separate my upper jaw and then bolted it back on. Absolutely ridiculous. I ended up vomiting from pain and it significantly slowed my recovery.
The second surgery, the surgeon actually managed my pain and the difference in my recovery was striking.
Also if you have chronic pain while they may be addictive it can also just be "addiction" to not being in pain all the time. So maybe using them sparingly for a bit won't lead you down that road but when the alternative to taking them is being in constant pain it's probably an easy choice. It's hard to not be jaded and see everyone seeking opioids as "addicts/junkies" especially because a lot of people can get really nasty when there's any type of barrier to getting their meds.
i have a chronic pain condition that i have opioids prescribed for. i take them frequently. they make me nauseated and dizzy and constipated and i could not imagine taking opioids regularly if i wasn't going to be in significant pain without them. appreciate that they take the pain away, hate how they make me feel otherwise and in a weird way am grateful that i have such a negative connotation with them.
I’m undergoing surgeries every few months and take strong opioids and I take them only because I need to for the pain. I get so nauseated and constipated too and get no euphoric feeling whatsoever. Addiction runs in my family but I guess it’s different for everyone
I've been addicted to iv meth, alcohol and benzos in the past. Went to rehab years back and have been clean from them for a long time. But I can't stand opiates of any kind. They just make me feel anxious, itchy and dizzy. Certain drugs just don't click with certain people, even people who have had addiction issues in the past.
I have a spinal malformation that's inoperable and degenerative, thats causes both arthritic and nerve pain. I played the opiate clock watching game for years and hated it....hated the way I felt...hated the stigma...hated the hoops I had to jump through, etc. I found a doc that wanted to try buprenorphine and ive never looked back. it's scheduled twice a day, no prn. after the first week, no euphoria, dizziness, nausea. my pain is actually managed. I dont need to increase my dose over time. I FINALLY felt normal. I cannot recommend this med enough.
and because alot of chronic pain sufferers also experience depression, it has the added benefit of mild ssri properties. maybe ask your doctor? getting off the traditional opiate merry go round was so freeing.
After my C-section I only took a few of my prescription because after a day I'd feel so sick if I took one. I went to half for a few days and then just quit because I didn't really need them and the thought of taking too much and getting dizzy, sensitive to light, and nauseated was not alluring.
Chronic pain here, too. Every time I have a back surgery (I’ve had four and a fifth is scheduled for November), I can’t wait to get off them. While I’m absolutely addicted to not being in pain and being able to function with some semblance of normalcy, I just don’t like feeling anything but “me,” you know? I wish like hell there was something that worked just as well without the side effects some people seek out but make me feel not right.
It’s definitely a slippery slope. I have chronic pain and have been prescribed opioids for about 12 years now. I am on the same dose and quantity as 12 years ago. I have never felt the need to abuse them. The trick is to only take them when you need them. You can’t take them every day. If any sort of tolerance develops you have to have at least a week of buffer to reset. I think that’s the biggest issue. Growing a tolerance digs yourself into the pit of addiction. Sure, I’ll admit I’m physically dependent on these. They help my pain. But I’ll never allow myself to let pills control my life. Some days I’ll really need to take one but won’t and that’ll just have to be a day I spend in bed.
🤣 sorry- the very very human addiction to not being in pain. I'm afraid we are all in that meeting. Prolonged pain will break the " hardest and purest" of humans. That's my personal nightmare. I don't want to be stuck in pain without relief. That's not bad to fear that, that's normal. Every animal moves away from pain- with great alacrity. Functionally if you look at a anything suffering and have the solution but withhold it- that's functionally sociopathic. No one I know would withhold pain relief for a person that may have an addiction later but currently doesn't and is currently suffering.
Pain is... something else. Unfortunately our logic immediately unravels under the first bit of pain. Get away! Is an excellent adaptation. But.... inconvenient at war time. Try it. Try to lean into pain and not beg for help and let me know how that works out. I have never met someone who could hold that indefinitely. Even my four purple heart fan her said - " of course I'm afraid!!! Who knows what's after?" Man.... honest at last . I think we are all afraid. If not if nothing just of the prolonged pain. I know that's my fear.
Constant pain is "an easy choice". In fact it's no choice at all. Thats medulla oblongata stuff. Reaction. Constant pain.. is a weird thing. There are several types of pain sometimes occuring simultaneously. I personally don't think it's an easy choice just because they didn't want to die.
Me? Go right ahead. I've been in a low grain pain over twenty years. I consent. Pain is... intolerable. For good reason I think..
Not being in 24/7 pain anymore was how I went from an occasional single beer every other week or less to eventually consuming a *gallon* of vodka every 48 hours. Didn't have a sober day for several years there. Every time I tried to stop I'd also try to figure out the pain but nobody could seem to find the problem until a chance encounter. MRIs, CAT scans, multiple doctors, specialists, nothin. Unfortunately that encounter was well after my personal rock bottom at the time and after I was mostly sober again, but still.
A random physical therapist I came across just so happened to have conducted a study and written some medical papers on exactly what was wrong with me. A muscle problem in my back with a muscle that isn't understood very well and most practitioners apparently don't even know is a thing or that it can cause XYZ. I can't remember the name of it right now but I mentioned it to another physical therapist once and despite being able to name so many muscles in my back they had never been taught about that one
A few weeks of sessions with her massaging and using pressure on that specific spot and then moving on to stretches and activities that would strengthen that muscle and the problem went away.
Only came back when I had a job where I sat still for 10+ hours a day and wasn't doing any exercises or stretches on the side anymore.
Chronic pain person here, won't take opioids again till I have to. Was prescribed Vicodin, Percocet and oxy tablets all at the same time by the navy. Shit was fun for about a week, then it was miserable. The anger is not always the fault of the person, and I thank you for your understanding of the situation you work in. Not being judged, for just wanting the pain to stop, isn't much from the outside... but from this side it's fucking beautiful! Stay non judgy, you rule!
I have been trying to tell my family this.
Chronic pain causes anger, by nature. I am not mad at them. I am mad that it is hard to walk, and stand up straight sometimes.
I saw this first hand when I kept trying to get my Adderall prescription filled during the nationwide shortage. Dude in front of me was there for the same thing, but he started taking it out on the employees. Like I know it sucks but trust me if these people could give you the prescription they would gladly do so in a heartbeat to get you to leave. No point and arguing with them about it, they don't control what is and isn't available.
I am a pharmacy tech and I want to thank you for this comment. I understand how frustrating it is for the patient when their medication is out of stock, on back order, or other issues like a prior authorization is needed. And I hate having to call them and tell them that it’s in back order or whatnot because many times they get rude and nasty.
Like we are the ones who manufacture the medicine in the back of the pharmacy or something! Like I promised you if we had your medication we would dispense it to you, but we literally can not get it.
I get nasty when either my pharmacy or my insurance company try to withhold any meds I am prescribed. I don't take nor need opioids, but I find many pharmacies make multiple mistakes and them blame the customer/patient. The quality of care/customer service is shit now and our insurance premiums and copays keep skyrocketing.
🙋♀️
Learned the hard way after wisdom tooth removal that opioid painkillers make me vomit. Took what I needed to to get through it, no desire to do that ever again.
I had them for my wisdom teeth at 18 or 19, took them until the pain stopped, and then would pop one occasionally for menstrual cramps until I finally ran out and never had any strong feelings about them either way.
This. Plus depends on the surgery.
Wisdom teeth removal? Stop after 3 days. Continue with Tylenol.
Septoplasty? Stop after 3 or 4 days. Continue with Tylenol.
Knee and shoulder surgery? Not sure but maybe stop after a week or two... I will find out after my surgery.
I keep notes and round the clock schedule of when I take opioid medications. This helps me track pain management and prevent potential addiction. Addiction ruined my childhood and wrecked the lives of people I love. I will not let it ruin mine.
I also don’t drink. My prescriptions won’t allow me to drink, but I also don’t like feeling like crap.
Edit: forgot to add that I always have a strong meal before taking opioid medications. I have a pretty sensitive stomach, and a fortifying meal helps with recovery + avoids that addicting high many addicts seek.
I had shoulder surgery and they gave me tramadol. Don’t recall how many pills, but I took it for three days. Had the surgery on Thursday, had a post op visit on Friday, then was to start PT on Monday, and my ride wasn’t available for the PT appt. Knew I’d have to drive myself to PT, so I stopped the tramadol on Saturday night so it’d be well out of my system when I had to drive on Monday.
Morphine, etc doesn’t work for me and gives me horrible hives, so if I need prescription pain relief, it’s tramadol.
Yep. And I've also talked to plenty of people who take almost none of their prescribed opiates. some get addicted, but some are so paranoid they get worried about getting addicted, so they go home with 60 pills, end up only using 3 or 4, and swap to advil or whatever as soon as they can bear it.
Some of that is dose and duration too.
Just enough to sufficiently dull the pain for just long enough to allow for just enough healing to continue recovery without them.
5mg IR morphine Q4-6H PRN for severe pain following a significant injury or minor surgery for 3-5 days. The purpose of the analgesic isn't zero pain, it's reduce the pain enough that you can function outside of the cause of pain. (You can't sleep because your surgical wound hurts like hell, you can't just delay sleep until it's healed successfully to not be immensely disruptive, so you treat it enough to get that 7/10 down to 4/10 for a few days until the healing and antiinflammatories can suffice.) With appropriate opioid use they're very safe and unlikely to be habit forming if you have no prior history of substance abuse.
Take that same 5mg every 4 hours for a month or two, maybe take 2 or 3 because one didn't cut it... not you're opioid competent, so you're needing a higher dose to see the same effect, withholding the drug lands you below your baseline state of the past, and now every time you go a few hours without a dose you feel like the pain is worse, you're agitated, you're missing something important... just one more tab...
A lot of this is why opioid pain management focuses on first 7 days therapy, occasionally allowing up to another 7 days therapy within 45 days of the first. It's for acute use, anything out side of that requires justification of ongoing use of short acting opioids, and potentially adding a long acting agent (which reduces the abuse potential by not releasing the drug rapidly, and reduces the total dose provided throughout the day.)
A lot of state Medicaid plans enforce this step therapy via PA and require pretty detailed history and pain management planning before approving them, and only for fixed durations, all because of the decades of throwing oxycodone at every bump scratch and sore.
I’d say this response was super accurate. I have an addictive personality and got hooked on cigarettes with the first puff. I also love weed and am high way too much. Got prescribed oxy for a surgery and was scared to try it. But I took the whole bottle as I needed for the pain but once the bottle was over I didn’t feel any desire for them. I just think different drugs make different people instantly addicted but the majority of users will probably be fine.
I tried weed twice in my life and it was absolutely miserable. So many people that love weed are baffled and tell me “you just need to try good stuff.”
No, that’s not how it is. Weed has a different chemical reaction in my brain than it does in the brains of others.
Every now and then, I’ll give weed a try again. And while the “good” (legal/medicinal) stuff is not *quite* as harsh, no matter what, it ends with me like curled in a ball, racing thoughts, deep in paranoia and trying to calculate how many minutes until it’ll be over.
Be aware that the only thing more addictive than nicotine is meth. Nothing else hooks you faster or harder. It is literally easier to give up any other drug than meth or nicotine. :( That's why cigarette and vape companies aim at the 12-14 year olds... if you hook them, then even if they quit, the craving remains and you've got a good chance of re-hooking them after a couple years. And a lot can't get away from it at all :(
With my family history of addiction (not immediate but go out or up a branch and DAMN) I never even took a puff because I fucking KNEW I was a prime candidate for what happened to you :(
I’m the middle. I had surgery and they gave me Percocet and Oxicotin. The Percocet did nothing but put me to sleep. The Oxi just took the pain away so I was functional. I got no high from it. The only feeling was no physical pain. Once I was feeling a bit better I stopped taking them way before the bottle ran out.
I never understood the way people got addicted and chased the high since I never got that feeling. Physiology is a funny thing.
It took me a whole week of not taking them to take a poop again!! I walked around my house carrying my poop baby desperately trying to give birth to it, chugging laxatives.
Schools should teach this. Opiates = No poops
You need glycerin suppositories. I didn't poop for 14 days after I had knee surgery and was on Hydrocodone and a glycerin suppository is what finally helped me go. You just have to gently shove it up there (with lubricant of course) and wait a minute. Good luck.
I had knee surgery and a lot of issues with it following, about a year ago I was given opioids, for me, the idea of recreational use never hit me, yes it gave me a decent feeling, but so did morphine before an operation. It's hard to explain and I may be an outlier, but I never viewed it as a "fun" or enjoyable thing due to the nature of my use
The times I’ve had them prescribed I don’t think I even finished them. They’d either do nothing or just make me fall asleep. Either way those effects went, the only thing that happened on all of them was not being able to shit and that was AWFUL. Last ones I had after a surgery years ago had me backed up for almost a week.
Not going to lie, after 15 years on opiates, I was so over the constipation. There were many reasons I wanted off the meds, mainly because I realized my pain was so much less, but wanting to poop like a normal person was right up there.
My father was addicted to pain meds in the 80s after a car accident.
He refuses pain meds now, at 76. Which is ridiculous, but that's how he feels about addiction and what it did to him.
There are genetic differences that effect how we experience drugs, that is part of why it can run in families and be inherited. It mostly comes down to how we metabolize them.
Some people get a great rush of euphoria from certain drugs, some people don't.
It has a massive effect on how easily you can become addicted to different drugs like alcohol or opioids.
>Some people get a great rush of euphoria from certain drugs, some people don't.
I fell in love with weed. But my younger brother did not. Vomiting, unable to stand or speak, vertigo. It did NOT groove with his brain AT ALL.
I have this same reaction to weed- instantly sick.
I also have this reaction to opioids-
the “rush” and “high” feels like motion sickness to me and when I do need pain medication or anesthesia, it ALWAYS has to have anti nausea meds to counteract because I will be sooooo sick.
Even the feeling of drunk feels like sick- so I drink but NEVER ever go beyond a light buzz because anything more is just too gross feeling
Same, they made me tired and didn’t really take away the pain after I had surgery. I wasn’t sure what the thrill was supposed to be. However, there was one day when I really craved one - I’d had a shitty day and my brain went to ‘that sure sounds good right now’. It scared me - I didn’t take one, monitored my use and didn’t refill my prescription.
It's because you never used it to cope with something other than pain, if you took it whenever you feel sad or anxious or internal pain then overtime your brain gets instant rewarded gratification and everything that was causing you distress disappears and your brain learns that; that medication is taking you out of a difficult situation and if life was all sunshine and rainbows then addiction would happen way less but because of the contrast of dark depressing life and intense euphoria the addiction is really strong for some people, it's like going into a warm sauna after being lost in the snow for years
I am on relatively high doses of oxycodone from 3 years with short switches to morphine, hydromorphone and other opioids.
I never felt any euphoria, never felt much different. I know my body is physically addicted but I don't feel myself any better regarding the psychological state.
Few times I did a break, never felt something is missing, never felt urge to use opioids to make me feel better. The only reason was the pain.
But I am sure it would be different with amphetamines. Different people react different to some substances.
Other than liquid morphine administered at the hospital post-op none of the opioids even do much for my pain. None of them made me feel a way I would seek out.
I had a script for opioids while dealing with some major issues in my hip, and vodka did more to take the pain away than the pills. I ended up taking almost none till after hip surgery then only two days of "hard meds" before switching to the Tylenol 800's.
I also know I have weird reactions to meds. The morphine woke me up and I couldn't sleep for 18 hours, non-drowsy Benadryl knocks me out.
Was it easy to just stop taking them when you didn't need the pain relief?
My concern is that someone would become physically addicted and feel compelled to take them even though they don't want to or even like the effects. How likely is that?
I'm not the person you responded to, but I was given Vicodin when I had all my wisdom teeth taken out at once. I took them the first day, but I got super nauseated. I took OTC pain killers the next few days and just didn't use anything after that.
I've had major surgery at least 9 times, on top of breaking my leg in three places at 3. I've blown a disc in the lumbar section twice, wurst pain I've ever felt.
For each surgery I've been given some kind of painkillers. Of course the later ones were the opoids, as an adult.
I've never become addicted not felt the urge to continue taking them.
In my opinion, there are a combination of biological and psychological factors which make it addictive for some and not for others. It's easy to say "I would never do that", but the proof is in the pudding.
I have a few addicts in my family, so I was worried that maybe I'd have the genetic predisposition. I also have severe anxiety. For whatever reason, though, I'm not an addict.
I like how pain killers feel, but when the prescription runs out, I'm cool. I don't think about them again. No urge to keep taking more. I don't like to live that way.
I've done edibles a few times and mostly did not enjoy them. They've been sitting in my house for years and I just don't feel like taking them. I guess I should throw them out.
The challenge here is that you don't know until you're tested, and that's a hell of a way to find out. I guess you can take some precautions if, like me, you are related to alcoholics and drug addicts.
This ignores the mental health component to it all. A lot of people who have substance issues aren’t only biologically addicted to the “feel good” feeling. They’re using medications, alcohol, etc. to put them in an altered state as a way of coping with or avoiding some type of mental stress.
Drug use is a form of escapism. People who don’t have anything to escape from are less likely to go looking for an escape hatch.
I’ve had Percocet and Oxy prescribed after numerous surgeries and it has never occurred to me to become addicted simply because I don’t have issues with addiction. The pills always make my stomach vaguely sick and I don’t like feeling groggy at all, so I try to move to high doses of Motrin as fast as I can. Meanwhile my doctors often prescribe waaaay too many pain pills and they used to come with refills (not sure if this is a thing now). We would keep them around for years until they expired then ditch them.
There are some excellent articles out there that describe the difference that some people feel when they take a pain pill. It’s like heaven for them. It is never like that for me, so it’s super easy for me not to become addicted. For those who do feel like they’re touching heaven when they take them, they should let their doctors know that up front so they can be closely monitored.
The fact that they (and the many others who participated in this mass murder/ruining of lives) are still walking around - alive, free, and *rich* \- is a terrible reflection of how broken our system is.
Yeah, I think so much of this is just genetic. People with opioid addictions describe it as euphoric or transcendent and I've never had any such experience from opioids. I feel a little nauseous, the pain dulls, I nap. I never *want* to take them. I just do when the pain is so severe there's not another option. It's interesting how people experience things so differently.
Except I will say like 15 years ago I got dilaudid for a kidney stone at the hospital and that was.... something. Not a drug I'd ever want again tbh, because that *did* feel like flying. Or idk maybe my kidney just hurt so much having the pain go away felt like flying. Either way, I don't really want that stuff near me.
That’s how it was for me and how I became an addict. They didn’t make me groggy they gave me so much energy. Turned me into a social butterfly, got me to clean my entire apartment top to bottom. It was like I was floating in a cloud in heaven getting massaged head to toe by angels.
I was 14 and I got a wisdom tooth out. It was pure euphoria. I had never felt so good in my life. I self medicated my depression for years when antidepressants didn’t do shit
Finally. Someone that had 'the experience.' Yea, I wish I was a little smarter when I was younger. Lol. Looking back I should've known something was wrong when I sat there thinking, "you know what... I wouldn't mind feeling like this ALL THE TIME!"
I'm also one of those people who don't feel any "bliss or heaven" with taking opioids or even codeine-paracetamol, but I have some friends who get that from even codeine, which isn't as strong as opioid as oxy. When I was younger I read that there is a small percentage of people whose liver somehow knows how to break down the pill: it uses up the painkiller part of the medicine, but ignores the part of the medicine that causes that bliss. I've never felt anything from even oxys after surgery, while some people describe the "heavenly feeling". It's really hard for me to become addicted, but I can see why some do.
It depends honestly. When I was first early off into drinking problematically, I would. I thought since I was early 20's and I was drinking like 8-10 drinks at the bar (different liquors too), that I was so cool. No one surprisingly seemed to think anything of it, and besides most of my friends weren't far behind. I never wanted the feeling to stop, so I'd then start drinking small amounts at home.
Once I realized I could get drunker for cheaper at home, I went that route. Especially once I had a feeling that most people weren't drinking a pint a day, or a fifth a day, and then it just progressed.
But honestly, I've know other alcoholics who were just bar binge drinkers. It's not necessarily a one size or one condition fits all type of thing. I know some who could go a week without drinking but then put down two gallons a night. I know others who'd just drink every day.
Not everyone is so highly susceptible to addiction(s). Some folk can walk away from opioids or booze or other chemicals, quite easily. For opioids I would say that many / most people who take them medicinally, also do not take them in a manner that might cause addiction. And of course their usage is observed by their physicians / surgeons. Many do become addicted, of course, both medicinal and recreational users, but IIRC the AMA says only 1 - 3 % of users develop and addiction.
Usually the doses they get are limited so the patient doesn't get that high off of them. The doctors also will be careful how much they'll prescribe, they'll cut patients off after a bit once they think the patient has sufficiently recovered
Sometimes they’re a bit too cautious. I had a wrist surgery with screws and a plate, and the doctor prescribed me 5 hydros. I ran through those in about 2/3 days. So I called, and he refilled it for 3 more. Said ibuprofen and Tylenol should be fine… as I’m sitting there in agony.
Jesus christ! I had a full hysterectomy where she had to open me up just like a c section due to endo and I can't even imagine only having over the counter pain killers for that! Your body has been split open through skin, fat, and muscle and they're all "just take the same thing you would for a headache".
Oh yeah. They won’t give you pain meds for a colposcopy either. You know, where they cut off a piece of your cervix for testing?
I feel like doctors just hate women.
I had a kidney transplant 6 years ago and they gave me dilaudid while recovering. EVERY TIME it was injected I felt a sense of euphoria! It was this insane ecclesial feeling and for 3 days, it was joy! I took some pills home with me but they weren’t the same as the IV drip I had in the hospital ( they made me feel icky). I still think about those three days from time to time and it scares the heck out of me!
Ima cancer survivor. They had me on 1 mg IV dilaudid (hydromorphone). Every 4 hours the nurses would slam (instead of titrate) that into me for about 6 months. When I didn’t have a (IV) line in, then I was prescribed 32 mg, PO (oral ingestion), daily.
Hydromorphone really is one of the best feelings in the world. I’d be laying in a hospital bed, skin-and-bones emaciated, abdomen unzipped (cut from sternum to pelvis), and literally dying from pain.
Then, they’d slam that $h!t. The initial onset felt like one of the best eye-rolling orgasms of your life that would literally take your breath away. Followed by, a nice warm buzz that made you feel like you were sun tanning on a beautiful beach with a good lil Corona tipsiness going (damn, dude, you’re making me get an anticipatory tingle just thinking about it). But in reality, I was fu€ked up in a hospital bed and dying.
When I started gaining control of my cancer and recovering, I soon realized that I had developed a physical dependency from my therapeutic uses of hydromorphone. My doctors said I could stay on it until I fully healed, but I knew I had to get off it as soon as possible. I don’t like to be dependent on anything (substances or people).
Those withdrawals were brutal, man. Honestly, kind feels like how cancer feels when it’s ravishing your body. The sweats to chills, glass-like and cold bones, vomiting, loss of appetite, malaise, and just feeling like you’re gonna die. Initially there’s about a week of acute and savage pain, and then a month of the worst hangover of your life pain.
When coming off of hydromorphone, I used dabs (THC concentrate) and flower at first bc I couldn’t keep any food down. But once I was able to stomach some food, then I switched to really strong edibles. Once I cleared the opioid withdrawal (6-8 weeks), then I tapered off all the cannabis.
Das my diluadid experience. I still love da bish. But will only therapeutically mess with her.
I had a septorhinoplasty a few years ago and was on an opiate taper for a few weeks after (in addition to the stuff I got in the hospital during the actual surgery”). Idk if you’ve ever been under general anesthesia but I was so out of it for weeks after that it honestly didn’t even occur to me that the opiates made me feel “good”. I just felt numb and disconnected and useless lol
Anesthesiologist here. The meds and gases you got for your nasal surgery wouldn’t have lasted in your system for more than a day. Those symptoms you had after were all from the opiate (and thats a long time to be on opiates fwiw). Glad the euphoria never kicked in tho, it’s significant and real for folks susceptible to it.
I would second this, a lot of replies here focus on the inherent properties of the drug, which obviously play a role, but I would venture to say that the circumstances and mental health of the person in question play just as much of a role.
I have narcolepsy due to a lack of orexin. Orexin is one of the key components of addiction. So I can’t get physically addicted to things.* With that said, a morphine drip after my C-section didn’t work on me & any time I’ve had to take opioids I’ve also had to take medicine for nausea as they made me nauseated. Like any medication, they just don’t work well on some people, too. I have chronic pain & use CBD with a little THC for pain management. I’m very fortunate that CBD works so very well for me.
*Edit- This is an over simplification to explain the basic mechanism of action. Please visit Google Scholar to see papers on it & a more thorough explanation of the link between orexin & addiction.
Right now there is a swing the other way, lots of providers aren’t prescribing opioids. Lots of ibuprofen and Tylenol. But some feel we have gone too far this way. Best bet is an honest discussion between the patient and provider but a lot of times people get super defensive over their use of opioids. A lot of times during a serious painful hospitalization patients will get opioids, but won’t be discharged on them. So basically we are in a big wtf do we do phase right now.
Sometimes that swing is a LITTLE too far. I’ve been perceived pain meds for other operations and done fine, no addictions. However, after my c sections (like the night of and day after) I was in quite a bit of pain. The doc had given me that mix of Tylenol and some opioid.. I honesty forgot which.
That mix didn’t touch the pain. I am a very non confrontational person, like I’m uncomfortable even telling a waiter if my food that I ordered was wrong, however I was not that easy going after the c section and that surgery. I kept asking the nurse about something stronger.
The nurse told me to be grateful the doc gave me the Tylenol-opioid mix, and that the women who delivered vaginally only got Tylenol.
That is the one time if felt like the doc under prescribed pain meds.
GREAT QUESTION, I was overprescribed OxyContin for my surgery, and hell yes they worked great for pain relief, but by evening 5 of taking them, I had this weird vision of those Nirvana happy faces floating in my cells, which I took as a sign that my body was telling me I was saturated with opioids. It freaked me out, so I quit taking them and switched to Tylenol. It didn’t work as well, but I don’t want to get addicted to opioids.
>and how patients can get hooked after one dose
That's really improbable. For almost everybody the doses given for pain management are just enough to alleviate pain.
Plus, a lot of people are just not that susceptable to morphine addition. I have a bottle of Tylenol-3 with ~~morphine~~ codeine and it sits in my cabinet. I've had hydromorphone in the hospital and it was nothing but a painkiller for me.
I was given codeine for body aches and cough from a double case of flu and covid and the dose was literally enough to get rid of the pain but not get high. it kind of seemed like when i took the right dose there wasnt psychoactive effects nearly at all but the pain was gone, so I mean \*shrugs\*
Because when I’m in serious pain, I start to come down from *climbing the walls ready to murder someone and scream for a week* (my doctor’s words, not mine) to…normal. When I start to feel fuzzy or loopy, it isn’t fun and I try for something less potent.
Some people get hooked after one dose, but that is unusual. You're going to read about it way out of proportion to how common it is, because it feeds into a narrative of "Oh noes. Totally innocent person who did nothing wrong got hooked!!!!"
Most people stop taking opioids as soon as they can because constipation really sucks.
Good question. I've often wondered this about myself. I had a compound fracture of my tibia/fibula in 1995. This was like the height of when Dr.'s were prescribing opioids like they were tic tacs. I remember I had a huge bottle of them. It was a long and painful recovery so I was taking the max dosage 24/7 for several months. I never got addicted and stopped taking them as soon as I could pain management wise. I'm sure my Dr. would've kept prescribing them to me for however long I wanted. I have no idea how I didn't become addicted.
I have a history of substance abuse shit but that was all adhd stuff, booze, benzos, cigarettes, etc. I've been prescribed opiates many times for various injuries and after procedures like getting my tonsils, wisdom teeth and a couple molars taken out (all on separate occasions) and honestly? Opiates are just... Okay? Like sure, you can feel good and fuze into the sofa/bed for a good TV binge/nap but it's not all that *fun* for me. I certainly never got to the end of my script and thought I needed to go find more.
I always assumed it's got to have something to do with brain chemistry and how the chemicals are processed by the individual's body. Also if you are taking something because the alternative is horrible pain you learn to leave yourself enough to handle the next flare up.
I had OxyContin prescribed to me after surgery. I enjoyed it up until I had to take a shit. Never, ever again. It’s been 4 years and I am still traumatized. Edit: judging from the replies to my comment, the way to keep people from getting addicted to painkillers after surgery is simply to tell them not to use stool softeners or laxatives. We’ve solved the opioid epidemic, everybody! /s, obviously Edit edit: I also can’t help but be amused that the advice is directed toward easing my way into opioid addiction! 🤣
Between this and the family history of opioid addiction, I’ll never use it recreationally. However, I have to say about 3 days post op my pain meds and edibles hit at about the same time and that was a magical feeling. But again, not something I’ll do just to do. But not shitting for 10 days was truly an awful experience, I almost remember that pain and discomfort more than the pain and discomfort from the shoulder surgery lol.
After my surgery I only had ibuprofen and acetaminophen, but the anaesthesia caused me to not poop for 5 days. When I finally did I didn’t just need the poop knife. I legit needed the whole Reddit cutlery set. I couldn’t imagine adding opioids on top of that.
FYI, you were likely given some extremely strong opioids as part of your anesthesia. The ibuprofen-acetaminophen combo worked surprisingly well for my most recent surgery, which was a laparoscopic hernia repair. They also gave me some methocarbamol but I didn’t feel like I needed them at all and never took them.
I was on percocet for a few weeks following a foot surgery I had this year, and the worst part was the constipation from the opiods. I don't know how the addicts are doing it. I really thought I was going to die on the toilet
You take stool softeners. It helps a lot.
>You take stool softeners. It helps a lot. You IMMEDIATELY take stool softeners....
I take magnesium & that helps too. Recently dislocated one hip & broke the other leg. Now only have pain at night.
I tried drinking magnesium citrate. Turns out that somehow causes diarrhea on top of constipation…
Isn't it weird how that could happen? But welcome to life with IBS
Isn't that how the turd killed Elvis? Edit: To clarify, a post mortem found he had 30 lbs of compacted stool that was four months old sitting in his bowel. Comperable to being pregnant with 4 pooptuplets.
Dude was like 3 month constipated or something insane. How he hadn't OD before or some organ failure is impressive
Omg I looked it up and he was constipated for 4 months and had over 30 lbs of feces in his colon
I wish I could unimagine that.
Lisa Marie died from a bowel obstruction, too. Hers was from a bariatric surgery, but if I were Riley Keough I’d have a GI specialist.
Oh, holy shit. That’s enough Reddit for a while
Good Christ that would be so ungodly painful. Not only the king of rock and roll but holding the king of rolls and rocks in his ass
Rock that rolled the credits
So when he died. And I assume everyone's bowels release when they die. Would that mean that all 30lbs of shit came out of him? Or would the bowels still be shut off due to the drugs?
Hospice aide here, most likely if it was too stuck inside of him to pass through during life, I'd find out highly unlikely it could make its way out in death. The reason your bowels release is because the muscles are no longer holding everything in, but it wasn't the muscles preventing the bowel movement, it was the friction from the stool itself
I’m not a poo doctor, but constipation from drugs is usually due to the dehydration and compaction of the poo isn’t it? That wouldn’t change just because you carked it.
Asking the hard hitting questions here
The hard shitting questions.
Elvis likely had undiagnosed Hirschsprung's disease. That's what his twin brother died of too, when we was a baby. It's a disease where the bowel lacks nerve cells after a certain point which causes horrible, potentially dealt constipation.
He also had a heart defect on his mom's side and he was afraid of dying young.
I literally have to poop immediately after eggs and ice cream. I can’t imagine.
Checks username, nope, you are not me. You know you're allergic right? Same here. Breakfast is my fave meal of the day and I looove eggs. But it's guaranteed that they will act as an avalanche for my lower gut.
They usually prescribe or tell you to take otc stool softeners while your on opiods for this reason.
Right! Like are doctors not telling patients this, or are they not listening? Start your stool softeners early and you'll be golden. ETA: by stool softeners I actually meant something like Miralax which is a miracle after surgery.
I had to have emergency surgery and didn't have time to even think of all that. By the time I started taking them it was too late and it did nothing :( Those were not fun times.
Yeah emergency surgery is no joke. So many downsides and no prep time.
I'm having surgery in a week and just had my pre-op appointment ever the nurse went over everything. I will be given Oxy and she made sure to mention the stool softener and laxative due to side effects. If patients aren't being told about that, their medical care is lacking.
I was on opioids round the clock for about 12 days after my tonsils and a few more days as needed. I didn’t poop for 13 days. They had me on stool softeners, but it obviously didn’t help much.
Twelve days of opioids after tonsillectomy? Did something go wrong or were they just trying to recruit another recurring customer?
Codeine is also a cough suppressant. The one thing you don't wanna do if the back of your throat has just been cut on is cough.
UK here. I got paracetamol & ice cream 😂
I followed instructions and STILL didn't shit for 2-3 days and good lord it hurt when I finally did.
My doctor didn't tell me even though I had surgery ON my bowels...recovery was not ideal.
I learned about suppository laxatives after knee surgery. Not fun.
Mine wasn't due to opioids, but I'm still traumatized after having one insane BM that was violently stretching my anus. My husband was close by and I was legitimately scared for my life.
I once found an absolute chode of a turd chilling in a public toilet because it was too big to flush. I always wondered what kind of person left it behind... I think now I know
Yup, I had it for a kidney stone. How someone could get addicted to constipation? I'll never know...
Former addict. I shit 3 times a day. My stomach was never more regulated than when I was addicted. Now I’m addicted to having 3 shits a day minimum…
Ya, I'm an ex addict. 5 years 10 months clean. Mostly heroin. I have TERRIBLE IBS that made life almost impossible and either shit my brains out all day or am constipated beyond belief for a week at a time. The opiates made me normal compared to anything I ever experienced, and it was amazing. It's the only thing I miss about them. It cured my IBS instantly. No more stomach pains or cramps no more dying in the bathroom everything I eat.
Some people will feel sick when they take them Most people will have the intended effect of the pain being taken away and they stop using them when they no longer need them Some people will feel insanely euphoric and start chasing that feeling That’s how genetic predisposition to addiction works. Some drugs just really click for some people
True, when you’re actually in pain and prescribed the correct dose, you’re not really “high”, you’re just not in agony.
Exactly. When I was on a morphine drip after major surgery, I wasn’t at all high, just in slightly less pain… and really itchy
Yep, and they never take all the pain away, just dull it.
I found it made me just not care about the pain so much but it was still there
Same. I get few to no euphoric effects- they actually make me a little nauseous. But I still love them for pain management because it completely disables my sense of urgency surrounding pain. You can still feel a dull throb but it doesn't bother you at all, it's a god send for dental work where you have enormous clusters of sensitive nerve banks all over the place
I dont get the nausea, but I get a different side effect. For me it that malaise you get when you have influenza. I feel terrible. At first I thought it was because of the surgery or maybe I was getting and infection. As soon as I skipped my next dose the world felt like it had been washed with windex. I remember thinking wow, people enjoy abusing this stuff. Then I learned about how different it can effect different people.
I wish I got nausea or malaise. I get paranoid delusions instead, but it *does* take away the pain so sometimes I have to weigh if I’m in enough pain and if it’s effective enough that I can sleep through the worst of it. I tend to stick to ibuprofen/acetaminophen unless I absolutely can’t.
I ugly vomited throughout.
Oh wow. Now my own experience with morphine makes more sense. I broke my femur in a car accident and they gave me morphine (only discovered that's what it was when I got the itemized bill). All it did was dull the pain enough for me to realize I could suddenly feel glass in my back. Thankfully they were able to brush it away instead of having to dig it out like they did with the shards in my arms.
Oh, OUCH! I feel for you.
when i got surgery, they gave me fentanyl and it took all the pain away
I was given morphine recently in the ER for severe pain…it didn’t reduce the pain in the slightest, and I broke out in hives from head to toe within seconds. The hives were raised and itched for 24 hours. They then administered hyrdomorphine, which did help and did not cause an adverse reaction. I’m pregnant right now, and it’s so crazy to me that they can give me those things. 😳 Pretty wild since I’d been in the ER the week before and the guy next to me had a kidney stone (which my mom said looked more painful than birth when my dad went through one), and morphine immediately managed his pain.
Yep, my first kidney stone I thought I was going to die. The ER didn’t give me morphine right away, had to go through cat scans and exams all while in deep agony. When they finally decided I wasn’t faking it they gave me some morphine and the pain completely disappeared. I had tears streaming down my face from the relief.
When I had a kidney stone and went to the ER they gave me morphine until they couldn’t anymore and it didn’t do anything for the pain (im not a redhead btw since I see a lot of people asking others in this thread). Finally they threw in some dilaudid and the pain relief literally felt like a wave washing over me. Never had any addiction issues to the meds.
Same experience. I was so surprised because I only knew of morphine from movies like Saving Private Ryan where soldiers get shot and it takes the pain away. But it literally had 0 effect on my kidney stone pain. Dilauded turned the pain off immediately, though.
Had Dilaudid when I broke my arm The way I always put it is I still felt all the pain, my perspective just radically changed and it wasn’t a problem anymore
Oh—I am a redhead actually. I didn’t even think about that…
I am so, so sorry you had to go through that 😭 I’ve heard it’s honestly one of the most painful medical emergencies men can suffer from. That sounds exactly like what this poor man had to experience…and even worse, it wasn’t his first rodeo, so he already knew what it was. He was a big, tough looking dude, just doubled over from crippling pain in the waiting room. He got very chatty through the curtain after getting the morphine, named his “baby” kidney stone and everything lol. Turns out, we were actually family friends with his brother…small town stuff haha
I had severe gallstones and nothing helped the pain. Destroyed my liver trying to manage it while waiting for surgery. Hydromorphone, dilaudid, morphine all sorts of ibuprofen.
Yep. It's like drinking alcohol to dull the pain of a tooth abscess or back going out. The pain burns through it. You can drink enough that you'd normally be staggering drunk, and still be totally coherent, you just don't hurt. Been there, done that. I am visibly intoxicated with pink cheeks and shiny eyes at 2 shots. I drank more than a pint of Amaretto (not sure how big the bottle was, but probably a third of a wine bottle?) and looked and felt stone-cold sober, roommates confirmed this, just didn't hurt. Morphine was the same when I had some pretty severe pain due to a "spontaneous demyelination event". Took the pain way way down to nearly gone but I didn't get the morphine-high effects in the slightest other than my pupils.
People forget that alcohol is an excellent pain killer and honestly if I had a chronic pain issue I would be far more concerned about becoming a raging alcoholic than a drug addict
Alcohol can dull emotional pain and mental anguish as well as physical pain. Other drugs do this too, but theres no doctors to convince to write a scrip, no sketchy people to seek out to score a high, or demand so much higher than supply that it will cost a fortune just to feel good for a week. It is in every facet of our society. Its advertised while I’m watching Hulu, while I’m pumping gas, watching the Super Bowl. Free samples are given on weekends at the grocery store. Its tasty, versatile, and easily accessible. It’s dirt cheap, and when times are hard, there’s always a cheaper option. I can buy 750ml of cheap vodka for $5.79. In much of the modern world, It’s socially *encouraged.* And then eventually it becomes the pain, but the only medicine that will make that pain go away is to drink more. The very thing killing you is the only thing keeping you alive, and the only thing you have to live for. It is a dangerous chemically addictive poison that generates incredible wealth for its makers. Its ubiquitous social acceptance despite the horrors it can lead to is what makes it so insidious. I am one of the lucky few to climb out of the bottom of the bottle. Hope this doesn’t come across as preachy.
Incredibly well written!
Can confirm that alcohol will dull my Fibromyalgia pain or a migraine, but so does MMJ and that doesn’t give me a hangover or cause me to do anything I’ll regret lol.
Dear god how can you drink with migraines? I’d be puking before I tried the alcohol.
When I first started having migraines, I vomited a lot, so I’m sorry you experience them. 33 years later they’ve become more manageable for me, especially after my hysterectomy. ATP, I’m satisfied just taking the edge off the pain, and I haven’t vomited from them in decades. I hope yours get better!
I might be weird but I've tried it and can't get it to do that. It might be mildly distracting from the pain but that's about it. Mind you, I pop awake on operating tables so i could be the weird one.
Are you a redhead? Because that's a known genetic mutation, that many redheads are resistant to anesthesia and pain killers.
I thought that redheads needed more anesthesia and pain medication not that we were resistant. I’ve had a talk with every anesthesiologist about this prior to be putting under. I don’t want to wake up!
Oh is THAT why I went to the ER for 10/10 pain and the morphine they put in my IV didn't make me high at all? I was just really nauseous, and still felt some pain, which surprised the nurse, and me.
That just happened to me last week. I was moaning in fetal position & after 4 morphine injections, I was still crying out in pain. The nurse was pretty shitty about it, like she gave me so much, so why I was still in agony. She asked me if I frequently use narcotics at home & I was like, UMM, NO. Maybe it’s because the surgeon was digging into my organs for 6 hours? Such a terrible experience & Nurse Ratched did not help. She also told me to be quiet when I woke up from anesthesia screaming. Such compassion.
Some people also react differently to certain opioids. I had spinal fusion surgery at 15 and morphine was not working well for my pain. I guess because I was a kid they didn't question it. I was put on oxycontin, which is crazy to think that they gave it to a teen but this was the early 2000s. It worked and just took the pain away, I never got a high or anything. I just don't think I'm very sensitive to opioids. Percocet is just like better ibuprofen to me, I don't get the hype!
Dude when I got my wisdom teeth out in 2012 they gave my ass a month of oxys. I was in pain for like 3 days lmao. Thankfully opiates make me sick as fuck so I disposed of them
Some people naturally have very high tolerance to opioids. People with ginger hair tend to be more difficult to sedate for some reason
Wtf causes a spontaneous demylination event?? That sounds incredibly painful!
I have a friend with MS & that’s what she calls flareups. Brutal.
Right, I've taken hydrocodone for dental pain (impacted wisdom tooth, agony) and just felt relief. I have taken a few recreationally and it's a completely different sensation. To the point I was like nope, too close to the sun with that stuff, I'm saving them for a day I need them.
This was my experience too. I used to have some oxy around because I would get kidney stones. I never took them recreationally because I was terrified they wouldn’t work when I needed them to. And then I had a prescription for some Percocet and i got way too cozy with that shit for the two weeks I was on it. Also, I haven’t had a kidney stone since I quit drinking soda about 12 years ago.
I'm jealous. I was born with a UPJ obstruction, which makes me 70 times more likely to get stones. It's a curse on the men in my family.
Yes, I had to have multiple surgeries at one point and they gave me ridiculous amounts of drugs back then but it's not like I enjoyed it. Recently had to have my appendix out and it was absolutely criminal how little they were willing to give me. If I hadn't had let overs from in the day I would have suffered so much needlessly. And I am an addict of other things so its not like I'm just one of those people that is hard to get addicted to stuff either. I just only used them when I was in terrible pain and switched to ibuprofen as soon as it worked because I don't like the brain fuzzies of it.
OMG, I had my gallbladder removed and they gave ibuprofen and Tylenol a few years ago. Then I broke my kneecap this year and not even an offer for any perscription strength meds, just told me to take Tylenol for the pain. Thankfully I have a high pain tolerance and did have a couple of left over pills from a surgery about 7 years ago. The pendulum has really swung back the other way. It really needs to be back in the middle where you get the level of pain killers you need for the amount of pain you're in.
Yes, its barbaric making people suffer like that. What alternative are they leaving us? Drinking in order to quell the pain? This is especially ridiculous because... it isn't as if I or most people know where to buy opiates illegally so, once the pills are gone they are gone. It isn't like alcohol where I can go buy more anytime I want. So how risky is it to prescribe 15 or 20 pills to get through pain from surgery when they can't get more anyways? *smh*
You can thank the joint commission ( hospital inspection/ standards ) for that one. In 2000 they dropped a new protocol for pain rating and Perdue pharma & the Sackler family had just come out with their perfectly safe & non addicting OxyContin. Am a RN in Tennessee and the stories from Pt’s and family’s I’ve heard…. SO much death & misery & destruction. But for the Sackers only profit.
It is absolutely ridiculous. For some people opioids are honestly the answer for the levels of pain they’re in but they’re not ridiculously hard to get.
It’s definitely weird how some drugs just “click” for you and you could totally see yourself developing a problem, and others won’t appeal at all. I never drink, I just don’t like it, think it’s a shit buzz. But if I’m around benzos or Valium, I will take them recreationally until they’re gone, and could see myself having a big problem if I had consistent access. Every time I’ve had happy gas, I’ve wished I could have some of that around my house! But a glass of wine, the one that’s legal to buy and easy to obtain—completely uninterested.
Very fair statement. I totally understand what you're saying. It just annoys me that the main thing most of us are addicted to (alcohol/tobacco) can be bought at any corner store but people are being denied real relief by doctors and meanwhile folks who just want it recreationally are still finding it on the black market.... it's just a mess.
It’s insane - I had neurosurgery earlier this year and two days after they cut MY BRAIN OPEN, they cut my painkillers and told me to take ibuprofen. I was furious.
I had a similar experience with my first maxillofacial surgery! They said only Tylenol after a day or two. And they had completely sawed through my skull to separate my upper jaw and then bolted it back on. Absolutely ridiculous. I ended up vomiting from pain and it significantly slowed my recovery. The second surgery, the surgeon actually managed my pain and the difference in my recovery was striking.
Also if you have chronic pain while they may be addictive it can also just be "addiction" to not being in pain all the time. So maybe using them sparingly for a bit won't lead you down that road but when the alternative to taking them is being in constant pain it's probably an easy choice. It's hard to not be jaded and see everyone seeking opioids as "addicts/junkies" especially because a lot of people can get really nasty when there's any type of barrier to getting their meds.
i have a chronic pain condition that i have opioids prescribed for. i take them frequently. they make me nauseated and dizzy and constipated and i could not imagine taking opioids regularly if i wasn't going to be in significant pain without them. appreciate that they take the pain away, hate how they make me feel otherwise and in a weird way am grateful that i have such a negative connotation with them.
I’m undergoing surgeries every few months and take strong opioids and I take them only because I need to for the pain. I get so nauseated and constipated too and get no euphoric feeling whatsoever. Addiction runs in my family but I guess it’s different for everyone
I've been addicted to iv meth, alcohol and benzos in the past. Went to rehab years back and have been clean from them for a long time. But I can't stand opiates of any kind. They just make me feel anxious, itchy and dizzy. Certain drugs just don't click with certain people, even people who have had addiction issues in the past.
Congrats man, one day at a time
Same with me. Meth and cocaine, but opiates I can take them or leave them. I like being up. I've been clean for over a decade now.
I have a spinal malformation that's inoperable and degenerative, thats causes both arthritic and nerve pain. I played the opiate clock watching game for years and hated it....hated the way I felt...hated the stigma...hated the hoops I had to jump through, etc. I found a doc that wanted to try buprenorphine and ive never looked back. it's scheduled twice a day, no prn. after the first week, no euphoria, dizziness, nausea. my pain is actually managed. I dont need to increase my dose over time. I FINALLY felt normal. I cannot recommend this med enough. and because alot of chronic pain sufferers also experience depression, it has the added benefit of mild ssri properties. maybe ask your doctor? getting off the traditional opiate merry go round was so freeing.
After my C-section I only took a few of my prescription because after a day I'd feel so sick if I took one. I went to half for a few days and then just quit because I didn't really need them and the thought of taking too much and getting dizzy, sensitive to light, and nauseated was not alluring.
Chronic pain here, too. Every time I have a back surgery (I’ve had four and a fifth is scheduled for November), I can’t wait to get off them. While I’m absolutely addicted to not being in pain and being able to function with some semblance of normalcy, I just don’t like feeling anything but “me,” you know? I wish like hell there was something that worked just as well without the side effects some people seek out but make me feel not right.
Obligatory House MD quote: *"I don't have a pain management problem, I have a pain problem"*.
It’s definitely a slippery slope. I have chronic pain and have been prescribed opioids for about 12 years now. I am on the same dose and quantity as 12 years ago. I have never felt the need to abuse them. The trick is to only take them when you need them. You can’t take them every day. If any sort of tolerance develops you have to have at least a week of buffer to reset. I think that’s the biggest issue. Growing a tolerance digs yourself into the pit of addiction. Sure, I’ll admit I’m physically dependent on these. They help my pain. But I’ll never allow myself to let pills control my life. Some days I’ll really need to take one but won’t and that’ll just have to be a day I spend in bed.
I'm in the same boat as you. Glad to hear I'm not alone.
There's a huge difference between addiction & reliance.
🤣 sorry- the very very human addiction to not being in pain. I'm afraid we are all in that meeting. Prolonged pain will break the " hardest and purest" of humans. That's my personal nightmare. I don't want to be stuck in pain without relief. That's not bad to fear that, that's normal. Every animal moves away from pain- with great alacrity. Functionally if you look at a anything suffering and have the solution but withhold it- that's functionally sociopathic. No one I know would withhold pain relief for a person that may have an addiction later but currently doesn't and is currently suffering. Pain is... something else. Unfortunately our logic immediately unravels under the first bit of pain. Get away! Is an excellent adaptation. But.... inconvenient at war time. Try it. Try to lean into pain and not beg for help and let me know how that works out. I have never met someone who could hold that indefinitely. Even my four purple heart fan her said - " of course I'm afraid!!! Who knows what's after?" Man.... honest at last . I think we are all afraid. If not if nothing just of the prolonged pain. I know that's my fear. Constant pain is "an easy choice". In fact it's no choice at all. Thats medulla oblongata stuff. Reaction. Constant pain.. is a weird thing. There are several types of pain sometimes occuring simultaneously. I personally don't think it's an easy choice just because they didn't want to die. Me? Go right ahead. I've been in a low grain pain over twenty years. I consent. Pain is... intolerable. For good reason I think..
Not being in 24/7 pain anymore was how I went from an occasional single beer every other week or less to eventually consuming a *gallon* of vodka every 48 hours. Didn't have a sober day for several years there. Every time I tried to stop I'd also try to figure out the pain but nobody could seem to find the problem until a chance encounter. MRIs, CAT scans, multiple doctors, specialists, nothin. Unfortunately that encounter was well after my personal rock bottom at the time and after I was mostly sober again, but still. A random physical therapist I came across just so happened to have conducted a study and written some medical papers on exactly what was wrong with me. A muscle problem in my back with a muscle that isn't understood very well and most practitioners apparently don't even know is a thing or that it can cause XYZ. I can't remember the name of it right now but I mentioned it to another physical therapist once and despite being able to name so many muscles in my back they had never been taught about that one A few weeks of sessions with her massaging and using pressure on that specific spot and then moving on to stretches and activities that would strengthen that muscle and the problem went away. Only came back when I had a job where I sat still for 10+ hours a day and wasn't doing any exercises or stretches on the side anymore.
Chronic pain person here, won't take opioids again till I have to. Was prescribed Vicodin, Percocet and oxy tablets all at the same time by the navy. Shit was fun for about a week, then it was miserable. The anger is not always the fault of the person, and I thank you for your understanding of the situation you work in. Not being judged, for just wanting the pain to stop, isn't much from the outside... but from this side it's fucking beautiful! Stay non judgy, you rule!
I have been trying to tell my family this. Chronic pain causes anger, by nature. I am not mad at them. I am mad that it is hard to walk, and stand up straight sometimes.
I saw this first hand when I kept trying to get my Adderall prescription filled during the nationwide shortage. Dude in front of me was there for the same thing, but he started taking it out on the employees. Like I know it sucks but trust me if these people could give you the prescription they would gladly do so in a heartbeat to get you to leave. No point and arguing with them about it, they don't control what is and isn't available.
I am a pharmacy tech and I want to thank you for this comment. I understand how frustrating it is for the patient when their medication is out of stock, on back order, or other issues like a prior authorization is needed. And I hate having to call them and tell them that it’s in back order or whatnot because many times they get rude and nasty. Like we are the ones who manufacture the medicine in the back of the pharmacy or something! Like I promised you if we had your medication we would dispense it to you, but we literally can not get it.
I get nasty when either my pharmacy or my insurance company try to withhold any meds I am prescribed. I don't take nor need opioids, but I find many pharmacies make multiple mistakes and them blame the customer/patient. The quality of care/customer service is shit now and our insurance premiums and copays keep skyrocketing.
🙋♀️ Learned the hard way after wisdom tooth removal that opioid painkillers make me vomit. Took what I needed to to get through it, no desire to do that ever again.
Samsies. Took a Vicodin, about twenty minutes later got the rainbow yawn and figured it would just hurt less if I didn't vomit.
My wife took them for some dental issue and said “I can totally see how people get hooked on this” and then didn’t take any more.
I had them for my wisdom teeth at 18 or 19, took them until the pain stopped, and then would pop one occasionally for menstrual cramps until I finally ran out and never had any strong feelings about them either way.
This. Plus depends on the surgery. Wisdom teeth removal? Stop after 3 days. Continue with Tylenol. Septoplasty? Stop after 3 or 4 days. Continue with Tylenol. Knee and shoulder surgery? Not sure but maybe stop after a week or two... I will find out after my surgery. I keep notes and round the clock schedule of when I take opioid medications. This helps me track pain management and prevent potential addiction. Addiction ruined my childhood and wrecked the lives of people I love. I will not let it ruin mine. I also don’t drink. My prescriptions won’t allow me to drink, but I also don’t like feeling like crap. Edit: forgot to add that I always have a strong meal before taking opioid medications. I have a pretty sensitive stomach, and a fortifying meal helps with recovery + avoids that addicting high many addicts seek.
I had shoulder surgery and they gave me tramadol. Don’t recall how many pills, but I took it for three days. Had the surgery on Thursday, had a post op visit on Friday, then was to start PT on Monday, and my ride wasn’t available for the PT appt. Knew I’d have to drive myself to PT, so I stopped the tramadol on Saturday night so it’d be well out of my system when I had to drive on Monday. Morphine, etc doesn’t work for me and gives me horrible hives, so if I need prescription pain relief, it’s tramadol.
Yep. And I've also talked to plenty of people who take almost none of their prescribed opiates. some get addicted, but some are so paranoid they get worried about getting addicted, so they go home with 60 pills, end up only using 3 or 4, and swap to advil or whatever as soon as they can bear it.
Some of that is dose and duration too. Just enough to sufficiently dull the pain for just long enough to allow for just enough healing to continue recovery without them. 5mg IR morphine Q4-6H PRN for severe pain following a significant injury or minor surgery for 3-5 days. The purpose of the analgesic isn't zero pain, it's reduce the pain enough that you can function outside of the cause of pain. (You can't sleep because your surgical wound hurts like hell, you can't just delay sleep until it's healed successfully to not be immensely disruptive, so you treat it enough to get that 7/10 down to 4/10 for a few days until the healing and antiinflammatories can suffice.) With appropriate opioid use they're very safe and unlikely to be habit forming if you have no prior history of substance abuse. Take that same 5mg every 4 hours for a month or two, maybe take 2 or 3 because one didn't cut it... not you're opioid competent, so you're needing a higher dose to see the same effect, withholding the drug lands you below your baseline state of the past, and now every time you go a few hours without a dose you feel like the pain is worse, you're agitated, you're missing something important... just one more tab... A lot of this is why opioid pain management focuses on first 7 days therapy, occasionally allowing up to another 7 days therapy within 45 days of the first. It's for acute use, anything out side of that requires justification of ongoing use of short acting opioids, and potentially adding a long acting agent (which reduces the abuse potential by not releasing the drug rapidly, and reduces the total dose provided throughout the day.) A lot of state Medicaid plans enforce this step therapy via PA and require pretty detailed history and pain management planning before approving them, and only for fixed durations, all because of the decades of throwing oxycodone at every bump scratch and sore.
Interesting - thank you.
I’d say this response was super accurate. I have an addictive personality and got hooked on cigarettes with the first puff. I also love weed and am high way too much. Got prescribed oxy for a surgery and was scared to try it. But I took the whole bottle as I needed for the pain but once the bottle was over I didn’t feel any desire for them. I just think different drugs make different people instantly addicted but the majority of users will probably be fine.
I tried weed twice in my life and it was absolutely miserable. So many people that love weed are baffled and tell me “you just need to try good stuff.” No, that’s not how it is. Weed has a different chemical reaction in my brain than it does in the brains of others.
Every now and then, I’ll give weed a try again. And while the “good” (legal/medicinal) stuff is not *quite* as harsh, no matter what, it ends with me like curled in a ball, racing thoughts, deep in paranoia and trying to calculate how many minutes until it’ll be over.
Be aware that the only thing more addictive than nicotine is meth. Nothing else hooks you faster or harder. It is literally easier to give up any other drug than meth or nicotine. :( That's why cigarette and vape companies aim at the 12-14 year olds... if you hook them, then even if they quit, the craving remains and you've got a good chance of re-hooking them after a couple years. And a lot can't get away from it at all :( With my family history of addiction (not immediate but go out or up a branch and DAMN) I never even took a puff because I fucking KNEW I was a prime candidate for what happened to you :(
I’m the middle. I had surgery and they gave me Percocet and Oxicotin. The Percocet did nothing but put me to sleep. The Oxi just took the pain away so I was functional. I got no high from it. The only feeling was no physical pain. Once I was feeling a bit better I stopped taking them way before the bottle ran out. I never understood the way people got addicted and chased the high since I never got that feeling. Physiology is a funny thing.
I chose pooping over opiates
Opiates, putting the ‘ow’ in bowel movements.
Hey man! This is serious! Trying to poop is what killed Elvis lol
😭 I’m so fucking constipated right now help
It took me a whole week of not taking them to take a poop again!! I walked around my house carrying my poop baby desperately trying to give birth to it, chugging laxatives. Schools should teach this. Opiates = No poops
You need glycerin suppositories. I didn't poop for 14 days after I had knee surgery and was on Hydrocodone and a glycerin suppository is what finally helped me go. You just have to gently shove it up there (with lubricant of course) and wait a minute. Good luck.
I had knee surgery and a lot of issues with it following, about a year ago I was given opioids, for me, the idea of recreational use never hit me, yes it gave me a decent feeling, but so did morphine before an operation. It's hard to explain and I may be an outlier, but I never viewed it as a "fun" or enjoyable thing due to the nature of my use
Same. They also made me very tired and groggy. I didn't like that.
The times I’ve had them prescribed I don’t think I even finished them. They’d either do nothing or just make me fall asleep. Either way those effects went, the only thing that happened on all of them was not being able to shit and that was AWFUL. Last ones I had after a surgery years ago had me backed up for almost a week.
Yeah, I’m a fan of being able to poop personally
Not going to lie, after 15 years on opiates, I was so over the constipation. There were many reasons I wanted off the meds, mainly because I realized my pain was so much less, but wanting to poop like a normal person was right up there.
They made me confused, which I really do not enjoy
I never got the groggyness, to me, it was like a stronger version of weed. But made me feel so much more tired
After taking them once, my dad said he preferred the pain to the exhaustion and never took them again.
My father was addicted to pain meds in the 80s after a car accident. He refuses pain meds now, at 76. Which is ridiculous, but that's how he feels about addiction and what it did to him.
There are genetic differences that effect how we experience drugs, that is part of why it can run in families and be inherited. It mostly comes down to how we metabolize them. Some people get a great rush of euphoria from certain drugs, some people don't. It has a massive effect on how easily you can become addicted to different drugs like alcohol or opioids.
>Some people get a great rush of euphoria from certain drugs, some people don't. I fell in love with weed. But my younger brother did not. Vomiting, unable to stand or speak, vertigo. It did NOT groove with his brain AT ALL.
I have this same reaction to weed- instantly sick. I also have this reaction to opioids- the “rush” and “high” feels like motion sickness to me and when I do need pain medication or anesthesia, it ALWAYS has to have anti nausea meds to counteract because I will be sooooo sick. Even the feeling of drunk feels like sick- so I drink but NEVER ever go beyond a light buzz because anything more is just too gross feeling
Same, they made me tired and didn’t really take away the pain after I had surgery. I wasn’t sure what the thrill was supposed to be. However, there was one day when I really craved one - I’d had a shitty day and my brain went to ‘that sure sounds good right now’. It scared me - I didn’t take one, monitored my use and didn’t refill my prescription.
It's because you never used it to cope with something other than pain, if you took it whenever you feel sad or anxious or internal pain then overtime your brain gets instant rewarded gratification and everything that was causing you distress disappears and your brain learns that; that medication is taking you out of a difficult situation and if life was all sunshine and rainbows then addiction would happen way less but because of the contrast of dark depressing life and intense euphoria the addiction is really strong for some people, it's like going into a warm sauna after being lost in the snow for years
I am on relatively high doses of oxycodone from 3 years with short switches to morphine, hydromorphone and other opioids. I never felt any euphoria, never felt much different. I know my body is physically addicted but I don't feel myself any better regarding the psychological state. Few times I did a break, never felt something is missing, never felt urge to use opioids to make me feel better. The only reason was the pain. But I am sure it would be different with amphetamines. Different people react different to some substances.
Thanks. That helps to give some perspective.
Same. I didn’t like how they made me feel. They took away the pain but it wasn’t any sort of feeling that I’d want to chase.
Other than liquid morphine administered at the hospital post-op none of the opioids even do much for my pain. None of them made me feel a way I would seek out. I had a script for opioids while dealing with some major issues in my hip, and vodka did more to take the pain away than the pills. I ended up taking almost none till after hip surgery then only two days of "hard meds" before switching to the Tylenol 800's. I also know I have weird reactions to meds. The morphine woke me up and I couldn't sleep for 18 hours, non-drowsy Benadryl knocks me out.
They make me very nauseous and groggy. The groggy part was ok since I needed to rest while healing. The dizzy floating feeling was not fun though.
Was it easy to just stop taking them when you didn't need the pain relief? My concern is that someone would become physically addicted and feel compelled to take them even though they don't want to or even like the effects. How likely is that?
I'm not the person you responded to, but I was given Vicodin when I had all my wisdom teeth taken out at once. I took them the first day, but I got super nauseated. I took OTC pain killers the next few days and just didn't use anything after that.
Vicodin makes me super woozy unless I time it perfectly with food.
I've had major surgery at least 9 times, on top of breaking my leg in three places at 3. I've blown a disc in the lumbar section twice, wurst pain I've ever felt. For each surgery I've been given some kind of painkillers. Of course the later ones were the opoids, as an adult. I've never become addicted not felt the urge to continue taking them. In my opinion, there are a combination of biological and psychological factors which make it addictive for some and not for others. It's easy to say "I would never do that", but the proof is in the pudding.
I have a few addicts in my family, so I was worried that maybe I'd have the genetic predisposition. I also have severe anxiety. For whatever reason, though, I'm not an addict. I like how pain killers feel, but when the prescription runs out, I'm cool. I don't think about them again. No urge to keep taking more. I don't like to live that way. I've done edibles a few times and mostly did not enjoy them. They've been sitting in my house for years and I just don't feel like taking them. I guess I should throw them out. The challenge here is that you don't know until you're tested, and that's a hell of a way to find out. I guess you can take some precautions if, like me, you are related to alcoholics and drug addicts.
This ignores the mental health component to it all. A lot of people who have substance issues aren’t only biologically addicted to the “feel good” feeling. They’re using medications, alcohol, etc. to put them in an altered state as a way of coping with or avoiding some type of mental stress. Drug use is a form of escapism. People who don’t have anything to escape from are less likely to go looking for an escape hatch.
I’ve had Percocet and Oxy prescribed after numerous surgeries and it has never occurred to me to become addicted simply because I don’t have issues with addiction. The pills always make my stomach vaguely sick and I don’t like feeling groggy at all, so I try to move to high doses of Motrin as fast as I can. Meanwhile my doctors often prescribe waaaay too many pain pills and they used to come with refills (not sure if this is a thing now). We would keep them around for years until they expired then ditch them. There are some excellent articles out there that describe the difference that some people feel when they take a pain pill. It’s like heaven for them. It is never like that for me, so it’s super easy for me not to become addicted. For those who do feel like they’re touching heaven when they take them, they should let their doctors know that up front so they can be closely monitored.
I think most doctors are very very stingy with opioids now; after everything. To be fair, people were lied to about Oxy by the manufacturer.
All I gotta say- is Fuck the Sackler family.
The fact that they (and the many others who participated in this mass murder/ruining of lives) are still walking around - alive, free, and *rich* \- is a terrible reflection of how broken our system is.
Yeah, I think so much of this is just genetic. People with opioid addictions describe it as euphoric or transcendent and I've never had any such experience from opioids. I feel a little nauseous, the pain dulls, I nap. I never *want* to take them. I just do when the pain is so severe there's not another option. It's interesting how people experience things so differently. Except I will say like 15 years ago I got dilaudid for a kidney stone at the hospital and that was.... something. Not a drug I'd ever want again tbh, because that *did* feel like flying. Or idk maybe my kidney just hurt so much having the pain go away felt like flying. Either way, I don't really want that stuff near me.
[удалено]
That’s how it was for me and how I became an addict. They didn’t make me groggy they gave me so much energy. Turned me into a social butterfly, got me to clean my entire apartment top to bottom. It was like I was floating in a cloud in heaven getting massaged head to toe by angels. I was 14 and I got a wisdom tooth out. It was pure euphoria. I had never felt so good in my life. I self medicated my depression for years when antidepressants didn’t do shit
Finally. Someone that had 'the experience.' Yea, I wish I was a little smarter when I was younger. Lol. Looking back I should've known something was wrong when I sat there thinking, "you know what... I wouldn't mind feeling like this ALL THE TIME!"
I'm also one of those people who don't feel any "bliss or heaven" with taking opioids or even codeine-paracetamol, but I have some friends who get that from even codeine, which isn't as strong as opioid as oxy. When I was younger I read that there is a small percentage of people whose liver somehow knows how to break down the pill: it uses up the painkiller part of the medicine, but ignores the part of the medicine that causes that bliss. I've never felt anything from even oxys after surgery, while some people describe the "heavenly feeling". It's really hard for me to become addicted, but I can see why some do.
How do people drink alcohol and not become alcoholics?
If you find out the answer, I’ll be at the bar.
From what I've seen alcoholics don't go to bars all that often, They are at home with their half gallon.
It depends honestly. When I was first early off into drinking problematically, I would. I thought since I was early 20's and I was drinking like 8-10 drinks at the bar (different liquors too), that I was so cool. No one surprisingly seemed to think anything of it, and besides most of my friends weren't far behind. I never wanted the feeling to stop, so I'd then start drinking small amounts at home. Once I realized I could get drunker for cheaper at home, I went that route. Especially once I had a feeling that most people weren't drinking a pint a day, or a fifth a day, and then it just progressed. But honestly, I've know other alcoholics who were just bar binge drinkers. It's not necessarily a one size or one condition fits all type of thing. I know some who could go a week without drinking but then put down two gallons a night. I know others who'd just drink every day.
Not everyone is so highly susceptible to addiction(s). Some folk can walk away from opioids or booze or other chemicals, quite easily. For opioids I would say that many / most people who take them medicinally, also do not take them in a manner that might cause addiction. And of course their usage is observed by their physicians / surgeons. Many do become addicted, of course, both medicinal and recreational users, but IIRC the AMA says only 1 - 3 % of users develop and addiction.
Usually the doses they get are limited so the patient doesn't get that high off of them. The doctors also will be careful how much they'll prescribe, they'll cut patients off after a bit once they think the patient has sufficiently recovered
Sometimes they’re a bit too cautious. I had a wrist surgery with screws and a plate, and the doctor prescribed me 5 hydros. I ran through those in about 2/3 days. So I called, and he refilled it for 3 more. Said ibuprofen and Tylenol should be fine… as I’m sitting there in agony.
I just learned if you have a c section they only give you Tylenol and Motrin. Really, really scared to have a c section.
Jesus christ! I had a full hysterectomy where she had to open me up just like a c section due to endo and I can't even imagine only having over the counter pain killers for that! Your body has been split open through skin, fat, and muscle and they're all "just take the same thing you would for a headache".
Oh yeah. They won’t give you pain meds for a colposcopy either. You know, where they cut off a piece of your cervix for testing? I feel like doctors just hate women.
I was given exactly 2, for after. They wouldn’t refill it. My uterine and cervix biopsy was more painful than childbirth.
Depends on the doctor. I received opioids for both of mine.
Probably depends on location? I just had a c section and definitely got as much oxy as I needed at the hospital and when I went home.
I had a kidney transplant 6 years ago and they gave me dilaudid while recovering. EVERY TIME it was injected I felt a sense of euphoria! It was this insane ecclesial feeling and for 3 days, it was joy! I took some pills home with me but they weren’t the same as the IV drip I had in the hospital ( they made me feel icky). I still think about those three days from time to time and it scares the heck out of me!
Ima cancer survivor. They had me on 1 mg IV dilaudid (hydromorphone). Every 4 hours the nurses would slam (instead of titrate) that into me for about 6 months. When I didn’t have a (IV) line in, then I was prescribed 32 mg, PO (oral ingestion), daily. Hydromorphone really is one of the best feelings in the world. I’d be laying in a hospital bed, skin-and-bones emaciated, abdomen unzipped (cut from sternum to pelvis), and literally dying from pain. Then, they’d slam that $h!t. The initial onset felt like one of the best eye-rolling orgasms of your life that would literally take your breath away. Followed by, a nice warm buzz that made you feel like you were sun tanning on a beautiful beach with a good lil Corona tipsiness going (damn, dude, you’re making me get an anticipatory tingle just thinking about it). But in reality, I was fu€ked up in a hospital bed and dying. When I started gaining control of my cancer and recovering, I soon realized that I had developed a physical dependency from my therapeutic uses of hydromorphone. My doctors said I could stay on it until I fully healed, but I knew I had to get off it as soon as possible. I don’t like to be dependent on anything (substances or people). Those withdrawals were brutal, man. Honestly, kind feels like how cancer feels when it’s ravishing your body. The sweats to chills, glass-like and cold bones, vomiting, loss of appetite, malaise, and just feeling like you’re gonna die. Initially there’s about a week of acute and savage pain, and then a month of the worst hangover of your life pain. When coming off of hydromorphone, I used dabs (THC concentrate) and flower at first bc I couldn’t keep any food down. But once I was able to stomach some food, then I switched to really strong edibles. Once I cleared the opioid withdrawal (6-8 weeks), then I tapered off all the cannabis. Das my diluadid experience. I still love da bish. But will only therapeutically mess with her.
I had a septorhinoplasty a few years ago and was on an opiate taper for a few weeks after (in addition to the stuff I got in the hospital during the actual surgery”). Idk if you’ve ever been under general anesthesia but I was so out of it for weeks after that it honestly didn’t even occur to me that the opiates made me feel “good”. I just felt numb and disconnected and useless lol
Anesthesiologist here. The meds and gases you got for your nasal surgery wouldn’t have lasted in your system for more than a day. Those symptoms you had after were all from the opiate (and thats a long time to be on opiates fwiw). Glad the euphoria never kicked in tho, it’s significant and real for folks susceptible to it.
Addiction has as much to do with the person's situation and mental state as it does with how addictive a drug is
I would second this, a lot of replies here focus on the inherent properties of the drug, which obviously play a role, but I would venture to say that the circumstances and mental health of the person in question play just as much of a role.
I have narcolepsy due to a lack of orexin. Orexin is one of the key components of addiction. So I can’t get physically addicted to things.* With that said, a morphine drip after my C-section didn’t work on me & any time I’ve had to take opioids I’ve also had to take medicine for nausea as they made me nauseated. Like any medication, they just don’t work well on some people, too. I have chronic pain & use CBD with a little THC for pain management. I’m very fortunate that CBD works so very well for me. *Edit- This is an over simplification to explain the basic mechanism of action. Please visit Google Scholar to see papers on it & a more thorough explanation of the link between orexin & addiction.
Right now there is a swing the other way, lots of providers aren’t prescribing opioids. Lots of ibuprofen and Tylenol. But some feel we have gone too far this way. Best bet is an honest discussion between the patient and provider but a lot of times people get super defensive over their use of opioids. A lot of times during a serious painful hospitalization patients will get opioids, but won’t be discharged on them. So basically we are in a big wtf do we do phase right now.
Sometimes that swing is a LITTLE too far. I’ve been perceived pain meds for other operations and done fine, no addictions. However, after my c sections (like the night of and day after) I was in quite a bit of pain. The doc had given me that mix of Tylenol and some opioid.. I honesty forgot which. That mix didn’t touch the pain. I am a very non confrontational person, like I’m uncomfortable even telling a waiter if my food that I ordered was wrong, however I was not that easy going after the c section and that surgery. I kept asking the nurse about something stronger. The nurse told me to be grateful the doc gave me the Tylenol-opioid mix, and that the women who delivered vaginally only got Tylenol. That is the one time if felt like the doc under prescribed pain meds.
Opioid addiction never occurred to me after my surgery. I was given a 3 day supply and it lasted 5 months.
GREAT QUESTION, I was overprescribed OxyContin for my surgery, and hell yes they worked great for pain relief, but by evening 5 of taking them, I had this weird vision of those Nirvana happy faces floating in my cells, which I took as a sign that my body was telling me I was saturated with opioids. It freaked me out, so I quit taking them and switched to Tylenol. It didn’t work as well, but I don’t want to get addicted to opioids.
>and how patients can get hooked after one dose That's really improbable. For almost everybody the doses given for pain management are just enough to alleviate pain. Plus, a lot of people are just not that susceptable to morphine addition. I have a bottle of Tylenol-3 with ~~morphine~~ codeine and it sits in my cabinet. I've had hydromorphone in the hospital and it was nothing but a painkiller for me.
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I was given codeine for body aches and cough from a double case of flu and covid and the dose was literally enough to get rid of the pain but not get high. it kind of seemed like when i took the right dose there wasnt psychoactive effects nearly at all but the pain was gone, so I mean \*shrugs\*
Because when I’m in serious pain, I start to come down from *climbing the walls ready to murder someone and scream for a week* (my doctor’s words, not mine) to…normal. When I start to feel fuzzy or loopy, it isn’t fun and I try for something less potent.
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Some people get hooked after one dose, but that is unusual. You're going to read about it way out of proportion to how common it is, because it feeds into a narrative of "Oh noes. Totally innocent person who did nothing wrong got hooked!!!!" Most people stop taking opioids as soon as they can because constipation really sucks.
Good question. I've often wondered this about myself. I had a compound fracture of my tibia/fibula in 1995. This was like the height of when Dr.'s were prescribing opioids like they were tic tacs. I remember I had a huge bottle of them. It was a long and painful recovery so I was taking the max dosage 24/7 for several months. I never got addicted and stopped taking them as soon as I could pain management wise. I'm sure my Dr. would've kept prescribing them to me for however long I wanted. I have no idea how I didn't become addicted.
I have a history of substance abuse shit but that was all adhd stuff, booze, benzos, cigarettes, etc. I've been prescribed opiates many times for various injuries and after procedures like getting my tonsils, wisdom teeth and a couple molars taken out (all on separate occasions) and honestly? Opiates are just... Okay? Like sure, you can feel good and fuze into the sofa/bed for a good TV binge/nap but it's not all that *fun* for me. I certainly never got to the end of my script and thought I needed to go find more. I always assumed it's got to have something to do with brain chemistry and how the chemicals are processed by the individual's body. Also if you are taking something because the alternative is horrible pain you learn to leave yourself enough to handle the next flare up.