I'm scared to try my prescribed antibiotics because I worry about addiction. What are some alternat?

With an injury such as yours the narcotics and muscle relaxers are the correct medications to take, after trying Tylenol, Ibuprofen and naproxen sodium, which are all sold over the counter. There is little risk of addiction to the muscle relaxers and as far as the Vicoprofen, which is the narcotic Vicodin (hydrocodone) combined with ibuprofen, if you take it carefully, using the least amount when you really need it you won't become addicted. Have you had addiction problems in the past? If not, then as long as you dont take it when you dont need it or use more than the doctor allows you to take you should be fine. Not every person using pain medication becomes addicted - many, many people use these medications as prescribed to allow them some sense of a normal life and freedom from crippling pain. If however you've had problems with addiction in the past, then you know you need to stay clear of these medications.

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Muscle relaxers, combined with physical therapy, an NSAID such as ibuprofen and a mild narcotic, such as Vicodin help a lot of people deal with the pain while recovering from an injury. Once the injury heals, then the pain meds are no longer needed. You need to do all that you can to help your body heal and to make the most of physical therapy. Using these medications, in moderation. and as prescribed can help you do this and get back to a normal life.

You might also consider going to a chiropractor or using acupuncture to help you heal from this injury. There are alternative medications, such as herbs and homeopathics, that can help you also. The best way I've found to learn where these alternative practitioners are is by word of mouth. I wish you the best.

I disagree with the earlier poster who claimed this mix of meds is "correct" and has "little risk" to cause an addiction.

First off, neither of these drugs are muscle relaxers, as that poster had mentioned; vicoprofen is a narcotic drug. And this dosage of vicoprofen (10 mg) is not a "mild narcotic." This is a strong dose of a very addictive and powerful drug. Mixing it with valium can be very dangerous. Both affect the central nervous system and will slow your respiration seriously. This is how folks can just go to sleep, slip into a coma and just stop breathing. The mix of narcotics and benzodiazepenes (ie valium) is just plain risky. This isn't my opinion; these facts are listed in the PDR that doctors routinely utilize.

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The maximum recommended dosage for hydrocodone per day is 30 mg; you are taking more than that. There are some powerful, non-addictive NSAID drugs that may be very helpful, or at least a lower dosage of the hydrocodone than is in the vicoprofen.

If you have been taking this mix of medications for 6 months, since Christmas, then your body is probably already dependent upon them. In other words, you will experience withdrawal symptoms when you stop. I urge you to seek out alternative methods of managing the pain, either with non-narcotic remedies and/or therapies, such as chiropractic, acupuncture, massage, etc.

This is not a mix of drugs you want to continue to take. By the way, valium "accumulates" in your blood levels, so that every time you are taking the vicoprofen, you are mixing it with valium. Taking them an hour or two apart is of little great consequence.

God bless,

Hey souxie,

The recommended dosage for vicoprofen should not exceed 5 tablets in a 24-hour period according to the prescribing literature. So please try to not take more than the recommended dosage. The valium is prescribed as a skeletal muscle relaxer with a recommended dosing of 2 to 10 mgs 3 to 4 times a day.

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Long term use of either of these medications can be addictive so I understand your concern. Without knowing the exact problem with your back it is hard to make suggestions. If the problem is nerve related then you might try Lyrica or Cymbalta. If the problem is more inflammation related then a non steroidal anti inflammtory might really help such as Celebrex. I have taken all these medicines with success for pain. I still take the Celebrex and it keeps me from having to take narcotic pain killers. These suggestions I have given are non narcotic and non addictive. There are also other muscle relaxers such as Flexeril or Skelaxin which would be better than the valium in my opinion. Again it is not addictive.

These are only suggestions as alternatives to the medicines you are taking. Running these alternatives past the doctor can't hurt. I have suggested three type alternatives: meds for nerve pain, non steroidal anti inflammatory for inflammation and muscle relaxers. If you address each of these categories with the doctor he might have his own preferences as far as actual medications.

Best wishes,

Laurie

I am taking Lortab 10mg (4xday), tramadol (4x50mg), I have degenerative disk disease and arthritis in my back also nerve damage. The antibiotics is not addictive or I have never heard of them getting anyone addicted. You need to worry about what you are on now... My doctor won't even give me percocet because my Lortab is not working. I've been taking pain pills for 4 years and I'm not addicted to them. I just need more pain relief cause i'm also tired of being in pain all the time. I also was getting Xanax (0.5mg x 4 a day), and I have been taking xanax for 13 years after my nervous breakdown in 1999. I could not get my pscychitrist to give me more xanax a day cause I have alot of anxiety and depression.

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And I got addicted to my xanax after my fiance past away in 2006 and I recently went to my doctor and told him I want to taper off my xanax, but he gave me depakote for seizures, knowing I didn't have any pills for 2 weeks, then he puts me on Klonopin another dang benzo. Just be careful taking that much Valium along with your pain med's. I hope you have a good psychiatrist that or Doctor that is monitoring you. Good luck!!!

Hello Souxie,

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OK, here is a possible alternative that may work well for you too, as it does for me. It's a patch with Lidocaine in it. In case you don't know this, Lidocaine is a local anesthetic. It's the kind of drug a dentist injects your gums with that makes it possible for him to drill into your teeth and you feel nothing. The patches are called Lidoderm, and they're about 4" x 6" in size. However, since they're a local anesthetic you can cut them into any size you need to cover the areas with the most pain. You can only wear them 12 hours in any 24 hour period (that's the 1 really unfortunate thing about them) and what happens is after you apply them you need to give them 2 or 3 hours to deaden the pain in the area. So you can't expect them to work quickly, but once they do work, you can expect much less or no pain in the areas you applied the patches. I use these things and I couldn't be any happier with them than I am. So I highly recommend them. You can use up to 3 patches at a time, and as I said, you can cut them to whatever shapes or sizes you need. Do yourself a favor, and if you haven’t tried them already, ask your doc for them first chance you get. Even ask for samples, many docs have samples to get you started. That is the best alternative I know of other than Tylenol and the NSAID drugs, such as Aleve (Naproxen), Advil/Motrin (Ibuprofen), Celebrex, Mobic, and many others your doc can write scripts for. None of the NSAIDs are addictive, and they all work to some extent.

Now Souxie someone is probably going to contradict me on this, and I can't prove to you online that I'm telling the truth, but Tramadol also known as Ultram, is without a doubt habit forming or addictive, if taken long enough. I have personally known at least 10 people, men and women, young and older, who were told Tramadol was completely safe, believed it, took them, became hooked on them, and then couldn't stop without going through some very difficult withdrawal symptoms. Some people become Tramadol dependent, and some become Tramadol addicted, but either way, the person can not just stop. In fact, quitting Tramadol abruptly can cause seizures. Even pure opioids rarely do that. So Souxie, someone advised you to try Tramadol. However, since you specifically asked for meds that are completely non habit forming, do not try Tramadol. They will kill pain, and probably even make you feel much better while you heal. But if you take them a little too long, you will become hooked. If it wasn't unethical for me to do so, I could give you the names, and/or email addresses of 10 people who were hooked. Several never did get off them, but almost everyone eventually did. But no one found it easy. I am not going to fight with anyone who argues with me about this. So Souxie, if you feel I am being sincere then trust me. If you don't want to, then don't. I wish you the best.

Thor