[happies]

I started a thread beginning of the week about how my addiction began and how i have stopped cold turkey since last saturday. The past couple days i have been awesome. Still crave at times but i just pop some ibuprofen instead for my injuries. granted i was having a really hard time at first!

Anyways, to my question. I went to the doctor yesterday for a last follow up on how the recovery of my 2nd degree burns on my right hand and arm are. He said they are healing well but wanted to prescribe me 30 - 7.5mg Vicodin. I talked to my fiance about if i should even bother to purchase them. she sprained her ankle really bad the other day running and doesnt have insurance so i filled them to help her out (honestly). I am not worried about her getting addicted cause she never really liked them but she was in alot of pain yesterday. So i have not touched them. In fact i hid them in a good place where in time i would forget about them. I told her this will be a test of will and so far im passing it. Is this a good idea or bad? I always like to have alittle of something incase of emergencies. for example ill keep afew muscle relaxers, sleeping pills, depression pills, motion sickness pills, etc. just to keep in case something goes wrong.

bad idea or is this ok?

[Robert_325]

Originally Posted by happies

I started a thread beginning of the week about how my addiction began and how i have stopped cold turkey since last saturday. The past couple days i have been awesome. Still crave at times but i just pop some ibuprofen instead for my injuries. granted i was having a really hard time at first!

Anyways, to my question. I went to the doctor yesterday for a last follow up on how the recovery of my 2nd degree burns on my right hand and arm are. He said they are healing well but wanted to prescribe me 30 - 7.5mg Vicodin. I talked to my fiance about if i should even bother to purchase them. she sprained her ankle really bad the other day running and doesnt have insurance so i filled them to help her out (honestly). I am not worried about her getting addicted cause she never really liked them but she was in alot of pain yesterday. So i have not touched them. In fact i hid them in a good place where in time i would forget about them. I told her this will be a test of will and so far im passing it. Is this a good idea or bad? I always like to have alittle of something incase of emergencies. for example ill keep afew muscle relaxers, sleeping pills, depression pills, motion sickness pills, etc. just to keep in case something goes wrong.

bad idea or is this ok?

If your fiance needs pain medication for a problem she has that is fine. She isn't trying to beat this dependency thing but you are. You don't need to keep ANYTHING around you for an emergency! Think about what you're doing. BAD IDEA .... HORRIBLE IDEA!!!

The bottom line is that if you have them you'll end up taking them if you are anything at all like me. What kind of emergency do you need them for? If an "EMERGENCY" actually happened then you would need to see a dr at that time. Am I not right? So if a real emergency does happen you'll receive medical attention and medication at that time. You don't need a stash.

If you don't listen to anything else I share hear this one. Keeping your drug-of-choice around for an "emergency" is nothing but a great big fat RESERVATION. And a reservation is a relapse waiting to happen. It's your dependency to those pills justifying in your mind that you need to keep a stash "just in case". Just in case what??? And trust me you won't ever "forget" where they are as long as they are anywhere you know about.

If your fiance needs the pills give them to her and tell her to NOT even tell you where they are. It would be best if she takes them to work and leaves them in her desk if she can lock them up. Don't even have them in the same house you're in. I could NOT be any more serious about this than I am. Get rid of the pills, you don't need them in your possession.

I've been clean a pretty good while now. Even today with some good clean time I would not keep RX pain pills anywhere near my house, my car, or anywhere that I might happen to be. Get rid of them, have your fiance get them OUT of the house today. I promise you it's the smartest thing you could possibly do. God bless.

[happies]

I figured i would be told this. As for me and injuries i hate going to doctors. I broke my tailbone in winter of 07/08 and never went to the doctor. Thats how i am. i am an adrenaline junky so i race and do stunts on my bikes or whatever i can. thats what i mean by just in case. and the reason i say to test myself is because im more a visual person. I went home about an hour ago to pick up some money and i was telling my fiance how my back and sides are killing me (not withdrawl related, i over worked them in the gym). she told me to take a pill and i said NO, i dont want to. She really didnt want me to, she was just testing me. So far im beating it but your probably right. If anything ill just give them to my dad. He is in way more need than me or to just lock up in a drawer at his house.

any one else have an opinion about this?

[lilbri]

As long as you know there are pill's somewhere it will be on your mind flush them now.

[Bobbi1969]

Now! there is no sense in testing yourself. Or teasing yourself. If a true emergency happens, go to the doc /hospital whatever.

[tired2]

I have been tapering off subs for 3 months now and I'm finally near the end actually today is my first skip day and I did the same thing hide my pills just in case I may need them ....I went to rehab over a year and 1/2 ago and kept 1 morph pill up till two months ago never wanted to take it but ,now I have hydro's which I know I have to get rid off ....I trusted myself before but not so sure anymore since I have back pain etc... I also worked out real hard and would take a pill....the funny thing is when you think back it really did do much....so get rid off them.

Robert if you read this yes I know what I have to do....

[happies]

ok, so you guys were right! yesterday i went riding and flipped my quad and hurt my shoulder pretty bad. I didnt go to the doctor because i have enough medical bills built up right now i cant afford anymore. I broke down and took 3 vicoden. Honestly, they made me feel sick to the stomach. They dont feel as good as they used to make me feel. Maybe i have burned in my head that they are no good for me and here i sit today at my cube not wanting them anymore. Ive decided im going to give them to my dad because he has alot of physical health issues. Doctors prescribe him some but he never fills them because he doesnt like the way they make him feel but i told him he can hold on to them incase he has a really bad day. I am not worried about him having an addiction towards them because he never takes them. He is old school, never smoked, rarely drinks. you name it.

I am sorry for giving in but i was in pain. Honestly though i feel i have control over it now. I got over the worst of it.

[Robert_325]

A relapse is a relapse is a relapse. Like I've said before over and again keeping ANY amount of our drug-of-choice around in case of an "emergency" is a reservation and that is a relapse waiting to happen. There are no exceptions.

If you didn't have those pills your shoulder would have made it just the same. It was an excuse to use. I'm not judging you, just stating a fact. If you've learned from it and the pills are NOW GONE then move on. If you've got ANY pills around they need to go immediately. I don't know how else to put it.

A relapse can be an important part of recovery if we benefit from it. Only you know if that's the case. I would say that if ALL the pills are now gone, you've learned. If you still have pills then you haven't really got it yet. That's my experience. I wouldn't let the sun go down with even ONE pill left at my house. God bless.

[happies]

I trust your words completely robert and are very greatful! one thing im greatful for is how sick of things i get. thats why it is easy for me to quit smoking and other things. Last week since i got a taste of how horrible the withdrawls were, yesterday i honestly felt like ******** after i took the pills. Its not the same anymore. They make me feel sick and if anything make me feel depressed now. I can honestly say that i feel im done with them. I got my script for Ibuprofen 600mg filld this morning and are just gonna use them when i need. Im meeting with my dad after work today and im going to give him the bottle of what i have left.

[Robert_325]

I just re-read my previous reply and I didn't mean to sound like I'm against meds if we have an injury. I came across too hard on that.

We have to be our own judge when we get hurt. I choose to not take anything at all unless I have something I just can't handle. Then I would take medication that's just me. But when we are trying to get clean for sure we shouldn't have pain meds around. God bless.

[happies]

i didnt take it wrong at all. i take all your advice seriously and appreciate it. Before i took them for pain and im not gonna lie, i liked how they made me feel happy but after taking 3 yesterday, it made me feel sick, depressed and wierd. I really didnt like that feeling one bit and prefer to do without them. I really dont feel like i started back at square one because my craves and withdrawls have subsided for the most part. I wasnt even craving them yesterday, i was just in pain.

[happies]

so i guess i have been just having a bad streak of luck. last wednesday i went riding on my ATV, did a big jump and flipped off with it landing on my back. went to the doctor cause my back was having severe pain and spasms. Doc said i fractured some ribs so he gave me some percocets and Soma's. At first i just took the Somas cause i had been clean for almost 2 weeks but they made me to tired and the pain was not going away so i gave in. sorry, i had too. the pain was too much. Thing is though i have been following parts of the thomas recipe daily and i dont feel the crave for the meds. i only take when in alot of pain but when im not in pain i dont take them. Im sitting here right now at work not even craving them. Are some withdrawl periods worse than others cause this one is nothing compared to how bad my last withdrawl period was a couple weeks ago.

[Robert_325]

Obviously we can have different experiences in w/d. They usually get worse each time we do it but your experience shows that it can vary. Don't allow this to make you think it would easy the next time. God bless.

[mas215]

That's right, everyone is different in how they react to these meds. I know my parents, if they took 1/2 of a percocet would be in bed for the rest of the day. It would completely knock them out, they would not become dependent. I, on the other hand, know first hand the "feelings" these opiates give and how easy it is to become addicted. If I'm incorrect in making dependence and addiction synonymous, let me know, to me it's the same thing. And it seems to last a long, long time. For example, I had a problem with percodan back in the 1970s (they were actually prescribed more than percocet) and the amount of aspirin in the percodan resulted in a duodenal ulcer. Stayed off all opiates for over 30 years. Then percocet was prescribed for a dental procedure. The brain is an amazing organ, those feelings came right back as if it was yesterday that I had last taken one.

Power of mind (a great book I read years ago by Adam Smith), it truly is incredible.

Stay clean and good luck.