[ampd]

I’ll start with a lil background.. I was in an accident in 04 then another in 05 (rear ended in both) which resulted in numerous injections & types of therapies since the docs said I was too young to just go to surgery. I finally had back fusion surgery in 07 which I thought helped but I’m in more pain now with the next disc torn & nerve pain. I even had the hardware removed last dec because I felt like it was digging into my muscles. So I’ve been on some type of painkiller since 04 & about 2 weeks ago I had about enough of that battle. Decided to try suboxone to see if the claims of feeling normal & even pain relief could be true. Friday will be one week on the med but I’ve found little relief in the pain department. Today I’ve been in tears from the back pain, not withdrawal. I thought it could be in my head since I’ve been on pain meds for so long but I’ve realized how much pain I’m in. I’ve been reading on methadone too but I’m not sure. Yes the sub doesn’t make me feel stupid like the oxys but at least I could be active on them. I’m so confused.
Thanks for any help..

[Robert_325]

You've got to decide if the pain is something you can live with or not. I have pain everyday, lots of us do, and choose to live with it. Some chronic pain patients require meds however as they can't live with their pain. Only you can decide which group you're in. If you plan on staying on narcotic meds forever at this point you had better make sure something like that is what you really want to do. You're very young to resign yourself to a lifetime of narcotics. You won't have a happy life living that way. I would try everything else first. That oxy dose will only continue to grow until it's out of hand. Trust me a lifetime of oxy fixes nothing. God bless.

[ampd]

I guess thats why I'm asking about the methadone before I would go back to oxys. I thought I was strong enough to fight through the pain but it's broke me down the last few days. I'm starting to have a mindset of doing whatever it takes to reduce the pain again so I can get things done instead of laying around & sleeping..

[ampd]

I called my sub doc & the nurse said that I need to see my primary care doc for my pain because they only can treat my "problem"..which I don't have. I guess most people don't switch to suboxone for wanting to feel normal & hopefully have it help with pain. I was not abusing my pain medication, I just didn't like the way it made me feel &nod off. I just don't want to put all this money into sub if it's not going to help me. I know I want a miracle but I don't know what to do now? Can I take pain meds while on suboxone? If my pcp will even prescribe them now. I hate the stigma of addiction that come with medication..

[newyorkgal]

Unfortunately, sub doesn't work very well as a pain reliever. I know they use it for pain in other countries on very low doses, under 1 mg. but we don't have that here. As far as stigma, there is definitely a stigma to methadone and its something that is very hard to get off of, but if you do decide that the pain is such that you have no choice but to go in that direction, I can say that once you get stabilized on a specific dose which is right for you, you wont nod and get all loopy as long as you don't take more than the perscribed amount. And it works very well for pain. Just be sure before making that leap that its what you need to do and have tried everything else.

[Robert_325]

The dr that originally had me use subutex has patients he gives it to for pain. It's normally on a dose of 2mg or less. While it's not a great pain med it does help some with chronic pain, just not that of a really severe nature. A few drs will RX it for pain relief. My dr suggested it for me for my RA but I declined.

Before I would decide to go on methadone I would try all the other pain meds first. There are LOTS of pain meds that may help before making a decision to use methadone. That should be a last resort ONLY. Once you start on methadone it should be something you plan on doing forever or a VERY long time. Just be very cautious. God bless.