how do you live withoout pain meds, when your in severe pain? i dont think i would have a life!.....

Well i was on narcotic pain meds (percocet, lortabs etc) for 14 straight years due to a back injury. Due to other health and emotional problems which i believe these narcotics played a role in, i forced myself to get off the. I have not been on pain meds now for the last 5 years, i may use occasional over the counter stuff like ibuprofen, advil, but i pretty much use exercise, heating pad, ointment to take care of my back now. Pain meds did change my personality, mood and so on. I think i have a better life without them although i pretty much live with some level of pain now, its manageable. To be on pain meds the rest of ones life is not th best quality of life, your organs, liver, stomach and so on will suffer for it to, I developed stomach ulcers, stomach acid also. I feel for you, but if you can find alternatives to these drugs, i will suggest you try them.

Jackray i admire that you created a world drug-dree.  I too think my personality, hopes and dreams have changed dramatically..i feel angry a lot of the time.  The only thing, is i would like to hear from someone with horrific pain levels 24/7..i too had been on short-acting pain meds("which did actually give some euphoria, unlike the opiates for me), and believe i wasn't 'locked in' to them(could have got off them), but didn't want to. But i didn't really understand how bad, how deep, pain could be..i find it hard to think about little else, can't read(a passion i loved).  I would like to hear from someone like me..who has lived in high level pain for 23 years.  The possible choice at this point, is to wean me off oxyneon and get me addicted to methadone, which i don't know much about, except that with severe pain you have to keep upping the dose again.  I honestly feel like its more humaine to live these last years with some pain reducer.

Please don't misunderstand, i think what you achieved is amazing, i should have specified that i was particularly interested in people on high doses of ocytonin/oxyneo..whether they decided to live with it, or medicate it. i understand your back pain was  extreme. i also am not sure i could do that withdrawl again, 2 weeks was bad enough from oxycontin, but this oxneo is a mean $#%..took 2 months, then another month even after i was returned to my original dosage. It didn't help that the pain clinic dr. knew nothing about withdrawl, and really doesn't know what to do with me!

thankyou

pinkrainbow

How do you wean off pain meds?