Addiction/Alcoholism and Physical Pain

I am so sorry you have this pain.  I cant imagine hurting like this and not being able to take anything!  I hope they get you a diagnosis soon and there is a treatement that works for you.  (((Huggs)))

and have your blood work done, check vit D! really!

Ultram?

Hi Trish - There are antidepressants that Dr.'s use to manage pain even if patients are not depressed. Below is some info you can discuss with your Dr. 

Ttricyclic antidepressants used for pain management include medications such as amitriptiline (Elavil®), or cousins of these drugs called imipramine (Tofranil®), nortriptiline and desipramine. Other antidepressants (other than the tricyclic group) may also help with pain from nerve injury but for reasons that are not as well studied. These include venlefaxine (Effexor) and the newly approved duloxetine (Cymbalta.)

Hey:  I read lots of good suggestions about managing pain and what others have done for this and I read that you relapsed on pain medication a short time ago.  My question to you is:  have you discussed this issue with your addictions counselor at your treatment center.  This is a major relapse trigger for you and should be considered when developing a relapse prevention plan.  Please talk with your counselor and allow them the opportunity to assist you in your recovery process.

I was diagnosed with Fibryomyalgia after having WLS surgery.  Having a major trauma (like the surgery) can trigger the symptoms of fibryo a lot sooner for people.  Except for the pain you describe in your foot all of the other stuff is dead on for fibryo.  As with handling your addiction, therapy handling pain issues is very necessary.  Well it was for me. 

I hope all is well with you and you continue to be your own best advocate.

Theresa

Don't know if you are still looking for an answer to this, if not, there may come a day in the future that you may need to know again.

I have the same problem...past opioid addiction but I also have pain from multiple things.....abdominal scar tissue, sciatica from herniated disc, major dental work, etc. You get the picture. I REFUSE to hurt unnecessarily so I also took the occasional NSAID thinking it would be okay as long as I protected my pouch, I always took a Zantac plus my Protonix for GERD. Well last Thanksgiving I almost died from a bleeding ulcer cause by those "occasional" NSAID's, I spent 2 weeks including Thanksgiving in the hospital. I begged my Dr to let me go home and I would come back the next day, his answer was "No Angie, you wont live that long if I let you leave this hospital." My labs were basically nonexistent.

Since Nov 2008, I have been rushed to the ER and admitted for various reasons (twisted intestine a couple of times, most of the time it is for a blockage) anywhere from 6 days to 2 weeks, approx 11 times, with my last admittance being May 2009 (knock on wood I continue to have no further problems)

Please y'all think twice before you take that occasional NSAID, even though people tell you its ok and even your surgeon might tell you "yea its okay as long as you don't take them often"....mine told me the same thing. After I came that close to death he said he would never tell another patient that ever again. I'm not sure who it scared more.

I have been taking Ultracet 3x day everyday since April for my stomach problems caused by the NSAIDS's and I have no problems, it controls my pain and I have no desire to abuse it because I get no "high" from it. I also on occasion stop taking it for a few days just to be sure I won't have any withdrawls from it and I haven't. Ultracet is a combination of 2 meds, Tramadol and Tylenol. Tramadol is sometimes mistakenly classified as an opiate because of its agonist activity at the μ-opioid receptor; however, chemically it is not related to opiates.

Here are some related articles for you. There is a great debate over weather or not people with past drug dependencies should take Ultracet so I am speaking from my own personal experience of course and am in no way saying you will have the exact same result that I have.
Best of Luck to you!!

Angela in Mississippi
39 years young
Lap RNY Jan 26, 2003
Dr Michael King
230/120
Only problem's have been my stupidity using NSAID's

Here are those articles....

1. The use of tramadol for acute heroin withdrawal has been compared to clonidine. The preliminary study indicates that tramadol is more effective in managing withdrawal than clonidine, and may be especially useful in outpatient detoxification.

2. Tramadol's chemical structure is quite different from those of opiates.

Thanks for your sharing your experience.

I have had ulcers before and after my RNY.  I did the Celebrex for a few months, and went off of it in the Spring because of pouch pain.  I did take some Ultram when I broke my foot, and it helped with the pain, and I did not get high from it, or find it addictive.  My rehab therapist had no problem with me taking it.

Since then, my psychiatrist put me on Cymbalta for my depression, hoping it would also deal with my physical pain, which it has helped immensely.  I wish he had switched my meds back in October. 

I will not take NSAIDS again, after this past winter.  Thanks for the reminder.

Hugs,
Trish

I'm really glad to hear that you've found a combo of meds that works!  If you have more issues in the future, you might want to ask about a topical NSAID, which has been shown to be effective to relieve pain without causing stomach issues.  Voltaren gel is one option. http://www.voltarengel.com/