Another tip is too never treat to the point there is no pain, once you reach the feeling good/euphoria level it's over. They are to make pain bearable not turn you into a slobbering idiot.
Mike
Well, that's the hard part, isn't it? Since pain is subjective, the prescribing physician has nothing to measure the effectiveness or suitability of the treatment except the patient's report of pain and pain relief.
Prescription drug addicts always complain of terrible pain. Differentiating between real pain, psychological disturbance, and addictive behaviors is a nightmare.
Doc I probably should have used a different word than treat, I was talking about the patient who needs meds and doesn't want to risk addiction.
I took Percocet for 1 month prior to an epidural in my back, wrote it down every time it was taken, even though it quit working in 3 hours always waited the full 4 hours to take and never took more than prescribed daily amount.
The day of my 1st epidural about an hour prior I took the last one and 5-6 hours later broke out in shakes and sweats and completely soaked my clothes in sweat, felt like the flu for 2-3 days and then for a full week when walking the dog and tweaking my back a little I would get a nauseous feeling in my stomach as my body craved the meds and I was only on a 7.5mg dose I think.
Haven't taken one since and hope I don't ever need to, but that's how quick your body starts to develop an addiction whether your mind does or not.
Gunner
I went from gut wrenching pain that was quickly becoming unbearable, to gut wrenching pain that was basically bearable as long as I did nothing but sit still.
Mike
