I was in the same situation , when I was taking my pain meds it was only taking the edge off and then they would wear off quicker an quicker and the doctors would just prescribe more and more and you'd also have to take other meds to combat some side effects of others and your med list grows and grows and it became a vicious circle
so I weaned myself off all my meds substituting herbal or homeopathic meds in their place and alternative treatments like acupuncture and i'm now nearly a year without any chemicals my pain can be horrendous some days but I feel better and my mental health has improved so much I'm not pain free but I wasn't when I was on the meds I still get depressed but I come out the other end . It is not an easy path to go down but personally I think its worth it I feel human again

@A MyChronicPainTeam Member I feel you! Hugs to you for being a trooper! It is hard! I struggle with the emotional and physical back lash from pain, too (in spite of having meds).

However, I am most thankful to have the pain meds, as my dysfunction would be much, much worse without them. I sit with my coffee in the morning and *wait* for them to work. While I am waiting, I read all of your stories and emails and all that. Most times, I don't share anything back because I feel so distracted by it all.
Then, when I feel like I can accomplish something, I first stretch my muscles out (like you would prior to a run or marathon or heavy exercise), because it is heavy exercise to my body! Just the simplest task for someone like us requires that stretching. And then I get to what I can do - however menial the task to someone else.

I do this every day. The warm up and cool down period before/after physical activity of any kind! Crazy, but it works so that everything that *will work* fires on "all cylinders". I feel like a V8 engine that is down to 2 or 4, but will still run! Haha 🤗

Mentioned Users

A MyChron...

Relaxation sessions, meditation, and light exercise. Our bodies are designed to heal with movement. The days of sedentary healing are long gone. If I can't do it myself I get someone else to help me move my joints so I don't lose muscle mass while sedentary.

Sherry, I think most of us deal with the pain while taking pain meds..at one time i was on fentenyl 50..vic 10s,oxycodone 10's and I still felt the pain sometimes unbearable.. some of these meds are good for short term pain but not my 24/7 pain.. Honestly, taking the over counter meds like the pain spec has us to take works better than all three of the pain meds I was on....everyone needs a long term pain med and a break through med...

I have had 2 unsuccessful lumbar back surgeries. I am on Percocet, one every 6 to 8 hours. My pain level most of the time is a 7 out of 10. The Percocet does bring it down to a 5, sometimes 6. I really could do a lot better if it was every 5 hours, but my pain management doctor says he can't increase it to that due to the laws.Medical marijuana is now legal in Ohio but they don't have the dispensaries up and running yet. I will be one of the first to try to find a doctor who prescribes medical marijuana when able to, to try to lessen the pain & have better quality of life!