i hope someone will reply to this; im
quite worried.
My dr prescribed me tylenol 4 for back
pain (herniated and bulging discs).
Before I had this prescription, there was
nothing I could take that would help the
pain. Some days I was miserable and
couldnt stand it but since I had no
choice, I had to. I take these now and
they take my pain away, its like a
miracle. But ive been taking them for
two months now, almost every day.
Usually only take 2 a day though sometimes
on a bad day 3 or 4. I am worried that I
will become addicted to them. I have
seen people like that and dont want to be
like that. I am thinking of not
refilling them when they run out and just
living with the pain. I did for about a
year before I saw a doctor about it, and
if I could do it for that long I can do it
again. I feel like I am babying myself
now just cause I have this medication and
can take the pain away. I guess my
question is, does anyone else take this?
Should I be worried about
addiction/withdrawals? I am also in pt
if that makes a difference. Thanks for
reading and any input would be greatly
appreciated.
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Tamadrummer
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Posts: 710 Location: Zephyrhills,Fl
Posted: 01-16-06 13:51pm
You are not in danger of becoming
"addicted"! You are not abusing the
medicine, to become an addict you need to
also be an abuser.
There is a difference between addiction
and dependence. When you are a long term
user of pain meds, you become dependent on
them and you may have some withdrawl
symptoms if you stop suddenly. Should you
and your doctor decide that you are no
longer in need of medicine, he/she will
come up with a plan to titrate you off of
the opiate based meds so you encounter as
little withdrawl as possible.
As far as taking pain meds, you are on
such a miniscule amount of pain medicine
that you really have little to worry
about.
If the t4 is working, you are in a great
position, because as far as chronic pain
management goes, many of us pain sufferers
are on much higher and much more frequent
doses.
Don't be worried you are not in danger,
brian
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lynne77
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 06 Nov 2005 Posts: 4
Posted: 01-16-06 14:02pm
Thank you so much for your reply!
I do know that there is a difference
between dependence and addiction; I guess
I am afraid of becoming dependent on the
medication as well. Though I know it is
only natural that your body will get used
to a medication like this after a while.
I have noticed it doesnt work as well as
it used to but that is bound to happen.
I dont want to take anything stronger or
any more of what I am taking now so I hope
it will continue to work for me. I am
grateful that my pain is controlled by
something as relatively weak as tylenol 4
cause I know there are a lot of people out
there who need much stronger medication
than this. I only worry because I do
know someone who has much worse problems
than I do with their back, and they have
very bad withdrawal symptoms if they do
not take their medication. It is a scary
thing to think that may happen to me, and
id rather be in pain than risk that
happening.
Thanks again for your reply and I hope you
are doing well with any problems that you
have.
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Tamadrummer
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Posts: 710 Location: Zephyrhills,Fl
Posted: 01-16-06 14:14pm
Thankfully I do not get in real problems
when it comes to withdrawl symptoms. It
is said that when the pain is real, the
medicine is so busy helping with the pain
that you don't really have to worry about
withdrawl.
I take my meds as prescribed and I do not
encounter any withdrawl symptoms. I am on
very high doses of medicine and sometimes
when we go out for a while and I cannot
get my breakthrough for more than 8 hours
I get worried that I may get hit with some
symptoms but its not usual for me to have
any problems,
a wonderful medicine that doesnt give you
any kind of "pleasureable" feeling is the
duragesic transdermal patch. It works so
well because it goes in all day long for 3
days at a time. You get good sleep and
actually have a half way decent life. I
guess it can become a very tough medicine
to remove yourself from but as a long term
patient, I do not see the need to worry
about that.
You defnalty need to be seen at a pain
clinic and see if there are some
alternatives for you. If you are really
worried about taking medicine they may be
able to help you find a better answer to
dealing with your pain.
