I've taken powerful painkillers for many years myself, so I understand what it's like, and how much you need them. For me, I hate taking pills, so my biggest problem is having pills left over at the end of the month because I only take them when I feel I really have to. My PC doesn't like this, because he thinks that a regular schedule is important.

However, I do know that taking these pills is just like drinking a beer at a party. You might start off saying you'll just have one, but that one beer lowers your control and makes having another seem more desirable. I'm supposed to take four pills every morning when I wake up. I can manage to wait for an hour or two if I don't take any of them. But if I take one, then I'm going to take the rest within half an hour. Like you said, I don't know how much of that is psychological and how much is need.

For me, taking pain pills does help the pain, but they also lower my ability to deal with any pain that is left. I have one of those pill organizers, and it does help. But it still takes care to keep to an exact schedule. I hope you manage to find a way to be more organized, because it doesn't sound as if you are taking extra meds because you are too dependent. Good luck to you, and all my best wishes.

Idealist