According to all the studies I've read, less than 3% (and I read in one study where it was less than 1%) of all patients who take heavy hitting narcotics because of severe injury or pain ever become addicted, so why be scared of them?

After being on the hard stuff since 1999 I can't believe how much of a difference it makes. Between my 160 mg of OxyContin plus OxyIR's I take throughout the day for breakthrough pain plus my internal morphine pump, I guess you might say I'm really going full bore as far as the hard hitting stuff yet without it, I'm in total hell.

My doctor explained how I can take the amounts I'm on without becoming some sort of screwy nut-case. "Bob, with your damage the narcotics are simply burned off by the body. While your body does expect the narcotics, you're not an addict." It was after watching one to many shows such as Intervention that I became terrified I was perhaps ruining my life. "Bob, stop watching those shows!"

For those who find that they at some point can take less or get off the hard stuff altogether, I'm not only proud of you, I'm tickled to death that your suffering has eased up so you can. For the others like myself where the damage continues to spread, we don't really have much of a choice. In fact my pain doctor has told me many regularly that I should probably be taking higher dosages but that it's me who's learned how to live with more pain hence the reason we've been able to keep my dosage levels where they're at.

Never once have I ever felt a single bit of being mentally disconnected or unable to concentrate because of medications (other than some short term memory problems) so why be scared of something that helps? If you're suffering, then take it. If you're doing better and don't need the extra pain relief then happier days are here again. Please let me assure you that not everyone who's taking narcotics is really a dope-dead in disguise. I might be loony, batty, and eccentric as all get out, but I'm not a drug abuser and 99% of all who are badly injured or in severe pain are not either. Best of luck, Bob.