Quote:
Originally Posted by kittycapucine1974
By the way, how can I tell if the narcotic withdrawal symptoms are a way for my body to tell me I need a drug vacation to lower my narcotic tolerance or a way for my body to tell me my health conditions (especially my generalized internal chronic RSD) have aggravated, hence the need for a higher dosage of narcotics?
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It doesn't work quite like that. Your body can't/doesn't "tell" you that you need a medication vacation. All your body knows is that it's not getting enough medication to maintain a certain constant level, and it responds by presenting withdrawal symptoms.
When your health conditions have worsened, it may feel like the pain is getting worse, or the medication is no longer addressing the pain (as well as it used to),
without withdrawal. However this can
also indicate an increase in tolerance.
For another technique used by some PM doctors to address tolerance, Google:
opiate rotation or
opioid rotation
Quote:
Opiate rotation is changing from one opioid to another. Opiate rotation is used when tolerance to the pain relief develops after several dose increases.
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Changing to a different pain medication can result in better pain control at a lower comparative dose and help keep opioid creep (when the dose of the opioid keeps slowly but relentlessly increasing over time) under control.
http://www.eorthopod.com/content/med...h-chronic-pain
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Like the "vacation", its efficacy and duration may be different for individuals.
Doc