[NJPain]

I've been prescribed pain meds for so long you would think I would have this problem licked by now.

My back is SO broken and the meds really do help SO much that I find myself taking them earlier then supposed to or, I run out early every month of my break through meds.

I definitely don't think I am under prescribed at all and I do believe it's a mental thing.

When you've been prescribed pain meds for so long, there is no "high" associated with them any more. Like I tell my doc, I exist in a binary state. Either I am in terrible pain and my functionability is extremely low without the meds. With the meds I can get pretty close to how a normal person feels......normal.

I know for a fact that I do NOT have an addictive personality cause I've had plenty of chances to develop addictions over the years. I dated a beautiful girl that smoked so, consequentially I smoked while with her. That lasted for a year and after we broke up, I never picked up a cigarette again.

I drank like a fish all through my 20's and now in my 30's I might drink a 6-pack in a 3 month period....MAYBE.

I smoked a ton of pot in my 20's and it was totally understood that I was going to be a lifelong pot smoker. People older than me said it was gonna happen and I never believed them but, sure enough the "paranoid" thing happened to me too. Obviously it doesn't happen to everyone but I've heard a lot of people say that when they hit their 30's, pot always made them very paranoid. Haven't smoked in years.

Closest thing I ever got to being addicted to anything was probably sex. I was in my early 20's and hooking up with beautiful, I mean beautiful girls often and the sex was incredible. I learned the hard way that it wasn't going to last forever.

Anyway, back to my pain medication. In the beginning I stuck to my schedule fine. A year afterwards I'd say I started come up short at the end of the month. It's weird cause I think it's totally mental cause the meds can only do so much. I don't know how many times I went thru the trouble to take more of my meds and sitting there saying to myself, "this didn't really help me much at all". Like I mentioned previously, I don't associate my meds ever with "getting high" cause with my broken back, it's like I can't feel that way....you know??

The only way I've found to successfully take my meds exactly when I am supposed to is to give my filled up monthly pill dispenser to my dad. He locks them up in his safe and gives me a day's worth of meds at a time.

With my physical situation getting worse every year AND tolerance, I am prescribed a higher dose of meds then when I first started years ago.

I appreciate the time it took for you to read my long *** post so here is the question. Are there any tricks or things you might do........or tricks/things other people you know might do, to make sure you take your meds exactly like you are supposed to????

There's no high associated with my meds and when I take extra I really don't feel like it physically helped me. I hate to admit it but I think it's really mental. I've been into this for a long, long time so I don't think I am over or under prescribed. I hate bothering my father and want to tackle this problem on my own. Well, with your help too. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Idealist]

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

[Junie]

I get forgetful if I take them all together (long and short acting, and Valium) so I stagger them, take a Valium with a long acting, wait a few hours to take a fast acting and now I end up with extra at end of the month! No pill boxes or outside help needed! Plus, when I got my family involved, I would either have some missing, or hear the famous Junkie speech!

[NJPain]

I don't mind listening to cool stories but, I still need a remedy on managing my pain meds. I like the comparison to drinking just one beer. You say you will just drink one which leads to two and three......

Hoping someone could come thru with a system or something like that to help.

[Idealist]

How about this, NJP. Suppose you invest in one of those watches which you can program to beep at many specific times during the day. It might take some time to get used to it, but if you used the watch in conjunction with a medicine organizer, and make sure to NEVER take a pill unless that beep has gone off, then it might help you a lot, and may also aid you in developing a good sense of time regarding your pills. It's just a thought, but maybe it would work? I sure hope that whatever the right answer is, you find it really soon.

Idealist

[NJPain]

Wow, not too bad Idealist. I will definitely try to put something like that together. Maybe with my computer since I'm on it so much. Have it alert me to my next dose.

Even better, I'll probably use my cell phone which I have on me 24/7. It's a nice one loaded with features such as alarm clock, calendar, memos, etc....

Thanks.

[Curious]

they do make pill boxes with timers built in.

[NJPain]

Originally Posted by Curious

they do make pill boxes with timers built in.

Really? I've seen all types of pill containers waiting for my prescription to be filled. Never saw one with a timer but I don't doubt it. Thing is, I keep my meds locked in a safe. I mean, my own safe. Dad has his and I have mine. When I try to do it on my own they go in my safe.

[Curious]

let me go find you a link. hubby and i bought a few for his clients that weren't taking their meds on time.

[Curious]

http://www.forgettingthepill.com/timers.html

this site has many different ones. it just depends on the number of pills you take. one will do a whole month supply.