[QUOTE=Susanne C.;1043932]Yes, Gerry, I should have edited addicted to dependent. Addiction is a psychological response and dependency is a physiological response.
I am on 30 mg MS Contin three times a day with 7.5 Percocet for breakthrough pain. I am supposed to start on Baclofen for muscle spasticity, but still waiting on Cigna pharmacy. I have hereditary neuropathy as well as spinal arthritis and the pain is unrelenting and distracting. I would have no quality of life or ability to function even in a limited sense without the meds and I am sure I would be a burden to my family.

I have a few things to say.

First: Enbloc I am sorry I missed your birthday. So happy belated!!

Second: Elaine I don't think I have ever heard anyone on here say they were pain free. That is awesome for you. It is actually my dream. I always say I just want to wake up pain free for one day. You sound like you have managed to achieve that.

I also get 20mgs of solmedrol with my IVIG. Not sure if it makes any difference. I don't believe there will be any long term effects with this once a month dose but I could be wrong. I just got a script for a bone density for a baseline just in case.

Third: Susanne I believe you also have SFN as I do. Some people on here may remember me saying that sister had a severe case of RA. She started taking narcs and became so bad she began the doctor shopping, alcohol use etc. She is no longer with us. So I'm sure everyone can understand my hesitance to use them.

Now that being said, I live with a pain level of 7-10 on a daily basis. I actually tell my husband most people would be in bed screaming and tearing their hair out. I have tried almost every drug out there. The doctor just started me on Enbrel last week and now wants me to try Keppra. I said I wanted to wait until I see if the Enbrel works.

A few months ago I had a flare up so bad that I could not stop crying or get out of bed. Well, I finally gave is and took 5 mgs of Percocet 3 times a day for a few days. It really helped. I'm still afraid but after that I have started taking 5mgs a half hour before a walk that I have begun almost everyday. Well guess what it gets me through my walk! It even stays with me a little while. My pain reduces to about a 5-6. Which is good for me. I asked my doctor to give me a script for 5mgs once a day (so far). I think I will go higher if need be in the future.

I wonder why everyone (myself included) reacts so negatively to narc for the type of pain we all suffer. Some of the side effects I have experienced from the meds I have tried and am taking make dependence on something seem minimal. I know I have a great support system and if they thought I was doing something I shouldn't they would tell me. Quite the contrary they encourage me to use the narcs if it will give me a better quality of life and I believe it does.

Oh yes, hopeful, I would take narcotic drugs in a heartbeat if I could.

I know you can become dependent, but the difference between addiction and dependency is huge. When a medication is taken for pain relief, rather than to deal with life, there may be dependence, but not addiction. No one would say that a diabetic is addicted to insulin for example.

I've actually never experienced anything like a 'high' with any narcotic except one.

When doctors were searching for something that I might not have such a terrible reaction to, one came up with an older narcotic called Talwin in 2010. It had been around for over 30 years, and wasn't used much.

I took the first dose, the pain went away, and I felt marvelous, floating and wonderful. When it wore off, I looked forward to the second pill.

And all hell broke loose. My lips swelled, my eyes swelled, and I had that terrible stabbing itch that is more like huge wasp stings over and over all over your body, and burning skin.

After the Talwin my husband just kept loading me up with Benadryl, and I didn't have to go to the ER. But I was completely out of it the next day. And THAT day I tore the meniscus in my left knee, jamming a piece in my knee joint.


To go through the next FOUR MONTHS of excruciating pain, surgery and recovery with only Tylenol......well, I did it.

And so I have for all of my pain, Cymbalta, Aleve, Turmeric, and relaxation and meditation.

But since I started the Medrol (Methylprednisolone) most of my pain is gone. Since most of my pain is from inflammation, the anti-inflammatory effect of the Medrol relieves my pain. I still take Cymbalta, of course, and the Turmeric. But I've stopped the Aleve for now.

And of course many take narcotic medications successfully for years.

Research has shown that those who become addicted have a difference in their brain structure that the addictive substance addresses, to increase their sense of well being.

Most of us don't have that brain structure, and don't 'feel better', just have less pain with narcotics.

And some of us cannot take them at all.

Hugs, Elaine

As mentioned in a previous post, I am on 60mg Oxycontin every 6hrs. which equals 240 mgs. in a 24 hr. period. (I set my alarm for 6:00 a.m., along with the Oxycontin and a bottle of water to stay on the 6 hr. routine).

I also use the 7.5/325 Mg's Percocet for breakthru pain. I am prescribed up to a max of 4 per day. I have been using Vallium (diazapam) for muscle pain/anxiety, although it is not prescribed for the anxiety, but the muscle pain. It really has helped with the terrible shoulder and neck spasms I have had for way too many years. I actually got started with the combination of the Vallium with the Percocet (a few times a day, taken together) when I had my spine fusion surgery 8 yrs. ago. The nurse, at the time, told me they work better together. I have been taking 2 to 2 1/2 5mg's a day. The additional plus side of Valliium is the lessening of the neck/shoulder pain. I had not been able to lay on my left side for many years; now I can.


Gerry

I had the second IVIG yesterday, 30 grams of Gammagard, with no problems. It only took two hours, which is almost as fast as subcutaneously infusing 10 grams each week at home. A very easy process for me.

I've been on the Medrol since before the first IVIG, on December 19.

My third IVIG is scheduled for February 13, and I wonder if my Immunologist expects me to continue on the Medrol through that IVIG?

I've sent her a message through the Duke system, since I will be out of Medrol by February 6, and certainly can't just stop after the last 4mg dose.

It still has me feeling better than I have in years. And the IVIG has kept me completely free of infections since I started on IgG infusions at the end of August.

Perhaps the improvement in my basic health with be enough to offset weaning away from the Medrol when the time comes!

Staying tuned.

Hugs, Elaine