Has pain changed your personality?
 

I find myself a lot less tolerant and less patient due to pain. It is like I have become a different person that I do not even recognize. Things that normally would have annoyed me now make me so angry I could scream.

I no longer "bite my tongue" and I now "speak my mind" even when it may not be the proper thing to do. What happened to the person I used to be?

Did I get "lost" in pain? Anyone else see changes in your own personality as a result of your pain?

Yes
 

Oh gosh you read my mind. Yes yes yes, I say things and do things I would never have done before, little things annoy the hell out of me. I speak up when I haven't before and i so wish I could zipper up my mouth.

Yep
 

Indubitably. Are men & women different? :Dunno: I ask because my changes seem to be in the opposite direction; I'm letting things slide that I never did before, though honestly I think it's been a process. I keep some kind of external stimulation (tv, radio, music) almost constantly to distract myself from pain. Anything to focus on.

Adrenal hormone replacement has reversed some of the personality changes.

Doc

Hi, what pain meds do you take? I have found that oxynorm loosens my tongue, I am impatient with family members and speak out, my tone of voice is louder than it usually is and I get so very annoyed at the littlest if things. I am no longer able to work, but when I was, I would find myself "over sharing" telling stories of my life that I most definitely would not share under normal circumstances.

It got so bad that I restricted my med intake to the barest minimum and now, even though I'm at home all day alone, I still only take the barest minimum because if I took what I'm supposed to I feel great and get up and do things that when the drug wears off I physically pay for.

I take now 20mg OxyContin slow release and that's it for the day. I'm supposed to take it twice a day along with oxy norm 5mg for breakthrough pain, but I would rather grit my teeth and use cold packs than have that feeling of euphoria and conquer the world. With it, I get the urge to search the internet for jobs I can do and get the urge to apply for them. Fortunately my IPad doesn't hold my cv otherwise last week, I would have applied for a job I could do with my eyes closed!

So, the long and short of it, I know that endone, oxynorm or OxyContin make me a monster but I need it to get through the day. Now, I tell people it makes me short tempered and I apologise in advance.

I'm so sorry you have to go through this as well, life has already dealt us a blow.

PamelaJune,

Have you discussed this with your doctor? From your narrative, it sounds like some kind of adjustment (dosage/medication/both) may be in order, and there are options.

Doc

Options
 

Hi dr smith, we have tried, I used to live in the UK for 15 years and took dyhdracodeine or df118 as it's also known. I took 20mg a day and for 15 years had no problems whatsoever, now bowel blockages, no personality issues etc. Then I had the head on car accident that changed my life (not my fault) and came home to Australia. Aus don't do df118. They stopped it in 2002 and we moved back in 2005. So we began a trial of what works etc, the long and the short of a number of drugs, so many I can't recall but here's a few, tramadol makes me vomit violently, durogesic patches I'm allergic to the adhesive, and a number of non opioids that didn't do anything. I used to have rhyzotomies every 6 months from 2006 but they stopped once I had the seizure. So now I have the stim implant and I just use the slow release oxy, which, doesn't give me the short temper, it's the endone and oxy norm fast acting for break through pain that do. We have also tried endep 25mg and 10mg but I have bad side effects that result in tremors and since the seizure, also a no go. tried Valium which made me feel sleepy and given I was working at the time I needed my brain switched on so had to stop, then they put me on Xanax but I heard such horror stories I stopped and went through 4 days of withdrawals and given I was only taking .5mg I'm never putting myself through that again. The sad thing is they really helped considerably. So, I'm really hoping they can get this stim sorted and I can get my life back med free. Yay, I'm seeing the rep and PM on Wednesday 22 and believe they will discuss the paddle implant. Any things you can suggest?

I think it's perfectly normal to be angry at the world when you are suffering.
I also blame some hostility on medications..but really, it's killing you that you have been robbed of your health....

I get madly jealous of my colleagues at school or girls on the street. they don't have to deal with nerve pain and sexual dysfunction. I have had to give up my dream of ever getting married have children..at 26 years old.

So yeah, I am very angry. I just hope I don't stab someone :D (kidding)

Anger is one of the stages in the Kübler-Ross Model. I don't know if that's what Hopeless meant or something a bit different. I inferred the latter, BICBW.

Doc

absolutely see a difference in my personality. when my pain is bad or getting to the end of a dose, I am short tempered and snap at people. I am just ballistic when driving and people are rude or cut me off and I have to slam on my brakes. You are definitely not alone....Diandra