Concerned about addiction to pain medication

[Called2Grace]

Hi,

I have recently started suffering from headaches (apparently Migranes) I am taking sandomigran for prevention and panadiene forte for the pain, I also have tablets for the nausea too.

I have a neurologist apt in two weeks, but I need to take my panadiene forte everyday to keep the pain bearable. I have had a CT scan and everything is fine, so I don;t have a tumour or anything like that.

I have to take 2 PF tablets at the onset (vision disturbances) to make them bearable otherwise nothing works. This means that I am looking at 4 to 6 tablets a day. Each tablet has 500mg of paracetomal and 30mg of codeine.

I'm just concerened that this is too much? But I don't know how else to deal with this pain. My GP doens't really want to do anything else and has told me that I have to live with it until I see the neurologist. I'm going back today to ask for more PF as I am almost out of it.

As I am a mother and wife, fulltime student and work part time in hospitality I can't afford to "sleep it off" each time I get a headache which is everyday.

 

[pumanator]

Sus,
I'm sorry to hear about what you're going through...in this forum we can emapthise and it pain many of us to see others suffer, especially when it's new to you and the confusion and unanwsered questions make it that much harder to deal with, you're in our prayers.

Meds...it's only for a few weeks and with any luck they will find a non-med anwser, if not...there are meds that are less addicting than others and the sleep it off prob lessens with time. I take 5 type of med each evening for pain to I can get rest and by morning it's off to work. The pain during the day gets kinda bad at times but I've gotten used to an "acceptable" level of pain. My doc has told me to get used to the idea of life long meds but I have to learn to deal with some pain...pain free from meds means higher doses and over time the dose goes up and addiction can be a possibility.

You need to discuss these concerns w/ your GP and also check on line to educate yourself. One site I like is www.joniandfriends.org for peeps with all kinds of prob, there are good links there.

Also check out in this forum the other med thread.

Try also to be thankful that we do not live in a 3rd world country where we would just have to suffer the pain no matter what...my perspective on this is from the time I received 4 shots of morphine in emergency for kidney stones and realized how fortunate I was to be in the West with western medicine.

God bless and keep us posted

 

[SquareC]

I understand your concern, but it might make you feel better to know that what you are taking is the equivalent of a Tylenol 3 in terms of codeine.

I have Fibromyalgia and take the 10's 4 times daily, I am aware that I am addicted to the painkillers, and I hate that, but I don't have much choice. I can't move well enough to function on a day-to-day basis without them. You do well to worry about addiction, but unlike many things you can become addicted to, codeine is actually one of the easier to "detox" from. You'll be irritable of a day or so, and might feel pain a little more intensely than otherwise (even something as simple as a stubbed toe!) and after that you are okay. Especially on the low dosage you are taking. I hope that your headaches clear soon or you find something that does help. I take Imitrex for my migraines, have you tried that? If not, ask your doctor.

 

[JDDCH]

Ditto on the low dose, you should be fine. ... Pain meds tollerated differently by individuals but basically you stand a better chance of avoiding adiction if you don't exceed need. If you only take enough to curb the pain you should be fine.

I have RSD/CRPS and take 2 types of morphine 24/7 (liquid and tabs). It's a fairly high dose compared to the average person and it barely takes the edge off the pain.I also take a dozen other meds as well, some of which are to help with the pain, others are for seisures and depression ... but the point i'm clammering to make is that if you don't pass the boundary of your bodies "need" (not addiction need obviously ), you should be alright. Any witdhdrawl you experience should be minor.

I hope that's useful for you.

--jd.