So, I have this friend…we’ve been friends for about 5 years…
Said friend claims to have horrific back pain. She rates this pain at a ‘9’ on a scale of 1-10.
Said friend has been seeing doctors for about 4 years for her back pain. Doctors have found nothing physically wrong with her back; she has had numerous MRI’s/CT of her spinal column…no degenerative issues, no disc issues, no radiculoneuropothy, no spondylosis…in short NOTHING.
Said back problems arose when she was not doing well mentally…generally depressed
That said, she has found a doctor that is a “pill pusher”; she come in or calls about once a week and she gets narcotic drugs for her back. She has had fun with Darvocet (I believe it’s classifies as non-narcotic, but it’s a synthetic opiate); then Vicodin, then Lortab; for the stress she also gets Valium and Xanax.
At this point you might ask, why is this ANY of my business. I am involved and CONCERNED that she is on HUGE amounts of precription drugs and has no plans to get off of them and frankly, I don’t believe she really needs them…I think it’s probably psychosomatic (although there are people w/ pain like this w/ no know cause, but not THAT many).
My friend takes 1 or 2 Vicodin every 6 hours…on top of that she pops a blue valium (one of the higher dosages) about every four hours. I’m not even sure she gets much pain relief out of these, but she goes NUTS if she doesn’t get them. She is constantly phoning her doctor for refills, she has switched doctors in the past because one stops filling her prescription…she has seen multiple doctors and gotten multiple prescriptions at the same time. Now she’s on a kick where she thinks she needs something STRONGER…
I don’t know what to do…I’ve tried to talk to her, but she says she needs the pills for her pain…and then refuses any further discussion. I don’t know her parents (they live about 2,000 mile away. I’m about her last friend in the world, but I can’t do anything and I am SOOOO frustrated…
So, FRIEND, GET OFF THE GOD DAMN DRUGS, SEEK HELP, AND IF YOUR PAIN IS THAT BAD SEEK NON-NARCOTIC HELP…ARGH! PERHAPS A TRIP TO THE PSYCHIATRIST WOULD HELP, TOO!
Vicodin is addictive. I’m taking it right now for my own back pain, and I looked it up on WebMD. I can’t imagine taking more than one in a day, and I try not to take any at all (fortunately I only have 12 pills total, 5 gone, and I’ve had them for three weeks. I try to take Alleve or Momentum before resorting to the Vicodin.
I’m not sure I can offer any advice other than to be there for her. She won’t get help until she realizes it’s a problem herself, and unfortunately, most people don’t think that taking prescription drugs is a problem (after all, a doctor gave them to her).
Darvocet IS a narcotic. I am on it right now for the exact same thing…chronic back pain. I have been to doctors for many years and actually have several x-rays indicating herniated discs and scoliosis, so it’s not completely unfounded pain.
My doctor wouldn’t allow me to take Vicodin anymore because I was up to 2000 milligrams a day, and I absolutely understand how it can be addictive. It made me feel absolutely EUPHORIC, no pain, relaxed, happy, productive. I was up to taking two vicodin and two naproxen sodium tablets every four hours.
Now, I’m afraid that I’m all but hooked on the Darvocet, which, while narcotic, is less addictive than Vicodin because it has a longer half life, which means you dont get the happy rush for as long.
The one thing with Vic addiction that you should know is that even doctors don’t advise quitting COLD TURKEY…so encouraging your friend to do something momentous like flush all of her pills, isn’t smart. She needs to cut down gradually, halving her doses every couple of days until she’s down to nothing, which is what I’m trying to do, and trust me it is a BITCH.
BottledBlondJeanie you sound like a very caring, concerned friend. By the way you describe it, it sounds like your friend may be addicted to the painkillers.
I speak from experience, as I have mentioned a few times before on this board, I was addited to Vicodin for 3 years. At the end I was taking 8-10 a day. My addiction did indeed start from genuine back problems. Unfortunately, after the back pain went away I was left addicted to the pills.
It wasn’t until I realized one day that obtaining the evil pills was becoming more important to me that my family, that I checked myself into a de-tox unit. For 5 days I was so incredibly sick that I wanted to die. I was told that the withdrawl is similar to withdrawing from heroin.
That was over 3 1/2 years ago and I have never been tempted to take them again. Please keep trying to help your friend. She is most likely afraid of what she will face when she stops taking them. Assure her that she will live through it and you will be there to help her.
I should note that, depending on the amount of pills she is taking, it could be a shock to her body to stop cold turkey. She should be monitored by a doctor if she does this.
Jar I don’t think I could pry the pills away from her to throw them out anyway…she seriously won’t even let me suggest cutting back…her life is a freakin mess…
and **Deadly[/] that’s her whole theory as to why she’s not a freakin drug addict…the doctor prescribed them so I must NEED them…
The anitbiotic for a cold thread got me started on this…some doctors will give you whatever to get you the hell out of their office…
jar, Jesus! 2000 milligrams of Vicodin? Isn’t that like a Lortab? I thought Vicodins came in 5, 7.5, and 10 mg. pills. It’s a wonder you didn’t die! I could be wrong about the dose - I hope so!
Pain dope is the biggest drug problem period in the area I live. Since Oxycontin has gotten so much publicity people are willing to use any kind of pain pills they can get, as long as they can snort them. If it’s something “big” like morphine, O.C.'s or dilaudid, they run it. Just a couple of weeks ago an ex-boyfriend of mine from high school overdosed and died. He was married with two beautiful little girls the same ages as mine. I’m not convinced it was entirely accidental, as he snorted 240 mg. of methadone, ate a handful of nerve pills, and was drinking as well. What he took was no where NEAR a theraputic dose or even what someone would take for a “buzz”. This town as the ones surrounding it are full of families broken up by death, prison, debt, and “tough love” related to pain medication. We have a real epidemic.
Jeanie, I’m sorry about your friend. I don’t know what else to say.
Actually, in reading the OP, I couldn’t help but think that your friend started out suffering from a somatoform disorder.
You mentioned that she was going through some emotional problems when the back problems occured. It is possible that, what started out as a Somatoform Disorder, became worse because it wasn’t picked up on by her doctors. It is hard to miss sometimes, the patient complains of a pain, the doctor is going to treat the patient for a pain, no matter what the tests say. They were treating her problem as a back problem and just kept giving her pills. Now, if I’m right, (and I am in no way saying that I am, I’m just a student, mind you.) she needs to be detoxed AND see a therapist. If there are no physical causes for her back problems, then the problem isn’t in her back, it’s in her mind. After years of being dependent on this mind set and this pill combination it’s going to take a long time to break, she needs a good friend who will stand by her and help her through it. You are both in my prayers.
From what I understand, Vicodin is a multi-ingredient drug…it’s usually made out of hydrocodone and acetaminophin…the hydrocodone dose is usually like 5 to 7.5 mgs and the acetaminophin is a corresponding number like 500 mg (with 5 mg hydrocodone) and 750 mg. (with the 7.5).
Sweetlittlekitty that’s what I think, too although I’m not so sure it isn’t malingering…a little testing should determine that…
My brother is addicted to various prescription drugs, too. He has one baby now, and one on the way, and he won’t quit. Oxycontin, Vicodin, morphine, Xanax; pretty much whatever he can get his hands on.
Less than a month ago, he landed in an ER for overdosing. He’s alive, which is good. But he still won’t quit. I pretty much gave up on him. I do feel bad, but there’s not a whole lot I can do. I can’t even allow him at my house because, inevitably, something will go missing. Change, even! Nickels, dimes, whatever I have lying around. Last time he was here, he stole a $10 bill off my table after I “borrowed” him twenty bucks.
He just turned 24 on the 16th of this month. Every year I wonder if he’s going to make it to his next birthday. He made it this far, now I wonder if he’ll make it to 25. I hope so.
Sorry to kind of hijack your thread but it’s at least a bit relevant.
It is posts like this that actually make me thankful that my only reaction to Vicodin is continuous vomiting. I can’t get addicted to 'em since I can’t even keep 'em down.
God, what a situation. Is there anyway to contact the prescribing doctor, perhaps he doesn’t know she is getting them from multiple sources? Perhaps he’d be willing to have a frank discussion?
I work at a medical facility where we do pain management cases. We get patients with legitimate complaints: pain from spinal fusion, worker’s comp claims, things of that nature.
We also get pillheads. We have a doctor who comes on Wednesday afternoons to do steriod injections into people’s backs. He does about thirty to forty patients in two hours. Jab and move on, jab and move on. These patients are generally unconcerned with their level of care, because they must have the injections to have their scrips refilled. We have people who are on as many as 14 medications, including Soma, Darvocet, Oxycontin, Lortab, Halycon, Valium, large doses to a single person. And then there’s the anti-anxiety meds, as well. How they aren’t dead yet, I can’t know.
It is a real problem. And good for you, Bottled Blond Jeannie for knowing this. Good luck getting your friend to recognize the same.
(Please note: I know all the meds above have their uses, and for those of you that need them, okay. Just be careful, you know?)
Oh my, yes, definitely. The effects of Vicodin are pleasant, but I don’t like things that alter my mind. I fear addiction, and I go out of my way to avoid it, which is why I don’t drink or smoke and I’ve never done illegal drugs.
In fact, my back is hurting at the moment, so I’m trying to decide if I should go with the Alleve or the Momentum. But the Vicodin isn’t even one of the choices.
I hope that if anyone is reading this thread and even suspects they have a prescription drug abuse problem that they’ll get help.
My pain pill addiction ruined my fucking life, plain and simple. I refused to listen to people who tried to help me. I NEEDED those pills and they couldn’t possibly be bad for me because a doctor prescribed them. Your friend is unlikely to make any attempt to stop her use until she becomes convinced that she is, in fact, an addict and wants to change that situation. You can only hope that realization will come quickly. Remember this–if you are friends with an addict, you are a bit player in a movie where the addict wrote the script, produced the movie, stars in it and directs it as well. Addicts ain’t like non-addicts at all.
My mind is fucking reeling at the thought that someone would WANT a steroid injection into their spine, bristlesage. Good lord, that was one of the last courses of treatment I underwent with this back of mine, and no shit, it was THE MOST PAINFUL experience of my ENTIRE LIFE. I wept, sobbed, PASSED OUT FROM THE THROBBING PAIN. And was actually nauseated and crying the next week at the thought of going in and getting it done again (you’re supposed to do a course of three injections).
It didn’t help AT ALL, and I had no remotely pleasant side effects. It’s bizarre that for some people it’s a DESIRED activity.
Your friend is in a tough spot to say the least. But unfortunaly there is not much you can do, except be supportive.
Someone in that deep won’t be able to quit in a day even if she wants too. Going cold turkey may sound noble and brave, but it’s dangerous, and really shouldn’t be attempted.
But before the detox begins your friend is going to have to realize it’s a problem. And that is something she is going to have to find out on her own. Nagging threating, begging, and everthing else someone close to an addict tries to do usually doesn’t work.
If it’s too hard to watch, or it’s unpleasant to be around her, maybe you should back off a little. But when she is ready to quit, return to her life and help her with her recovery in any way you can.
