Is there any data on how fast addiction can occur with something like Oxycodone?

One would think, however doesn’t the patient get a vote as he/ she is the one taking the risk of any procedure. I’m not thrilled about a pump for several valid reasons.

1: I’ve had 3 major surgeries and my condition has gotten worse with each one. Call it bad luck, bad surgeon, whatever the fact is each time they’ve cut into me I’ve ended up worse than before.

2: The pump is threaded directly into your spinal column. While the chance of complications might be small they’re not zero. Something as simple as an infection in my spinal column could be devastating. My thought is why would I take that chance when my pain can and has been managed quite effectively orally?

3: Also rare, pumps have been known to malfunction and overdose a patient. Once again, why take that risk when it can be treated orally.

3: My tolerance is quite high. Last year I had gallbladder surgery and post op was the most painful experience of my life. The doctors could not control the pain. It was so horrendous that I can’t even find words to describe it. Why in the world would I want to subject myself to this again. I told myself that after that experience, no more surgeries unless it was life or death.

3: I’ve undergone 3 major surgeries, more injectable procedures then I can remember, 2 nerve burns and all for nothing. At times I truly wonder if the doctors are just guessing at what might work.

Now, I’m not putting my doctors down, I do understand that this is a very complex and difficult issue to diagnose. But after a half dozen specialist I haven’t found one yet that can tell me why I’m in pain, what’s the cause and what to do about it. Instead I get, let’s try the next thing we haven’t tried. So, call me a little skeptical when it comes to something new.

4: And this is probably the main reason, I work in a extremely large and well known medical facility in a non-medical position. Over the years I’ve made friends with many many doctors. So, when presented with the pain pump option I thought I’d ask around. I’ve asked more than twenty for advice. The overwhelming, 80%+ have told me that in my position they would not agree to a pump.

Anyways, you might think that I’m being unreasonable, but why should my treatment options be, either we cut you open, implant a device in you OR we’ll just keep cutting your meds until you have no choice but to do what we want?

And for the record, I’ve been a stellar pain patient. 15 years I’ve never asked for an early refill, never “lost” my meds. Have always taken my medication EXACTLY as prescribed. Passed every urine test I’ve ever been given. And not once have I ever had an issue with a single doctor in all those years until Dr. I’m Going To Save The World From Opiods shows up.

And keep in mind that I’ve agreed that if we can lower the disagree of the opiods AND manage the pain I’m all for that. I’m taking a 1/4 of what I was from years ago. When this Dr. told me she was lowering my dosage her exact words were “Don’t worry, if the new dose doesn’t work I’ll move you back up”. Well, guess how that turned out?

As stated before I don’t want to be on these drugs, but unfortunately if I want some kind of life drugs are necessary. Without pain relief I literally have no life. With the pain relief I petty much can live normally.

So, in the end it very well bay end up that I’ll have no choice but to get a pump placed in me. But if that day comes I would like to think it was my choice.

I had the strangest reaction to hydrocodone once. The reason it was prescribed escapes me. I took my dose after work and sat and watched TV for a while. I felt a little spaced. I had to pee, so I went to bathroom. As I urinated I started to feel an elation and thought to myself “am I coming”? As long as the pee came out that’s what it felt like. When I was done I turned off the TV, put on a CD and laid down on my bed. In an instant I was in a euphoric lala-land. I lost all sense of time. Then -WHAM- I regained clarity and noted the CD was on the last track.

Nothing like that happened on subsequent doses. Pretty sure I had not taken any other substance at the same time.

Ever since I have been leery of being prescribed liquid opiods.

All in all, it’s kind of perplexing from where I sit to hear about opioid highs and stuff like that- I just don’t get that sort of reaction from most opioids- and I’ve been given a few after knee surgeries, both in the hospital and with take-home prescriptions.

The only one that had anything like what people describe was a dose of Demerol in my IV one time (or so they said) after my first knee surgery while I was still in the recovery room. THAT was an experience. It’s an opioid, but the only one that’s ever given me anything like euphoric effects, except that this was like a rush of the craziest, most intense happy birthday party you had as a kid, feeling of accomplishment after doing something difficult, orgasm and all around good feeling rolled into one that I’ve ever had, all for some indefinite period of time- I didn’t have a clock.

I can see how people could get used to that kind of feeling- it was SO good that it was terrifying. But I don’t get that from the more common opioids like Vicodin, Percocet or Norco, and the Dilaudid in the hospital wasn’t euphoric like that- it was more of a warm fuzzy feeling that could have just as easily been being really sleepy, warm and pain free. It wasn’t really clear if it was the drug, or just the combination of pleasant sensations. At any rate I fell asleep pretty quickly anyway.+

When I had hernia surgery, they gave me oxycontin afterwards. I couldn’t wait to get off the stuff. I’m sure it helped with the pain, but the constipation was terrible.

I had the surgery on Friday; I stopped using the drug Monday morning.

The molecular structures are juuuuuust different enough to act the way they did on your own
mu receptors.

When I was in the hospital I got Dilaudid a few times.

I never felt stoned or anything but I just felt…better. Of course the immediate thing was relief from pain but there was a little more…something to it. A sense of overall well being (despite my circumstances).

I dunno…maybe it was just the pain relief. Having that weight lifted was blessing all by itself. Not least because it finally allowed me to rest/sleep.

Same here. Glad I’m not the only one who opiods have no intoxicating effect except that first time with Demorol. Holy Crap, that was without a doubt the best feeling ever!

I thought like you, thinking I get it now, I could see how someone would do this. I’ve had Demerol a few times since over the years, but never again did I get that high.

Try experience this wonderful side effect since 2003! Easily the worst part of pain management for me.

Same, a few times over the years. It did help with (although not eliminate) the pain. Other than that, what I remember is that it made me feel like I was going to puke.

I did not enjoy it.

Could not agree more, having been sent home from the hospital after a spectacular smash-up that put me in the hospital for two weeks and had life-long consequences with an absolute refusal to prescribe even Tylenol 3, and told to use Tylenol as needed and try breathing exercises or some such bullshit.

No. The medical establishment, and especially physicians, talk all the time about wanting engaged, involved patients who are participating in their own care and all that. It’s a crock.

With apologies to the physician(s) participating in this thread, they want docile patients they can push through the assembly line as fast, and with as little resistance, as possible.

Or at least that’s been my experience in my sixty-plus years of life.

Interesting.

Ignoring the addiction question, are opiates’ effectiveness at pain relief impacted either way in such people? e.g. Percocet works better for them, worse for them, or same as any other person?

The closest I’ve ever coming to being Very Happy with a medication was about 9 or 10 years ago. I’ve told this before, I know. I’d just been prescribed Nuvigil, a wakefulness drug that has some potential (though low) for abuse. I took it for a few days, then developed bronchitis - unrelated to the Nuvigil - and because I had to take prednisone, and the Nuvigil could also affect blood pressure, held off on it.

We were out of town for over a week, during which time I managed 8-10 hours of sleep every night. The day we headed home, I started back on the Nuvigil.

And I felt Good. Not “WHEEE ALL’S RIGHT WITH THE WORLD!!!” good, but, well, well-rested. A feeling that at that point I had literally not had in 20+ years. And it scared the hell out of me. I kept asking my husband if I was acting differently, or was taking any risks with driving, or anything else. Baffled, he kept assuring me that I was fine.

I could see becoming psychologically (if not physiologically) hooked on that feeling. Luckily for me, the punishment for those few hours of feeling good was swift, thorough and quite effective: I couldn’t get to sleep that night, so the negative reinforcement overwhelmed the good part. And it’s never hit me that nicely since then.

Dammit.

Sadly, this seems to be true. I’ve run into a few doctors (including the one who delivered my son, and whom I regret only hitting once) whose reaction to a patient asking questions is to slap them down for their presumption.

Well guess what, doctors: if I ask a lot of questions, and get good answers, I’m in a HELL of a lot better position to understand and comply with instructions., a hell of a lot LESS likely to do something stupid for lack of knowing better, am likelier to trust the doctor, and a lot likelier to be happy with the outcome of whatever is going on.

Not to mention several occasions where the doctor pushed Scenario A, I thought it was Scenario B, and it turned out I was right (one such led to an unpleasant cascade of medication and testing to diagnose and treat a nonexistent condition).

But taking the time to answer the patient’s questions and concerns, well, takes time.

That’s kinda how the Dilaudid made me feel. Not high, not weird, I just felt…good.

It did not scare me. While I would love that feeling every day I was never hooked or jonesing (I worried a little how fast that might occur but was reassured as I mentioned earlier in this thread).

It was a nice feeling though.