i Find most of my friends dont really understand the pain unless its them who have it. So, its best not to tell them about it. Dont say anything about the pain meds you take to controll the pain.

It's unfortunate that friends and family are not too concerned about our lives of chronic pain but get very vocal about how terrible it is that we take pain meds. I have 2 friends who try to understand and since they really cannot know firsthand they just accept my words as truth. My family is so not supportive. I quit talking about the pain which is my life and the meds. It's better this way. It hurt me that they did not want to understand, family and most friends which I do not have anymore. Screw them. I know, God knows and you all know that I suffer severe pain day and night and that I take pain meds in order to be able to function somewhat. My mix of meds don't ever make me pain free but takes the pain level down a few notches. The narcotics goes to the pain for us but makes others high. If we weren't in such severe, chronic pain I guess it would make us high too but Percocet never once gave me a high feeling. In fact, when it rids me of some of the pain I have increased energy and mental clarity.

We understand Brenda. I thank God we all have each other here at DS. Take care and I hope your doc prescribes something that will help relieve your pain. By the way, Aleve is Naproxen and those with back issues generally have alot of inflammation so if you take Aleve with a narcotic and a muscle relaxer it will help. I know it helps me.

Sherry

Hun? i kept refusing surgery and i still refuse it. i take pain meds and use a flector patch. it helps. But surgery may make me worse just with a set of different problems.

I write off so-called fair weather friends.

The pain is sufficient without having negative people in one's life.

I take Norco 10/325 and Tramadol Er 300mg. it helps but it doesn't take the pain away, especially the leg and foot pain. As far as telling my friends what I take, I keep it to myself. I feel ashamed of my condition.

How about Drs. dont want to do surgery and you have no choice but to take pain meds to ease up on some of the pain. I understand what it mean to be in pain everyday and you have to take a motrin or a vicodin. just so you can bathe yourself and dress your self with out painful stretches or bending, stooping.

I take Gabapentin 600mg and Davorcets N-100/650 and sometimes if my inflammation is bad I take motrin 600mg but not close together with my gabapentin for some reason motrin and gabapentin does not feel to well on my stomach so I take them 2-4hrs. apart if I need the inflammation to go down. And for pretending that your not in pain is for the birds I worked as a nurse asst. and and pretend many years that The pain is not too bad and being jealous of the patients I'm given comfort care too, made me wish that I was given the same treatment but after all even though my pelvic and lumbar and pain that comes along with the moderate abnomalties may be I still manage to get a thank you I appreciate how you take care of me and so many others with a pleasant attitude. deep inside I know this person is ill and if they wasn't they would not be admmitted in the first place and that if the covers was turned and I was that patient I would want someone to care for me with a decent attitude too. and that the nurse left all her personal issues and concerns on the back burner and given good ptient care to everyone the nurse assigned to. But now I have not been able to work since April 2009 but I was able to save a few lifes or held a hand to a patient who life was taken, before I became ill I did one thing comfort the sick and injured for 14 years, So when I look back I don't regret it but if I was to be forced to work in the pain I endure now I would regret it because of the nerve pain I have in anterior thigh pain and lumbar pain there was no way I could manage not complaining how bad I feel and then to top it off I have to smile and be pleasant when what I really want to do is go home. Because I could not take the gabapentin or darvocets at work helping sick people I needed to be focus to make sure no one code or go into cardiac arrest on my watch, So when my shift is over I barely can walk up strait because of the hip/pelvic and lumbar pain is so bad because I could not take medication around the clock until I go home and the pain doesn't ease up, So I never sign up for overtime even though the staffing dept. would call and ask can I fill in for someone I always say no because I barely could do my 8hour shift. I did not know how bad my tendons, muscles and joints were effected at that time but I heard my body and it said clock out my regular shift which was 11:00pm-7:00am at least I can eat take medicine and sleep and then go back to work. As I was lifting and pulling on sick people I did not know that my thoracic spine T10-T12 was touching and grinding as I worked but I always felt it with certain movements I also had hip and bilateral glueten bursitis and tendonitis. I kept going to the hospital since 2008 about this pain I did not get diagnosed with the tendontis and bursitis until October 2009 . and the Dr. does not consider surgey because mt DDD is a stage 1 but my tolerance for pain has changed.

my friends have known me for a long time and how active i have always been, now seeing me like this they know I hurt, keep asking me if i had it to do all over again would I have surgery, thing is i had to because of losing use of my left leg. if not for that, I dont think I would have, just take meds which I dont like but dont have a choice. Right now I am half bent over with muscle spasms, cant walk across the house without having to stop. Wish I knew what to do about these spasms, cant get them to go away. Meds for it I cant take because of a blood clotting disorder and pain meds dont help a bit. MY friends also can see how bad it bothers me not being able to do the things I used to do, thats a killer for me, I wwant to get out and do a lot of things but cant and even the little things I pay for it if i do. I can deal somewhat with the pain but with these spasms is really getting on my nerves, cant even hardly walk. I agree to the fact if you take meds keep it to yourself. If you are running out of your meds early then whoever you are getting your meds from is not managing your pain, you need to be on something stronger to where you need less not more.