I get migraines and suffer from kidney stones.
Those pain pills are worse than the pain for me.

i have fibromyalgia-its mild...thankful for that...
i have pinched nerves in my lumbar spine....the pain is worse in winter-i've had to take pain pills for it in the past, but i'm like you, i've abused them in the past...so i don't keep them all the time..

also have carpal tunnel in both wrists and DeQuervain's Tenosynovitis in both thumbs...tylenol usually helps with both.

Just like matt I got the migraines(4-5 times a week) and wicked kidney stones...

I also have a floating spine, f'n painful....

even really heavy duty pain pills dont work for me, and i used to take up to 30 tylenol pm's (but really for the high)

i just grit my teeth now, even when my spine acts up and i cant walk so well

Osteoarthritis looking at knee replacement in next 5 years or so. Achilles tendonitis hurts like crazy. Chronic sinus pain, pain in wrists and pain in shoulders as well. Arthur Itis can go take a long walk on a short pier.

I shattered vertebrae in my back just over a year ago and lost the feeling in my legs and was told I may never walk again, I am walking and even working at times now but the percocets really had me by the ass,got totally addicted and went off meds and my life crashed. Please be very careful everyone these pain meds just feel to good and kill you at the same just say no.

I do however use pot for pain............it works and it's organic.

I have fibromyaglia, signs of inflamation despite anti-inflamation meds, arthritis, two fused neck discs, bad scolosis, one hip is 2/3 inches higher, bones aren't straight/formed right in my legs and flat feet. So have had pain all life even before I was put on meds for bipolar.

I have arthritis in my left knee, had micro-fracture on it in 09'. I rotated part of my spine when I was young, and it moves around sometimes. I get migraines and was just recently dx'ed with fibromyalgia.

I take my pain pills every day, and when I go out for a lot of walking, wear my knee braces. It's never-ending pain. It gets me down a lot, but I try to stay up-beat about it. It's never going away, so might as well deal with it.

I take Topamax for headaches...I've had them since I was about 10 so 16 years now straight! and also 2 other meds for pain (an NSAID and a non-opid pain med).

Best thing for fibro I have found and other pain is swimming. Can actually move in water!! Then I soak in a hot tub for 10 mintues after so I don't get sore the day after :)! Helps with the pain a bit, not much but some.

That with my weekly chiro appts are helping. The chiro is majorly huge with the pain difference. Highly recommend it to everyone with pain. It is amazing what a good one can do!!

Dark, my doc suggested those things to me, but my insurance doesn't cover it. I could use the pool at my college, but I'm not comfy with my body like that.

Do you have a YMCA? Or YWCA? Cause both offer scholorships where you fill out a form and based on your income, they cover most of it.

Such as, I pay about 16 a month for the YMCA and there was no joiner fee. I hate my body so I go at a time when no one is around.

fused lower back and fibromyalgia

tramadol, norco, percocet...stuff like that depending on severity

helps me manage and get thru the day and does mess with my moods as i hear it does many others. i'm quite thankful for that.

brain tumor Fibromyalgia and nerve damage - was on tons of pain meds for many years (thats what help me get my SSD - couldnt stay awake during the hearing) Dumped all the pain meds and now smoke pot with the blessing of my doctor

I have 3 herniated discs in the cervical region to varying degrees and had lumbar surgery to repair herniated discs in the lumbar region in 2006 I believe. Also have Degenerative Disc Disease.
I've been on so many different types of meds it's hard to keep track of. Emtec , tramadol, gabapentin, celebrex, prednisone, percocet, and morphine. Opiates BY FAR provide the most relief. But they also are the most dangerous for me. Being BP2 I'm usually in a depression and percocet in particular makes everything in the world feel right for me. I knew it was going to be a problem immediately upon taking it.
It affects my moods greatly, when the drug wears off I'm very prone to periods of intense anger, aggression and depression. My first psychiatrist still thinks chronic pain is the basis of the depression but he is mistaken and was the type that ignored the depressive 45 years prior to my accidents. I was scheduled for ECT but it's been pushed back to September due to staff holidays, etc. There are a bunch of waivers I will have to sign due to the spinal problems but it's a risk I am willing to take.
As for opiates and pain control now, impossible to find a doctor willing to prescribe them. I blew up at my doc and told him to f**k off, that was the end of our relationship and of one of the few that would refill and monitor my usage. My fault.
It now seems the prescription process for these drugs have come full circle, to being prescribed to terminally ill patients to chronic pain patients and back to the terminally ill. I can't find a doctor to prescribe opiates for pain control. There's a prevalent hysteria out there, even my hospital can't provide a doctor willing to treat pain effectively. It's very frustrating.
I treat it myself now with exercise and stretching. It can be positive in one area while having negative implications in another. It's just a matter of trying to balance it all out and if you're bp that can obviously be a big issue.