That does sound strange that he cam bike 20 miles one day and be in pain the next with the conditions he has I don't think he would be able to be on a bike. I am not sure if you are being conned sounds like more of him doing the things he only wants to do. I would keep track of how often this happens see if there is a pattern going on here.

you asked: "I don't understand how he can be biking 20 miles one day and crying "pain" the next day. Is this really possible?"

ABSOLUTELY!!!! Many pain ailments are cyclical and most of us have varying severity of our pain.

I have chronic, intractable migraine, trigeminal neuralgia (not intractable) AND Fibromyalgia. WHEN I feel good (not often) I like to do as much as I possibly can. Of course, I PAY for it later, with pain intensity increasing and severe fatigue, but if I didn't get out when I felt somewhat good, I would NEVER leave the house.

Using Adderall or other stimulants is VERY common in pain treatment. (I was given a stimulant very early in my treatment to combat the fatigue and for a possible ADD condition, but it made me jump out of my skin, BUT, many pain patients do VERY WELL on a combo of pain meds and a stimulant, especially if they have to get up often.)

The only thing that bothers me is you say "he lies to his doctors." WHAT does he lie about? Is it because he doctors are not treating his pain properly, and lying is the ONLY way he can get treatment? Or is he doing it to get meds to get a buzz on? The former is not uncommon, and called "pseudoaddiction" and should be treated with MORE pain meds, not less, the latter is not healthy, and he needs to question why he is doing this. Unless the pain is SO severe that he simply can't stand it.

Is he getting the same or similar drugs from more than one doctor? THAT could be an issue, as the doctor SHOULD be talking to not only each other, but should be talking to his pharmacy and looking in their state's Controlled Sub Log to make sure he isn't Doctor Shopping.

But, as for your original question, YES is is possible to be in implacable pain one day, and realize you NEED to get done what you want to do on the days when the pain is less than awful. VERY normal. In fact, This is the way most Chronic Pain Patients live, we have to.

I have had chroinc pain for about five years.
There is no reason.
There was no injury.
so why do I hurt.
Sometimes I can go for miles with the dogs others I can hardly walk up the stairs.
One of the things I find diffcult to deal with is the amount of change in what I can and can't do. and asking for help. no one wants to be like this including your boyfriend I'm sure. Talk to him see if he will tell you how he really feels. He is very luck to have you and I'm sure he knows that.
love and light

Thanks PGell - yes, he does "pay" after being active. He does get scripts from multiple docs. He also mixes pain killers with muscle relaxants, nerve blockers, anti anxiety meds and sleeping pills. He has been treated for addiction before and lost his kids. He keeps the pills locked up,so I have no way to monitor his usage, but I can tell when he's taken too many or mixed too many drugs by his behavior.

He is having surgury this week (first time ever) and I pray he has a good result. He even admitted today that the Adderall is making him very anxious and moody and I have have been the brunt of his mood.

I'd say that it is very possible to bike one day and be in pain the next. It's probably partly the biking that puts him in such pain. Pain is like a roller coaster, one day can be good, the next can be terrible. Add to this the fact that he over-does it on the good days, this can make the bad days even worse. I've heard of people getting stimulants from their doctors due to the side effects of pain meds and other meds, some people don't get sleepy from pain meds, some do. Somedays, he might be able to push through the pain, and somedays it might become too much. It's a normal part of the problem. Somedays I can go to school and work, somedays I'm stuck in bed. Somedays are in the middle where I can make it to one or the other. My pain level can vary day to day... Mostly it varies hour to hour. One minute I can be "ok" meaning I can cope with the pain and pretend I'm ok, and all it takes is a tiny movement or wrong shift, and I need to lie down and feel like crying.

All of this seems pretty normal except lying to his doctor. What exactly does he lie about? How much of what medications is he taking? Is he taking much more than he is prescribed? This is pretty concerning. In all honesty, taking an extra pill that you've already saved up every once in a while isn't too wrong, but taking many more pills and then running out early, asking for early refills, lying to get refills, or ending up suffering without meds until the refill date are all things that are very concerning. Does he drink while on pain medication? For a normal person, if they don't take pain meds regularly, it may seem like he is taking a lot and you definitely wouldn't start out taking what he is taking, but pain is a tricky thing to control, people build tolerances, which means needing to take more meds (dose raised by doctor, not patient). This is completely normal and ok. Pain medications are largely insufficient in controlling back and nerve pain. But if he is lying, this is a problem.

I'd like to help you more once I know what he is lying about and what he is taking. Everyone's body works differently. The conditions he has can be extremely painful, people get desprate to get out of pain, sometimes leading them to do things they wouldn't otherwise do. Let's talk more and see if we can get to the bottom of this.

Chronic pain is a very trying problem. I understand your concern, it's very real, but so is his pain, so let's work on this together. I hope to help you in every way I can!

Much love and understanding,
Lisa

P.S. I'm sorry! I wrote my reply much earlier and edited it just now, so I didn't get a chance to see your last post! Getting scripts, especially pain med scripts, from more than one doc is a huuuuuuge no no! While it is quite normal for a pain patient to be on all those types of meds at the same time (since they all have different functions) I feel there is a major problem here and would like to help in every way I can. He is going to get caught if he is getting pain meds from more than one doc, all the pharmacies in nearly every state are linked so they can see who filled what, what doc it came from, when it was filled, and so on. He is going to lose all pain management if he keeps this up. He could get in legal trouble for doing this if it is pain meds.

Much love,
Lisa

Thanks Lisa - for your advise. I wish had wasn't so secretive about what and when he is taking meds. Yes, I think there are many other issues other than the pain that are causing problems. His pain "trumps all" leaving me feeling neglected. Sadly, I think it's too late to repair the damage.

Sometimes we can be a different kind of pain. We damage relationships, friends, parents and our own lives. I feel that my condition destroyed a 23 year marriage being the last straw that broke my wife's back. But try wearing his shoes, smile and pain. It is a heavy burden an alot to ask and he probably needs you very much even if he does not admit or show it.
Yes you can be agile one day and down the next. Refusal to giveup can sometimes be a very strong motivator even tho it will cause you much pain. And sometimes it can help or hurt in the long.
Just make sure that the issues that you speak of stem from what he is going thru. Give him some space and understanding and when he relizes that you supported him he will be glad that you were there. This is something that I did not have. But then again you are the only one that can be the judge of that, remember why you loved him to begin with.
Try this, open this site and sit him down in front of the computer, maybe others can help too. As well seeing your feelings sometimes can help more that telling him.

I will try to share with you how I feel about it since I have serious back problems, not with muscles, but really with my discs and nerves: I had 2 failed spinal fusions, stenosis, DDD, RA and other stuff.
The pain people experience with this type problem can't be compared with Fibro, migrane, stomach pain or other (no offence, pain is pain and I can relate to any of you, dear people).
Serious spinal problems prevent you from doing things not b/c you want to, but b/c you physically can't do it. I was on my gym door at 5 Am for 2-3 hours before work 5 days a week of my life. I was in such shape! Now if someone pays me, I can't walk more than 10 minutes.
My husband on other hand has back problems too, but he can do some day a lot and some day he can't get up. His problems are in "come with territory" things, like arthritis, muscles spasms, some herniation and bulges... The main thing is: he doesn't require any Pain meds or be on anything but Advil or Tylenol as needed.
And this is nothing to do with pushing yourself or not; I am well knowing for being a pusher to myself all my life... I can't do it anymore as much as I try.
Being a patient under PM care for years, I can tell you that taking narco meds is serious and usually they Rx for serious problems.

These type medication is not a magic bullet. Body tolerance does the job and soon enough you need stronger dose, you need to change your meds all the time b/c they stop working. I absolutely hate the fact that I have to be on them, that my life came to this so I try to do what my body lets me only, b/c if I push myself and do what I know brings me pain next day - it means I will be in a shape to take more meds or change them for a stronger once... Why would I do it to myself ? Why would I bring more pain to myself if I am in so much pain already???
Bottom line in my opinion is: serious spinal problems bring you pain 24/7, no exception. I just don't see why someone brings more pain on themselves knowing that tomorrow you will be worse? And if his problems are not serious - why is he on PK?

Before all this happened to me I suffered for years with Arthrities and Fibromyologa. Nobody even once offered me any PK... I was on Celebrex, Viox and other type of pain relievers...
So talk to him; maybe it's a good idea to go with him when he has an app with his Dr. and ask him quesitons. If you love him, you should know more about him, that is what you want, right? So good luck to you, sweetie! Hope everything will be OK between two of you...
Moldova

yes it is possible but you do have the right to be concerned about how much pain meds he is taking. If he is lying to the doctors he is going to end up hurting hiself in the future. I mean he will end up having meds that will not work and then he will be amess.
I do not know what to tell you to do since you are not married. I don't think you will be ablr to tell your concerns to thge doctor. You need to be upfront with him though. Tell him that you do care but you see the drugs changing him. I wish you luck.

I DON'T KNOW IF YOU ARE BEING CONNED BUT I HAVE A FEELING THAT HIS DOCTOR IS. IT'S TRUE THAT YOU CAN RIDE A BIKE ONE DAY AND BE IN TERRIBLE PAIN THE NEXT, DUE TO THE BIKE RIDE! WHEN WE FEEL GOOD WE ALWAYS OVERDUE IT AND THEN PAY FOR IT THE NEXT DAY. HAVE THE TWO OF YOU SAT DOWN AND TALKED ABOUT ALL OF THIS?