there is a difference!
still the fact is't so easy to go off deep end!
dependant means we don't get high opff it!= we are in real pain & need it to live a life!
= most addicts don't live a life they live only to score their choice drug!

missunshine: I know it says on the pamphlet that if the patch comes off early to throw it away and put a a new one on... your not supposed to take them off and put them back on for whatever reason.. i'm not a doctor but I just know that's what I read in the instructions... The patch is for round the clock pain coverage not just taking it off here and there... Did your doctor instruct you to use it this way?

I am buprhenorphine tablets when i am in alot of pain, usually one in the night, and i am on MST, Morphine Sulphate Tablets 10mg one in the morning and one in the evening, i have tried paracetamol, codeine, tramadol nothing seemed to do much. I was on bruphenorphine patches but after 6 months i started getting a really bad reaction to the glue. I have been on the same amount of Buphenorphine and MST for about a year now although the pain seems to be increasing recently but i havent increased the buphenorphine.

I dont seem to have any side effects from the morphine sleepiness if anything i suffer from insomnia with the fibro.

Kelly

I have taken tramadol for 14 years. I am at max dose when i USE IT AND FORGET ABOUT TAKING IT IF iM ONLY TAKING 1 AT A TIME ITS WORTHLESS. I do use it for break through pain now and I use vicoden 5 /500 atm and IM allowed 3 a day which is a far cry from enough. I am pregnant atm so I take as minimal as possible but as soon as this baby is living out side my body I am SOOOOO looking for new meds this just isnt cutting it any more. IM struggling every day to survive with my little amounts. I did get the oxy IR while in the hospital this last week. I dunno if it was the pills or what but I had a screaming head ache and it wore off about 4 hours into the dose. I like to try to go at least 6 or 8 befor having to take more meds so Imnot sold on it. WHen I asked for the tramadol over the oxi the nurses were in complete surprise. They looked at me like You would rather have a less buzz inducing drug I SIMPLY STATED i DIDNT GET ANY BUZZ FRom the meds and would just perfer to be pain free. They had taken me off the ultram and vicoden temporaroly because of my liver.

Oh well.... I dunno what iM adding here exactly lol... but i AM DEFINANTLY DRUG DEPENDANT AND NOT ADDICTED

i am on oxycontins..but i also have lupus and DDD and hierniated discs...i take them when i need them .if i didnt take them i would be bedridden .plain and simple..

I have tried and taking probably every opiate besides methadone. I have almost everything on hand too... usually just leftover bottles that i never finished or didnt like/work at the time...

The strongest thing I've been able to get the doc to prescribe is Norco which is like Vicodin. I would not be able to function at all without it.

I take Hydrocodone 7.5/325. It is the ONLY med that helps with pain. I am at the point now where I have to take it everyday. I was against pain meds for the longest because I did not want taht poison in my body and suffered through. But my fibro is so bad now, it is IMPOSSIBLE. Being dependent and addicted are two different things. Unfortunately, we have to educate doctors on this very fact. I tell them 'look, I need to function in my family, at work, and in all other areas of life. Pain is ruining my life. I want pain relief. These give me pain relief.'
Pain clinics seem to be much better than regular doctors at handling chronic pain and giving you what you KNOW YOU NEED.
HUGS

It just sucks.... the options are no meds or supplements but stay in bed, meds and worry over cost and dependence, supplements and worry over the cost and also ( like it or not ) a dependence on those ( in another way ), versus not being on any and being in bed. What a crappy illness but really any illness has a high price to pay.

I'd say PLEASE get us a cure, but I've been saying that about a lot of illnesses my whole life and not seen many cures.

Before I was diagnosed or even complaining to my doctor about this darn fibro dragon, I was on percocet and later vicodin 5/500's because I had a run of complications from a c-section, then major dental probs. I was also single parenting a seriously ill infant, and dealing with an abusive partner. I didn't know it then but now I know the reason my body, mind & soul hurt so badly. I did get physically dependent on the opiods, mostly because of 1 how they were prescribed and 2 I NEEDED PAIN RELIEF but no doctor would listen to me. I could not care for my sick baby/toddler, up all hours of the night with her nearly every night, rushing to the ER when she couldn't breathe weekly, go to work 40+ hours/week, be hyper vigilant about crazy ass stalker, heck even get out of bed without pain medication so I could move & function.

Adding to it, I did get my meds from friends etc so there were different kinds, which I know I shouldn't have done but I didn't know what else to do & none of the doctors believed me that I was in terrible pain, and I *had* to live. Usually vicodin, percocet 5mg, 5mg methadone, if it had to be oxycontin I would split it into 5mg. I did not abuse these meds, I took them not even as often or in amounts prescribed typically. In desperation, I was honest with my doctor and told him, please help me, I am having to break the law to be healthy/physically able enough to make it thru the day! His answer was to send me to detox & rehab, which I did, then I was put on Suboxone, and let me tell you, I felt a heck of a lot better when I took the strong meds for the bad pain days. It is a very narrow hard line to balance with some doctors I guess, when you know/think you need strong meds & doctors question it & label you an addict or as drug seeking for in their opinion non-legit reasons. And the label is one you carry forever throughout all your healthcare, and the stigma that goes with it, the bias & assumptions, the withholding of true care from doctors because "you're an addict" even if it was years & years ago and you have a painful medical condition & meet med guidelines for stronger drugs. My doctor wouldn't even re-write the Flexeril or prescribe me Lyrica like the Rheum ordered/suggested. I was honest with the Rheum about my med history, & she saw it for what it was- beneath the surface, & the present me, & had no issues rx'ing those-she actually wants me to consider accepting stronger pain meds but I won't yet. Ugh, sorry to ramble so long, I jsut wanted to tell you my experience of what can sometimes happen, that legit asking for meds, or taking meds even if rx'ed can be skewed out of whack & backfire horribly, not to let a doctor pressure you & convince you you are doing something wrong or are undeserving of care. I so wish I had handled my situation differently, with a different doc, 2nd opinion, whatever. Good luck, I hope things work out wekll for you & you find care that actually helps!

I forgot to add: I use Lidoderm for spot treatments. I find them very effective. If your insurance will cover them, get some.

Personally, I don't think opiates or any pain killers are a good answer for Fibromyalgia but since there is NOTHING ELSE, if I could take them and still function, I would.

I see nothing to judge in those of you who have found pain relief, if only for a short space of time. Please be aware that with FM, nothing is consistent, so what works today - what's worked for the past three years, might not work tomorrow - and drugs have long term effects that can knock you on your ass. We must be vigilant and listen well to our bodies.

FM is the SHIT