mynameisd, yes i figured we were writing at the same time. No problem!!

Oh, And I have only ONE doctor who gives me my meds.

Inrmom - there was a time when I thought much the same as you. I'm one who simply can not tolerate opiates. I've even had some trouble with NSAIDS. I either have too many or not enough opiate receptors.

Like, it's opium. Heroin!

HOWEVER, I've known quite a few people with fibromyalgia and I've seen the opiate use with my own eyes. People who would be bedridden otherwise become functional when they take opiates.

I can't believe how worried you are about addiction. If there's a way to help you deal with this life of pain, are you going to spend your days suffering so you don't socially offend someone?

If I've learned anything in this life its that we're all different in how we respond to various drugs. It's probably not a good idea to accuse a bunch of women in pain of needing to go to rehab.

I've found that cannabis works for me. I was mostly bedridden before I got my doctor's recommendation. Luckily, I live in California. Will you judge me now?

Marijuana is illegal no matter what name you put on it . Im not judging you the laws of your country are.

California has a medical marijuana law and legal and regulated dispensaries where you get your PRESCRIPTION filled. I personally think it's sad that it isn't nationwide, although a lot of states are coming around, because it does provide relief for a lot of people and people who shouldn't have to break the law to get relief.

You apparently have a serious bias about drugs of any kind. Legal drugs were developed to do a myriad of things to help humanity. Antibiotics to kill infections, insulin to save the lives of diabetics, antidepressants to help the clinically depressed climb out of their pit of despair and find some hope and happiness in their lives. Anticonvulsants to control seizures in epileptics and people with brain tumors (your Lyrica is basically an anticonvulsant and can be abused), chemotherapy drugs to kill cancer cells and save lives. The list goes on and on and on. AND also pain medication to decrease pain as we recover from injuries AND to help make life bearable for people in chronic pain.

Just because I choose to use drugs that some people use illegally to get high does not mean that I do not have a legitimate reason to take those drugs nor does it make me a druggie. I'm not stealing or committing any crimes to obtain those drugs. My doctor writes me a prescription and I go to the pharmacy to have it filled. I get 270 at a time, a 3 month supply, because it's cheaper that way. I take it as directed and do not share it with other people. They increase my quality of life by decreasing my pain. If, for some reason, I have to quit taking my pain meds, I will gradually wean myself off of them, under my doctors supervision. I refuse to allow fear that I might possibly someday be physically dependant on my meds prevent me from having as good a quality of life as I possibly can now.

Several people on DS have made a choice not to take any RX drugs, but rather take vitamins, herbal supplements, use massage, accupuncture, chiropractic, yoga and other alternative therapies and it works great for them. Everyone is different. What works for one person doesn't work for another and makes a third one worse. Fibro is a very individual thing. The wonderful thing I've learned here is that we are all different, we all have something to share and we all have something to learn. I've also learned tolerance, acceptance and that there isn't anyone that I can't learn something from. I've also learned to think before I speak and to speak gently because you never know what kind of day people are having and I don't want to be the cause of someone else's pain. We all have enough of that already.

I really don't have a clue where you were coming from in your original post. You seem to be very upset with your cousin and were venting. Unfortunately you came across as critical and accusatory. The responses you received have been pretty much true-to-character for the people on this board, all of whom are genuinely good, concerned, helpful, knowledgeable people. That's not to say we don't have things that piss us off and for the most part, we aren't afraid to say so. We do occassionally have our squabbles, but they tend to pass. I hope this all quickly passes and everything gets back to normal and you join in our discussions. I hope things get better for you and your cousin and that you can have an open mind about the treatments open to people with fibro.

Cannabis is the proper name. I use Cannabis Indica and Cannabis Sativa.

Marijuanna is Mexican slang.

I have a legal prescription that I use in a legal dispensary for my medicine.

My Country used to think it was ok to own slaves, steal land from the natives and subjugate women. Things change.

Some of us think with our own brains.

I'm taking more pills than elvis did,and i still can't get through a day without pain.today i cried today ,because it hurt so bad just brushing my hair .i've missed so many days of work,that my boss is thinking about firing me.i have a 2 year old that i dropped on his birthday,because a pain shot down my spine.if we'd had made it a few more steps ,i would have dropped him on the stone patio.if it would help me with pain,i'd drink paint thinner.if you've ever been afraid to pick up your own child,unless you are sittng down,you may think differently.i hope you never have to learn that lesson.i hope you and your cousin find the relief we are all looking for.good luck.

I just sat and read ALL the post. MY OPINION NOW...SHORT & SWEET...we have far too much stress to deal with on a daily...it seems as if this IRMMOM person has a power trip situation...I even had 2 othes read all posts and they all agreed before I mentioned my opinion. Either she needs to bring it down a notch or go away quite frankly...this is going sour and we are all getting upset with each posty. WE ARE A FAMILY HERE...WE DONT HAVE TIME FOR THIS STRESS. SO TO THE TENTION STARTER...YOU MAY NOT HAVE MENT TO START ANYTHING, BUT YOU AHVE...SO PLEASE START OVER & GET ALONG WITH PPL, OR GO AWAY..."NUFF SAID!"

Sorry for the typos...in the darl lol
love you guys....just brush it off. I was quite boggled myself at her saying she has had fibro for 20 yrs, but knows nothing about it!
nighty night

Imrmom, I've nothing new to add because everyone else has already said it all. I would strongly suggest that you educate yourself on this subject with more reliable, objective sources.
As regards cannabis, or marijuana as you refer to this most vilified of herbal medicines, again you should do some research that includes neutral and objective sources. Despite US Federal bans on its use, due to the allowance of States Rights, California and other states are able to legalize the use of cannabis for medical reasons. Believe me when I tell you that those persons who reside in those states who are prescribed cannabis for medical use are very carefully scrutinized.
As for myself, I live in an area that is doctor poor and patient rich. On top of that, the state board is very strict with family practice doctors managing chronic pain with narcotics, so my PCP will not / cannot RX them. Of the few pain clinics in town (all of which require referral) they all have a minimum 6 month waiting period for new patient appointments, and of course none of them RX narcotics for FM. My only option is to travel 4 hours to the nearest metropolitan area in hopes that I can find a pain management clinic. Oh, and we only have ONE rheumatologist in this town, and one in the next major town 2 hours south, neither of whom diagnose or treat FM. So again I'm looking at that 4 hour drive to the metropolitan area. I can't take Savella b/c I already take Cymbalta. Lyrica is not a choice because neither I nor my doctor are willing to risk the side effects. So guess who is NOT living in a cannabis friendly state? Yeah, me. So I use whatever strain of cannabis I can get to help when my costochondritis flairs beyond tolerance and wait until I can afford to make a trip to the city. Do you still wish that no one ever have narcotic available to them? I promise that my $15 copay is much less expensive than the 8 hour round trip, parking, toll roads, etc for any appointments to the city. But hey, I MIGHT become addicted to a narcotic.

Note - I've had multiple surgeries with pain meds prescribed for post surgical recovery and have NEVER EVER ONCE become addicted to the narcotic pain reliever.
Ignorance is bliss ONLY when you are the ignorant party.

You aren't judging me (or us) our country is? I find that laughable at best. I put the narcotics down and picked up the weed (Neurologist suggested it and would have scribed it had it been legal in my state of residence) and you still want to pass judgement on how I treat my pain? Oh who in the hell do you honestly think you are? Seriously here. . .

If it wasn't for the marijuana I would have had no quality of life for the last 7 years - as it is didnt have much but what I did have was yeah thanks to the weed. Perhaps its the laws that need to be changed have you ever considered this? Along with your own point of view or at least the way you present it and yourself to others.

I am dying pure and fucking simple no holds bared . I hear tell I have about 3 -4 weeks left and yes if staying stoned 24/7 enables me to finish up what I need to and do so in less pain than I find myself in when I wake up then sorry I am not going to justify it to you or anyone else. We DO NOT get to judge each others pain or how we control it - Not our jobs. I used to be able to get thru the day with smoking 3 times each day and not alot at each time. The neurologist told me that I would have to experiment with it to see what worked. Too much and the pain would come back ten fold and not enough obviously didnt work either. Point I am trying to make - If I was just smoking to get stoned I would continue to do it all day long but up until the last month I had held getting high to 4 times a day and up until 4 months ago it had stayed at 3 times a day since first being DX'd . Sound like addict to you? Don't really care if it does or not as I don't have to answer to you now or ever but I will say this You are sitting in judgement on people you know nothing about and if you truly have fibro (and yes I do doubt it) someday someone is gonna sit in judgement of your ass trust me and isn't it too bad that you didnt offer support to others so perhaps you might get it back in your time of need

WOW...SOMEONESB added it all up in a nutshell. May sound HARSH but its damn sure the honest to God truth...sometimes it hurts. See...you need to realize that your undue comments and such have hurt alot of people here, and you need not come here for that. WE ARE A FAMILY HERE, WE FIGHT & DEAL WITH ENUFF SH*T WITH FAMILY/FRIENDS/STRANGERS...WE DONT NEED THAT HERE. And you obviously are NOT getting the point...because you CONTINUOUSLY MAKE EXCUSES TO ALL OUR POSTS AS BACKING UP OR DEFENDING WHAT YOU ARE SAYING, RATHER THAN STEPPING OUTSIDE YOUR FINGER POINTING BOX & TRYING TO SEE WHERE WE ALL ARE COMING FROM. Have you NOT realized yet that what you are doing is WRONG? Go back and read HOW MANY PEOPLE you offended...then come back and STILL tell me YOU ARE RIGHT! WONT HAPPEN-TOO big of a margin here....I hope your next comment is a serious appology for wriling up all us sick folks that ONLY ANSWER TO ONE....GOD!

Look, Ive been struggling with FM and several injuries that flare with my FM. I have had no luck with Nuerotin and the other siezure meds that are prescribed to folks like us. I take pain meds because they work for me, and it allows me to keep working and making money to pay for the endless doctors.

I agree with the masses here, you are being hostile. Good luck with the lyrica withdrawl. If you havent experianced withdrawl before, youre in for a treat. If you have an issue with your cousins problems, take that up with her. People and thier doctors do what they do for a lot of different reasons. Its not up to you to assume anything about people who follow thier doctotrs advise. Hopefully you never have to be in that position.

I, for one, am well aware that I am dependant on pain pills to manage my pain enough to function. I do bloodwork quarterly or more to keep an eye on my liver and kidney function. I work closely with my Doc to make sure that dosages are correct.

I think your post was quite rude. Chronic pain is no joke. It effects your entire life and everyone in it. If a Doctor prescribes a pain medication, its for a reason. Doctors are under a lot of scrutiny as to who and how much of these drugs they prescribe. They wouldnt do it unless they thought it was necessary and beneficial.
Most pain Docs test us to be sure we are not going "over" thier heads and playing games with the meds, or taking illegal drugs with the opioids. Only one Doctor prescibes my meds. The others work with him to make changes and add to treatments. My doctor appreciates the fact that I stay working despite my many conditions. I appreciate that he helps me accomplish that goal.

Oh, by the way...there has been no combination of pain meds, neurological meds and PT that has taken my pain away. I still suffer with the chronic pain on a daily basis. If something worked better, I would use that insted.

Just got back from nature boys with my weekly supply of "Illegal" pain meds and offering to share as I light up the bowl. . . LMFAO sorry couldnt help it - this post so needs to be lightened up some

Imrmom care to join my addicted ass?

For the record I have never found one ioda of research that states weed to be addictive - not in the way heroin is - just saying