Hi Jewel,
Something I've found to be true from nurses that do my chemo is to take the pain meds as prescribed. Don't wait until you are in pain. It has worked for me, so passing it along. I guess just like everything else, there are a lot of opinions on it, but the one common thing no one wants is for anyone suffering from this disease to have to deal with pain.
In my case I don't feel I'm addicted to any of my pain meds. You pretty much have to go on how you feel because everyone is different.
I hope this is helpful in some way. If not, let it go in one ear and out the other. :) Believing what you are doing is helping you and being comfortable with it is more important. Or in my mind it is. :)
Take care and God Bless you
On 3/23/2008
poppy/cath wrote:
Hi Jewel~~ There are many pain medications available these days, the trick is to find the one that works best for the individual patient. I had tried many things, but have found that Fentanel Patches work best for me. They start with a low dose and can gradually be increased until the right dose is reached. On top of this one can have Ordine 10, which can be used for breakthrough pain. Finding the balance is the important thing.
Many people can not tolerate Morphine and they become constipated, but if you can it works very well. Many people also feel that if they use these medications then they will become addicts, but this is not the case. Both my doctor and the pallative care nurses tell me that when one uses these drugs they work specifically on the cancer pain and you don't get 'high's' like addicts do. I've found this to be very true. However it is hard to break down the fears of a lifetime with regard to drugs!! Once you do overcome these fears then you can use these drugs with confidence and they will make your quality of life so much better because you are no longer fighting the cancer pain.
I wish you well in your search for pain medication. Overcome your fear of being an addict and find the drug which works best for you and then you will be able to 'live' once again. Best wishes to you, Cath