Being a cop I have an interest in the seemingly ridiculous availability and abuse of prescription drugs.
About a year ago I had tooth pulled after I had broken it. It came out in pieces. I was prescribed 24 lortabs with 2 refills. After the local wore off I took maybe 3. The next day there was no pain. Yesterday I had another busted tooth pulled, bone stuffed in the socket, a piece of something that looked exactly like a foam ear plug packed on top of that and had stitches put in to hold it all in. I'm getting an implant. All that being said along with antibiotics and steroids I'm prescribed another 24 lortabs with 2 refills. I never even had enough pain to warrant tylenol.
My wife just had surgery on both feet with Ti screws put into her bones. After the surgery she took two doses of the pain meds then after that used tylenol. Are we freaks or do some Doctors/dentists seem a little quick to prescribe this stuff? I know there are Medical professionals on this forum figured I could get some good feedback on this. I'm sure there are standards set that dictate what can be prescribed and how many refills.

After a few hard landings while skydiving , several motorcycle crashes , dislocated joints , and dozens of broken bones , and 1 shooting , I sometimes need crutches to go to the head at nite.

I have been taking 1-3 Vicoprofen , almost daily , for over 20yrs. After awhile , ya don't really notice the side effects.

The prescription drugs made available for injuries and after procedures, both minor and major, has created addiction problems for many people whose occupations do not allow them to be impaired while working. Many get caught from random drug testing and subsequently ruin their careers and some lose both jobs and pensions. I am sure we all know someone in LE who should not be carrying or a once trusted medical or legal professional who has addiction problems.

About 5 years ago (age 59), I broke both ankles/lower legs on a hunting trip. Had to walk back to the car about a 1/2 mile in 18" of snow. Was diagnosed as one break and a ligament strain. After a year and a half, it still hadn't healed, so they figured it was a torn ligament and we decided on surgery to repair it. After surgery, my wife came in with photos and told me I had been walking around with a chipped fibula (bone in the calf) for two years. They gave me 2 weeks of Vicodin. I took it for 1/2 day and was back to work in 3 days, with a crutch and walking cast. Shed the crutch in a week.

At the same time, a (much) younger guy broke one ankle and was out for three weeks=no cast or crutches when he came back (?).

Of course, we're Feds and so we don't get to cash in our sicktime at retirement (that's changed now). Don't know how much of a factor that was to him. But there seems to be a big difference in tolerance.

Docs can also face big fines and jail time , not to mention loss of license to practice medicine and write prescriptions for being too free with the meds.

My pics and Xrays justify my need. Try walking on THIS!

People have different tolerance for pain. My wife is a red head with the typical very fair complexion, and has zero (or less) tolerance for pain. It's not a joke...she wishes it were not so, it's not like she is "faking" or playing for sympathy...it is a reality. I have dark brown hair (or used to...it's about half gray now) and a medium complexion...and I have a high tolerance for pain. There are some things that get to me...for example, I have had 6 kidney stones, and those suckers hurt! But otherwise, I rarely take anything...not even Tylenol. (I do take a 81mg aspirin daily but not for pain.)

Most doctors in our experience don't want to over-prescribe or have their patients over-use pain medications...because of the side effects, complications, potential for abuse, and long term tolerance effect. However, they also have to balance the comfort of the patient, because too much felt pain can stress the body and delay healing.

I don't think we should rush to judge those who need pain medication...people like my wife, for example, literally cannot tolerate what I can, but it's not because she doesn't want to. Of course, there are those who abuse pain medication, just as there are those who abuse alcohol. A good doctor should be able to tell the difference.

Not rushing to judgement and God knows there are those who need medications to function while they heal or cope with injury. I'm just trying to understand the system better. I was prescribed 72 Lortabs with a street value of 20 to 50 bucks a pop depending on your location and didn't need any. Of course I tend to see more of the negative side than some.

I agree , and I feel it's up to the prescribing physician to know what's what with their patient before writing that slip.

I too have a high tolerance for pain. In 2004 I destroyed my right shoulder but could only describe the pain as a pinching with a little burn. That is probably what delayed the surgery for months. When my arm fell out of the socket while shooting I knew there really was something worng and upon return to my Occupational Health doctor I had to argue to get an MRI. I had been complaining that the shoulder was audibly popping and grinding when ever I rotated it and the doctor replied, in a strong East Indian accent "that is perfectly normal, everyone's shoulder makes that noise, just put ice on it". Now, this was an OTJ injury and OWCP has been known to be a little slow at times.

Aftre a few choice words I got the MRI. The results came in and the PT they had me doing was aggravating the injury so the routine changed and I finally got to see an Ortho. The Ortho after checking me out stated he didn't understand how I was still shooting, I replied that my scores were a little off but not too bad. He was puzzled because I shouldn't have been able to hold a pistol out at arms length due to the labrum being tore off the scapula.

Time for surgery and the Ortho had me fill a prescription of pain meds (vicodine) before hand so I would have them as soon as I got home. Nearly four hours of surgery and home that night. I took the first one 36 hours post surgery and the fifth one 7 days later, the rest went down the toilet. I probably dumped 40 or more.

I also have medium brown hair a medium complexion. Wonder if there is anything to that and resistence to pain?

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Non illegitimae carborundum

More power to you if you don't need the meds. I've been taking
meds for a looong time, and finally decided they weren't helping.
After two weeks of real pain, I found out they were helping.
I'm guessing that doctors feel that recovery is quicker if you have little or no pain. That goes along with the shortened hospital stay
that seems to be the rule nowadays. TACC1

As a member of the "Over the bars club" (hit by van on motorcycle) I had several broken bones, nerve damage, 3rd degree burns with skin grafts to follow. The 1st week in the hospital it was Morphine & Demerol as requested. After that week it was Tylenol + Codeine and that was it. This was several years ago but my Dr. flat out did not believe in handing out narcotics even after looking like a slinky. Drugs work and block pain.

Today I work with a few guys that have an abundance of various pain killers prescribed freely and at least one of them has an issue getting off of it. In some cased its needed but I have a gut feeling meds are passed out freely by some doctors and the user has to deal with the effects.

I now have an incredible high tolerance to pain thanks in part to severe burns and grafts. Broken bones hurt but noting close to burn pain.

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NRA Certified Instructor & RSO

It's a myth that taking prescription drugs will make everyone addicted to them. On the other hand a few people will. What's important (in adults) is their history. If a person has a history of addiction, to alcohol or drugs, they are at risk and the physician needs to know about this. Narcotics can be very important, however, to the recovery process. Pain can delay recovery and make for unnecessary suffering. Each person is an individual and has different needs. For some, Tylenol 3 is fine. Others need something stronger. The same for the length of usage. Don't be afraid of drugs but respect them and bring the issue up at every doctors visit. With modern drugs there simply isn't any reason why people are suffering with severe pain. And don't get caught up in comparisons, i.e. "But Joe got addicted", or "Bob didn't need any drugs". That's them, this is you, and as I said earlier everyone's different.

Amen. Well said.

Even over the counter pain meds can cause problems, I had advanced osteoarthritis in both hips and took arthritis strength Tylenol. I took it only on bad days when the other pain meds were not working and then only a single dose in the morning. After a while I started feeling crumby and could not put my finger on the cause, a trip to the doctor and a blood test revealed that my liver enzymes were out of whack. Discontinued the arthritis strength Tylenol and liver enzymes returned to normal and I was back to feeling like myself.

Supposedly there is.

My wife says she is a higher, more evolved life form than I am...more intelligent, and as a result, more sensitive to stimuli of all kinds, including pain. I apparently am a Neanderthal...

I certainly am getting hairy enough...

I don't tend to take very many of my prescription pain-killers either...for one thing..they don't tend to do much for me. Maybe make me sleepy..and although sleepy feeling..I don't sleep well under the influence of pain medication.

I also watched my father in law get hooked on oxycotin after his cancer surgery years back..he took the stuff for 2 months after I thought his pain should've subsided..and his doctor would prescribe him more when he would run out!!!

I took him to see the doc once..and it was just to get the pain-killer prescriction..as soon as the meds were in his hands..he was ripping the lid off to take one!...I didn't have time to put the car in gear to pull away from the pharmacy drive-thru window and he was in the pills..

That was enough for me..FTL would just sit at home and take his oxy..I talked to the doctor..and had him put in physical rehab to take his mind of the drugs..and made a pact with my wife not to get him anymore.

Hee went for months on pain killer he didn't need..stayed a zombie the entire time.

Yeh..you can get hooked on pain medication..

It`s different for different people.
I seem to have a fairly high tolerence for pain, which is just as well since pain killers seem to do me very little good when I do need them.
Several years ago I had a ruptured disk in my lower back. Was like having a bad cramp that went all the way from your butt to your toes and the only time it went away was when I was flat on my back.
I hate going to doctors and it was over two weeks before I finally went to a doctor. He sent me for an MRI and when he looked at the results asked what I was taking for the pain. I told him I had taken over the counter stuff (sometimes 3 times what you were supposed to) but it didn`t do any good at all, so I wasn`t taking anything.
He looked at me as if he didn`t believe me and said that by the look of the bulged disk in the MRI that I should be nearly incapacitated by the pain.
He perscribed something (don`t recall what it was) and I couldn`t tell the difference. I might as well have swollowed a couple of M&Ms.
Found out it was going to be almost 6 weeks before I could get in for surgery. I told that Dr. that what I was taking wasn`t helping. He perscribed something else. Again, little if any effect.
A week later I told the original Dr. that nothing was making a dent in the pain. He gave me some sample packets of something called Viox, or something like that. It actually did some good. Cut the pain in half at least. The Dr. told me that it wasn`t that strong of a pain killer, but that it reduced the swelling in my back so that there wasn`t so much pressure on the nerves and that was probably what was making the difference. I felt better than I had in weeks.
After the surgery they gave me enough pain medication to last 4 weeks. I took them for 2 days. Again they did little if anything. But after a few days I didn`t need them anyway.

But as I understand it, my experience isn`t what would be considered normal. I worked my regular job right up until the day of the surgery. My Dr. told me that most people would not have been able to, or more likely, would not have been willing to.
I have to admit, it wasn`t any fun at all. But it wasn`t debilitating, at least not most of the time. (there were days)
I did pick up the nickname "Chester" at work from the way I limped around.

I think I tolerate pain fairly well, but opium derivatives work wonderfully for me. My last two ER visits (dislocated shoulder, motorcycle crash with concussion and detached kidney) were actually pretty entertaining due to the high quality drugs they were administering. Once the event, is over, however, I have no desire to take pain killers recreationally, even though they always seem to send me away with enough to party on for a week.

I always keep the extras around for a while, because you never know when an off-road bike will bite you again, but they never get used, and eventually get tossed out.

just had my 3rd back surgery on the 26th of sept. to all those who feel they don't need the pain meds,good for you. but ,don't try to pass judgement on anyone else because that person does need them. as stated earlier, pain is an individual thing, as are heart problems, lung problems, diabetes, and many others. it's important to see a dr. on a regular basis to form a working relationship with one. among other things, it builds trust between the dr. and patient.

Jbull380;

Being in law enforcement, your view of pain medications and their abuse is quite understandable.

The person who might be in the best position to offer you advice about your prescription medications may well be the physician who prescribed them.

Perhaps I'm fortunate, but both my general physician and cardiologist will always take the time to discuss, in detail, their prescriptions and reasoning.

Over the Summer I had both hips replaced. Came out of recovery hooked to a morphine pump and used it at my discretion. Six times after the first and ten times after the second. I had them remove the pump during the second day after surgery. I got a lecture the first surgery about pain abatement and recovery. Being in pain is not good for healing. But I hate the side effects of opioids.
Now after open heart surgery, six years ago, I needed the extra pain killing of the opium based drugs.
Don't let some government functionary decide what hurts too much and what does not hurt enough for pain killers.

I have discussed this with my dentist who I have known for years as we go to church together. He said that prescription is pretty standard for an extraction. I can only remember three times in my life where I was prescribed pain meds. The first time was after having metal removed from my eye. The Dr. Convinced me I would be in horrible pain after I got home. Never happened. My experience with prescribed meds is limited so I wanted to hear about others experiences. The spectrum is wide.

I agree with Steve In Vermont. Some people, myself included, have medical conditions that cause a lot of pain. Although I seldom take my Lortabs, I understand why other people do. As far as becoming addicted, I would place the blame on the person taking the drugs, not the prescribing physician. People need to take responsibility for their own actions. Personally, I get irked when I read about someone who ODs and everyone except the addict gets blamed for his/her death. It seems it's too easy to put the blame for stuff like this on everyone except the person who made the choice to abuse their meds.

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Misty

Not trying to pass judgement on anyone. As I said, everyone is different.
If the pain killers had done me much good I would have taken them religiously by the end of that experience.
I`ve had things like broken bones that hurt worse, but that hurts for a while and get better. Chronic pain like a ruptured disk wears you down day after day.
I hate to think what it was like back before they could do anything to repair those kinds of injuries. I expect that after a few years of that, you would start looking for a bridge to jump off of if you knew that that was how it was going to be for the rest of your life.

Tylenol, in excessive dosages, can cause damage to the liver and kidney failure. Young people have died from overdoses. Glad you saw your Doc and stopped before there was any damage. Goes to show how ANY drug, prescription or OTC, should be taken with care.

Over the years I have had some semi-serious injuries that caused a lot of pain, so I know I am not particularly pain tolerant. But I absolutely hate the packed-in-cotton/can't think-straight feeling I get from serious painkillers, so I take them for only a day or two, then transition to aspirin as fast as I can. I figure most pain reflects inflammation anyway, so aspirin is a good drug to take to lower swelling. I am deathly afraid of Tylenol and won't touch it because of the possible adverse effects on the liver.

Fortunately I heal pretty quickly, so the need for even light painkillers has usually gone away fast.

But in general, yes, I think painkillers are overprescribed. I listen to some conversations about pain and painkillers, and it's like alcoholics discussing their addiction the same way they would talk about a cherished family member.

Actually, that's the same way I talk about Smith & Wessons, so I guess there is a message there for me.

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David Wilson

I had double hernia surgery and went home two days later with a script for percocet. Never filled it. Instead, I used Tyeylenol EX. My father got addicted to about every drug he was ever prescribed and seemed to receive great pleasure over discussing all the drugs he was on.

I had malignant cancer in the colon. Had the surgery and was home in four days. Again just used OTC for pain. It was a while before I could walk right though.

Then had all my teeth extracted. Was prescribed lortabs. Took them the afternoon of the extractions and never took another.

Seen too many people hooked on prescription drugs and my daughter complains all the time about people making excuses to get more pain meds. She had a lady last week say her prescription was lost and she needed another. Daughter checked and learned the lady filled the first at a drugstore and used an entire fourteen day supply in three days.

Drugs do not make pain go away. They just mask the discomfort for a while. Live with the pain using OTC meds and you will heal better.

In July of '05, I got up from the couch to go to the head, and that's the last thing I remember until I woke up in the hospital. When the ambulance arrived, I had " no clinical signs of life ". My wife told me the can was full of blood. Turned out I had 5 bleeding ulcers.

After the operation, in the hospital room, I woke up with a morphine " self " administrate button taped inside my left hand. The pain from being opened up from belly button to rib cage was indescribable. The nurses told me I had to press the button myself, or I would be in that room a lot longer than needed, and wouldn't heal. I have COPD, and coughed the stitches out the day after being operated on.

I was in so much pain I couldn't remember to push the button ( nurses weren't allowed to ), Each shift, a nurse would come in periodically to place my thumb on top of the button, and push my thumb down.

There are times when we need as much help from drugs as possible. I wasn't able to get out my bed at home for several weeks, thank God for my wife, and the drugs.

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Firearms and Saltwater Fishing

Better to have 'em & not need 'em etc.

I had a bad run awhile back with a kidney stone, polyps pulled out of both ends and back problems. I had a pretty good stash of stuff after awhile.
The kidney stone was the worst. The surgeries actually didn't cause a whole lot of pain after a short time. With the back pain all the Percocettes did was allow me to sleep a couple hours.

I don't do pain. Rather to have a few left over than deal without 'em.

I respectfully disagree...some people tolerate pain better than others. If you are able to do this, it may work for you, but a person who is in extreme pain and doesn't get relief may have delayed healing and other complications. Pain can stress the heart and other body systems/functions...and can even lead to death.

I don't think a person should try never to feel even a twinge...but if you are suffering and medication can relieve that suffering, then you should avail yourself of it.

The absolute worst pain I've ever felt was from..of all things..a pain shot so the doctor could stitch up my busted lip.

Gout.

If sqeezing the guts out of a frog onto a motor oil-dipped slab of Limberger would stop the pain, I'd be gulpin' it by the shovelfull.

Other than being positively LIT UP by a couple of teeth gone bad, I've been pretty lucky(?) that gout's been the beast to deal with for me. My father inherited his family's alcoholism so I'm betting that the addictive trait is in myself as well, so unless pain has me near suicide, I avoid any Schedule 4 meds, along with the alkyhall.

Now biscuits and gravy, that's another story. Ain't no cure for THAT addiction. Methadone can't touch it.

Tylenol 3, Percocet, Vicodin... eh I never noticed any great effect from them. Seemed about along the lines of taking just one pill and getting the effect of several Tylenols. I do remember the first time I took a Percocet that I felt a slight "buzz" from it in addition to the pain relief, but subsequent doses produced no such effect. Vicodin seemed to work, but there were no side effects either good or bad - Percocet eventually caused me stomach upset.

When I broke my foot a while back tripping over toys at night, I just relied on Scotch and duct taping it at night. Of course that might be why that foot is still hurting sometimes....

No kidding, Stevie.

I nicked an artery next to my knee with a utility knife.

The 6 injections around the 1/4" cut hurt like the devil!

If there is to be a next time, I'll take the stitches WITHOUT the pain killer injection!!!

I have been going through a bout of this myself. Last December the day before New Years I ended up in a cell wrestling around with an inmate that weighed about 300 pounds and he tossed us around the room. He was mentally challenged so he was also strong as an ox. After the incident I noticed a sharp pain in my left forearm and elbow and I have been battling with this ever since. They sent me to PT and then several doctors and surgery (the arm swelled up and has never let off) so they did a carpal tunnel release which hasn't worked at all. Now I have something called RSD in the left hand which is always swelled up and has been since about May. I have little feeling left in the fingers and hand, and then we found out the left arm now bends at an angle 10 degrees the wrong way. Two weeks ago we found out that in the tendon on the left arm running between the elbow and wrist that I have tendonosis which is the tearing of the tendon at the cellular level and tenosynovitis which apparently is the swelling of the sheath covering the tendon. The pain on a good day is about is about a 6-7 and now since the cold has started here its a solid 10. The elbow feels like someone strapped on a blood pressure cuff, pumped it up and left it there. For the surgery they gave me hydracodone and recently they gave my lyrica. All the lyrica does is make me sleep and get loopy as all get it so I can't take it and function. Epecially at work (on light duty) I would never be able to drive there on the stuff. It hasn't put a dent in the pain thought. The next step is a sympathetic nerve block, after that I'm afraid is just living with it and figuring out what to do next for a career possibly.
I would rather fight with the pain every dain then be zooey and out of it. I don't feel like missing any more of my life sleeping. I find that four letter words yelled at an exagerated decibal level helps me more than you know. If I had a cat though he might want to wear pads and a crash helmet or he might be making field goals through the two upright trees outdoors.

Anytine I get depressed I read about one of my heroes, Elmer Keith. When Elmer was a youngin there was a fire and he was badly burned. His left hand was very deformed and his chin was welded to his shoulder. The docs say he wouldn't live, but he had his parents break all the fingers in his left hand and it was lashed to a board, and this was done several times. His chin was cut loose. No pain pills, just whiskey. I can't imagine as he got older the pain ever went away entirely, yet this man invented the .44 Magnum and shot hundreds of rounds a month and never complained of recoil. Even though he was right handed there had to be some hurt in his left hand when he shot the big bore rifles and handguns. If he could do it, well I can live with this I suppose. It's just one of life's little trials, there was never a manual or a guarantee saying it was fair.

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Vaya con Dios

I have an intense dislike for pain meds and I don't see how anyone can use them for recreation.
I had a lumbar laminectomy a few years back for a badly ruptured disc and did a few of the pain meds the Doc prescribed and they made me miserable. A few months later I ruptured the disc above the first one I had repaired, had another surgery and did the recovery with no painkillers whatsoever. The second day after the surgery was a little rough but it passed.
This year I have had many tooth problems and have had a lot of dental work, crowns, root canals, extractions and even some oral surgery where some cadaver bone was packed into my jaw and all that I have taken is ibuprofen.
Add kidney stones, a punctured collapsed lung, and I also herniated my stomach through my diaphragm one night after stomach surgery when morphine that was administered made me sick.
I am no stranger to pain but I absolutely hate painkillers!

I have gotten educated through my pain. I had an ankle that was misdiagnosed in 2006, hurt my shoulder in 2007 and a herniated disc in my neck in 2007. Percocet send my brain into outer space but do little for the pain. An antisiezure med that I was given for the nerve pain, well I was "sensitive" is how the doc described it. I took it for 3 weeks. How was I supposed to know how it was supposed to work? Vicoden was great. When I was having muscles issues, about 1 /2 of a dose prescribed was wonderful. The relax from the meds was much better sometimes than the pain pill. Also, some pain meds also have antiinflammatory, like vicoden. The inflammation has to subside for healing to take place. And let's face it, not all surgeries are the same either. Everyone is different. So drugs and inflammation reduction is different. I have a root of one of my teeth buried deep in a sinus. Oh it hurts when I get a stuffy nose! My goal is to get the inflammation gone from my sinus.not pain meds. I agree that we have to be careful with drugs, but when you are flying it is difficult to make a wise choice.

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I refuse to be a victim.

Ya know, 2 years ago next week I scheduled a routine stress test. I got the first one in the morning because I had a full day of work and they promised me I'd be out in an hour or two. Over the next two or three days they tortured me in every way imaginable. It included my bypass surgery and a few more days in the torture chamber (hospital.) The only enjoyable part was the cute little nurses aid. I learned to like her for more than looking at her as she walked out of my room. She came in and offered me pain pills every 4 hours. During my hospital stay, pain pills to her means 2 pills every 4 hours.

I got home and was placed under the torture masters care (or lack of it), my wife. To her, the prescription said one or two every 4 to 6 hours. Life was nearly unbearable. Heart surgery with inadequate pain meds can do that for you. So after pretty much severe pain, I took over my own pain meds. Wife didn't like it one bit, but I was through with the pain part. And when I was running out, I called the surgeons office. No problem, everyone takes a second prescription for pain pills.

But a funny thing happened as I was starting that 2nd bottle of pills. I managed to drop to my wife's idea of proper pills, one every 6 hours. Then in a couple of days it was one every 8 hours. Then in a couple of days, I just carried one with me around the house. I only took a few over the next week, then none at all. The need was gone.

I have no guilt about needing the heavy dose of pills in the beginning. I feel some resentment about my wife trying to ween me too soon. If I even have surgery again, she's not in charge of pain. She'll make me suffer needlessly. Any grief and I'll call in the cute little nurse (the one in her early to mid 20s, not my wife who's my age! )

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Dick Burg

You know your addicted when you find yourself counting the days to the next refill, I know because I do it. Back broke twice, slipped disc, herniated disc, nerve damage, and what hurts worse is I have no health insurance,

I underwent 4 abdominal surgeries between 2003 and 2005. In 2004, I was admitted to Johns Hopkins for 9 weeks and was on a PCA pump of Dilaudid for 8 of those weeks. I was weaned to oral Percocet and took those sporadically for the next few months and after the next surgery, went on a PCA pump of Fentanyl. Was weaned to Percocet and also had Oxycontin available. I never developed an addiction but all of the surgeries left me with an abdomen full of adhesions in addition to the chronic pancreatitis that occured earlier. I was referred to a pain management doctor at Hopkins who gives me Tramadol. I take 100 mg of Tramadol at a time, sometimes a couple times a day, sometimes not for days at a time. I know that I coulld be prone to addiction but I am not. I urge anyone with issues to research a pain management specialist at the nearest university-affiliated medical center. Do a search of their pain management doctors and get yourself a referral. It will be one of the greatest gifts that you can give yourself. They can help you get your life to a level that you may not otherwise be able to attain.