Opiates

I recently broke my wrist and took them for the pain for about three days. I don't understand the addiction either, Op. They worked very well for the pain and made me a little sleepy the first day but that's it. No euphoria. No feeling high. Certainly nothing that would make me want to knock over a drug store to keep it going.

I've had them for similar procedures. They make me irritable after a few days. I don't get it.

Now stimulants on the other hand...

I've had to take Vicodin a few different times after medical procedures, and I recall that it not only relieved the pain, but it just felt fucking great. One time in particular I remember being at home and suddenly thinking to myself why do I feel so damn happy about everything? Then I remembered I had taken a Vicodin about an hour ago. Addiction terrifies me so I disposed of the remaining pills as soon as I knew I didn't need them for pain anymore, but I can see how it could become addictive.

Every person has a different reaction to opiates. Hillbilly heroin makes me feel great. I can see why so many people get hooked. Fortunately, I have enough willpower to avoid addiction.

I have Hydrocodone. Maybe that is less appealing than vicodin?

I'm going to throw mine away too r3. I was a bit disappointed when they gave me 20.

I'm with you, op. Never got the whole opiate thing, they do nothing for me. Now, speed is a totally different deal, clean the house, take my SATs then drive across the country. Running on all 8 cylinders is my weakness

I get no kick from cocaine.

Cocaine is ok, but it's too expensive for a such a weaksauce high

Many studies have shown that for most people, who are not pre-deposed to addiction, opiates are very good at pain relief and don't lead to addiction when carefully used for their intended purpose. Don't give them to an alcoholic or drug user.

I’ve been prescribed opiates 3 times: once for my wisdom teeth removal (Vicodin), once for lipo (oxy I think), & once for gallbladder surgery (Norco). Each time I took the pills maybe twice & hated it. I felt hyper, like I wanted to jump out of my skin. For my wisdom teeth I was supposed to alternate with ibuprofen; the ibuprofen worked way better & didn’t keep me up all night. Each time I thought oh wow, I’m sure I’ll sleep great, but each time I was up all night bouncing off the walls. I guess everyone reacts differently.

Extended use of opiates causes constipation and that's why an opiate is the active ingredient in Imodium and its generic equivalents as a treatment for diarrhea.

Some state legislatures, including here in New York, are or were considering bills to prevent it being sold in bulk to stop people from taking excessive amounts. So no more bottles, just available in blister packs of ten or twelve with you purchases monitored at the cashier.

^ your purchases, not you.

It's called "Addiction" for a reason. It alters your brain chemistry.

You are helpless before it.

A woman at work once gave me one of her "pain pills" when I had cramps and no Advil. Assumed it was just something similar. I just remember a feeling of intense well-being and contentment coming over me, a belief that everything was going to be OK and that none of my problems really mattered. It was one of the best feelings I've ever experienced, real serenity, emotional warmth etc. The pill was an opiate. As soon as she told me what it was I wanted to ask her if she had another one. She didn't and me wanting one scared the shit out of me so bad I've never gone near opiates again (that was almost 20 yrs ago now).

Holy fuck it was awesome though. It was an Rx pill, oxycodone or similar. And it killed the cramps like no OTC drug ever has before or since.

I think you have to take lots of it to feel euphoric. Mot addicts take it with alcohol or mashed up and mixed with saline to inject in the bloodstream. The people who abuse these drugs want to escape pain, that is why they choose a drug that numbs them.

Nah, they totally mess my stomach up.

It depends on the opiate and it demands on your body chemistry.

I don't really like oxycodone to treat pain...it just makes me goofy. When I had a tooth pulled in January, I took one and while I enjoyed the "high" part, it didn't really do much for the pain. Extra strength Tylenol and cannabis edibles actually took care of the pain better.

But, never throw away a good drug! You never know when you might need it!

I saved my oxys....I break one out every so often when I need to be high quickly.

I think I've used 2 of them since January. I'm quite the druggie.

They did nothing for my pain, but they made me not care I had pain. That was scary.

The new Chinese pills are worse. They have brewed their Oriental pills to destroy freedom.

If you have actual pain for the opiate to work on, that's what it does. If you don't, that's when you start getting the high. That's why it's so cruel for them to have taken them away from the people truly suffering in pain because the asshole contingent who probably can't control any fucking aspect of their own lives shockingly couldn't control their ingestion of pain pills after the pain went away. They are literally torturing old people because a bunch of 20 year old tweakers had nothing better to do than raid grandma's medicine cabinet. Give the old people their pills back and let the others die. It's actually helping society. It's called evolution.

Ummm, Granny had like 5 bottles (or more) of Valium in her medicine cabinet.

Who could resist?

Opiate pills do nothing for me. But I love a good benzo.

Whatever happened to good old fashioned glue sniffing?

Back in OP’s day they had the opium dens. She built up immunity.

They did nothing for me except cause constipation, my most hated issue. I also had laughing gas once at the dentist and hated how out of control it made me feel.

They stop pain but that’s all they’ve ever done for me. The few times I’ve gotten prescriptions for pain killers I’ll use a few but hoard most and then forget I have them until after they’ve expired.

You gotta take them with booze, like any prescription drug -they work better!

I've only had Vicodin once and that was for oral surgery. I was prescribed Norco for back pain, filled the rx then decided I should just try some Motrin instead. I never got any kind of high feeling. After my oral surgery I remember sitting on the couch and staring off into space. Much later I tried to eat some ice cream and I remember sitting there looking at the melted bowl like I was out of my body. I then went to bed and had horrible dreams. I don't know if that was the leftover anesthesia or the combination with the pain pills but I stopped them after that day. No thank you.

@r27, Booze is a great high, unfortunately there's that secret ingredient that gives you a hangover. If it wasn't for that I'd drink all the time

I do exactly what R26 does. If I use them for more than a day, I start feeling nauseous. Motrin works just fine for me.

[quote] Back in OP’s day they had the opium dens. She built up immunity.

So because the OP doesn’t like opiates, that gives you the right to call him old and “she”?

I love opiates.

Can I have all of yours?

Thank you, but I'll stick with Pamprin.

Made me very sick the few times I took them, however, they did help me sleep while recovering from a painful surgery. I was prescribed 20 and still have 5 left. I have friends who love them. Never got that euphoric feeling and kind of grateful for that.

Opiates make you fat, so if you wanna keep the weight off try taking an over the counter weight loss drug!

I’m an alcoholic and they didn’t do anything for me either. I have terrible teeth and had surgery last year, so I ended up with a decent supply of Vicodin. I used them for hangovers, which worked incredibly well. Xanax works great for hangovers too.

My only experience was for wisdom tooth over ten years ago. It certainly took care of the pain, but the weird thing I never forgot - I ate dinner once about an hour x after taking one and I could actually feel the food traveling along my digestive system.

I knew three people who became hooked on painkillers. They were all awful right wing cunts before they became addicted. Like the type of person who would happily throw the book at other " illegal" drug users.

If I take a half a hydrocodone it stops my colon up for days, I dont know how people shit on opioids. In the hospital they gave me ONE shot of morphine and I didn't shit for two weeks. Besides, it didn't last but 15 minutes, they said I couldn't have anymore but I could have a tylenol, I wanted to smack them hard, stupid tylenol.

The only time I danced like no one was watching (but unfortunately they were, at Cherry's on Fire Island) was when I tried oxy. Never again. Too good.

R20 Yes absolutely. It's grotesque. And the media paints an insanely slanted view of the subject, always bombarding us with sympathetic sob stories about "reformed" druggie assholes who aren't really reformed at all. The viewpoint of these people, that no one else matters but them, is just as strong as it was when they were using. You don't see too many human interest articles about the construction worker who can't leave his bed because of a back injury or the 90 year old woman who has to beg for measly amounts of pain relief.

[quote] They are literally torturing old people because a bunch of 20 year old tweakers

!00% correct, R20.

It would be nice if they provided a little euphoria or sense of well-being, but I get none of that no matter how much I take or for how long I take it. It just numbs physical pain and makes my stomach upset. I stop taking them for pain as soon as I can for one reason: to save any unused pills for any future emergency. That’s a saver’s mentality.

They should be labeled not as addictive, but rather addictive (apparently) for some people.

Loved opioids and never had any fear of addiction to them until I was prescribed a huge bottle of codeine cough syrup, of all things. It wasn't at all as strong as other opioids I had taken before, but it produced a nice, warm buzz. When I finished the bottle, I flushed it with water just to get the last remnants. Then, I argued in my head for a couple of days about calling my doctor to get another bottle - just for the high as I was no longer sick enough to need cough syrup. From then on, I have avoided opioids. I can't convey how desperately I wanted a new bottle of that stuff.

It is a strength thing. Get a morphine drip and call me. You will be like "oh fuck I want that high again"

I had a morphine drip when I was in the hospital overnight for a kidney stone. It had the button to allow self-administration. I took only what was needed for the pain. It numbed the pain and I felt appreciation for it relieving it, but no euphoria, no sense of well-being, no craving for more. I left the hospital the next day with no urge to have more morphine.

R44, when I was in college (20 years ago) a doctor prescribed codeine cough syrup when I was congested and had trouble sleeping. I slept like a baby on it. When I was young, my mom went to my pediatrician because I wasn’t sleeping at night, and she was at her wits end. He wrote HER a prescription for Valium. The world has changed so much.

@r46, The same, was in the hospital to have my gallbladder removed. They put me on a morphine drip. It helped with the pain, but no warm happy buzz, nothing. When they took me off three days later, no desire for more. I'd heard about morphine all my life and when I finally got some, nothing.

Opiates won't help with tooth removal, OP. What you need is a strong anti-inflammatory like Ketoprofen. You were prescribed the wrong molecule.

[quote] I just remember a feeling of intense well-being and contentment coming over me ... real serenity, emotional warmth etc. The pill was an opiate.

Don't laugh, but Percocet makes me feel like the clouds have parted and the sun is shining down gently on me. I feel like I can make it through this day; I can handle this. I'm not high, but I do have a sense of well-being.

Vicodin, IMO, is weak.

All of this stuff does give you *bad* constipation. Elvis died on the toilet b/c he was stopped up from his pills, IMO.

The first few pills are great. The problem is you very quickly build up a tolerance to them. Next thing you know you're taking 3,4, 5 at a time just trying to catch that high of the first pill. But at that point all they do is make you tired.

For me...Dilaudid. The morphine didn't touch shit but that dilaudid injection? Daaaammmmnn.

My dentist prescribes Vicodan for pain and it works fine.

Opiates won't help with tooth removal,

It certainly helped my tooth removal, I guess it may be different for others.

R1 here again...

I have a tiny cabin in upstate NY and I broke my wrist while tooling around up there. I went to an Urgent Care and then to an orthopedist in the area. Neither gave me anything for the pain and both acted like I was drug seeking when I asked. I was told to take Tylenol (which had the same effect as M&Ms) despite the fact that my blood pressure was sky high, which I was told was... due to the pain. FYI: both urgent care and the ortho said not to take ibuprofen because some studies showed it inhibited bone healing.

I hightailed it back to civilization despite my plans to stay at the cabin through Thanksgiving so I could get a better Ortho. I ended up having surgery and was given Vicodin. I still have pills left that I'm going to save because I hated being treated like an addict for asking even though they knew I was in pain and my body was reacting negatively to it. Also the new Ortho said to take ibuprofen because it was better than Tylenol for tht kind of pain and that the studies were not significant for short term use.

I like vikes -- just for the taste of 'em....

OP, they all fall into the same class of drug, but there are differences and some opiates trigger a more euphoric sensation than others. Hydromorphone/Dilaudid/Vicodin for example are preferred for that reason over, say, Fentanyl. As an RN, it gets easy to tell when a patient is exhibiting drug-seeking behavior if they show up in the ED complaining of 9 out of 10 pain and yet have a long list of pain relievers that supposedly they're allergic to or don't work for them. "Oh no, I can't take codeine or morphine, the only thing that works for me is IV Dilaudid." Sure, it does. You and a bull moose.

R57 nobody asked me anything about other drugs. Prescription history is also available to doctors. In fact, they knew what asthma and blood pressure medicine I was taking without me telling them. I was flat out told no that I couldn't have anything stronger than Tylenol. I would have gladly accepted something non-narcotic but stronger than Tylenol, but I wasn't given that option. Y'all do a lousy job in picking out the drug seekers.

I know if I take two naproxim I am loopy the next morning. I feel almost drunk.

Actually, your prescription history is not necessarily available to other doctors. HIPAA. And most docs have preferred/standard meds they use based on the particulars of their procedures. I'm not judging you in any way, shape, or form. You said you didn't get the appeal and I believe you. I'm explaining that for some people the appeal is a sensation of euphoria and some opiates deliver it more than others. I'm an RN not a prescriber, I'm just sharing some information since it looked to me as though that's what you were asking for.

[quote]Actually, your prescription history is not necessarily available to other doctors.

In the last few years, I have yet to got to a doctor that hasn't had access to my pharmaceutical history.

Unless you've signed a waiver or they're all in the same practice, or you've provided the information yourself as part of your past medical history, which pharmaceuticals you've been prescribed should not be automatically available.

If you were a real nurse then you'd know that doctors have access to a PMP and that it's not a HIPAA violation for a doctor or practice to access a patient's history. What is a HIPAA violation is accessing these records if you're not a patient.

I have no reason to lie to you about being a nurse. If you show up randomly in our ED with no previous history, there's no magic system that allows us to look up every drug you've ever been prescribed. There's no central database which healthcare providers use to keep track of everyone's patients. Exactly how do you suppose patients were able to game the system by seeing multiple prescribers to get oxy from more than one doctor?

I work in a hospital, not an imaginary computer network on CSI.

[quote]There's no central database which healthcare providers use to keep track of everyone's patients

There is.

No. I really cannot tell from my hospital in Washington DC what you were prescribed in Harrisburg, PA. That's not how it works.

Funny enough...my doctor in Pennsylvania is able to see what my doctor in NY prescribes and it's through ⤵️

The Prescription Monitoring Information Exchange (PMIX) National Architecture is an information exchange standard and related guidelines that enable interoperability between systems PDMPs use for interstate exchange of PDMP data. The architecture is comprised of a formal set of technical requirements that apply to state PDMP systems, data sharing ‘hubs’, and other exchange partners or intermediaries.

It may depend on the doctor and the procedure. Neighboring states share more information as well. In the ED we are more interested in the last time you came into our network in the DMV than whatever oral surgery you had in NY or PA.

It tracks pharmaceuticals and not procedures.

Is this prescription tracking thing new? It sounds like a good thing.

Last time I had that opioid cough syrup (Tussunex or something) I finished the last bits by drinking it with a straw.

According to my doctor it's been around for a few years, r70.

That prescription tracker possibly saved my life once. I didn’t tell my dentist that I had started Prozac, because I assumed that it wouldn’t affect my dental care at all (and I didn’t think about it). He prescribed a pain killer after surgery that made me feel horrible. I was sweaty, dizzy, and my heart was racing. I couldn’t figure out what the problem was. The state called my psychiatrist and told him that the medication the dentist prescribed was not compatible with Prozac, and could have severe side effects including death.

And, yet...

I take about 4 Vicodin every week and girls, here’s a tip. …..take one vike and one soma and watch all your troubles mellllttttt awayyy. The call it the “Las Vegas Cocktail”…..Showgirls take it to quell the neck pain of those towering headdresses!! No joke.

If a doctor tells me to to take Ibuprofen or Tylenol for a situation that is clearly going to cause severe pain, I tell them they might as well give me a sugar pill. I don’t except it and I’ve never had a problem so far, thank goodness, getting real pain pills.

What's soma? To me it's a Toronto chocolate shop but I feel like you're not talking about chocolate R75...

[quote]Don't laugh, but Percocet makes me feel like the clouds have parted and the sun is shining down gently on me. I feel like I can make it through this day; I can handle this. I'm not high, but I do have a sense of well-being.

Yeah, that's exactly what it felt like. Like god called me up and said "no more worries, here's a self-filling bank account that never runs out, a perfect little cabin in the snowy woods with a woodstove burning, a couple of puppies to snuggle and some excellent books to relax with."

I’ve had severe back pain for weeks. Unable to sleep for 6 straight days. Every doctor said take Advil. The inability for back pain sufferers to be given relief is criminal. To not sleep for days and be in constant severe pain is unethical and a sign of the insanity of this post-Oxy era.

I have been looking to find illegal sources to get Vicodin to provide the emergency relief that the medical system no longer provides, I’m terrified of being given fentanyl or heroin - but the pain is insufferable to the point of considering suicide.

Didn't your oral surgeon warn you against taking aspirin after the extractions, OP? That's a blood thinner, chum. Wasn't a good choice.

I've been given hydrocodone at times, and it didn't do much for me, either.

R79 did you have an MRI?

I have back issues too. Cyclobenzaprine/Amrix is a non-narcotic muscle relaxer. The other option is a cortisone injection. Both have helped me at different times. I had/have herniated disks and sciatica. Right now I'm having a good spell.

Opiates are great and if you don't want yours, give them to me!

Madonna likes them.

Vicodin makes me feel sick and doesn't do much for pain. Codeine makes me feel really sick too. I remember taking a Darvon when I was young, probably junior high age. It was the first time I got high and I loved the feeling. Do they still prescribe it?

R79, please tell your doctor what you told us. Let him or her know that the pain is that bad. Please don't hurt yourself.

Kids are buying up pain pills online only to be given fentanyl. Then overdosing. It’s very sad.

Fortunately, I haven’t had the kind of pain that requires the heavy machinery. Seriously grateful for that.

Advil is enough, and I get the kind of mild euphoria from it that people have described here. It’s like a relived sigh. Nothing major, but enough to make me think that anything stronger would be dangerous.

R79, if nothing else, get your hands on some kratom. Take that if your doctor won’t prescribe a pain pill.

I was/am a kratom addict and it’s taken me a year to wean off it, and I would never recommend it to anyone because it’s just as addictive as any opiate… but it IS an opiate, and you could very well find the relief you need from it, R79. I don’t know for sure — I only took it to get high — but other people swear by it as a pain reliever. You can get it in smoke shops, gas stations, online… Whatever you do, don’t kill yourself. You do need to sleep.

R88, I tried it once out of curiosity. I wanted to gag, I really couldn't handle that bitter powdery sludge. It definitely made me loopy, and also killed my appetite. I think I had a bit of a headache afterward. I am genuinely curious how you could get past that to become addicted (and sorry if that sounds assholish - not my intention).

You get used to it, R89. Sort of an “acquired taste” type of deal. But it’s easy to avoid the taste altogether if you take it in capsule form or do a “toss and wash,” where you put a dose of the powder under your tongue (thereby avoiding your taste buds for the most part) and immediately washing it down with something like a fruit juice.

no he didn't r80.

I only took two yesterday and nothing today.

The extractions didn't really cause that much pain.

Thanks for the suggestions. I did get cyclobenzaprine once but it did nothing for me. Same/no effect as Advil. Curious if others have had relief from it. I’ve looked at studies that show the effectiveness of it - they showed only about 40% said they felt a reduction in pain. From what I can find, no existing medication is really effective at relieving nerve/back pain. Which is why opioids became so widely prescribed - because they were the only drug that effectively stopped pain. Because the working class were the ones who were more likely to suffer back pain due to physical labor, they were the major recipients of the flood of prescriptions of Oxy starting in late 90s. Unfortunately this was also a population that was less informed about risks and more at risk of addiction.

Not going to try Kratom - though appreciate the suggestion of alternatives. There just seems to be a massive hole in medical advancements around back/nerve pain. Given how prevalent - and debilitating- it is, I’m shocked at the absence of truly effective treatments. The elimination of opioids for treatment has left a huge population to simply suffer.

Fly your ass down to Mexico. You can still buy opiates OTC in some of the smaller pharmacias, you just have to ask for it. It's usually my first stop after landing. Pick up a nice goodie bag of percs and vics and spend the week laying by the pool high as a kite. Heaven.

Yikes, r93. Nothing like playing Fentynal roulette with Mexican drugs.

R92, talk to your doctor about Ultram or diclofenac. Ultram was once considered non-narcotic but has since been moved to a schedule 4 class. It's an opiod-like drug but with a lower potential for addiction. I was given samples of this when I had herniated disks back before it classified as controlled and it did the the job as well as Vicodin.

Diclofenac is a stronger nsaid than what's sold OTC.

Opiates work on pain for me because they make me feel disconnected from it. But I hate what they do to my stomach, and I usually feel hungover and irritable when they’re wearing off. My doctor prescribes them to me for arthritic pain, but I seldom use them. I’ve had prescription anti-inflammatories that have worked so much better.

People are using therapeutic ketamine for pain. I’m not sure how it works, but a lot of people on Reddit swear by it.

All these ridiculous laws against pain pills are doing is making old people suffer and start to think maybe i could buy herion from the street. So i wont have to SUFFER

R93 It hasn't been like that for a LONG time. When were you there last?

2019, r98.

You should look into how at last 25% of drugs sold in Mexico are counterfeit before you OD on fentanyl.

R92, I suffer from chronic back pain (from a failed spinal fusion surgery), arthritis, (and yes, I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia! - which I can tell you is a very real and physically painful disorder). I recently started taking gabapentin, which I'm finding helps, along with cyclobenzaprine, and when all else fails, oxy. I also smoke high CBD/low THC medical weed, which definitely helps. Chronic pain sucks. I hope you find relief.

I've found weed actually makes pain worse for me. Perhaps not "worse" - it makes me focus on it or notice it more, pain is more present when I'm high on marijuana. Advil has always worked for regular pain (headaches, cramps, flu aches etc.) but I never found an OTC med that did shit for back pain and the doctor insists on prescribing useless muscle relaxers (which for me never even lessened the pain, they seemed entirely ineffective) even when I've put my back out (which has been happening once every couple of years or so since I was about 14 - I'm not overweight but both parents have back issues and all their kids seem to have inherited it) and haven't been able to walk for weeks.

And when I put my back out it always eventually feels fine again. I can't imagine having that level of extreme pain with no end in sight and doctors unwilling to prescribe proper pain relief. That's a dereliction of duty of care, imo.

It's possible I look like an addict or give addict vibes or something because I've now made it into my 40s without ever being prescribed opiates for pain when there have been definite times it was warranted (the back issues but also a dental issue with a tooth that needed extracting a couple of years ago without an appointment being available for 3 days - I didn't sleep for those 3 days and was panting/crying from pain for most of it). I don't have any medical history of addiction or anything that would red flag me, either. Weird.

My mother was the cuntiest cunt who ever cunted. But at the end as she laid dying from lung cancer after decades of being a secret smoker she was put on intravenous morphine and dilaudin with strong oral Ativan and and something else, I forget what. She became the sweetest, most wonderful woman you can imagine. The nurses who attended her at the end never understood why her children treated her with love but a certain amount of distance as she died. They hadn't grown up with her.

R101 I was the same way with medical pot. Made it worse. Studies show it is very helpful for certain neurological issues, but it doesn't directly interact with pain receptors (whereas opiods do).

And to the couple comments claiming kratom and imodium are "opiates"; this is false. They have opiod like properties structurally, working to stimulate some of the receptors, but definitely not in the same class to qualify as opiates. They wouldn't be available if they were opiates. NYS trying to regulate imodium are being our typical anti science morons. It only works on receptors in the intestines and doesn't cross the brain blood barrier to make people high. Addicts use it to relieve symptoms, but it's either helping because it relieves the severe gut reactions from withdrawal, or is a placebo effect.

Pot does nothing for my arthritic pain and inflammation, although it’s supposedly a strong anti-inflammatory.

Can I have yours then, r104, since it doesn't help you?

And OP it's no different than some people becoming alcoholics or not. Certain substances just seem to fill a void for certain people -- physically and mentally. I have a personal theory that there's a biological reason for why some get addicted, while others don't; there's a legitimate chemical malfunction, where the substance gives them the feeling they aren't able to create naturally. Sort of like "runners high" we hear about, where some people are able to experience it, while others don't.

There also are genetic reasons why some opiates don't work in some people. They can do genetic testing now that can show which class would work most effectively if you need to be on them. For some, morphine does nothing, while diladid (sp?) works. Plus, having legitimate pain makes the meds work differently, because the opiates go to work on the source of the pain, rather than just taking them when you don't need them, going straight to giving a high from a big release of dopamine you weren't lacking in.

I will say it's foolish to get involved with them if you don't legitimize need them. It's not worth the dependence and long time risk for a cheap high. It's ashame the medical uses are overshadowed by addiction, because they're one of the few classes of drugs that treat pain.

Is it R104? An anti-inflammatory? I haven't heard that before but I ain't no pot-ologist.

I’m not a pot-ologist either, R107. I’ve only read a few articles on it. I didn’t find it helped with inflammation, though. Certainly not like Indomethacin, which I think is a wonder drug - at least for me.

Sorry, R105 - I actually gave my mom my stash of goodies - pot seems to help her restless legs at night.

You can also buy Tramadol OTC there. Like, right in the airport pharmacy. Not much of a high, but I guess it does the pain killing trick for some.

I’m scared of trying pot for my back pain because I’ve often had total anxiety attacks from it. It seems like it would make me much more introverted and aware of my body- and the pain.

[quote] I have Hydrocodone. Maybe that is less appealing than vicodin?

Hydrocodone is Vicodin.

Oxycodone is Percocet.

OxyContin was long term oxycodone, meaning it was a 12 hour or 24 hour medication, so it was a higher dose and it was a time release medication (the “contin” in OxyContin stood for “continuous release”) Hillbillies found they could grind up OxyContin which destroyed the time release coating and if they snorted it they got the whole dose at once. So your dentist gives you 5 mg Percocet and says take 1 every 4 hours as necessary. That’s about 6 doses a day, which is 30 mg. OxyContin had 80 mg of oxycodone in it. Those hillbillies were swigging a whole lot of shit before they got their hands on OxyContin because that was a massive dose.

Narcotics make me sick. I need an anti nausea drug in order to take it, like Zofran. We have medical marihuana in my state and it’s a MASSIVE RIPOFF.

30 pills, 5 mg each are $100. A fucking hundred dollars. I took 2 pills for a total of 10 mg. So one bottle of pills only gave me only 15 doses of medication. That is $6.66 per dose.

Meanwhile, I could get 20 Tylenol #3 pills for $12. Since I’m sensitive to narcotics, I take half a pill and it usually takes care of my pain. So I get 40 doses of T3 for $12, but two doses of medical marijuana cost more than $12. That’s some fucking bullshit right there.

Don't take Tylenol if you're an alcoholic. Your liver is probably already shot but acetaminophen will make it worse.

I’m with you, OP. Had a script for Percocet after some dental work and tried one out of curiosity. It felt ‘different’ but it wasn’t a pleasant feeling at all, just… different. I didn’t see then or now what would make this stuff addictive. It did nothing for me.

I guess addicts’ brain chemistry must be wired differently than mine.

[quote] I guess addicts’ brain chemistry must be wired differently than mine.

Yes, different people have different reactions to addictive substances, Some people become addicts and others don't. Something that should be investigated more, no?

If you ever have serious enough surgery, they're a lifesaver. Had spinal surgery to basically rebuild the whole spine, and I couldn't have made it without them. Thank god for them, in all seriousness. Also, try passing a kidney stone. They're a lifesaver. LOL! That said, for dental work, I find them not as effective. Tylenol with motrin is excellent and much more effective for dental work. Also, I only request Hydrocodone, as that is the one that seems most effective, with the least amount of side effects for me. Luckily, I take all this stuff extremely seriously, always follow doctor's exact instructions, and now know my body in relation to these drugs to know what works best at the least amount of dosage. And I'm already very weary of drugs in general, so I don't have any want or need to overdo them, or even use them if not absolutely necessary.

What is different about kratom that makes it not-an-opiate? It gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling, it alleviates pain, it causes you to itch, it makes you constipated, you get addicted to it, and quitting it is hell, with all the side effects that come with quitting opiates. What am I missing here? It sounds like a distinction without a difference. Analogous to cannabis and Delta-8, perhaps?

[quote]pot seems to help her restless legs at night.

Try magnesium citrate. I take a small amount every day and it stops my restless leg syndrome. It helps to relax muscles, including the heart. I predict the next OTC pill doctors push will be magnesium. Most of us are deficit in it and it is an important mineral for our bodies to function well.

Magnesium definitely helped my RLS when I was quitting kratom.

R111 Don't be too quick to confine the problem to so-called "hillbillies." The 5 states with the worst per capita numbers of opiate-related deaths are: Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio, and West Virginia all with >27.8 deaths per 100,000. The >19.1 - 27.7 per 100,000 group comprises: Connecticut, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, and Washington DC.

“Opiate related deaths.”

Not OxyContin deaths.

Heroin is killing most people in those other states.

OxyContin was called hillbilly heroin for a reason. They have an extraordinarily high number of people on disability because there is no industry there. They all claim their kids are autistic to get disability for them. When you’re on disability you can get RX narcotics. You sell them. The majority of Appalachian towns economies was based on cigarettes, OxyContin, meth and Mountain Dew,

And I’m not joking about the Mountain Dew, it became a way to launder food stamps into cash.

“It works like this: Once a month, the debit-card accounts of those receiving what we still call food stamps are credited with a few hundred dollars — about $500 for a family of four, on average — which are immediately converted into a unit of exchange, in this case cases of soda. On the day when accounts are credited, local establishments accepting EBT cards — and all across the Big White Ghetto, “We Accept Food Stamps” is the new E pluribus unum — are swamped with locals using their public benefits to buy cases and cases — reports put the number at 30 to 40 cases for some buyers — of soda. Those cases of soda then either go on to another retailer, who buys them at 50 cents on the dollar, in effect laundering those $500 in monthly benefits into $250 in cash — a considerably worse rate than your typical organized-crime money launderer offers — or else they go into the local black-market economy, where they can be used as currency in such ventures as the dealing of unauthorized prescription painkillers — by “pillbillies,” as they are known at the sympathetic establishments in Florida that do so much business with Kentucky and West Virginia that the relevant interstate bus service is nicknamed the “OxyContin Express.”

Oxy either really does it for you or it doesn’t. I was prescribed it when I had kidney stones. It did nothing for the pain, but the constipation was REAL! After five days, I threw the rest of what I had in the trash and relied only on ibuprofen (which actually works best for me).

R119 that is true. I would argue that a lot of the media attention ( and the frankly fanatical and downright wicked choice to deny people pain relief they actually need) is due to the fact that a lot of the ODs are among solidly middle class suburbanites.

[italic]Agree.[/italic]

R123. Because they turn to street opiates.

I was in emergency recently in extreme pain (from something serious that was discovered and is being treated). Wouldn't give anything for pain. Insanity.

Gosh, I love Percocet! But Vicodin made me feel ill at ease. Percocet definitely gave me that feeling of well-being. I had Norco for hip surgery and it didn’t seem to work all that well for me.