Thursday, 30 August 2012

The Drugs Don't Work











  1. Hi Wendy, pain.....I thought to myself when I read your blog, how lovely to be in a opiate haze now and then - as Simon Amstall suggests, it's like being hugged from inside! But clearly it wasn't helping you any more and you were lucky not to hallucinate with such high doses. But I digress -your blog once again opened my eyes to reconnect to the fact we constantly, day to day, suffer discomfort and temporary lesions but our clever brain desensitises - we muddle through somehow. But this strategy is no bloody good with pain like you endured over months - crikey the thought of it is bad enough for me! Once again, you can rightly allow your head to swell as I bow to your enormous courage and determination. Much admiration and love Rich xxxx

  2. Hey that was a good read :)
    I have been taking Tramadol 100mg four times a day for 20years now. It used to be Pethidine when I started in and out of hospitals too! They don't use it so much now in UK either though they will still offer it if you are in pain in hospital. I prefer to go right to Diamorph, or Heroin as its also known. It is the only one of the strong injectable pain killers that helps the pain without making me feel as mad and anxious as ever! The thing is I don't actually like the nodding/confused/am-I-dreaming-or-am-I-awake feeling from a strong opiate but the diamorph seems to have some ability to smooth out that anxiety too. Obviously not something I's want to take for long but I have had withdrawal from long hospital stays in the past. Like you, if I have to come off or reduce a narcotic type drug, I just do it.
    Not easy, but you know you must and you know the facts etc. around your symptoms and whether you NEED to take it any more and sometimes you have to do it so I just steel myself and cold turkey myself all the way to freedom hehe. Or that is what it always feels like to me - a returning of the old me, the real me...I get my personality back during those sweating shaking nauseous hours of withdrawal and I always come out the other side as fresh as a daisy!
    Hehe, well, not quite but maybe you get what I'm trying to say.
    No strong narcotics for me at the moment, just the decades long Tramadol (and Zopiclone) addiction is all.
    Now that WILL be fun stopping that.
    I plan to, just waiting for a day when the pain stops.

  3. Well done!

    I had such an awful awful withdrawal from Tramadol, zopiclone amitriptiline and when pain was very severe oramorph.. We went cold turkey and it was the worst weeks of my life! Scary hallucinations etc too! Horrid thoughts, sweats, didn't sleep for a week ( I was in hospital doin this) my consultant says you can get narcotic bowel syndrome or something, I believed him.. Thought it was worth a shot but ithe miracle he made out would happen sure hasn't! More pain now I have rheumatoid arthritis and scared about painkillers after what happened