by Dr. Richard E. Busch III

If you suffer from neck or back pain and have to take pain medication, then you need to take the time to read this. I want to tell you about just one of the many experiences with back pain and the pain medications that I have heard from patients,over the years. I hope that this story is able to give someone else an idea of what to expect when going through this. Neck and back pain can be very excruciating, so a lot of people turn to medication to help ease their pain. Many patients, before coming to my office have, unfortunately, become addicted, and addiction to pain medications is a possibility for anyone.

For over a decade Mike had struggled with back pain, and he was continually trying to find a pain medication that worked long-term for him. He had been to doctors and specialists, many times. In the end, it was always the same. They would prescribe pain medications to take. Some provided great relief for him, at first. The pain medications did knock him out, so he did get sleep and, at first, his pain was manageable. Sometimes he could not think when he took the pain meds during the day, and sometimes, he would not need the medicine. and he only took it as he needed it. After a few years of this, his body become used to many pain medications. So the doctor stepped up the dosage, several times.

At some point during all of this, my patient became addicted to the pain medication, and he suffered through two types of addictions. I want to tell you about both of them. The first addiction started when he would hurt more than usual, so he would take just one extra pill to help with the pain. That one extra pill made him feel wonderful. The pain was gone, and he had more energy than he usually did. He was really happy, happier than usual. Then over time, he started taking two pills more, instead of one, because he wasn’t getting the same feeling as before. His family stopped coming around as much, as they didn’t want to be anywhere near him when he was taking this much pain medicine. My patient then realized that he had a big problem. Although, he never really went through withdrawals with this level of addiction when he didn’t take the pain medicine for a day or two.

The second addiction he experienced was worse, and he was not so lucky. Last year, his Pain Specialist prescribed for him a pain patch. He would wear it for three days and then apply a new patch. This way the medication is always in his system. He gave the patch a chance, and it worked well. He did not have to worry about taking too much medication, like he did when he was taking pain pills because the patch was time-released. Therefore,he only got the amount of pain medication the doctor wanted him to have. At first, his pain just seemed to disappear with the pain patch. He loved it, until one day, after a few months of being on this pain patch, he was not able to get his patch the day his old one ran out. Later that night, he went through full-blown withdrawals. He did not even know he was addicted, because he was not abusing the medicine the way he had with the pain pills. Apparently his body had become addicted to this pain medicine.

Suffering through a withdrawal was awful, and according to my patient he was shaking, shivering, and vomiting, he hurt in places he didn’t know could hurt. It was miserable, and he was terrified. Nothing made it stop. He wasn’t able to drive himself to the hospital. His wife had to take him to the emergency room. The doctors put a pain patch on him, and after it got into his system, he was fine. After that incident, he made sure to never run out of his medication again. He wanted to just stop wearing the pain patch and taking pain medicine, at that point, but he still had the problem of back pain to think about.

I don’t want to scare you; I just want you to understand what an addiction was like for this person. You may not even realize that it is happening until you’re already addicted. My patient had never been through an ordeal like that – not before and not since – thankfully. Sadly, it usually comes across that if you become addicted, it is because you have done something that is wrong. That is not always the case. My patient certainly wished he had known this possibility when he started taking all this medication. If you suffer from neck or back pain, have you often wondered is it worth it? Back pain can be severe pain without pain medication, but do you really want to take that chance. There are other ways to treat the causes of back and neck pain without taking pain medications for years. Check out all of your options, as there are alternatives to choose. You can find alternative treatment that is nonsurgical, and you won’t need addictive pain pills.

Mike has wondered numerous times, was it worth it? I don’t know if I’m the one to answer that for everyone, but for Mike – he thought it was. He had suffered through the pain without the medication, and the pain is crippling. He could not function doing even everyday tasks. He would like to be on a pain medication that is not addictive, but the pain medication was only masking his symptoms of back pain and not treating the underlying problem.
Just keep in mind that it is a serious chance you take when dealing with pain medications. Neck and back pain can seriously alter your lifestyle. There are alternatives for treatment of chronic and severe back pain that do not include pain medications and invasive procedures such as surgery. Take time to invesigate the options, because you can take your medication exactly how it is prescribed and still become addicted. Mike did not know this in the beginning, and thank goodness he discovered a successful option that did not include pain pills.

About the Author:
Learn more about addiction to pain medication. Then click on Dr. Richard E. Busch III’s book site where you can find the truth about back and neck pain failed back surgery and how to avoid addiction to pain meds.