Quote:Tough story for you.  It's good that people are able to share it so others can see the issues.

 

Just curious on how long it took you get the addiction to it.

 

I only ask because of a response after yours.  I've been given painkillers a handful of times or so in my life and I just never got the feeling that I needed it after the pain went away.  Sure they were sometimes fun to take after the pain went away.

 

I know there were guys out there taking 20, 30, 40, 50 or more painkillers a day because of the addiction and because over time they lost their effect.  It's crazy. 

In short, I went to the ER roughly a month ago with abdominal pain and blood in urine. I thought maybe a kidney stone or appendix about to go. They started an IV and first thing was a shot of morphine. Morphine is a pretty high end pain killer, and highly addictive. It didn't do much of anything for the pain, and shortly thereafter I found out I had cancer. It was then that they stepped up to dilaudid, which is about the strongest pain med that they can throw at you. It is more than 15 times more potent than Morphine. I was admitted into the hospital, and spent almost 2 weeks there. I was on dilaudid the entire time except the last day. I would get a dose as often as every 8 minutes following surgery. Once they took me off that, I was placed on Oxycontin pills. I left the hospital with roughly a week supply of those. Once they ran out, the withdrawal and detox began the following day. These are the highest end pain killers, and the withdrawal from them is PURE HELL. If I could do it over again, I would have gotten more pain meds when they were offered, and "stepped down" over a period of time, progressing to weaker and weaker drugs. I did not, and just toughed out the withdrawal to get it over with. So, in short, about 3 1/2 weeks.

 

I am still not right. I am suffering from severe insomnia and anxiety. I did not sleep whatsoever last night. I am going on close to 40 hours without sleep, and have only slept something like 10 hours in the past 4 days. It is a very tough thing. I am leaving for the pharmacy when I finish this post to get some sleeping pills and anti-anxiety pills that my doctor prescribed. I hope they work, and I sleep the next day or so away because I need it more than I know.

 

People who take Lortab, Vicodin, or even Percocet aren't as susceptible to the horrible withdrawals, but can still have them to a lesser extent, depending on how long they are on them. Brett Favre is an example of a guy who was addicted to Vicodin. He used to get them from ex-Jaguar John Jurkovic when they played together. He had to go into a professional rehab to get off of them. So, it can happen with any of them. I have also had withdrawal symptoms from percocet, following extended periods of use. It was not nearly as brutal as what I am going through now, but was fairly unpleasant nonetheless. I had most of the symptoms I listed above, but not as acute as now.

 

That's about all I can add from experience and just knowledge of the topic.

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