Can I Be Hooked

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I HAVE BEEN ON DILAUDID 4MG FOR 8 MONTHS, I HAVE BEEN ON EVERYTHING FOR MY LOWER BACK PAIN.NOTHING SEEMS TO WORK, THE PAIN IS SO BAD AT TIMES I FEEL LIKE IM GOING OUT OF MY MIND. HAVE BEEN IN HOSPITAL 6 TIMES FOR PAIN SHOTS BECAUSE IT GOT SO BAD. THE DOCTORS LOOK AT YOU LIKE YOUR CRAZY BECAUSE YOU OUR ON THESE PAIN KILLERS, THEY SAY 4 MG DILAUDID AND ITS NOT WORKING. I LOOKED AT THE DOCTOR LIKE YA ITS NOT WORKING THATS WHY IM HERE. CAN YOU BUILD A TOLORENCE TO MEDS, IT NEED HIGH MG . DILAUDID 8 MG DOES'NT WORK AS WELL WHAT IS THE HIGHEST DOSE YOU CAN TAKE.

19 Replies

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1

I'm not sure what kind of medicine it is that you're on, but, I too hurt all the time, and I have had 3 back surgeries too !!!!! I'm on percocets now, still no help !!!!!!!!

Good Luck !!!!!!!!

Andrea D. Watson

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2

could I be hooked?. Physically at that dose iy woulnt take long. Go without any for a couple of days or more. YOU WILL KNOW!!!!! You will feel like you have the worst flu ever, along with alot of other terrible symptons. you will NOT be able to deal with life.... if you have none of that feeling then you arent physically hooked. tolerance is when your body needs more of the drug to get the same effect as you got from it previosly. for instance, two months ago 5mg of your medicine would kill your pain and you felt different for several hours. Now, you take 15 mg and you still feel pain and like you arent even taking them...... your tolerance to this drug has b uilt up....... hope this helps...

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3

Let me state that there is a difference between addiction and dependence. Something that is commonly misunderstood by many people.

People who are addicted do not take a medication because they NEED it, they take it because they enjoy the high and other side effects they get from taking it. Since these are just side effects they eventually wear off and they must keep taking more and more to get the effect they desire.

If you are taking a medication because you NEED to take it, due to pain or some other medical condition, then you are NOT addicted, you are DEPENDENT!

Dependence can occur from anything that you put in your body on a regular basis, from your morning glass of orange juice to the low dose aspirin someone takes for their heart.

If you stop any of these substances abruptly, then you will feel some negative effects, however, they are not as severe as the effects felt from addiction.

And yes, you can build a tolerance. This happens when your body gets used to a certain dosage of the medication and it no longer works as well for you.

The problem you are faced with here is the Dilaudid is pretty much the strongest thing available, which is why the dosage options are so limited. Your doctor is going to want you to stay at your current dosage as long as possible, before switching to a higher dose, or you will eventually run out of options to manage your pain.

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4

I first injured my back about 25 years ago. I have gone to every kind of doctor you can think of. I have had many! Surgeries! Percocet is oxycodone and tylenol. I find that 2 10 mg percocets and 120 mgs. of morphine sulfate help me out . Everyones pay threshold is different as is everyones tolerence to drugs. As for withdrawal of any combination of pain killers it is going to be rough, but your best bet is to take a week off of work and stay in bed and just get it out of your system. If you try taking other meds to ween off, you will only be kidding yourself because that will take forever. A freind of mines wife is taking soboxin and she goes to her doctor every week for her supply and shes been doing that for 3 years now with no end in sight. Good luck I wish you the best. A Fellow pain sufferer

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5

There are much better treatments for your back out there.I presently use Duragesic transdermal patch with Loracets for break through pain.The patches are deadly to anyone not used to narcotics.They are 125% stronger than morphine and deliver a micro dose continually for 3 days each patch.It is a very good treatment if your oral meds are just not helping.You can only get the treatment at a certified pain clinic.Your family doctor can set you up at one.Good luck and I hope you feel better soon.

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6

I was on Dilaudid IM for 3 years I
became so aditicted to it that I would
steal the viols and slam them all within the first day. It only took a few weeks to get wooked the drs. finally had to put an Interthecal Pump in me to control my drug intake this works very well.It can be adjusted to fit your pain and the
cock tail I'm now on (fentenal,clonadine,marcain,baclafin) is a much better mix I still use the
Dilaudid but only for brake through pain and when I can't get into the drs to get the pum filled right away!

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7

PEOPLE WHO BECOME ADDICTED
DON'T SAY I AM GOING TO TRY TO BECOME AN ADDICT TODAY
this is somethin that just happens
and we dont have a control over the begining only the outcome. The drs hooked me, with alot of help I
grasped contol. LOVE and UNERSTANDING are the keys.
I'm sorry I read another post aot very upset. People who dont understand tend to destoy those things the doint understand

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8

ABSOLUTELY.
Free advice [not doctor disclaimer]: Get a referal to an actual pain clinic - the Doctor there SHOULD be able to treat withdrawals + also find appropriate medication that will last 24 hours a day for You.
If -for some nutty idea You don't go to some walki-in clinic to obtain a referal to a pain clinic there is ALWAYS an emergency room.
People at N.A. [Narcotics Anonymous] will be able to help You get clean. They however may not support Your going to a pain clinic.
Please see a Doctor at a Pain clinic. Coming off D's can also make one SUICIDAL. Please accept You need help;
Come out ALIVE + HAPPY.

been there; done that - got tee-shirt or actual drug treatment and then pain treatment.

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9

Try ab stengthening exercises for low back pain. It worked wonders for me after years of agony.

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10

I have had 3 severe car accidents and my doctor has had me on every kind of pain killer you can imagine, oxycodeine, methodone 50 mg, valium, lyrica and all at the same time. When I try to reduce he gets upset. So now I just do it and don't tell him. I'm living with more pain but at least I know on real bad days I have the option of taking an extra pill to subside the pain. I work full time and there was no way I could do these drugs and work. So I made a choice, live with some pain, on very bad days increase my drugs to my level of confort. I am not addicted and never will this way because my son was in rehab because he was taking my pillls and I did not even know it, he was higher than I was and could not get off - when I took the drugs out of the house he went on heron. Do I feel bad or what? My pain made him an addict, if I did take all the drugs prescribed I would have been one also but he would not have been able to dip into the pot of horror. My pain is in my hands and not the doctors. I pushed out 3 kids, I know what pain is - and this pain is much worse. Good luck and please try and manage the pain to the point where you actually need something instead of just taking it because it's there.

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11

Just reading all of this stuff makes me want to run to the basement & get a fix, take another half a plank, shoot another 4 m.g. Dilaudid and sniff half of one of my 30 m.g. Roxies. I have to make them last all month. My doctor is rasing my visit cost. So I am going to beg him to increase my dose from 2, 4 mg Dilaudid tpo 3x daily to every 4 to 6 , and the same thing on the Roxies. I need Tusinex Cough suryp. A 4 ounce bottle will last a month and it's not even a C2, but it has hydrocodone in it. one half a teaspoon with your other meds and you'll sleep like a baby. Where can I buy it with out a script?

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12

The higest dose you can take depends on your tollerance, also your weight. Lenny Bruce, the comedian used to shoot 18, 4 mg at one shot. He got to know so many doctors, I don't see why he didn't just get them to give him a big bottle of liquid already to shoot. That way you don't have to worry about finding a vein/8 mg's liquid mixed with 10 mg's of liquid Vallium is a nice shot. If you want more than that you are just greedy and you will bulid up a tollerance so it won't get you any higher or kill any more pain. If a drug does not get you high, it does not kill pain. If it is not addictive, it doesn't do anything, so why take it?

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13

I do not suggest that after taking prescription pain medication for a long time that you stop abruptly.
You can suffer severe consequences, even death. You should at the advice of a medical Doctor slowly wean off the drugs.

Hope this helps...................

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14

I just had lower back surgery a week and 1/2 ago and was given 13 shots of dilaudid and it didn't work. What did take the pain away was a muscle relaxant pill. The problem was that after the surgery, a huge blood clot formed and pressed between my spine and a nerve sack. Perhaps try a muscle relaxant to see if it takes care of the pain.

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15

Wow, if I just post the meds I am on even the hardest core user will choke. Before I start, I take huge swings, the pain is worse in summers but in winters drop overall about 80%, Lets see this year was a bit much, too much (I am running less than half that now), 6 *60mg Oxycontin, 10*15mg Oxycodone, 12 4mg Dilaudid, SOMA, valium and 1,600mcg Fentantl Lolly-pops (expensive!). If I use too much I start to overheat, also more starts wanting more (if you know what I mean). It is easier for me to UP and DOWN the meds as the pain goes up and down than to try to stick to some schedule, I have no idea what the pain will be, and my doc (after years now) gives me all the room I need, he is otherwise very strict with his patients and meds. But after seeing me spontainously discotinuing meds many times, he takes my word for it. How much dilaudid can one take, as much as you are use to, can't do that with demerol or methadone, meds that build up or have toxic metabolites, but Oxy, Morphine based meds, dilaudid, as much as you meed, so long as it doesn't depress breathing. I do NOT feel the medications and the physical habituation is dependant on how much pain I am in and how much meds I am on. Strange but real-life pain patients are different than addicts, withdrawal for me is very mild if the pain is down, and I will automagically drop (against the screaming doctors staff you can't do that, meaning stop something like Oxy (been on Oxycontin/codone, Morphine, dilaudid, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxymorphone (after it was removed from Schedule 1! - nasty drug, potent though), fentanyl lolly-pops, I can't do the patch - I have side effect problems, best use lots of meds when I need it and back off when I don't. Not everyone has the constitution to do that - I can go to zero. GOod luck and For all the people thinking of having FUN with pain meds, let me tell you whatever problems you think you have will only get worse, in time. You will then be nuts and running out of meds... a bad place to be. If you Feel the medication, don't take any more, in fact, if you can take less (1/2) and still help the paln do so, it will have better coverage for the pain split in 1/2, take every 3-4 hours rather than 1 pill (ie perc) that has nothing left after 5-6 hours. And for you people with drug problems, less med tickles the brain less, you don't need a whole pill and a bottle of medication isn't a license to use, it is not a free high... Good luch

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16

hello, I have some info. that may apply to some of you suffering from horrible back pain. It may not be well received, it wasn't by my husband for two years. Anyway, I'm not going to go into the horrid back pain my husband suffered for ten years. He could not work for 5 years. The pain drugs did not stop the pain, but altered him completly. He had one surgery, cortisone shots you name it. Anyway, the book is called Mind Over Back Pain' By Dr. Sarno. It's amazing. That book and prayer saved my guy's life. He's pain free. Hope this info. helps someone. Barb

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17

Dawn,

Yes, you can absolutely build a tolerance to meds, though they are all a bit different, have different side effects, everyone is a little different etc. With dilaudid in particular, there is generally little to feel when taken orally (once you are use to it), so you can't take it like other meds (till you feel it as a stop signal) AND more and more will actually stop working AND MAKE THE PAIN WORSE!. That's right, it is called overmedicating. Meds have an effective range, then a point of diminishing returns and a point of negative returns - MORE WILL NOT HELP. Once I get 8-12mg in me twice that won't do any more. What to do? Use other meds in combination, switch to other meds (opiates, NSAIDS etc), Learn Yogic breathing techniques. WIth the fentanyl patch you can (if you can) put the patch where the pain is if you have a back problem - ie Low Back Pain, put the patch on top of where the pain is. With Actiq (fentanyl Lolly-pops) there are 3 things, 1 is contact, I have mouth pain and scars (surgical in the mouth), I can use the lolly-pop to retuce it by nursing the lolly-pop, putting it directly where the pain is. Also, if you have mouth pain, chewing 1/4th a dilaudid (fentanyl is 50%, oxycodone 16%, Dilaudid 30%) can be absorbed trans-mucosally - NOT FOR THE HIT, just a little med. The lolly-pop or chewing 1/4th a tab will get the meds started hitting the blood-stream quicker (again, warn you, don't chew 3-4 tabs for the HIT... bad move). Yoga or other exercise helps a great, but don't irritate it and it takes time. Accupuncture can be helpful, There is something called Reiki (I am a practitioner) that is healing with the hands, ti is lliterally meaning moving energy - it does work and no, it isn't Faith healing. It is also generally very relaxing - Reiki circles are generally FREE, check the locaklmeta-physical, new-age rock-crystal (yeah, me either) shop.. Hot bathes help, heating pad , ointment like Ben-Gay,Woodlock oil is great, strong stuff - DO NOT APPLY to tender areas (eyes, genital area, behind knees, under arms...) or after a shower - USE BEFORE hot bath/shower. Arms/legs can also be treated with woodlock oil (or Whiteflower is a bit milder, Tiger Balm also works, etc) and wrapped with ACE or lie on a heating pad. Gentle stretching, DO NOT OVER-DUE, a big mistake people make, over doing, over-medicating, not stopping when your body says to.

There is no limit on the amount of dilaudid or most other opioids (not methadone, not demerol, others...), but it hits a point where more won't take more pain away. Another medication in addition (I can have NSAIDS, SOMA, Valium, Dilaudid, Oxycodone and Fentanyl in my body at once - NOT to get high or in large amounts). SO I am saying, you might want to add another medication (or 2, 3, 4...) to your meds. What I do is a base of Oxycontin, with more oxycodone added on bad days, dilaudid and fentanyl as needed - fentanyl ilolly-pops are particularly good for hard pain that cones on fast (like a shot).
I also use it ti give a kick to the other meds that take longer to work, fentanyl has a half-life of about 1/2 hour. FYI, I have had spinal surgery/spinal cord injury c5-6, Fractured Sacrum/sciatica, pelvis and left Femar. The bad pain for me was caused by a Jaw injury, a fall to the chin about 6 feet. I also have (just found out) CPTSD, from childhood abuse and bad medical treatment, Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Meaning, it is very likely it is what made my condition so bad and meaning, you should check your physical, emotional state, health, other factors that make the pain worse, like depression (pain=depression, it is a chicken/egg thing but usually not what started the pain AND I have never had a anti-depressant that made me less unhappy about being miserable/in pain and mever less pain from anti-psychotics, only side-effects). Treatment can make pain worse, doctors don't always know what is best... Learn to not focus on the pain, think about something else - yeah, believe me, I know. It can consume your every waking moment and most of the sleeping ones. Try natural products, OILS, B vit help depression and pain. Chamomile tea/ melatonin etc to help sleep, or use a sleeping pill (ie ristoril) but be careful with them and watch your mood, particularly when taking benzo's, PILLS can cause depression, sometimes just side effects, sometimes from over-use, you need to watch yourself and find a balance. I come down/drop meds when the pain eases up, so I feel more human again, it is not a good place to stay, you forget who you are. That's me, I can triple my meds (base) and drop it back down, or in 1/2, or some to zero when not needed (for 5 years I discontinued Oxycontin in winters, the doctors/staff telling me I can't do that... so I started telling them after I stopped, or they wanted to WEAN me... Hey, I wake up, the sun is shining, ithe day is cool, the pain is down and I drop, I don't make an appointment 2-3 weeks later to talk about it, not miiss the moment... Been there, done that a dozen+ times. Listen to your body, pay attention to what changes happen - that can take hours, days, weeks or months!. , don't try a bunch of different things all at once and give them time, be patient (I know, believe me, I know... it is hard in a puddle of tears). I just mean, don't over-due with the meds, taking them you need to be objective, watch what works, how much of what works, what point does it stop working/side effects start happening... And then once you get to a point, MORE wants MORE... then you are taking too much meds. There is stuff like rebound pain, where your body expects it (mostly from NSAIDS and short acting opiates) - that is usually less painful than a pain attack and lasts a few days-few weeks (ie when I stop oxycontin I sometimes get another headache in addition to my normal headaches, asprin helps, if ithe rebound pain was from an NSAID, then I would use a different pain killer,not another NSAID, if from an opiate, then a NSAID can be used. How long rebound pain depends on how long/how much of whatever you have been using. a 2-3 week attack in me, rebound pain may be a couple days, a week-10 days if I have been on Oxy for months and then discontinue.

Also, remember dilaudid is short acting drug, it is NOT going to last 4 hours, it has a 2 hour half-life, you are better off taking less, but more often, leep a blood level up. On the other hand, if you continuously take dilaudid, say 2mg every 2 hours, in a couple weeks you are going to have a dilaudid habit, or habituation. DO NOT THINK ABOUT IT (bad, real bad), it is a natural thing to taking an opiate, just be aware of it and wean down (take less and less till it passes). Dilaudid is a particularly nasty drug to be habituated/addicted to. To avoid it, let your blood levels drop to zero a couple times a week at least. Blasting pain with meds, overmedication (I spoke of) can make the pain worse, so be careful. Watch the emotions, breath, be calm, try to sleep, eat right etc and that's about all you can do. Now if you can get a life in there somewhere you are on a role.

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18

I have been on Dilaudid for approximately five years now for lower back pain.The doc says I am in-operable.I go to a pain mgmt clinic now, after going through many drs.I started on the 2mg, about 2 months ago, started the 4. It works great for short periods, but don't miss a dose or you are out of luck.

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19

DR. ARE FAMOUS FOR THIS. THEY HAVE NEVER HAVE BEEN IN SERIOUS PAIN OR INJURY FROM CAR WRECK LIKE I WAS.

I HAVE A CRUSHED RIGHT ANKLE AND CAN NO LONGER WALK. I SHOULD HAVE DIED FROM THE WRECK. I SPENT 39 DAYS COMATOSE. MY MOTHER DID NOT LISTEN TO ME 12 YEARS AGO IN THE CASE OF A WRECK, I MADE UP MY MIND BEFORE THE WRECK. I WAS INJURED OVER 4 YEARS AGO.

TOO BAD FOR HER POOR JUDGEMENT ON HER PART. I WILL SAVE MY DILAUDID TIL I HAVE 30 4 MG PILLS AND TAKE MY LIFE.

SHE IS MENTALLY ILL AND HAS BEEN FOR 40 YEARS. MY MOTHER STILL BLAMES MY FATHER FOR THE BROKEN MARRIAGE. SHE CHEATED ON MY FATHER AND THIS CAME UP OVER THE BREAKUP. MY FATHER WON THE DIVOIRCE (MY MISTAKE FROM A STROKE FROM THE CAR WRECK).

SHE HAS BEEN THIS WAY FOR 40 YEARS, I THINK IT GOES BACK FARTHER.

SCREW HER.

I WILL BE GLAD TO END MY LIFE. SHE HAS NO IDEA OF LIVING IN ASSISTED LIVING BEING WITH MENTALLY ILL PEOPLE, AND SHE IS ONE OF THEM.

THANK GOD I MOVED OUT YEARS AGO.

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