We are all in total agreement on that....100%.

I had back surgery about 20 years ago wherein they had to go in and actually open up the gaps through which the nerve bundles exit the spine. I had a couple of degenerated discs, built up scar tissue, and something else going on with the vertebrae - calcification, or some other manner of growth on them. Whatever it was, the net result was pinched nerves that were simply debilitating. Like in the hospital, bedridden debilitating.

The docs gave me whatever pain meds were in vogue back then when they sent me home after the surgery. Some high-zoot opioid like percocet, percodan, or something. I was adamant that "I'm not taking that schitt". The doctor told me that the pain relief was critical to my recovery, in that I would subconsciously relax the affected area a good deal more than if I was in pain.

So, yeah, I'm sure every case is different. With that in mind, I think it should be up to the doctor and the patient to work out what is going to work best, not some faceless, politically motivated CDC hack a thousand miles away.

Back when I was hit by a drunk driver who slammed into the side of my 1st Porsche 944 (we were both doing 60+), I had a shattered pelvis, and many broken ribs, along with two places on my foot, and my sternum....needless to say, there was pain !

They zoned me out with morphine while in the hospital (helped me sleep), and sent home with a script for oxycodone while I was still in a rented hospital bed in my living room. I took the first pill, and started getting hot, then cold, then nauseous, of which my inabilty to move AT ALL by myself made for great discomfort. After taking another pill the next day, and having the same thing happen, I swore off all pain killers from that point forward, and to this day haven't taken anything for any reason.

The leftover pills from the prescription were weaseled out me by my MIL, who still had phantom pains leftover from her two prescriptions for the same thing a year earlier. I guess some people need that crutch, I don't !

All of the doctors were amazed at the quickness of my recovery, and dumbfounded at my indifference to pain.

Really interesting article.

In a nutshell, they greatly reduced the amount of delivered narcotic AND got better pain scores overall by just going from IV to subQ delivery... which was the standard practice 25 - 30 years ago...which is before the 'crisis'.

Makes hugely logical sense if you think about the physical aspects of each process.

Perhaps medicine just got hooked on bigger better faster more?


https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2681060?_ga=2.222345170.893479469.1555695690-367151978.1555695690

IV hits you all at once, subQ is spread out more. Same area under the curve, but the curve has a much flatter shape.

You don't get addicted in a week. Older sister on methadone is entirely different from an addict scoring smack on the corner.

When my wife went in for surgery they gave her oxycodone... she was knocked out but squirming and scratching (still had IV's) so I found a nurse and firmly requested they change her meds, fortunately nurse was proactive and called the Dr. and got the meds changed.

When I had my carpel tunnel I had the same hot cold reaction, it was a cold rainy night and I was alternating between sitting on the couch wearing sweats wrapped in a blanket and going out in the porch in just my sweats to cool off, really freaked my wife out. Not sure if it was what they knocked me out with for the surgery or the pain killers the gave me to take home.

And this has my very worried about knee replacement in the near future... everyone I talked to has said it hurts A LOT. :(

For my hip replacement the doc prescribed some pain killer that was not Oxycontin or Oxycodone, or whatever. It had a very different name. It did a good job, but I was happy to get off of them.

After recent oral surgery, I got some Oxy. It just made me feel weird. I can't fathom why anyone would want to feel like that.

I had a recent sinus infection. That led to a bit of congestion and bronchitis. The doc prescribed some good cough medicine. Orange stuff with a little gritty texture to it. It was a class 4 narcotic. I can only get a weeks worth, and it the prescription had to be hand delivered to my pharmacy. That cough medicine is good stuff, especially if you like to sleep. Take some before bed and it will seem like time travel when the alarm clock goes off in what seems like a few minutes after going to bed.

I would sleep all day if I took it during the day.

You're right....long time Oxycontin and others prescribed by a couple of her docs did though....starting in around '04....for a decade...to an ADDICT. No Heroin in my sis's history, but most start like she did :(. When she had the surgery back then.....I feared the worst....it was worse than that...:(.

I think I have been on IV three times, molars remover as a child (sodium pentothal, instant knockout)
Motorcycle accident, leg broke in two places at 27YO (they wouldn't tell what they were giving me, pretty sure morphine).
Carpal tunnel (see above)

I think it was either the dentist or the leg break... they injected the stuff into the IV then started getting ready for surgery. After about 20 seconds I look up and say "uh" the nurse wiggled the needle and I said "okay" and was out like a light bulb.

Fast forward 15 months.

Five months in lock down rehab experienced. Half way house since. Clean since Dec 2017. Meetings, etc. Says he misses beer the most.

Nailed a job configuring and installing business telecom systems. They like him.

He's not skinny anymore.

Could be way worse.

Congratulations Bob! Your son is doing well. Has to be a great relief for you.

That's awesome Bob....kudos to him and all those that tried (and failed along the way too).

I was mebbe 12-13 back in the early 70s when I visited my sis in one...a few times. Dr. Toby & others' professional opinions vary....heard them...lived them....best to all...you docs also.

My sis went cold turkey on a 2x (recommended dosage of Ambien a few years back)....

Nuthin' but methadone now....enough to kill any of us....managing and doing the best she has in 14-15 years...

My buddy's wife....SOBER and off the Morphine....a beaming gramdmother....best she's been in 2 decades...

Victories....they are out there....but it's damn hard....

Best to you all....I'm putting this topic behind me....at least for now :)

Have you ever considered attending some Al Anon meetings? They can go a long way in helping the addict's family do the best (and no more) for the addict.

Good point. I can be an enabler. Not a pushover but no one says I am a tough love kind of parent.

In fact, one of the employees at the car parts store said to me yesterday "You making money today or are you making friends?" I asked him not to confuse me with the facts. :)

Thanks for all the kind words, everybody.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1556045597.jpg

We watched the movie Beautiful Boy recently. Not for the faint of heart to be sure, but very well done and a very very accurate account of a father and son suffering through the son's addiction. The movie is based on two memoirs, one from David Sheff (a journalist who has written for The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Playboy, Wired, Fortune, etc) called Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction and the other from his son Nic Sheff called Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines.

Again, not for the faint of heart, but important for any family dealing with addiction.

Torba, any idea what the hot/cold flashed after surgery is all about?
I never had a allergic reaction to any meds.

More info might be helpful. How soon, and what meds/reaction.

Don't know what they knocked me out with for surgery (IV).

Been years but when I went back I asked the Dr what the pills were... little foggy on it but pretty sure he said it was Vicodin (it wasn't labeled as such but the Dr. said it was Vicodin)

I have had that before with the radical reaction.

Prolly a propofol cocktail... Lol

Could be several things. People can get cold during surgery (the rooms are generally kept in the mid or high 60's) or the warming devices and draping materials can make people sweat. People can also shiver after anesthesia despite a normal body temperature. Anesthetics are well known to cause problems for the usual body temperature regulatory mechanisms and are typically not allergic sorts of reactions.

As an aside, the numbers and sorts of reactions people now characterize as 'allergies' has gone nuts. Part of that is the numbers and sorts of meds people are now prescribed but a lot of it is people (patients and healthcare sorts) characterizing known side effects as allergies.