Addiction-Part 1

Why is it when a person takes pain meds, the reaction of some is, "You better watch out, you'll become addicted." My favorite, from a few people whom Gil works with, is to ask him about what I take and do I actually take all of them? Also, to tell Gil I really should get my doc to give me the "good" stuff and then we can make money on the side!

None of the aforementioned things thrill me. Let me see if I can clear up some common misconceptions about me and my "drug" habit.

"You better watch out, you'll become addicted." Or it not being said to me but to my Gil, "You better watch her, she's gonna become addicted." HAHAHAHAHAHA Yes, I find this highly amusing! Why? Because I will never become addicted. To become addicted to something, it requires wanting to take the substance(drugs,alcohol or anything else for that matter). Having a deep seated psychological need to have it or you'll die attitude. Despite what others think, I do NOT want to take these meds. I hate,make that HATE, them with a passion. If I could, I would stop taking them right this minute. I take them because I HAVE to, not because I WANT to. If I were to stop taking them, yes I would go through withdrawl. That happens when you take any medication, be it a pain med, a muscle relaxer or lyrica, etc, for a long time. It doesn't mean I'm an addict. It means my body is dependent on maintaing a certain level of the drugs in my system.

Dependency and addiction are not the same thing. I'd suggest going to look it up and learning the correct terminology. When you have a lot of pain you don't get "high" from taking pain pills. Why you ask? You don't get high because the body takes the sweet nectar of the pill and uses it to stomp on the nasty pain and teach it a lessonm just for a little while anyway. People who are addicted have to take them, the like the high they get and they also have to take more and more over time in order to get high. I do not. Simple no? I have not nor will I ever get high. I function normally, laughing, crying, and getting angry. If you didn't know I have a progressive chronic pain disorder, you'd never know I take anything at all.

For having full body RSD/CRPS, I take a very low dose of pain med, not only pill wise but quantity wise as well. I can do that because my dad gave me great genes! I've always been thankful I take after my dad. I look younger than I am, always have, although at one point in life I hated it! Now that I'm turning the big 4-0 this year, I'm very, very thankful. I have always been skinny. I became even more thankful when I developed RSD. A high pain tolerance and good metabolism enable me to take, what is for some, the same as taking candy. It doesn't touch their pain even on a good day. I can save the "good" stuff for the years to come.

Stayed tuned for Addiction-Part 2. I wrote this because something Gil said a couple of days ago got under my skin. It's a subject that is not far from my mind most days. It is my reality and I felt the need to address it finally. Kind of a "set the record" straight thing in a way. Also to just vent these feelings I carry with me like so much baggage.