Anything to get outta pain!!

Vioxx, Vicodin, Norco, Flexiril, Skelaxin, Advil, etc. etc. etc. They threw it all at me.

It started out with Vioxx and Vicodin. It did nothing. Within a few weeks, They had me taking 2 Norco every 6 hours and god knows how much Vioxx. 2 Norco... That is like taking 16 Vicodin a day! Well, it did kill the pain as long as I used position management, but it wasn't enough. At one point they even gave me Oxycontin. When I researched that, it scared me to death, and along with the fact that it gave me horrible nausea, I only took it once.

The funny thing is that all of these meds really didn;t do that much, and the docctors just kept giving me more and more. I can completely see how easily people become pain killer addicts!

If i try to break it all down to what worked and what didn't, the most ironic thing is that if I could only take one single thing of the bunch, it would be Advil. It was the one thing that had the most effect on my pain. So here I am with triplicate prescriptions, and good ole over the counter Advil was the best thing I had!

My #2 would have been the Flexiril, such that I think had I only taken a combo of Flexiril and Advil, I would have done just as well.

The Advil, being an anti-inflammatory, in combination with the flexiril, which is a muscle relaxant, took pressure off the nerve.

The flexiril had another side effect... it helped me sleep, which is a premium when your back is on fire, but it didn't make me drowsy. This is hard to explain, but I was completely alert, yet if I chose to sleep, I could.

Back to the Norco... After I had the surgery, and had recovered a bit, I had been taking the Norco for 3 1/2 months. I decided to stop, and BAM! I had no idea what would happen. I went through major withdrawals. I went to my doctor and explained what was going on. I was seriously depressed, was getting hot flashes and chills, and couldn't sleep. I explained all of this to him, and he handed me a prescription for more Norco. When I explained that I was having this problem as a result of stopping, all he said was that he didn;t want me in pain, so I should take more!

Anyhow, despite the doctor's desire for me to be a pain killer addict, I spent two weeks tapering myself off the stuff and going through hell. I wished I had never taken it... It would have been easier to have dealt with the back pain.

My suggestion to anyone daring enough is to stay away from the stuff if you can. Try all alternatives before you go to the hardcore pain management meds for any length of time.