To wish I always felt like I did on painkillers...

[StormcloakNord]

Bit of a random one - I have horrific periods so once a month, for three days I take paracetamol and dihydrocodeine. This gets me over the worst of the pain, and whilst the doctor said it would be okay, I don't like taking it for any more than three days.

Also worth noting I suffer with depression and have for years, on medication etc.

Ive noticed that for those three days of each month I'm a happier person. The painkillers make me feel ever so slightly spaced out but not enough to notice in my speech, behaviour etc. I just feel so much happier in myself, more calm etc.

I don't really know what I'm asking here... I just wish I was always that happy/content/calm. Im on an even keel with the anti-depressants but I rarely feel properly happy.

I get what you're saying I had a type of opiate for a dental thing once, it was nice. Slippery slope though by all accounts.

@Anotheruser02 I know, definitely not a slippery slope though as I'm very strict with my three days and no more. I've never been addicted to anything in my life & wouldn't want to start now.

Just musings, really! Would be nice if there was a 'healthy' substance that had that affect that didn't come with the liver issues

I know what you mean, the little buzz is great, but it makes you realise how easy it is for people with unmanaged chronic pain to become addicted to prescription medication.

Im mourning that Im going to have to stop co codamol tomorrow for a broken ankle. What could I ask my GP for instead? I get you OP, Ive enjoyed the buzz.

I totally know what you mean. I suffer from chronic pain and depression and used to love that feeling.
I don’t take dihydrocodeine any more because I have contraindications. Very sad about that.

I wasn't really thinking you were a liability to yourself, just trying to sound responsible after recommending controlled painkillers for the nice feelz.
I have thought about tying CBD oil for stress.

Yeah, it's easy to get addicted to! I get a similar high from cold water swimming

God I love the painkiller buzz

I can't wait until thc is legalised

It's a very comforting feeling.
It's why I know I could never just try heroin!

[quote StormcloakNord]@Anotheruser02 I know, definitely not a slippery slope though as I'm very strict with my three days and no more. I've never been addicted to anything in my life & wouldn't want to start now.

Just musings, really! Would be nice if there was a 'healthy' substance that had that affect that didn't come with the liver issues [/quote]
Just to note, there's absolutely nothing nice about addiction, it's a disease that only ever ends in 3 ways, jails, institutions and death. I've lost friends and loved ones to it.

Don't take for granted that it won't happen to you, musing over 'how nice' a feeling you get from opiates is a dangerous path, especially if you also suffer depression or anxiety, it can hit you without you realising, all of a sudden your self medicating....

I'd say take care and be aware if your feeling like this.

My friend is a pill-popper and gave me some of her codeine tablets last year when I was having trouble sleeping. Sweet Jesus, they were divine - I drifted off into a fuzzy, buzzy heaven

I take prescription cocodamol for period pain. I find myself looking forward to being on my period so I can take them. I would take them over the slightest headache because I like the buzz, but I've stopped cos it just means they run out quicker and I have to ask for more.

I started taking codeine for pain when I was younger, then started relying on them to ease my anxiety and depression.

Fast forward a few years, full blown addict and ended up in rehab.

I still struggle now with the temptation. Definitely a slippery slope, even at the beginning when you think it’s not.

I get more joy out of actual life now, and have many times replicated the ‘feeling’ you get just on pure natural happiness.

You could maybe try cbd oil. I take it sometimes and am not sure if it's the placebo effect or not but I do think it makes me feel more relaxed.

Thats why people take opiates
I was addicted to them for years for that reason and it took me months to wean myself off them.

@Themadcatparade

I started taking codeine for pain when I was younger, then started relying on them to ease my anxiety and depression.

Fast forward a few years, full blown addict and ended up in rehab.

I still struggle now with the temptation. Definitely a slippery slope, even at the beginning when you think it’s not.

I get more joy out of actual life now, and have many times replicated the ‘feeling’ you get just on pure natural happiness.

Congratulations on your recovery, you should feel really proud of yourself!

It's an opiate- just like heroin.

Opiate addiction is opiate addiction. No reason heroin addicts should be more socially scorned than all the millions of prescription drug addicts.

Read up on celebrity early deaths- they almost all had opiates in their system.

I would only accept opiates in life or death situations.

Future generations will look back on our ability to get these from the chemist with the same horror that we have that coke used to contain cocaine.

I understand.

I have lupus and suffer with severe pain. I have Cocodamol 30/500 and tramadol on prescription. Obviously I don’t take both at the same time! And I try not to take them at all, maybe just every other day or even less just when I can’t cope. But when I do I feel amazing. Calm and relaxed and like I don’t really care about anything - a bit like the nice bit of being drunk (I actually haven’t drunk a drop of alcohol for 12 years but as I remember it anyway)!

I can see how people get addicted.

I do think it’s important to remember though that for many people drugs like Codeine and tramadol etc are the only way to have any sort of functioning life.

There is a drink called Sentia on the market now which makes you feel a bit like that. It is a herbal non-alcoholic drink. It didn’t agree with me and I didn’t like the taste but you could try it. It is quite relaxing.

It’s an opiate . Painkiller use can spiral quickly ….please don’t underestimate the risk of getting addicted even if you feel you have it under control. A good friend of mine ended up collapsing with a perforated bowel ( NOT pleasant ) and it took her months to recover after the operation .

It’s a very, very slippery slope.

And I say this as someone who is at the tail end of a horrific and crippling Morphine addiction. I have two chronic pain conditions and was allowed to just put repeat prescriptions in for MST and Oramorph for six years without any reviews or anything from my GP or consultant.

Now I have no pain relief at all and I’m in fucking agony but I’d rather that than what I was like a year ago when I approached my GP for help.

Bugger

I've just been in hospital for major surgery. I reused the codine as they had previously made me feel sick. With id tried them again now.

Im taking naproxen, but it just makes me tired & that's not fun!

Yip I agree. Currently on codeine for sciatica, but have previously been prescribed up to 8 tramadol per day (many many years ago) and I can still remember how spaced out I was, bit not in a good way. After a couple of days it starts to affect my sleep, and sleep I one thing that I absolutely treasure.

I was prescribed dihydrocodeine when I shattered my coccyx. It meant I was able to shuffle around after weeks and weeks of laying on my front sobbing.

My GP only prescribed it short term as I'm a recovering alcoholic, and the addiction potential is high.

I totally understand the buzz you get from it - for me, it was a combination of the codeine high and being able to move around independently again. I felt better than I had in months, the relief of being out of excruciating pain and having the energetic buzz was fantastic.