Tolerance for pain

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

I have had three times in my life that I have been offered or prescribed Vicodin, I never used it, just did not feel the need.  Now needles hurt, I am not immune to pain but I can tolerate many things. And yes I constantly feel pain somewhere but I don’t feel a need to narcotize it.

 

I sometimes thought I could sit on a park bench and sell my current pills for a bunch but I don’t want to. )))

 

my Son-in-law would have taken them off my hands when he broke his shoulder.  

[irish ike, SASS #43615]

I've had 3 surgeries on joints. They prescribed Oxycodone. One of the most addictive of them. I took it for the first few days and then transferred to Tylenol. My dad got hooked on the crap from his surgeries. Took us awhile to get him ok once he moved in with us.

[Chantry]

I had 6 teeth (all 4 wisdom and 2 lower molars) removed by an oral surgeon and they gave me Tylenol with codeine.  I don't think I felt "high" or "buzzed", I think they made me a little sleepy and I only took one or two.

 

I was being sedated by an IV and I actually woke up during the procedure and wanted to chat with the oral surgeon.  One of the drugs in the anesthesia cocktail was sodium pentothal.   Woke up during a colonoscopy and asked the doctor if we were done yet, that was an IV sedation as well.  I went in for a minor surgery and I told the anesthesiologist I was resistant to anesthesia.  He put the mask on my face and told me to count down from 10.  I think I maybe made it to 7 before I was out cold and didn't wake up until I was in the recovery room.

 

The worst part was that I was a smoker and the time and the feeling of trying to take drag on a cigarette with an empty socket where a tooth used to be was very unpleasant, but not painful.

[Muleshoe Bill SASS #67022]

There is in my mind a major difference between hurt and pain. Needle jab stings pain of about .10 on 1 - 10.  run chainsaw over shin 5 in hurt.   Dentist cut gums back, lay jaw bone open  and scrape and grind deteriorated bone away, pack with cadaver bone, sew it all up with 2 teeth pulled. 6 on the PAIN scale

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

With severe pain, kidney stones, would/surgical pain, narcotics work very well. Not a big deal. You don't get addicted to them with use for acute pain, because you don't use them for long.

[Alpo]

13 minutes ago, Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 said:

With severe pain, kidney stones, would/surgical pain

Wound?

If that wasn't otto messing with you, what does that mean?

 

 

[Three Foot Johnson]

Four years ago tomorrow, I went up to clean the chimney and ended sliding off the roof, fortunately at the spot with the shortest drop. On the way down, my knee got sliced open on a roofing screw or something. There was no way I was getting through the snow and out to the highway for a day or two, so I thought to myself, "If you're going to fix this, you better damn well do it while it's still numb." Yeah, it didn't stay numb long enough.  Ambesol helped a little, but didn't do much when I flushed it out with Makers Mark when I was done. A low grade infection developed, but cleared up in a few days. I think this was the day I pulled the stitches. Never did go see the doc. 

 

 

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

Yes, alpo, 'wound'. Can't blame otto, though....

[Utah Bob #35998]

Other than aspirin about the only painkiller I’ve er er taken was when I severely sprained my ankle in the Army way up in the mountains of New Hampshire in ‘69. We were carrying bigass mountain rucksacks and I was also toting the heavy hand cranked generator for the radio. 
My ankle turned 90° and made a lot of popping sounds when I stepped on a rock that rolled. All the weight I was carrying was on that leg. My medic checked me out and determined it wasn’t’t broken but we had 7 miles to get to the extraction point.

Fortunately, Special Forces medics carry a pretty good pharmacy. He gave me a couple of pretty pills and in 20 minutes I was happily skipping down the trail. And I mean Happily.

Next morning I wasn’t so happy. 

[Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438]

58 minutes ago, Three Foot Johnson said:

Four years ago tomorrow, I went up to clean the chimney and ended sliding off the roof, fortunately at the spot with the shortest drop. On the way down, my knee got sliced open on a roofing screw or something. There was no way I was getting through the snow and out to the highway for a day or two, so I thought to myself, "If you're going to fix this, you better damn well do it while it's still numb." Yeah, it didn't stay numb long enough.  Ambesol helped a little, but didn't do much when I flushed it out with Makers Mark when I was done. A low grade infection developed, but cleared up in a few days. I think this was the day I pulled the stitches. Never did go see the doc. 

 

 

3FT:

 

Did your Momma let you sew up the turkey on Thanksgiving?  Nice needlework!

 

LL

[Pat Riot]

I also had a Dad that was addicted to pain meds. I am very careful. 
 

I have taken lots of pain meds as I have had lots of pain for a variety of reasons. 
@Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619is correct, if you are taking them for acute pain they are not addicting. It’s when folks take them for extended periods the problems can start happening. 

 

I won’t bother listing my wounds, injuries, surgeries, etc. it’ll take too long. 

[Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life]

3 hours ago, Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 said:

With severe pain, kidney stones, would/surgical pain, narcotics work very well. Not a big deal. You don't get addicted to them with use for acute pain, because you don't use them for long.

This ^^^^

When I had my knee replacement they gave me 5 days worth of oxycodone. Said if I felt I needed more there was a 10 day "cooling off" period before they would refill the prescription. Basically did my home rehab, went to sleep, more rehab back to sleep. Never did see the recreational attraction.

Nearly three years later I still have  a couple days worth of those things, should probably toss them.

Regards

   

Gateway Kid

[irish ike, SASS #43615]

Weird Oxy story. My step mom passed away so we went down to So Cal to make arrangements and bring my Dad back to live with us. Apparently both of them were prescribed Oxy for various reasons. We found numerous pill bottles and over 300 Oxy tablets. Yikes.

We called and called trying to find a pharmacy to take them. One finally did. We were told the street value in 2007 $6,500.

[Utah Bob #35998]

3 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

I also had a Dad that was addicted to pain meds. I am very careful. 
 

I have taken lots of pain meds as I have had lots of pain for a variety of reasons. 
@Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619is correct, if you are taking them for acute pain they are not addicting. It’s when folks take them for extended periods the problems can start happening. 

 

I won’t bother listing my wounds, injuries, surgeries, etc. it’ll take too long. 

Problem is that “acute pain” is a matter of perception and tolerance unfortunately.

[Pat Riot]

Just now, Utah Bob #35998 said:

Problem is that “acute pain” is a matter of perception and tolerance unfortunately.

That is true. 
 

I remember telling a doctor once that the pain in my foot was an 8 or a 9. Then I had some broken ribs puncture a lung and some muscle tissue. Turns out that foot pain was probably a 4 or 5. 

[J-BAR #18287]

2 hours ago, irish ike, SASS #43615 said:

Weird Oxy story. My step mom passed away so we went down to So Cal to make arrangements and bring my Dad back to live with us. Apparently both of them were prescribed Oxy for various reasons. We found numerous pill bottles and over 300 Oxy tablets. Yikes.

We called and called trying to find a pharmacy to take them. One finally did. We were told the street value in 2007 $6,500.

 

If you found that many, it means your folks were not taking them. Good on them!

[Michigan Slim]

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

I'm allergic to codeine and can't take aspirin because of the Warfarin I use daily.  I refuse to take most pain killers just because I'm usually tough enough to deal with it.

 

Broke three ribs and my back a few weeks ago and lived through some really serious pain on huge doses max strength Tylenol.   Down to two tablets twice a day and will probably drop it to one twice a day by Monday.

 

[Mezcal Charlie]

2 hours ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

Problem is that “acute pain” is a matter of perception and tolerance unfortunately.

I take Norco, the new Vicodin. I disagree about the pain  as a matter of perception. I have a high tolerance for pain. Both knees replaced after years of bone on bone. Both shoulders reconstructed. Cancer with surgery. And I take the meds to make life livable. I’m not addicted but enjoy the relief from pain they provide. Just because some people can’t handle or abuse pain meds doesn’t make it bad. Just like booze. Alcoholism ruins lives but no one wants to ban it. 
And when I say I know pain, the last knee replacement surgery they used a new nerve block that only lasts about 45 minutes and I went 1-1/2 hours without any pain meds until they got someone who understood the situation. The nurses all thought I was being a baby because they thought I still had the nerve block. Pain was without a doubt a 10. 

[Nostrum Damus SASS #110702]

I'm also one with a very high tolerance for pain, both shoulders reconstructed (one after falling down a flight of stairs and being revived by EMS with my right arm folded back underneath me), too many accidents resulting in need for surgery to put body parts back where they belonged.  Fortunately, I've never gotten addicted to any pain meds, even though I've taken them long-term after major disasters.  I shattered and crushed my right side ribcage in a surfing accident in Brazil in October 2015 -- twenty rib fractures.  I thought I already knew it by then, but I learned what "10" really is on my pain scale: when I can neither see nor speak and repeatedly pass out because my brain is trying to protect me from experiencing the pain.  After two weeks in hospital with a network of implanted catheters delivering morphine both into my bloodstream and directly to specific nerve bundles inside my chest (and even then there were times when I almost decided that I didn't want to suffer the pain of breathing anymore), they sent me home and I was bedridden for almost 3 months taking an array of meds (actually, them being given to me because I couldn't keep straight which one to take when), around the clock, including high dose Fentanyl transdermal patches.  I will tell you that Fentanyl works -- other than morphine, it was the only thing that could stop the pain -- but I could not wait to stop taking it.  I was done with Fentanyl after those 3 months in bed and was then prescribed far less dangerous things -- like oxycodone -- to manage the pain.  Full recovery took about 2 years, for most of which I just put up with the constant pain, without pain meds.  Some folks can do it, some cannot.  I am one of those who can because I just never seemed to develop either physical or psychological addictions.  The meds were just tools to me, and their use is to be avoided if at all possible.

[Pat Riot]

One thing is for sure. One can feel their own pain. One cannot feel anyone else’s pain. What one can stand another may not and vice versa. Each individual is wired similarly but differently. What hurts me like blazes may only irritate another. 
 

Don’t believe me? Hand a group of kids each a Jalapeño pepper from the same plant and have them all bite the end off their pepper and chew it. There will be similar reactions but then there will be the kid or two happily munching away while another one or two makes for the sink to get water to wash away the pain. 
My daughter’s Girl Scout troop did an experiment like this when she was a teen. 
 

Nervous systems are similar but not the same in everyone. 

[Nostrum Damus SASS #110702]

10 hours ago, Mezcal Charlie said:

I take Norco, the new Vicodin. I disagree about the pain  as a matter of perception. I have a high tolerance for pain. Both knees replaced after years of bone on bone. Both shoulders reconstructed. Cancer with surgery. And I take the meds to make life livable. I’m not addicted but enjoy the relief from pain they provide. Just because some people can’t handle or abuse pain meds doesn’t make it bad. Just like booze. Alcoholism ruins lives but no one wants to ban it. 
And when I say I know pain, the last knee replacement surgery they used a new nerve block that only lasts about 45 minutes and I went 1-1/2 hours without any pain meds until they got someone who understood the situation. The nurses all thought I was being a baby because they thought I still had the nerve block. Pain was without a doubt a 10. 

I had a similar experience to yours after one of my shoulder surgeries.  After they're done sewing you back together, you get parked in a post-op area and the morphine is still flowing in the IV tube.  One of the little connectors separated and my IV line was dripping onto the floor instead of into my vein.  I started ringing the call bell and then actually crying a bit until they figured out why I was in so much pain, which they quickly remedied with an extra boost and reconnecting the tube.  All sorts of other weird stuff can happen with anesthesia, too.  During cancer surgery, they had to bring me back to semi-conscious for a couple of hours while biopsies were being done to make sure everything that needed to go was truly gone.  I listened to Springsteen music with the OR nurses and the anesthesiologist to pass the time.  Once the surgeon was happy with the biopsy results, they turned up the juice and started working again on the reconstructive part of the operation which required harvesting other good parts from elsewhere to use as replacement parts for the removed cancerous stuff.  Only problem was that I was still conscious when they started up again.  It didn't really hurt so much but I think the surgeon was surprised when I opened my eyes and told him that I could feel him cutting me.  Next thing I knew, I woke up again three hours later.

[Mezcal Charlie]

4 hours ago, Nostrum Damus SASS #110702 said:

I had a similar experience to yours after one of my shoulder surgeries.  After they're done sewing you back together, you get parked in a post-op area and the morphine is still flowing in the IV tube.  One of the little connectors separated and my IV line was dripping onto the floor instead of into my vein.  I started ringing the call bell and then actually crying a bit until they figured out why I was in so much pain, which they quickly remedied with an extra boost and reconnecting the tube.  All sorts of other weird stuff can happen with anesthesia, too.  During cancer surgery, they had to bring me back to semi-conscious for a couple of hours while biopsies were being done to make sure everything that needed to go was truly gone.  I listened to Springsteen music with the OR nurses and the anesthesiologist to pass the time.  Once the surgeon was happy with the biopsy results, they turned up the juice and started working again on the reconstructive part of the operation which required harvesting other good parts from elsewhere to use as replacement parts for the removed cancerous stuff.  Only problem was that I was still conscious when they started up again.  It didn't really hurt so much but I think the surgeon was surprised when I opened my eyes and told him that I could feel him cutting me.  Next thing I knew, I woke up again three hours later.

Ouch! I’m more worried about the being awake than the pain. I’ve heard stories like yours. Hope the cancer is gone!

[irish ike, SASS #43615]

16 hours ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

If you found that many, it means your folks were not taking them. Good on them!

Actually they would but the bottles in places and forget. Then get more. Dad had Alzheimers. He'd forget he took a pill and then say I need my pill. We worked with him for 4 months. Finally got him to think Tylenol was his "pain" meds.

[Nostrum Damus SASS #110702]

2 hours ago, Mezcal Charlie said:

Ouch! I’m more worried about the being awake than the pain. I’ve heard stories like yours. Hope the cancer is gone!

Still here, still kickin' butt

[Mezcal Charlie]

16 minutes ago, Nostrum Damus SASS #110702 said:

Still here, still kickin' butt

That’s how you do it. I’m kicking butt and getting initials cause names take too long. Stay strong pard!

[Maddog McCoy SASS #5672]

Since I had shoulders surgery yesterday and the nerve block wore off during the nihht last night, please send me any extra morphine you all have. So far all I have gotten is some Tylenol, and  they just filled my pecrition for Norco but have no taken any yet. . I am on my phone so hard to type. As long as i dont move andkeep it in place it is not too bad for pain. Sitting at parents house in sling and in recliner propped up. Worse part is it iches under the dressing on my shoulder and i can not scratch it 

[Mezcal Charlie]

Use the ice, that really helps. As for the itch that’s a tough thing but I’m married so I had a back scratcher;)

[Nostrum Damus SASS #110702]

Maddog, sorry for your pain and troubles.  I feel for you.  It gets better -- though not for a while, sorry.  My best advice: when the time comes, DO THE REHAB LIKE A RELIGIOUS FANATIC ZEALOT, LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT.  NO PAIN, NO GAIN is never more true.  I know a guy who didn't take his shoulder rehab seriously enough, and NEVER regained full use of one of his arms and all the doc could tell him was "sorry, I told you so, nothing more we can do now."

[Utah Bob #35998]

I recalled the only other time I’ve had serious painkillers. After an operation to remove about 4 inches of my colon in 2011, l was in my hospital room in bad shape and on a morphine pump. As I watched the wall of the room faded away and in it’s place was a beautiful mountain meadow. Snow capped peaks surrounded it and it was full of wildflowers. Walking across the meadow in a yellow sundress was my wife. She walked to my bed smiling and held my hand. It was perhaps the most peaceful feeling I have ever had. 
But after a few moments I found myself saying “No. This is not real”, and the hallucination rapidly faded. I was shaken. I never pressed the morphine button again.

The next morning Carol assured me she had not been in any wildflower meadows lately.

I would have to be in grave condition to ever want any more narcotics.

[Nostrum Damus SASS #110702]

I've never had any hallucinations.  Not ever.  Not with morphine, not with oxycodone, not with Fentanyl.  I have experienced the sensation of escape from my broken body, which was exactly what I needed at the time.  Like Mexcal Charlie said, different people react differently.  To me, when needed, these all provided welcome relief from the bad ways I found myself in at those dark times.  Different strokes for different folks; if it is not right for you, then it is not right for you.  Now, as Bullion Rose keeps reminding me, the goal is to not do such stupid things anymore, and avoid suffering the broken body injuries in the first place.  Life is more enjoyable that way, she says.  She's smart, that one -- smarter than me, that's for sure.

[DeaconKC]

After smashing up my spine I have chronic pain. I found myself in the ICU at one point and they put me on morphine. It was the first time in years I was not in pain. When I caught myself looking forward to the next shot, I had them get me off it, as my family has a bad history of addiction to painkillers.

[Cactus Jack Calder]

On 1/20/2022 at 7:19 PM, irish ike, SASS #43615 said:

Weird Oxy story. My step mom passed away so we went down to So Cal to make arrangements and bring my Dad back to live with us. Apparently both of them were prescribed Oxy for various reasons. We found numerous pill bottles and over 300 Oxy tablets. Yikes.

We called and called trying to find a pharmacy to take them. One finally did. We were told the street value in 2007 $6,500.

In the little village where I live the PD has a metal box similar to a mail box inside the building. Remove the label from the bottle and  drop off the pills, no questions. I believe this is a good way to handle it. There are probably many areas that have similar ways of disposing of unwanted drugs now.

 

CJ

[watab kid]

i was given similar twice in life the first time i took one the first night and decided the pain was not as bad as the side affects of the pills , never took any the second , this is not because i have a high tolerance for pain - i dont , i just would prefer that to some of the things i felt when i took that first big black pill in 1972 

[Clay Mosby]

When I was in the army a slip and fall left me with a severely bruised lower spine. I recovered and all seemed well until I started traveling through my 50's. Developed a debilitating case of sciatica. After many x-rays and an MRI it was discovered a disc was bulging so they went in and worked on it reducing sciatica to tolerable levels. But over the next few years it got worse, the disc between L5-S1 blew out and they opted to fuse the joint.  That fusion didn't hold so a year later they went back in and inserted rods and a cage.

By that time the nerves had been irritated and compressed for so long that relieving the pressure didn't reduce the pain level. So, to function normally I take an opioid pain reliever 3 times a day. Even then pain is usually around a 5 on the 10 point scale. 

Narcotics have their uses, when used correctly and for the correct reasons. And yes, like anything, they are bad if misused. Unfortunately the damn pol's got involved, and as they usually do, starting making laws to save us from ourselves and ended up punishing the innocent instead of the guilty. Because of them I have to jump through hoops, travel in person to the pharmacy, cannot get more than a 30 day supply at a time and take random drug tests.  Instead of coming down hard on the criminals pushing illegal sources, they go after those that use responsibly, making it harder and harder to obtain our medication.

Please, before the flaming arrows fly, I am NOT belittling those that had an issue through no fault of their own. They need the full support of the medical profession and support from family.