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Comment by schoolornot | Hacker News Reader

Had invasive surgery on my humerus that involved drilling & cutting into bone and muscle. The pain following the nerve block wearing off was indescribable. Groaning was about the most I could do. The pills might as well have been made out of sugar.

You're right, perspective does change permanently. There weren't "seeing the light" moments but I certainly know now who my friends are. I have an interesting view of life now. The residual pain is a reminder that I don't have time for nonsense anymore. A pain in the arm is enough, I don't need a pain in the ass also.

I'm also viciously dismissive now of any legislation or practices that limit controlled substances. I'm not an addict and I shouldn't be punished for other peoples acts.

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> I'm also viciously dismissive now of any legislation or practices that limit controlled substances. I'm not an addict and I shouldn't be punished for other peoples acts.

I find myself agreeing with this. Opiate overuse and addiction is certainly a problem, but I also question some of the negativity I see regarding their use (from a UK perspective). I was on tramadol (200mg/day) for about six months, and was told, by my consultant, that coming off them "will be worse than quitting heroin". I just stopped taking them, and saw no ill effects. I've twice been on codeine (240mg/day) for around 8-12 months, and was given similar, albeit less severe, warnings about withdrawal. In both cases, there were no side effects upon stopping. I have to wonder if such warnings make withdrawal symptoms more likely through the nocebo effect[1].

They certainly have been misused in many ways, but they also have their place and make long-term pain much easier to deal with.

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3352765/

If it's a real concern then managing coming off the pills should really be part of the treatment. Don't just leave people to wing it. Did they offer that to you?

I've also been similarly able to cold turkey quit opiates taken for chronic pain. I know from listening to medical call-in shows that depending on the dose and frequency, that can be a very bad idea. I feel like there must also be some kind of other variable that factors into whether or not you'll experience adverse effects, or otherwise our experiences wouldn't be possible.

I've had unexplained knee pain for almost a decade. I've done everything people recommend, stretches, PT, rolfing (which is great to be honest) etc. I was and am currently in great shape and stretch for 30-60 minutes a day. The only thing I've ever found to work for bad days is over the counter 8mg Codeine tablets you can get in Canada. I can't get them in the US or even for a doctor to consider it, they're terrified of prescribing pain medicine. Because of Covid I haven't been able to go to Canada for a while and I'm worried what will happen in the next few months. The over reaction to opioid abuse and other people abusing the system has really punished people with chronic pain. I have friends who have been on opioids of pain management, veterans, getting cut off cold turkey by their physicians.

I need azulfidine (sulfasalazine, salazopyrine) to control my arthritis flare ups. It suddenly disappeared from pharmacies due to messed up logistics of precursors. It really made me aware of how totally dependent I am on this product of complex globalized industry and how if it was a fun or addictive recreational drug someone would have come up with a way to cook it in your backyard

Likewise, I broke/dislocated/tore ligaments in my ankle simultaneously and required nerve block for the surgery. By far the worst part of my injury was coming off the nerve block at 5am and taking a Percocet every 30 minute until I could fall asleep at 9am while holding back my groans so as to not wake up anyone else in the house.

My anecdote was I once asked for a prescription for 1 Percocet per month for the one time a month I need serious pain relief and was referred to physio therapy after having already done 2 years of it. I even had my previous prescription from the surgery with 40 out of the 60 pills remaining to offer as proof of my none addiction. I often wonder how many live with chronic pain because of similar circumstances.

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