My tolerance is odd

[oc80tn]

Does anyone here have this happen to them? I take OxyContin 40mg 3-4 times a day with up to 3 OxyIR 15 mg's a day for chronic back pain caused by nerve damage from six compression fractures in my thoracic spine, which also caused a ruptured disc at T9. I have had surgery, but still left with some pretty bad pain. This month, I ran out about 10 days early cause my back has been hurting so bad. Well, I went three days without anything, other than a couple of lortab 5/500's I forgot I had (10 mgs total).
Needless to say, taking up to 140 mgs a day of oxycodone, I thought I had a pretty high tolerance, except I just found five percocet 10/325s that were prescribed to my grandfather who died a few years ago at my mom's house. I thought that it would maybe give me a little relief from my wd's, but the weird thing is that I actually feel rather buzzed right now, after only three days off.
The only reason I bring this up is because this is not the first time this has happened to me. About five months ago, I had pretty much the same thing happen. So my question is this: How in the world does my tolerance drop so low in 72 hours? When I am taking my full dose regularly, it controls my pain, but with little other effect. What gives?

[Seedy]

In my experience the first dose after a break like that will always get me high.

[roxi*stardust]

In my experience the first dose after a break like that will always get me high.
I'm with Seedy on this one. Same experience for me too.

[jerets]

I am so jealous when I read of people getting OC's and esp. bonus Oxy for break through! I have a very similar condition except my fracture is on my T12 not T9 and I have Scheuermann's disease and schmorl nodes. So all in all our conditions and pain are probably related to a degree. Maybe someday soon I will find a provider as generous

Jerets

[bronyraur]

I'm with Seedy on this one. Same experience for me too.

me three. man, Roxi, you're always beating me to the punch!:D

I am so jealous when I read of people getting OC's and esp. bonus Oxy for break through! I have a very similar condition except my fracture is on my T12 not T9 and I have Scheuermann's disease and schmorl nodes. So all in all our conditions and pain are probably related to a degree. Maybe someday soon I will find a provider as generous

Jerets

with time Jerets, you'll get what you need (hopefully) no one (almost no one) gets really large amounts of time release and breakthrough meds when they first start seeing a pain mngmt doc. Hang in there.

[insanesteveo]

yea man, im with everyone else. after a break, less just feels like more because you almost forgot what being high was like, plus it feels that much better because you arent going from feeling ok to high, you are going from being in w/d to high. another reason it seems so much better.

i actully just had this happen to me. i quit on sat night, my tolerance was about where it took 120 mg of oxy or so to get me good. i quit for 3 days, had to have a tooth pulled, and now 4 of the vikes they gave me not only take away the pain, but i can feel them. of course im not high, but i feel them.

[roxi*stardust]

me three. man, Roxi, you're always beating me to the punch!:D



with time Jerets, you'll get what you need (hopefully) no one (almost no one) gets really large amounts of time release and breakthrough meds when they first start seeing a pain mngmt doc. Hang in there.
That's for sure. It took me about a year to get where I'm at now and I still don't have the time release just alot of Percocet 10mg tablets, next step is the time release. My husband just got OC's with Perc 10's for b/t and he's been working on the doctor for the same amount of time. BTW our doctor is very easy, he will tell you that he doesn't care what the DEA has to say, "these are my patients I know what they need and no one is going to tell me what I can prescribe my patients, I've been a doctor for 35 years and I know what's best for my patients". He actually has said this to us on a number of prior occasions, god I love him!!!! I just don't want to push my luck with him because he is great about treating our pain. I will ask for time release meds (OC) in the next 3-4 months. I have to give my Percocets some time to work and then start not working as well or as long, then I let him decide what to do. Work it girl, work it!!!:D LOL

[l4l5]

even after a day break u will get floored of anything, as u r body is craving it soo bad

[Babydollangel]

OMG im so jealous of you all with all these great meds !! i know though, id never want to be in a position to actually NEED them...that must suck !!

I find my tolerence after going without for a few days is great that first time...or maybe just cuz im not in wd anymore...then well, the next day tolerence is back up ! I guess its never the same for long ever again !

speaking of those with chronic pain issues.....hubby has a bad back due to his job and its only gonna get worse...the pain mangmt dr wants to do back injections with just some vic and muscle relaxers and time off of work now...hubby doesnt want to do the injections...scared as hell for some reason...hes not one to run to the drs office when feeling bad..would rather tough it out..

I feel bad for those with chronic issues of pain.....and the drs are so shitty about scribing meds....esp controlled sub. Hell, whats so wronng with a chronic pain patient experienceing a little pleasure and relief from everyday pain!! God forbid !! its a screwed up world we live in !!

I just get angry when I know at least 5 people around where we live ( connects...haha) that get the good meds and keep going back and getting them only to try to sell them. for a shitload of money..and they get like 5 refills!!!
..then when someone really needs them most are given a tough time about it !! pisses me off BIG TIME!!! Hubbys lumbar region--forget which bones exactly--was totally thrown out and he couldnt even straighten his back out last year..had to go to the ER...his job took him they gave him a pain shot then told him to go see his reg dr....dr. gave him 10 of the 5 mg flexeril and 20 of the 5/500 vics and made this comment 'be very very very careful with those strong meds !!' i wanted to laugh.....course when he requested a refill the dr. made a huge deal of it like he should have wanted to throw himself out in front of a car for asking for such a thing !!!

[Curio]

transition from low to very high opiate levels
and the speed of that process is where/why a person experiences the euphoria....

if you're taking OC,
then you will have some baseline amount continuously
and just a "drop" in that amount is what the BTP meds are for...

you took these other pills when the levels were non-existent
and took ALL instant release meds...

hope that makes sense, I know what I'm TRYING to say...:o

[insanesteveo]

transition from low to very high opiate levels
and the speed of that process is where/why a person experiences the euphoria....

if you're taking OC,
then you will have some baseline amount continuously
and just a "drop" in that amount is what the BTP meds are for...

you took these other pills when the levels were non-existent
and took ALL instant release meds...

hope that makes sense, I know what I'm TRYING to say...:o

wow, i just assumed he was crushing them for some reason, and just adding up the amount of oxy and thinking IR. this is a good reason.

but there is still that wonderful feeling of doing opiates for the first time after a break. damn im craving so hard right now. i need sleep.

[Babydollangel]

wow, i just assumed he was crushing them for some reason, and just adding up the amount of oxy and thinking IR. this is a good reason.

but there is still that wonderful feeling of doing opiates for the first time after a break. damn im craving so hard right now. i need sleep.

I hope you get the sleep ya need....i havnt been able to sleep good for quite some time. ugh !! So im up posting and bothering ya'll on here...hehe...

As for the cravings....I cant be on here long without 'somthing'......this website is too painful too look at completely sober with nothing in reach...lol

I finally realized the difference between actual wd's and cravings....After discovering immodium does indeed work for wd's, I sat here and just felt so blank inside....it was such an odd feeling...no sickness..just emptyness !! makes me wish at times id never have gotten any taste of opies at all cuz now just the thought of life without them is well, sad to say the very least...I think whoever mentioned opiates as a cure or part of a cure for depression is onto somthing !

[Incognito]

The morning dose seems the best to me also. I guess it's from having a quick jump in blood plasma levels.

I usually take 2 15 mg roxi's when i wake up plus an 80 OC. In about 30 minutes i'm good to go and feel like i'm ready to take on the day.

If i go a few days to a few weeks without anything tolerance drops almost in half it seems but quickly rises back to normal in a few days of use.

Tolerance never completely goes away. I had taken 3 80's a day for 4 years straight. I quit taking them for a year. When i started back my tolerance was lower, but it would still take 20 mg to feel decent. Tolerance never went back down to the opiate naive days even after a year of no use.

The doc titrated me back to my old dose of 3 80's a day within 6 weeks. Tolerance quickly escalated right back to where it was before.

[doctor diesel]

Yes alas, once you've done the damage... the damage is done. It's the same for all of us.
But I have a similar experience to the twisted threadstarter, in that I started my 'career' on codeine, and eventually plateaud on 150mg, beyond which it just wouldn't work any better.
Then I progressed to H, and just this week, after several days of pretty hard binging, I found myself without my D.O.C., so in desperation I took 120mg codeine. And guess what? To my great surprise, it was GOOD.
If I do it again today though, I'm sure I'll feel absolutely diddly squat.

Doc

[devilsdrug]

yes how true but it was there to save ur ass eh?

[doctor diesel]

Indeedy-doody.

[oc80tn]

Thanks for the replies. A lot of that makes sense to me. But I don't always take the 40's whole. If I am hurting really bad, I will crush it up and take it that way, just to get some adequate relief. And I don't care what they say. Those things do not last 12 hours. If I take one at 8am, I can feel it petering out by 4 or 5 in the afternoon and I have to take a rescue dose of oxy IR. I think I put in my first post that I take 3 OC 40's a day. That was a typo. It's actually only two because my doctor refuses to do any more than that. About a year ago, I asked him to give me a third dose of OxyContin a day, even if it was just 20 mg's. He refused to do it, saying that it was contraindicated for more than twice daily dosing. I did a bunch of research and even Purdue's website said that that was wrong and recently I saw where the FDA or something officially approved OxyContin for TID dosing. He still disagreed.

Don't get me wrong. I am happy to be on meds that give me some relief, but I have been at this dose for over a year now (2 40 OC's and 3-4 OxyIR's a day, though he doesn't give me 120, only 90 per month, so I can't take 4 every day) and it is just not adequately controlling my pain. I have told him this for the last six weeks that my pain is not letting up after three trigger point injections and a Baclofen script.

I know there are a lot of people who would be grateful for pain meds for their back, and I am, too! But you can't stay on the same dose for a year and expect it to work as well as it did when you first started, when you are dealing with intractable pain. I have done everything the doctor has asked me to do. I have never told him no to a treatment option. Epidurals, trigger points, steroids...hell, even surgery that was pretty invasive because they had to go in through my chest because the T9 fracture was on the interior part of my vertebra. I was in the hospital for a week with a chest tube. I think I have proven that I am not just going to him for narcotics, but he just flatly refuses to up my dose. He says that studies show that increases don't really help and that I am only 31 and he worries about down the line. I worry about "down the line" too, but my back and right ribcage are hurting right now! I give up, cause apparently he doesn't give a shit about it. That's the last time I call him for anything other than to let him know that I need a refill at the end of the month.

Sorry I am bitching. I don't mean to sound like an ingrate when others of you hurt. I have just had a rough few months with my back.

[roxi*stardust]

Thanks for the replies. A lot of that makes sense to me. But I don't always take the 40's whole. If I am hurting really bad, I will crush it up and take it that way, just to get some adequate relief. And I don't care what they say. Those things do not last 12 hours. If I take one at 8am, I can feel it petering out by 4 or 5 in the afternoon and I have to take a rescue dose of oxy IR. I think I put in my first post that I take 3 OC 40's a day. That was a typo. It's actually only two because my doctor refuses to do any more than that. About a year ago, I asked him to give me a third dose of OxyContin a day, even if it was just 20 mg's. He refused to do it, saying that it was contraindicated for more than twice daily dosing. I did a bunch of research and even Purdue's website said that that was wrong and recently I saw where the FDA or something officially approved OxyContin for TID dosing. He still disagreed.

Don't get me wrong. I am happy to be on meds that give me some relief, but I have been at this dose for over a year now (2 40 OC's and 3-4 OxyIR's a day, though he doesn't give me 120, only 90 per month, so I can't take 4 every day) and it is just not adequately controlling my pain. I have told him this for the last six weeks that my pain is not letting up after three trigger point injections and a Baclofen script.

I know there are a lot of people who would be grateful for pain meds for their back, and I am, too! But you can't stay on the same dose for a year and expect it to work as well as it did when you first started, when you are dealing with intractable pain. I have done everything the doctor has asked me to do. I have never told him no to a treatment option. Epidurals, trigger points, steroids...hell, even surgery that was pretty invasive because they had to go in through my chest because the T9 fracture was on the interior part of my vertebra. I was in the hospital for a week with a chest tube. I think I have proven that I am not just going to him for narcotics, but he just flatly refuses to up my dose. He says that studies show that increases don't really help and that I am only 31 and he worries about down the line. I worry about "down the line" too, but my back and right ribcage are hurting right now! I give up, cause apparently he doesn't give a shit about it. That's the last time I call him for anything other than to let him know that I need a refill at the end of the month.

Sorry I am bitching. I don't mean to sound like an ingrate when others of you hurt. I have just had a rough few months with my back.

Maybe try a new doctor? I hate seeing this. People who have legit pain and can't get meds, or the right amount of meds. You are right, OC was FDA approved for TID dosing. It does not last 12 hours for me either only about 7 or 8. Hope you get taken care of.

[oc80tn]

Thanks, roxi*stardust, you are very right that I need a doctor. I have been going to this guy for almost six years now, as before I broke my back, I was being treated for spondolylolistheis (sp?) and herniated disc at L5-S1, with low amounts of pain meds (Lortab 5 BID, Ultram 50 QID and Carisoprodol at bedtime). It was actually the Ultram that more or less broke my back, because I had a seizure while taking it which caused me to black out and fall flat on my back on three different occasions! Well, at least the tramadol was indirectly the reason. I didn't realize that it could cause that to happen, until several months later when I was doing some reading on it. But I digresse.
Anyways, one of the big reasons I still have problems with my back is because I was allowed to walk around for six weeks with compression fractures at T8, T9 and T10, following my first black out episode in May, 2003. Three different doctors completely missed it. The first doctor was an ER phyisician who saw me right after I blacked out. He thought I was a junkie, because I forgot to tell him I was on hydrocodone and he did a piss-test. Uh, sorry doc. I just blacked out and my thoughts aren't really that clear right now. I told him that I was having pain my middle back and left side. Said I probably just bruised some ribs when I fell and sent me home with Midrin, despite it was probably the worst pain I had ever felt in my life!

That night, I was in such severe pain, I was throwing up! My ex-wife took me to a walk-in clinic the next day. Also, I was having pain in my shoulder (ended up I broke my humerus), which this doctor found, but he also failed to check my back despite the fact I complained to him, too. This doc sent me to a orthopedic surgeon to see if my shoulder required surgery, which it didn't. I also told him that my middle back and left side were hurting (at this point, extremely badly). He told me that I probably bruised my ribs and it would hurt for a few weeks. Well, five or six weeks later...it was as bad as day one, so I went to my primary care physician and told him that if it were bruised or broken ribs, shouldn't it be feeling some better, if not completely? He agreed and decided to see if I had compressed a vertebra in my back. Guess what? I had. In three different places!!!!

When my sister broke her back a few weeks later (weird, I know), they put her in a brace that day and other than a little discomfort from time-to-time, she is okay. I can only wonder if they had done this with me, and someone would've listened to me, if I would be in a different position. Well, after this discovery, my PCP decided to let the physical rehab doc that had been working with me on my lower back, to handle this situation. After this, he increased my hydrocodone to 50 mg's a day. Then when I broke my back again, he put me on 20mg's of OxyContin a day, with lortab 10 and then Percocet 7.5 for BT pain.

At the same time, the doc sent me to a couple of different orthos to see if they could fix my back, or at least the T9, which was 50-60 percent compressed (also turns out the disc was ruptured, too). None of them would touch it. Said there wasn't anything they could do. Well, that wasn't completely true. I got sent to the nearest teaching hospital and one of those hot-shot orthopods. He said he could fix it. He gave me three options. Have surgery, tell my doc that I could stay on pain mgmt for as long I need OR learn to live with it. I took a few weeks to weigh it over. When I lost feeling in my legs on a couple of different occasions, I opted to have surgery.

When the ortho did the surgery, it was a lot worse in my back than the imaging on the bone scan, x-rays and mri's showed. Not only was the verterbra flattened like a pancake. It had been compressed so badly, that it ruptured the disc below it and it had exploded into the spinal cord. This guy didn't know how I had been doing as well as I had, either from the standpoint of having sensation in my legs and lower body AND/OR being able to get by on about 60-70 milligrams of oxycodone a day. Fact is is that I kept working this whole time (I had only missed three days of work in a year because of it) and the meds weren't controlling my pain that well. I was afraid to ask for more because I thought the doctor would think I was drug seeking and cut me off completely. Better to suffer a little than a lot, I figured.

Well, the surgery was pretty invasive. Like I said, they had to go through my chest cavity to do, which meant having a vascular surgeon open me up for the ortho. They actually removed my floating rib to do the surgery. I also had a chest tube in me and I was in the hospital for a week. One of my best friends, who is also a chronic pain sufferer, couldn't believe that I was in the hospital that long for back surgery. He has had two of them, and both times, he was out the next day. It was because of the method they did the surgery.

I was back to work in five weeks, however. The doc wanted me to take off three months to recover, but I couldn't do it financially. Five weeks of sick leave and vacation was all I had and still get a check. It has been two-and-a-half years since the surgery. And while the surgery saved me from possible paralysis from the damage that could've been done to my spinal cord, I am still in a great deal of pain from all the nerve damage done from the fractures and the surgery. I know I am young. I was only 28 when I had the surgery done and I am only 31, but most doctors seem to think that I shouldn't be treated the same as if I was over 40 or 50, as far as pain management is concerned. I am sorry if I "hurt" myself too early in life. This wasn't something that has been enjoyable for me. I was an avid whitewater kayaker/rafter. I can no longer do this. I loved rollercoasters. I can't do that now, without extreme pain. I can't drive or ride in a car for longer than an hour without having to stop to stretch. Sleeping in one position for more than 20 or 30 minutes is a problem, too. Not to be too graphic, but there are a lot of things that I can't do when I am having "relations" with my wife.

I am 31. I should be in the prime of my life, but that's not the case. I would give anything to have a normal life again. In order to be anywhere near that goal, I need pain medicine. Sorry, but it's true. If I had diabetes or high-blood pressure, a doctor wouldn't have a problem adjusting my insulin or beta blocker to help my condition. But because we're talking about painkillers, it's another story. And like I said, it's not like I haven't been willing to do other things to help. If the doctor has suggested it, I have done it, even if I didn't want to do it, like have a major surgery. I am getting really more depressed, both from having breakthrough pain increases and feeling like the doctor thinks I am junkie or something. There is such a stigma attached to being a chronic pain sufferer that it's ridiculous. I go to get my meds refilled every month at the same place for the last four years, but they still sometimes act like I am doing something wrong. Sometimes I just think that I might as well just quit taking the shit and learn to live with the pain. At least people wouldn't look at me like I was an addict. That might be worth living in agony for.

Sorry for the long post. I just had a lot to get off my chest. Have a great day, my friends!!!!!

[Delo]

This is a subject I like, Tolerance...

To understand your question you have to understand a little about the nervous system. All through are bodies there are electrical connections that flow through our bodies and transmit different signals to our brains. Hot, Cold, and pain just to name a few. Its kinda like an information super highway system. If you prick your finger an electrical signal is sent from your finger to your spinal chord and finally to the brain. It is not a solid line either, it is seperated by little gaps. These little gaps are flooded with conductive gasses that pass the electrical signals through. On one side of the gaps there are signal cells that prepare the message to be sent through the gas and recieved on the other side. On the other side of the gap there are receptor cells that wait to gather the signal and sens it to the next gap.
Now how does this pertain to tolerance and WD you might ask? When you do a drug your body feels incredible and your nervous system kicks in to full gear. You only have so many send and recieve cells so you can only feel so good right? Wrong, your body will begin to produce more and more of these cells to keep up with the euphoria, and that my friends is why your tolerance goes up. Because now you are feeding many, many more cells. This is also the reason that when you quit you feel so shitty because you have all of these cells that are trying to keep working but they just are'nt getting the signal, thats why you feel sick when you can't get anything. Your body is still working overtime because its used to feeling great.
But you also have to remember that all hope is not lost. It is possible to lower your tolerance by taking a break. Although the cells never go away, they will go to sleep.(This is the reason why if you take a break your tolerance will go down.) When they go to sleep they are still there though waiting to be re-awakened, which is not hard at all. This is the reason after you take a break your tolerance comes back 5 times as fast. Because now you are not making new cells, all you are doing is waking up the old ones...
*As a fun little side note, THC one of the active chemicals in pot is a cell suppressor. Instead of creating new cells it actually formas a plaque like substance over your receptor cells causing the signals to slow down.(This creates the Duh effect commonly associated with stoners) This is also handy information for anyone who has WD symptoms and has no option other than weed for meds. Im not saying this will take the WD symptoms away but in theory it will lessen them to some degree...

WHO SAYS YOU DON'T LEARN ANYTHING IN REHAB!
As usual I hope someone else will have something to add to this, after all this is one of the most interresting subjects in narcotic use...

[Woowoo]

Delo that's a real good layman's description of what's going on. I have two small details though which I am not sure about. (Not saying you are wrong, just saying I'm not sure.)
You only have so many send and recieve cells so you can only feel so good right? Wrong, your body will begin to produce more and more of these cells to keep up with the euphoria
Is it literally true that new cells are being created? Or is that some cells that used to be receptive to some other kind of molecule get converted into opiate receptors?
Although the cells never go away, they will go to sleep.
Does this means that once you have a tolerance you keep it for the rest of your life? In my own case I had a huge habit in the late eighties (well over 1 bindle per day) and now I'm getting back into it. My tolerance is ramping up very quickly but its not like I just immediately picked up where I left off.

[roxi*stardust]

<snip>

When the ortho did the surgery, it was a lot worse in my back than the imaging on the bone scan, x-rays and mri's showed. Not only was the verterbra flattened like a pancake. It had been compressed so badly, that it ruptured the disc below it and it had exploded into the spinal cord. This guy didn't know how I had been doing as well as I had, either from the standpoint of having sensation in my legs and lower body AND/OR being able to get by on about 60-70 milligrams of oxycodone a day. Fact is is that I kept working this whole time (I had only missed three days of work in a year because of it) and the meds weren't controlling my pain that well. I was afraid to ask for more because I thought the doctor would think I was drug seeking and cut me off completely. Better to suffer a little than a lot, I figured.

Well, the surgery was pretty invasive. Like I said, they had to go through my chest cavity to do, which meant having a vascular surgeon open me up for the ortho. They actually removed my floating rib to do the surgery. I also had a chest tube in me and I was in the hospital for a week. One of my best friends, who is also a chronic pain sufferer, couldn't believe that I was in the hospital that long for back surgery. He has had two of them, and both times, he was out the next day. It was because of the method they did the surgery.

I was back to work in five weeks, however. The doc wanted me to take off three months to recover, but I couldn't do it financially. Five weeks of sick leave and vacation was all I had and still get a check. It has been two-and-a-half years since the surgery. And while the surgery saved me from possible paralysis from the damage that could've been done to my spinal cord, I am still in a great deal of pain from all the nerve damage done from the fractures and the surgery. I know I am young. I was only 28 when I had the surgery done and I am only 31, but most doctors seem to think that I shouldn't be treated the same as if I was over 40 or 50, as far as pain management is concerned. I am sorry if I "hurt" myself too early in life. This wasn't something that has been enjoyable for me. I was an avid whitewater kayaker/rafter. I can no longer do this. I loved rollercoasters. I can't do that now, without extreme pain. I can't drive or ride in a car for longer than an hour without having to stop to stretch. Sleeping in one position for more than 20 or 30 minutes is a problem, too. Not to be too graphic, but there are a lot of things that I can't do when I am having "relations" with my wife.

I am 31. I should be in the prime of my life, but that's not the case. I would give anything to have a normal life again. In order to be anywhere near that goal, I need pain medicine. Sorry, but it's true. If I had diabetes or high-blood pressure, a doctor wouldn't have a problem adjusting my insulin or beta blocker to help my condition. But because we're talking about painkillers, it's another story. And like I said, it's not like I haven't been willing to do other things to help. If the doctor has suggested it, I have done it, even if I didn't want to do it, like have a major surgery. I am getting really more depressed, both from having breakthrough pain increases and feeling like the doctor thinks I am junkie or something. There is such a stigma attached to being a chronic pain sufferer that it's ridiculous. I go to get my meds refilled every month at the same place for the last four years, but they still sometimes act like I am doing something wrong. Sometimes I just think that I might as well just quit taking the shit and learn to live with the pain. At least people wouldn't look at me like I was an addict. That might be worth living in agony for.

Sorry for the long post. I just had a lot to get off my chest. Have a great day, my friends!!!!!

See this shit pisses me off, this made me want to cry!! These fucking doctors have alot of nerve. I've been through a similar situation my friend. I am 31 years old. At about 25 I staring having realy BAD menstrual cramps and terrible back pain but it was only during my period. Well by the time 28 rolled around the pain was constant every day adominal and back pain. My PCP would crack my back telling me that is was strained and it was just menstrual cramps. By 29 I had lost 30 pounds because the pain was so bad I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, I threw up all the time because the pain was so bad, it would actually make me sweat. I told my doctor listen I think I have endometriosis. He goes well you might but don't worry it's not cancer. I said well I worried if I do if will affect my fertility I read than it can, he says no you'll be fine once we get you one these birth control pills and he gave me some Darvocet which he wouldn't even refill after the 4th time I asked because I might get addcited. 4 OBGYN's and 6 pelvic exams, 3 different birth control pills, I got someone to do an Ultrsound after I went to the ER. The radiologist reccomended an MRI. They said I had fibroid tumors and endometriosis. Here try this birth control it will help. It made it worse, the pain was unbearable, I was still losing weight because I couldn't eat or when I did all I did was throw up because the pain was so intense. The OBGYN said well you have fibroids but they shouldn't cause this much pain (acting like I was making it up for drugs of course) So I sent the MRI to my aunt(she's an OBGYN in another state) She called and said tell your doctor you have adenomyosis too and to look at the MRI with the radiologist. Well I did what she said to do and my OBGYN took the MRI to another radiologist to read and a few days later the OBGYN calls me and says you have to have a hysterectomy! What!! We went from bascially your overreacting, you have something wrong but it doesn't hurt that bad to your 29 years old and your not going to have children. By this time I had found another PCP who was very sympathitec and totally believed I was in pain so I had Percocet but it didn't help. I was buying OxyContin of the street just to get some relief because I too was afraid to ask for something stronger because of how I was treated by everyone up til this point. Turns out my PCP would do anything for me but I was too afraid to ask. At any rate I had the hysterectomy and they tell me they have never seen anyone with as much endometriosos and as many fibroids as I had. My OBGYN told me after surgery, "wow you had a legit complaint". I was 29. I no longer have chronic pelvic pain anymore other than an occasional ache now and again. But I do have some nerve damage in my arm, shoulder and elbow from an accident I had a year or so ago. Now I demand shit because I should not have had to go thru what I did and it's never going to happen again. I get fairly good pain meds and I'm working my way up for better ones slowly. But I will never go thru something like that again. There is no reason in this day and age that anyone should suffer in pain when there is all this pain medication available. Don't let anyone treat you like you aren't in pain. Find another doctor, or just flat out tell them how you feel. It's crazy!! Sorry for the long story but I understand where you are coming from, I've been there and refuse to go back. My arm hurts and god damn it someone is going to give me some fucking pain meds, that is what they are for!!

[Delo]

Delo that's a real good layman's description of what's going on. I have two small details though which I am not sure about. (Not saying you are wrong, just saying I'm not sure.)

Is it literally true that new cells are being created? Or is that some cells that used to be receptive to some other kind of molecule get converted into opiate receptors?

Does this means that once you have a tolerance you keep it for the rest of your life? In my own case I had a huge habit in the late eighties (well over 1 bindle per day) and now I'm getting back into it. My tolerance is ramping up very quickly but its not like I just immediately picked up where I left off.


To answer your first question I have to do some research because im not sure if its cells changing or creating... Ill have to get back to you...

and the second one is yes they will never go away and your tolerance will come back to full swing...