4 things I hate about pain medications...

1. The stigma: Anyone who uses pain medications are drug addicts and aren't willing to work for a cure to their pain. Too often people think that we're just using the medications so that we don't have go through physical therapy or other types of rehabilitation. People feel that there must be more options that just popping a few dozen pills each day. But they're completely wrong! These medications carry so many risks, especially at the levels I take them, that I avoid taking them at all costs. The truth is, we are in that much pain. And these meds are the only way we can survive. Also, we are too commonly called addicts. We're not. There's a huge discrepancy between an addict and someone who is physically dependent on these meds. When you take them for an extended time, your body will get dependent on them and your body will need them to function. That's the way it is, no matter what the medication. Addiction is when you psychologically need the substance and will do whatever you can to get it, even if it has a negative effect on their lives. There's a huge difference between the two, but few actually believe it.

2. The side effects: These meds carry some heavy costs. One of the side effects, allbeit a rare one, is death. They can depress the repiratory system to the point where you just stop breathing. Beyond that minor side effect, there is sweating profusely, either increased appetite or so nauseaous that you can't eat, drowsiness or energizing. There are dozens of side effects for these medications and most of them make us question whether the side effects are worth whatever pain control these meds give us.

3. There isn't one pill for everyone: There's no such thing as a magic pill. What works for one person may not work for another. A medication that worked last year may not work now. Because pain is so different between people, it takes trial and error to be able to determine what medications will work for someone. And until you find that one, you have to endure withdrawls, mind-blowing and completely disabling pain, and the thoughts that you'll never find anything that will work for you and that you'll be miserable forever.

4. No cure: These pills aren't a cure. No matter how many pain killers I take, I will never find one that will get rid of my pain forever. I will be on these medications for the rest of my life. And unfortunately, the really long-term effects of these medications on the body aren't really known because few people have taken them for more than 70 years straight before.

So, thanks to these medications and the pain that makes it impossible to live without them, I'm known as a drug addict, am debating if whatever pain control I get from these meds is worth the side effects, can't ever find something that will definately work for me, and may turn out with completely destroyed kidneys or some other organ by the time I'm in my 90s.