Learning to Live with the Pain without the Opioids

I am experiencing two types of nerve pain in my spine, cervical and lumbar radiculopathy. I thought I had a problem with my right shoulder, but after seeing a neurosurgeon, I found that it is a vertebra in my neck impinging on a nerve. The doctor prescribed pain pills and Gabapentin. I completed 10 visits to physical therapy last week for my shoulder, only to have to start physical therapy next week for my neck.

Yesterday, I learned from the orthopedic surgeon that I was referred to for my severe hip pain, that it is another vertebra in the lumbar section that is also impinging on a nerve, and he referred me to another neurosurgeon. I knew I was not going to get much help from him when he walked into the examining room, and the first thing he said was, “Show me where you think your hips are.” When I showed where I was hurting, he advised me that I was wrong and that my hips are just fine. I have lumbar radiculopathy. I learned that the vertebra just above the fusion I had in 2022, which included screws and rods, is now bone-to-bone and impinging on a nerve.
He gave me pain pills.

With the pain pills that I received from the dentist and endodontist, I now have a dresser top filled with pain pills. They give them out like they are candy. I have oxycodone, Ibuprofen 800, Acetaminophen 325, Acetaminophen with codeine, and two bottles of Meloxicam. I have been taking pain pills daily for over six weeks now. While they make living painless and easier, I have decided to try to learn to live without them for two reasons.

First, I am so fuzzy when I wake up. It is noon by the time I feel normal again, and, unfortunately, the pain has returned, and I need more pain medication. I am lying down more and missing whole days of actually living to the fullest. My house is so cluttered that I can barely stand to look at it.

Secondly, I want to blog. I miss writing, although I try to keep up with reading and commenting. Everything is occurring on my right side, and as I am right-handed, the pain prevents me from writing. I have so much stored up to say! I have prompts I’d like to answer, as well as stories and devotional writing I’d like to share.

So, the answer is to try to live with the pain as much as possible. I have had three back surgeries, and the last one left me with numbness in my left leg from the knee to the inside of the ankle. I am scared to have more, but I have to be able to function and have a life. Even now, it takes more time writing this update to my readers because I have to stop and let the pain subside.

I need prayer, but not pity. I wanted to explain why I haven’t been blogging as frequently as I promised earlier in the year. The Fall in Vienna affected me more than I expected. The mouth is getting better. I am going to read stories of people with chronic pain to see how they live with the pain every day and avoid it hurting their lives and the things they love to do. I can’t get addicted to opioids, but I now see how people can. I have to find a way to live with the pain because arthritis in my back isn’t going to be cured. It will always be something. But I want to travel, so I must learn how to live as fully as possible without the pills.

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