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I know i've taken you guys down this road before, but I have a very specific question.
A doc friend of mine prescribed me some Norco..actually alot of norco, i guess it's also the same as vicodin.
Well, I like it. Alot, it makes me smile.

However, surely 90 tablets is enough to develop an addiction yes? or no.

I do know that it was a very short period of time before I needed to take 2 tablets to feel the same as one had a couple of ddays before.

How do you control it?
I was able to reduce my use of neurontin, and got some clearing of brain fog immediately.
personally, I'm at a juncture where I don't care if I'm addicted or not, I hurt that bad, but still there has tho be self control involved or you run out of them and become one of those crazed eyed people I see in the ER all the time.
I'm doing all the other good things, swimming almost daily, eating right, trying to stay out of the fetal position 24/7. I'm even using judicious amts of weed.
Any long term opoid users have advice?

Are you seeing a pain management doctor? Who is prescribing the Vicodin? A Neuro? GP?
I can tell you that you will build a tolerance to the opiates. My suggestion is to see a GOOD, RESPECTED, pain management doctor, not a pill pusher.
A good pain management doctor will give you a long acting pain killer (1 a day) and some smaller "breakthrough" pain killers for the tough times. STAY on your meds as prescribed, please. It is very difficult to come off of them or even taper down. If you find you are having to take the breakthrough meds too often, get back with your doctor; he can prescribe something different. You may have to try several things to find something that works.
When searching for a pain mgt doctor, ask around and research them. Dont just go to one out of the phone book.

Thanks for the reply Bubba,
When I re-read my post, I'm afraid I sounded a bit cavalier..
Yes the physician I see for pain is the head of the pain mangement clinic at the hospital I work at.
He's an anesthesiologist, and has done 2 nerve blocks for me which really gave me a new lease on life..
he prescribed the Norco after the last nerve block to help with the extreme neuropathic pain in my legs. It works for me, but, what I did next was a mistake.
I reduced and then stopped taking (neurontin prescibed by neuro), because the norco had me feeling pain free....for a while.
Being off the neurontin made me feel more mentally 'with it' than I have in months..I got so much done.
Then the leg pain came back with such a vengence I developed a new appreciation for neurontin, so, off the opiates, back on neurontin, and am trying Cymbalta to help with neuropathy, and to keep the neurontin dose as low as possible.
I have taken one norco in the past several days, when i found myself rocking back and forth on the couch from pain.
I just get scared 'cause I want to take more, more often.
What i tell myself is that a 52 y.o. woman is not supposed to be pain free, MS or not, stuff is wearing out, and hurts.
Really though, it's like the stupid bottle talks to me..(fortunately I don't speak back yet)
I was just wondering what others are doing for pain management, what are the options from an ms person's viewpoint, how do you deal with it?

It's not me on the meds, it's my wife. I have watched her go from a happy camper to one miserable person in four years. She is totally different now and sometimes difficult to deal with. I was just giving you the perspective of someone who lives with someone on that stuff. Though I believe the pain is not nearly intense as it was before, she has gotten on anti depressants. Cymbalta, doesnt seem to affect her, when she was on wellbutrin?????? Oh My God! Very difficult to deal with. It just seems the pain meds lead from one thing to another. I hate to see anyone have to take them.

Hiya Bubba,
I tried Lyrica for the neuropathy for a while, I had a side effect of dizziness that was too extreme to handle, I took it for a week with no reduction in the dizziness, so I gave up.
So, I'm on Cymbalta now, back on the neurontin, but trying to keep it at 900/day instead of 1800/day. the pain is bearable, maybe the Cymbalta will kick in better.
I have not taken a pain killer in 9 or 10 days, I figured a good cleaning out of the stuff in my system would be appropriate no matter what.
I did notice that they kinda made me feel aggressive sometimes if I had to do tasks that required concentration, or if my husband was doing something annoying like breathing...JUST KIDDING!!!
so now I don't listen to the voice from the bottle so much...
I figure the next time I have to do back to back 12 hour shifts I'l go to the ozone....Moderation in everything, except beer Bubba

msmything wrote: Moderation in everything, except beer Bubba

Absolutely!!!!!!!!!!