Something to think about: Can a medication be like a band-aid?

Hi Everyone,

After reading a few threads this morning I felt I needed to ask this question:

Can a medication be like a band-aid?

My point is are there some who rely on a medication to help themselves without trying to figure out how to

help the problem without the use of medication(s)?

Thanks.

 

Hi Myself,

Thanks for your thoughts on this. They make sense.

A chiropractor I had years ago told me he thought some meds were like band-aids to people. He encouraged me not to take even over the counter pain meds, so I could listen to my body and not overdo. With my injuries along with my fibro it's so easy to overdo.

Myself, I know I would be on prescription pain pills too if I had to work as hard as you do. You're an inspiration and I appreciate reading all the advice you take the time to share in this forum. I'm also very interested in hearing about your work. After all, it's one of the most important jobs there is, teaching our kids.

I rely on medications to keep the pain at bay. They don't take it away but make my life managable. I think everybody is different, some take meds, some don't. It is all our own personal choice.

I believe it's all a matter of perspective and philosophy. For some, medication IS the best they can do for themselves.

Some believe that western medicine is too invasive and too quick to hand out medication; others believe that much of the "alternative" medicine out there is based on junk science. Differences in perspective and philosophy.

I avoid all meds when I can, but do take them when my pain goes on for a couple of days or if the pain is really nasty. I really dislike the 'drugged' feeling most meds have, but if my pain is severe, I prefer a little help via taking meds.

Personally, I think they 'can' be like a band-aid, speaking for my own experience only. For example, if I've had a bad flare for a week or two, I find myself automatically reaching for my medication. Maybe that's okay, though. I think there's a time and place to take medication, much as I dislike them. I've always hated putting anything unnatural in my body, especially if it has bad side effects.

All in all, I try to use them to get me through the roughest patches, and try to avoid them otherwise. Sometimes though, as likely everyone knows, that's easier said than done. Ouch!

I, too, wish pain could be cured once and for all. Unfortunately, that's not always the case. It sure isn't for me. Like so many have said, without meds, my quality of life would be in the toilet.

Twenty years ago, my new doctor (who diagnosed me with Fibro) prescribed an antidepressant for my sleep problem, saying without adequate sleep, nothing would get better. I filled the prescription but didn't take it for about 2 weeks....I was afraid it would change me too much and I wouldn't be myself. But I found that it really helped. That started me back on the road to some quality of life.

This doctor was adamant that narcotics shouldn't be taken for chronic pain. But he trusted me enough to let me keep a supply of Darvocet, which I only took once in a great while, when I was in a bad flare. Through the years, and worsening DDD, I've had to rely on pain meds more. He understands that I really do need them, though of course it would be preferable not to.

After my disc ruptured a year ago, I began taking Hydrocodone. Never before, not after any of my major surgeries, have I had to take something this strong for more than a few days...but here I am, still on it. Not because I'm addicted...not because I like the feeling it gives me....but because I still have considerable pain. I'm slowly cutting down the dose, and I hope to be totally off it soon. But who knows?

We have to play the hand we're dealt as well as we can.

Debbie

To follow the analogy through, some cuts just need a band aid.
Things like a little nick that’s already self-closing might not need one, but if you cut yourself on some scissors and the wound isn’t closing up you have to cover it and put a bit of pressure on it. You could just let it go, it’ll probably scab over eventually… But it’s going to run the risk of the cut getting infected and you’re going to bleed everywhere. Sometimes a band aid is exactly the right response.

Pains a bit more complex than a finger cut, but the principles the same. If you can get by without the meds, by all means avoid them… But if you can’t get by without them, or the pain spirals out of control without them, then they are needed.
Meds will never fix fibro, but they can stop a pain spiral. They can let you get a bit of sleep; can keep you a bit more mobile and a bit more active. For me, they let me hold down a job.


This DID make me think of the “magic medicine” we have at work though.
We have a lot of sooks at work. I once had a child SCREAM the place down for an hour because he bumped his shin on a chair. The bump was so light the 2 kilo chair didn’t move, and there wasn’t even a red mark on his leg. I finally just put a band aid on his leg, and he shut up straight away.
So this year I’ve made up a spray bottle of water with a few drops of water soluble tea tree oil in it. When the kids get a superficial bump/bruise we use the spray. More often than not the kids say that it fixed the problem.
But the thing is it ONLY works for the superficial stuff. When the kid’s full on bashed their knee into something the spray does nothing. But an icepack will help. When the kid’s cut themselves it doesn’t do anything, but a band aid will help.

Most people don’t have much experience with long term or chronic pain. They experience pain much like the kids with the spray bottle do. It never occurs to them that someone may experience pain that requires more than the spray bottle to fix it, or pain that simply comes back after the spray bottle wears off. So they just assume that anyone needing a bit extra hasn’t tried the magic spray bottle yet.

(If any of that actually made sence… lol.)

Thanks, Madisun, you made a lot of sense. Thanks for sharing. It was very interesting to hear what you do for your kids.

Remember before fibro came on and having our share of aches and pains? They were so different from the fibro pain. No one can understand unless they're experiencing what we're going through.

I'm proud of us. Maybe with what we're doing to help ourselves and perhaps finding some answers, we can help the up and coming young people who are just being diagnosed.