Chronic Lower Back Pain – Flirting with Addiction
Fast Forward several years
I never did return to that chiropractor but my back was still killing me. I was back in the old routine of soaks and rubs everyday and night. I was not prepared to live the rest of my life like that, and was looking for anything to give me some relief.
Finally, I went back to the doctor and explained that the treatments were to expensive and that there had to be something else we could do. She gave me a prescription for an anti inflammatory and pain reliever.
I took the medicine as prescribed for several months, all the time still continuing my regular routine. Slowly but surely the pain became even more excruciating. I’m not exactly sure why this was but I remember waking up every morning to that same stabbing feeling in my lower back.
The next prescription was for a much stronger narcotic call vicodin or hydrocodone. This with the anti inflammatory medicine seemed to work OK. I could still feel the pain but it was tolerable for the time being. I would take one in the morning and would be ok for most of the day.
After several months of this, It seemed that my back was getting worse again. Now the doctor had prescribed up to 4 a day so I never thought twice about adding another vicodin in the afternoon. All was better well it sure felt like it was then.
A few months later I think it was up to three a day then four a day. Now, four vicodin a day is a lot, I know there are people out there that take a lot more vicodin a day than that and don’t think it is a problem. I hope that these people will talk to someone about what they are going through and look for alternative options. Trust me when I say this, you will look back at this and be thankful you did, I promise.
I continued taking 4 vicodin a day for several years roughly 7 to almost 8 years actually. My doctor was concerned and started asking me to see specialist again. I reluctantly made an apt with a Chiropractor that they recommended.
My second first chiropractor appointment
I walked into that appointment obviously worried and on defense from the start. I was upfront with him and explained exactly what happened. He seemed to actually feel bad and he apologized for what had happened to me and promised I would never have to worry about that with him. Thankfully he was honest.
The adjustments he made after looking at my back for a few seconds were not as violent as the previous chiropractor and I felt great for a week or so every time. He never pressured me to come back a set number of times and I was able to return only when I felt the need.
This worked for a year or so then the economy started to drop of in my area of New York, unemployment is at a all time high and business is slow. I could no longer afford to see the Chiropractor anymore. My doctor and I discussed other options but all of them were more expensive. I made the decision to try and get off the vicodin and try other options.
My Chiropractor was able to make me feel good enough to not need any pain medicine for up to a week at a time. I thought to myself If
If can find away to adjust my lower back myself, maybe just maybe, I could free myself of this visious cycle.
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