I'm am an opiate addict. My question is, what if I am in a serious accident, or have an operation that requires pain medication. What do you do, do you use narcotic pain medication according to how it is prescribed? I know you are not supposed to use this kind of medication at all. But tylenol and ibuprofen are not going to cut it, there is going to be some serious suffering of physical pain. Are we expected to suffer through this pain because of our addiction? And if the answer is to use the narcotic pain meds as prescribed, what about tolerance? What they normally prescribe is not going to have the correct effect because of the tollerance we have built up in our addiction. Do we tell the surgeon that we have had an addiction and have a tolerance? I am not in this situation right now, but have been in a car accident that I could have been seriously injured in, but thankfully I managed to walk away without so much as a scrape. It did get me thinking though, WHAT IF I had been injured how should I have responded to my injuries and how should I ask to have them treated. I don't want to go against the rules and use these medications, but I also do not want to endure the physical pain that would have been caused by such injuries. Is there some alternative to such a situation like being kept hospitalized and having the injured areas where the pain is located treated with local anesthetics? I think this would be good information to put out there, especially for people who haven't even thought have being put in this situation and suddenly find themself in this situation and on these meds and having a relapse before even realizing what they have gotten themselves into.
Maverickwolf wrote: I don't want to go against the rules and use these medications, but I also do not want to endure the physical pain that would have been caused by such injuries.
What rules? As far as I know, the NA program has no such rule or a 'dont' stating that no one should use medication... According to my understanding, it is upto each individual to decide what he/she needs to do with the help of the professional people and the support and guidance of the Sponsor and the Higher Power.
Taking an informed decision along with the doctor, family, Sponsor and a honest working of the program thru out the experience of being under medication has worked for me in my early recovery...
However, trying to go about medication without all the help, support and guidance that I shared above, all by myself, could be quite dangerous, just like trying to stop using and stay clean, all by myself without any outside help like NA...
I always refer the NA booklet "In Times Of Illness" and the last chapter of the Basic Text "More Will Be Revealed" for such situations, be it in my own recovery or in one of my sponsees'... I have also found the new NA book "Sponsorship" throw a lot of light on the subject, and clear certain misconceptions regarding the same...
In fact, in the new Basic Text Review & Input Draft for the 6th Edition, a story has been included about a recovering addict who had to take medication for one of her other illnesses... It's a very good share... I just read it...
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"If we do an honest examination of exactly what we are giving, we are better able to evaluate the results we are getting."Chapter 10 - Emotional Pain - NA Way of Life.
Thank you for your input guys. That was a subject I was confused about, I have not been exposed to much of the literature to the NA program. The little I was exposed to, the part where i got that it was pretty much a rule from, did state that we could never use any mind altering substances for any reason and that is why I was confused. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction and now I know what to do if that situation ever happens to me.
You are welcome, Maverick. Glad we have you here with us. Hugs and Love.
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"If we do an honest examination of exactly what we are giving, we are better able to evaluate the results we are getting."Chapter 10 - Emotional Pain - NA Way of Life.
