Newbie Eileen | Arthritis Information

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Hello,

I have post-traumatic arthritis from a car accident 23 years ago.  It only began to show up last year, I had arthroscopic surgery 2 mos ago, I have absolutely no cartilage in my ankle, and my pain is still so severe that I'm now in pain management.  Does anyone have any experience with pain mgmt.?  They have me on morphine sulphate 12h which really scares me.  And even though it is 12h, I can tell it still has peaks and troughs because I get sleepy about 6  hours after taking it.  I've driven drowsy and that scares me.  They moved me from vicoden (orthopedist prescribed) to the morphine (pain mgmt prescribed).  But this is what I have to do for insurance - a "sub-optimal regimen" before they will move me up to Opana-ER.  Does anyone have any experience with that or any other drugs?

To top it off, I have 22 years of sobriety in AA and I just don't like the idea of taking medication like morphine.  It messes with my mind in that, even though I've taken it appropriately (as well as the vicoden) there is a part of me that doesn't feel like I'm "really sober" even though I need this medication.  I have not told very many people at all - 3 to be exact - and I know they are trustworthy, but I want to go to a pain mgmt. place that deals with people in recovery and I found out about one through one of the people I told.  It's  just a constant internal battle for me.

Has anyone else had this type of experience?
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