If you started taking painkillers to treat chronic pain, you may be asking yourself how you can live without them.
The truth is that painkillers are probably doing you more harm than good by this point. While opiates are known to work well for short-term pain, they don’t work well for things like back pain or arthritis.
In fact, they may be doing just the opposite—making you more sensitive to pain.
What To Do About the Pain?
For some types of pain, like nerve pain, migraines and fibromyalgia, other prescription medicines have been found to work better.
It may be surprising, but over-the-counter pain medication can also be very effective. The National Safety Council reviewed several published studies and reached a stunning conclusion: “Essentially everyone believes that opioids are powerful pain relievers. However, recent studies have shown that taking acetaminophen and ibuprofen together is actually more effective in treating pain.”
Exercise, massage, acupuncture, guided imagery and biofeedback therapy are all strategies that work for some.
It’s also possible that depression, which commonly goes hand in hand with addiction, is contributing to your physical pain. If that’s the case, you’ll want to find a treatment center that specializes in dual-diagnosis treatment, meaning they’ll address both the depression and the addiction at the same time.
What Will People Say?
Many people battling painkiller addiction refuse help because they don’t want to be seen as addicts. You weren’t dropping lines of coke, after all. And you certainly weren’t shooting up. You may not even be much of a drinker.
It may not be fair that this happened to you, but that’s no reason to continue to allow painkillers to hurt you.
Besides, by now, anyone who’s educated knows the truth about painkillers. They can sneak up on you and take over your life. And some people are simply more susceptible to addiction than others.
Rehab for Painkiller Addiction near Denver
Painkillers can be safe for some, but deadly for others. If you’re using more than your doctor prescribed, doctor-shopping or buying them off the street, then it’s time to get help. When you walk through our doors, you’ll be assigned your own master’s level therapist who will work with you to come up with a plan for rehab—and to rebuild your life. Fill out our form or contact us today to learn more about the painkiller addiction treatment program at The Raleigh House.
