Opioids....the nightmare continues...

Couldn’t agree more. I broke my back in my early 20’s while in the army. Kept doing my job (infantry, considered one of the hardest jobs in the world) for 3 years with a completely ruptured disc at L5/S1, nerve damage, multiple torn ligaments and several other bulging discs. Even when you break your back, you’re not “hurt” in the infantry. Keep going until you get promoted then get it checked out. Well, pain management started me on Percocet and just before I had my surgery I was walking around on morphine sulphate tablets, still doing my job.

Had surgery and they treated my pain with the same level of drugs I was taking pre-op. Made me feel like I went in on nothing. I don’t miss the constipation or pulling over to puke and **** my brains out because I missed a dose by about 45 minutes while racing home. God forbid my insurance wouldn’t come through for me. That happened a lot and I’d spend the time curled up in a sleeping bag writhing around on the floor for days until they’d fill my prescription. Went to the ER routinely when this would happen.

As soon as the surgery was over, I got off the opiates. I did it on my own and stepped down my dosage by cutting up my pills and taking less and less over time. Going cold turkey on this stuff could kill you. Even after stepping down, I spent about a week puking and shitting my brains out in the worst state of delirium I’ve ever had and ended up losing 18lbs in 1 week. I routinely say it was the worst experience of my entire life, and I’ve been through some serious ****.

Got through that and started walking all the time to start my rehab. I wasn’t super overweight, but had a good 40lbs that needed to go. After physical therapy, I started screwing around at the gym and ended up getting hooked on fitness and healthy living for a while. It was the best I’ve felt in my entire life. I fluctuate now, but man! Even an extra 5lbs makes my back scream! It’s extremely noticeable.

One big misconception I’ve always told people about my experience with surgery. It doesn’t make the pain go away. It helped me a ton, but there’s many people out there who make a routine of going under the knife to chase their back pain. Mine has since been replaced by nerve pain and arthritis since the surgery, but I’ll always remember coming off the opiates. I’ll take them if I have to, but holy **** I’ll never be on them longer than a week if necessary. I manage my back pain with physical therapy exercises and Tylenol now. If I live right, eat right, and exercise routinely, I barely notice it’s there. But, life’s a struggle and it gets away from me sometimes.

Having said all that, I’d try everything possible to get off the drugs and to lose as much weight as possible, as safely as possible, as soon as possible. If you can, start taking long walks, then move to long walks in hilly areas. It doesn’t happen over night, consistency in diet and exercise are what matter most. If you ever need to talk about diet / exercise, please PM me. I’m educated and used to maintain several certifications prior to starting a career in a totally different field.

Best of luck with your situation! Sounds like you’re good and ready for a change!