Drugs, Should You Take Them for Pain or Not?

Some people are adamant that they will not take any form of drugs for pain relief, and would rather cope with the pain instead. I have suffered from back pain for over 30 years and the 'not taking' of pain relief would be out of the question. Don't get me wrong, I see where they are coming from but there is also the saying 'get a life' which can come into the equation. For me personally, my life would be very miserable if I had to suffer pain 24/7. My moods, I know, would be up and down like a yo-yo and as there is no 'cure' for my back condition, I know it will not get better, in fact if anything, it will get worse and worse. Of course when I was first put on pain meds I started on a low dosage of fairly mild drugs but over the years as my condition has deteriorated the drugs have just got stronger and stronger. I had spells of taking an anti-inflammatory but suffered a stomach ulcer so I am very wary of them nowadays. The only 'over the counter' pain relief that I take is 'paracetamol', which is a simple analgesic pain reliever which I use as a top up on my bad days. Nowadays I take the maximum dosage of 'Tramadol' which is what they call a 'opioid receptor' which I take by 'slow release' which means you have something in your system all the time. I find this the most beneficial way to take it for me. Another group of medicines used to alleviate back pain are muscle relaxants/antidepressants which are called tricycle antidepressants. It's obvious that if you are in constant pain that you could become quite depressed and need an antidepressant. But, in actual fact you take such a low dosage of the drug that it wouldn't work for depression. I take one called Nortryptyline at night before I go to bed and depending on my day (pain wise) I can take between 20 – 50mg, which also helps me sleep. Of course, just about 'all' drugs have side effects, and actually if you read the list of them, it's no wonder some people say they wont take them. However, generally once you have taken them for a short while you just get used to the side effects. Learning to live with the good and the bad points of pain relieving drugs is just part of living with 'chronic pain'. I do understand some people's problem with taking drugs, but for me I can enjoy a relatively normal life while taking them, and that's more important to me.