I didn't until I had a bulging lower back disc pressing on my sciatic nerve. My leg felt like it was constantly on fire no matter what position I put myself in. In the past I've torn my ACL and had surgery to reconstruct and that pain was like stubbing my toe compared to the back pain. I understood how people become addicted to pain meds after my back situation.
Totally get it, I too only understood it "theoretically" till I had a (fairly minor!) dental operation.
... Suddenly I'm maintaining a continuous note of when I'm taking which medicine to avoid crossing safe limits (which I anyway was crossing most days).
I was only told to take 2 paracetamols a day (bullshit dose, I'd be waking up from the pain even with more pain meds).
"Diclofenac for rare use" - well, if nothing else is touching the pain, is it an emergency?
Eventually after forever I was able to transition to Ibuprofen + paracetamol. And I already have a health condition which is heavy on my kidneys... pain management can be absolutely crazy.
Pain management can be crazy but in your case it sounds like they simply didn't prescribe the appropriate medication presumably due to the anti opiate hysteria that has taken hold.
I had severe nerve pain due to a herniated disc. While awaiting a surgery, I was prescribed an opioid (Tramadol) but it didn't seem to help much at all. Acetaminophen actually worked better than the opioid for me...
While that's quite possibly true, I forgot to mention that I'm not in the US but India. I was conscious the whole time, with only local anesthesia. Also the dentist in question is actually our "family" dentist, and he's a pretty knowledgeable/skillful guy (easily more knowledgeable than many GPs on health matters of the body).
Fun fact, you can totally get them to pause the procedure without saying a word. All you have to do is end up in a lot of pain, have your heart rate skyrocket like anything, and get everyone in the OT very concerned ;)
> Apparently i don't understand pain
I didn't until I had a bulging lower back disc pressing on my sciatic nerve. My leg felt like it was constantly on fire no matter what position I put myself in. In the past I've torn my ACL and had surgery to reconstruct and that pain was like stubbing my toe compared to the back pain. I understood how people become addicted to pain meds after my back situation.
Totally get it, I too only understood it "theoretically" till I had a (fairly minor!) dental operation.
... Suddenly I'm maintaining a continuous note of when I'm taking which medicine to avoid crossing safe limits (which I anyway was crossing most days).
I was only told to take 2 paracetamols a day (bullshit dose, I'd be waking up from the pain even with more pain meds).
"Diclofenac for rare use" - well, if nothing else is touching the pain, is it an emergency?
Eventually after forever I was able to transition to Ibuprofen + paracetamol. And I already have a health condition which is heavy on my kidneys... pain management can be absolutely crazy.
Pain management can be crazy but in your case it sounds like they simply didn't prescribe the appropriate medication presumably due to the anti opiate hysteria that has taken hold.
I had severe nerve pain due to a herniated disc. While awaiting a surgery, I was prescribed an opioid (Tramadol) but it didn't seem to help much at all. Acetaminophen actually worked better than the opioid for me...
While that's quite possibly true, I forgot to mention that I'm not in the US but India. I was conscious the whole time, with only local anesthesia. Also the dentist in question is actually our "family" dentist, and he's a pretty knowledgeable/skillful guy (easily more knowledgeable than many GPs on health matters of the body).
Fun fact, you can totally get them to pause the procedure without saying a word. All you have to do is end up in a lot of pain, have your heart rate skyrocket like anything, and get everyone in the OT very concerned ;)
> Apparently i don't understand pain...
Speaking as someone who is not-infrequently in significant pain, I sincerely hope that you never have to.