Can Painkillers Be Taken in Recovery?
Life is challenging enough, but add in addiction and recovery can feel like another challenge on the road of life. Sometimes it feels like the physical, spiritual, and emotional pain is too much. There are painkillers for some of the things that ail you in recovery but not all are good to take. With a history of addiction, there is always the risk of crossover addiction into something else. Learn more about the use of painkillers in recovery and whether or not they are a good idea.
Hitting Bumps
Setting up for success in recovery is not without some bumps, bruises, and scrapes on the journey. Taking painkillers can be a great way to ease some of the challenges of feeling pain in recovery in one way or another, but it can also add to the bumps in an already rocky road. Whether or not you refuse pain medicine depends on the ability to withstand some of the aches and pains, or deal with other pains which come up unexpectedly, on the road to recovery. Without realizing it, you may jeopardize your recovery and end up addicted to painkillers when you really meant to get some relief.
Thinking it Through
People who are experts on sober living consider opioids a relapse risk. Others may see it as a necessary evil to combat pain, whether it is mild, acute, or from an additional injury not related to addiction, it can be a good or bad thing depending on many factors. Doctors are not trained in the field of addiction when they hand out opioids and painkillers. When they don’t know the dangerous addictive potential, they might miss some warning signals a person should try another route to relieve pain other than painkillers. When a prescription is taken responsibly by someone without addiction, they can easily become dependent. People who have a history of addiction may not be able to take pills as responsibly as necessary because their brain and body may crave the substance like it did whatever substances it had in the brain and body before. A person in recovery is fragile, especially early on, and susceptible to shifts in their body’s chemistry which makes them easy targets for relapse or crossover addiction.
Don’t Compromise
Ultimately, only you know what your tolerance is towards taking pain pills or anything else that might trigger a relapse. Because of the risks, the CDC has introduced guidelines for prescribing opioids. Doctors should use the lowest possible dose for three days. Doctors may not use opioids and provide prescriptions for other things like aspirin. Doctors may even incorporate all-natural techniques to alleviate pain like yoga or meditation that can help in some cases make things better without drugs.
The key to any situation where you may be walking into a relapse trap is to talk it out with community, providers, and doctors who are helping you on the journey. Friends can also advise best course of action they have found and make an informed decision. Don’t worry about other people, think first about your own recovery and what you need. If you don’t feel comfortable with a course of treatment, be sure to speak to your provider and find another way to support your pain without opioids.
A Step in the Right Direction provides quality care for clients seeking support for addiction recovery. We teach people how to live a sober life through programs, therapeutic support, and evidence-based therapies. Our recovery program is staffed by people who understand the power of addiction. For more information sober living programs for men and women as well as recovery programs, call (877) 377-3702.