Why doesn't pain medication work for me?!
Question:
Why doesn't pain medication work for me?
i take the recommend dose on the bottle, or what the doctor says to take, but it hardly ever works for me. what i mean is sleeping medication, and pain pills. i'm 16 years old 5'6 and about 125 pounds, so im not huge or anything. i even take TRIPLE what it says on the bottle sometimes. it's like im immune to it or something. could that be possible? and im not taking off brand or generics or anything like that.
& i'm talking about headaches, stomach aches, cramps, or i'm taking over the counter sleeping aids.... so its not like excruciating pain. i've taken freakin codeine, vicodin, etc.
Answers:
If you take pain medications too often, you can develop tolerance to them, which means your body gets used to the drugs being there & it takes more to get an effect. If you get frequent headaches, you may have developed something called medication overuse headache, which is when your body actually requires the medication to be there, or you get a headache. You actually create a negative cycle where you need the medicine, but it really doesn't do much for you, yet you take it to prevent the pain from getting worse. I am not saying this is what is going on in your case, but something like this is possible. It can even occur with simple over the counter medicines. I think you should talk to your doctor about this, or maybe even see a pain specialist. It doesn't sound like your doctor has been adequately manageing your pain, or explaining to you the dangers of using the meds so frequently. Your doctor needs to get you the RIGHT medicine at the RIGHT dose (and maybe get you off some of the "extra" ones). I hope this helps! Please know that I "accusing" you of anything either. If you weren't using the meds right, it really isn't your fault. It is often hard to deal with pain, and sometimes it is easy to think certain meds (like OTCs) are OK. (I know, I get frequent headaches/migraines myself. I am now going to a neurologist & just starting to get them under control.)