Medication For Physical Pain. Does It Make Your Ptsd Worse.....

[njray]

I was wondering if anyone has experienced greater PTSD symptoms because of the pain medication they are taking due to the physical injury caused from the trauma you suffered to which your PTSD symptoms are caused by? (hope this makes sense as i have re typed it 10 times but I am still not sure if I am explaining this correctly)

I am on a medication that I can take "as needed". It is opiate like so it is not really relieving the injury pain like a steroid might but it is a medication that is designed to trick my brain that I feel no pain (like morheme)... When I take the medication (only when the constant pain becomes unbearable) it makes me sleepy (expected side affect) but I have horrible dreams and when I wake up although I feel physically rested my brain is exhausted. I wake up in a very fog like and lethargic feeling. It feels as though I am coming off a 100 cup of coffee withdrawal.

I will not be starting any PTSD or ADHD medications until after surgery as my surgeon wants me to be able to describe my before and immediate after surgery physical symptoms/feelings unobstructed by outside stimuli as it he feels that will afford me the best chance for a successful surgery outcome as it may take a while to get the right combination of PTSD & ADHD medications to afford me the best relief from the mental symptoms. During the fine tuning of the meds he is concerned these medications might cause me not to provide him with the correct information he needs to make sure i am on the right path of physical recovery.. Does this make sense? It kinda does to me.

Your thoughts are greatly appreciated..

Oh one last thing because of paperwork, insurances, additional testing and etc I have lived with the physical pain and injury for over a year now but it has completely gotten to the point where it has made me almost completely physically disabled. My surgery is supposed to be occurring very soon (although as I look back the powers that be said that months ago) within a couple of weeks..

 

[Cheshire]

I take Oxycodone on an as-needed basis for my physical injuries but I try desperately to avoid taking it unless I absolutely have to because I always, without fail, have hideous nightmares that I can't wake up from and then when I do wake I feel like I have to trudge through mud just to remember my name. I know exactly what you mean.

 

[njray]

I gotcha Cheshire...... No Oxy for me... I have always had a major aversion to medication probable to a fault but even on a wimpy meds at minimum dose it is whacking me... I just hope i can get the surgery done sooner than later.. I am a little concerned about how I am going to manage the pain after surgery as I have been told between recuperation and p/t after surgery it is going to be about a 6-9 month process and that is just to get to a minimum point of shoulder/arm use. I have always had a high threshold for pain that is why I am so concerned as the pain I am experiencing now is definitely great as for me to be sidelined the way I am is not typical for me by any stretch.

 

[sea]

Opiate medication may feel "sedating" but it actually activates your sympathetic nervous system. This happens because all opiates turn into morphine when they hit your opioid receptors - and the morphine chemical directly converts itself into endorphin receptors. This means every opiate you take converts itself into endorphins, which activate your body's stress response. This means your heart rate speeds up, your blood vessels constrict, your pupils constrict, your body starts to dry up and clench out. It ends up affecting you in the way a stimulant does, but because it feels sedating and causes somnolence, people confuse it with being a downer. I take codeine and have PRN morphine and I always get heart palpitations and bursts of energy. So yes, it makes sense that in some people opiate medication would affect their PTSD. Eventually you build a tolerance to it though. For me, I don't really get many mental side effects. I don't feel "high" or whatever people seem to think. It's more bodily.

 

[OKRADLAK]

I have a lot of pain that is unrelated directly but because of things I did to manage the PTSD. I am not on meds for it because I have developed some kind of super sensitivities to many things. Meds mess me up like a shot of poison.

It is scary because there is not much I can do and I always fear it may get worse

 

[njray]

Great finished my pain numbing meds this morning..... They still owe me some at pharmacy...... I have been very careful in there use.......... It has been a trade off of some sleep with numbed pain and horrific nightmares of knife attack or no med with no sleep and no nightmares but then I am more on edge the next day as I did not get any brain rest. No sleep is then, lack of energy, poor memory, lack of focus ability, no critical thinking ability (Ikes had little to begin with) and more anxious

 

[BrazenBull]

It has happened to me a while back, when taking ibuprofen for my cut nerve, I found myself taking way too much then was supposed to, then I would end up not going outside or eating for days.

 

[scott_1971_h]

Opiates are notorious for (maybe not causing but) exacerbating nightmares. They can be very vivid.
Scott