I don’t think there was one single injury or occurrence in particular that led to my Oxycontin addiction. For me it was just an accumulation of all the wear and tear of sports played throughout my life. My football years during high school and college were nothing but a continuous exposure to injuries, with several severe knee impacts putting me in the hospital and on the side lines for weeks at a time. If I had to choose, this was probably what laid the foundation for the chronic and incessant throbbing knee pain I have battled almost daily for the last 20 years. After college the part time jobs as a moving man and in the construction field surely put the final touches on my inescapable knee pain. The minor injuries I used to pretend that couldn’t bother me would finally take their toll later on during the joyous process of aging…
When the flares up were becoming unbearable, and the trips to the doctors’ office proved futile, I began taking every calcium and cartilage supplement I read about. I jokingly used to say that I was also an addict to NSAIDs like Tylenol Extra, since the only bare minimum relief I gained was from popping upwards of 10 of those things a day. Finally, a doctor recommended a knee replacement in one leg as a final solution, and for whatever reason, the procedure itself went less than perfect. This caused a much more lengthy recovery time along with, you guessed it, more pain. The doctors took mercy on me and prescribed me a generous cocktail of hardcore pain killers to take, Soma and Oxycontin in particular that would help me through the suffering. Boy, did they work. I had heard about professional athletes and other injured people taking them, but man was I impressed. For the first time in years I experienced what it was like to not have to live each day with constant throbbing agony.
Just as the pain I had endured before, taking these powerful opiates became part of my daily routine. After tasting that sweet feeling of carefree numbness, I subconsciously made up my mind to never go back to that nightmare I was putting myself through before, and since the doctors kept my refills for these prescriptions in plentiful supply, I had little trouble getting more painkillers as needed. 8 months later my life had been completely rewired from being dictated by my knee and joint pain to my need for my painkillers. I was so numb to the reality of my situation at this point; I gladly accepted my Oxycontin addiction while hardly even noticing how it was affecting my job, my marriage, and my relationships with those around me. My family finally contacted a website on my behalf that specialized in recommending treatment centers that were experts in pain medication addiction treatment.
I guess I was one of the lucky ones to find a rehab center that specialized in pain medication rehab. I met many other people just like myself there who were living with similar debilitating injuries, and just like me developed a pain medication addiction as a result. Today, I have learned how to manage my pain without painkillers (like Oxycontin) for the first time in years. When I first started my Oxycontin rehab I remember hearing all the stories of how well their former patients were doing and thinking this sounds too good to be true. Nevertheless, I took a leap of faith and followed all of the advice they gave me during my rehab treatment. Today, I am a believer that those suffering from physical injuries can lead a productive and happy life without painkillers.
Danny W.
Wilmington, DE
