How much pain do you have to be in before you take whatever the dr. prescribes for relief, regardless of side effects?

If you would have asked this question a year ago, I would say a whole lot of pain. But after a year of chronic pain, I have to wake up and take one just to start the day.

A lot Icy.

I have to be in a lot of pain before I get as far as the doctor in the first place so I guess the answer would be when it is unbearable, I give in.

The last time I took the pain medication eagerly without questioning the doctor's orders was minutes before I would have passed out. I was in the ER with gallbladder almost bursting and a stone wedged in my urinary tract. Otherwise I am not a tablet lover.....

I have to be in great pain and I pray I never go there.
+5 Icy

I'd rather be in pain than throw up continuously for about 2 days, begging myself not to throw up again, only to be let down. I've done this twice with hydrocodon before.

Its not the severity of the pain as much as it is the duration.
Ear ripped off? The pain will go away after a few days and a decent amount of alcohol (the antiseptic kind).
Chronic Back Pain? Give me the pills. Shoot me up. Whatever.

I would start smoking pot before I took the pills, and I hate having the status of criminal. I used some non-prescription cream for sore muscles the other day.

I take it as needed. No less, no more.

Only if it becomes unbearable. Prescription pain killers tend to make me really loopy, so if I do have to take them, I only do it when I'm at home and not driving, etc.

I have to be in Rush Limbaugh screaming in my ear, Sean Hannity hitting me in the chest with a fake TEA baggers sign, Ann Coulter has my nuts in a vise amount of pain.

I won't take pain medication, I normally won't take any medications but I have been taking tamiflu and nyquil for the last week. Not because of pain, I am just tired of being sick. <smiles> +5

A lot. I absolutely hate taking pills even aspirin. +5

No clue, but I hope your health get better.

went through Oxycodone and higher dose codeine,(Stopped both because of side effects )and then took Tramodol(zydol) for pain while waiting for hip replacements, This was so I could continue in work.
Dont take any now. Rotator cuff tear, and two prolapsed discs.But I just keep active and stop doing whatever I am doing if pain gets too much. I am reserving pain meds for when it is unbearable.

I have bad and painful afrthritis. I am also a professional guitar player. When I don't have to record or play a show, I lay low on the meds and put up with the pain. Sometimes it is very bad. When I do have to play guitar, I take some extra meds so that the pain doesn't get in the way of my performance.

I am usually in a lot of pain about a 6 on the 1-10 scale and take something to take the edge off. When it is so bad that I want to just gnaw it off, and I cannot sleep, can't sit still (beyond a 10)I take the pain killer that makes me so sick I can't eat for days. I hate it but I have no choice. It's either that or go crazy.
'

My doc says if it interupts your life style, your thoughts on a persistant basis , or your sleep, you should take something. He is a pain specialist.

I don't go to the doctor. I just take a capsule of mefenamic acid when I have some pain...usually due to a sprain. +5

When I reach the point that the pain is so overwhelming that I can't think or concentrate on anything else. A whole lot of pain.

I would typically trust that whatever my g.p. prescribes is relatively free of side effects.

When I first went to eastern Europe in 1992 right after the breakup of the former Soviet Union I used to get massive migraines due to an old shoulder injury on an almost daily basis.

With no trust for local doc.'s and little medicine that I was familiar with or trusted, I often had to rely on massive doses of Tylenol and risk kidney damage or keep the pain.

I have gone both ways, but when the pain was bad enough, the possibility that I might have serious complications from the medicine just didn't count.

Sorry
((H))
:-)

I would only go to the doctor in the first place if I was in absolute agony, so I would take whatever he or she prescribed straight away.

I am currently pregnant and had nausea and vomit all the time of the day for 2 weeks. I felt almost dead...no strength at all. Then my doc ordered me Navidoxine and it's helping me sooooo much i feel like being in a miracle! It helped my pain.

I don't like meds, so I wait until I can no longer stand the pain; probably about an 8 on a scale from 1 - 10.

I got hit in the ear with a baseball during practice, once. It took 3 orderlys to hold me down and administer the medication.

I don't take any prescribed painkiller. Not yet. I'm getting old, so it won't be long now.

ill take any drugs if they will get me high

I have a high tolerance for pain and a low tolerance for medication, but dental pain with an abscess is one of the worst pains...the pain is sitting right on the nerve. Orajel brought no relief. So I would pop a pill before it even kicks in if I ever have that problem again.

Back pain and headaches are other ones that will keep a person from sleeping, so I say just give in to the medication.