Not all MS patients experience pain, but majority do. The nerves become so sensitive, that the lightest touch feels like fire. Muscle spasms feel as if you were experiencing growing pains. And if you were like me, sitting in a wheelchair for so long could produce some wicked back pain.
My experience with painkillers first started with Percocet and Valium. I itched like crazy, but the pain disappeared. The Valium helped with muscle spasms, which kept me up throughout the night. Since I was getting absolutely no sleep since my legs would twitch throughout the night, my next pill would be Seroquel. Percocet released any “growing pains” I felt through my arms and legs. I took them as prescribed, and rarely drank alcohol.
However, the human body becomes adept to painkillers. Soon, Percocet turned into Oxycontin. Even though I’m still prescribed Percocet, it’s only refilled every few months. Oxycontin was prescribed because of the chronic pain. It has a 12-hour release, without the effects a 4-hour pill like Percocet would have. If I knew now the effect Oxycontin has on the body, I would have never of taken it. Within a few weeks, if I didn’t take it as prescribed (1 in the morning, 1 at night), I would experience the worst withdraw symptoms.
If you have ever seen a movie when the character is shown withdrawing; they aren’t exaggerating. At first, your muscles begin to ache. Then, a cold sweat with shivers, followed by nausea and every single flu-like symptom you could acquire.
The worst part about Oxycontin is that the longer you take it, withdraw symptoms start to happen even quicker than before. Even though I complain about Oxycontin, the feeling it releases is something I could never attach an adjective to.
The state of New Jersey recently legalized the use of marijuana for MS patients. I have smoked a lot of pot since my diagnosis, something I never did before. Although the opinions of using marijuana are split, I have to admit the plant is 100 times better than using any pills. Any spasms will cease, nerves will be all calm, and pain will be completely tolerable. If you have the opportunity to use it, I recommend it.
