Do Doctors read A.A.?

The reason that the doctors are trying to get you off of the pain killers is because anything you do for the body, it will stop doing for itself. For example, take testosterone and the testicles will shrink since they no longer have to produce it. The same is true for pain medicines. They take the place of endorphins and enkephalins when it comes to dealing with pain and everyday stimuli. If someone is on pain killers long enough, once they stop taking them or even reduce the amount they're on, the entire body will start to hurt. In extremely bad cases, even the feel of clothing touching the skin can cause unbearable pain. This is why detox is so painful. The body will start producing endorphins and enkephalins again but it takes time.

It's hard to believe, but your brain will actually tune out pain after awhile. Any sensory input that's steady and constant will be filtered out at least partially. Ever been snow skiing? The orange goggles that you wear protect your eyes from the glare of the sun on the snow, but after you've been wearing them for awhile the brain compensates and turns all the colors back to normal. The brain got rid of the orange tint because it was a steady input that it determined to be unimportant compared to the other information it was receiving. Physical sensation is the same way. Remember how weird it felt the first time you ever wore a watch? It was probably enough to drive you crazy then but you don't even register if it's on your wrist now. Even pain will follow the same pattern. I've had enough serious injuries (some of which are permanent) to know for a fact that even extremely bad pain will fade into the background. I now refuse to take painkillers for new injuries because the old ones will hurt again as soon as I stop. This is also partially why you're in pain. As you take the pills, the pain you feel comes and goes nonstop and your brain can't decide if there's a problem or not. It's like a really bad bruise. It doesn't hurt unless you poke it and that's exactly what you're doing by letting the pain signals constantly fluctuate. I won't lie though... it will take your brain awhile to adjust and you will be in a considerable amount of pain until it does. The end results are worth it though.

Also, since you have arthritis, make sure you don't have any artificial sugar in your diet. NutraSweet (aspartame) can cause arthritis symptoms in people that don't even have it. For people that do, it makes it ten times worse. My mother was in so much pain that she could barely hobble around the house. Once she got rid of the diet soda and artificial sweeteners, she was back to riding her dirt bike and four wheeler. Big difference isn't it? Obviously it doesn't do this to everyone or it wouldn't be on the market, but the people affected are usually hit pretty hard. Sadly, this isn't common knowledge so a lot of people that do have a problem with it are in pain for no reason they can identify and no medicines or physical therapy will help. If you're diabetic and have to rely on artificial sugar, stay away from NutraSweet (aspartame). Use Sweet'N Low (saccharin) or Splenda (sucralose).