Hi Pretender -

Just a couple of comments -

I don't think you're a pretender at all. You're like a lot of us here. You're a person who suffers from chronic pain that takes medicine for quality of life issues. I don't understand why we beat ourselves up for taking pain meds. I do the same thing.

I've been told by a few wise members of this board that I'm not addicted to my meds - I'm dependent on them. Just the same as a diabetic is dependent on insulin, or a person with high cholesterol is dependent on Lipitor.

I don't catch a buzz on my meds either - I don't think there's a pill on this earth that could buzz me at this point. I've been on Morphine for three years now for Fibromyalgia and degenerative disc disease among other things.

I've been told I'll be on one pain pill or another for pain until I die. I guess my goal is to get a handle on my intake. My tolerance is so high - I have to almost double what the doctor prescribes to get any relief. Then I run out early, and withdrawal is HELL as we all know.

I've told my doc that I need my dosage adjusted, but he wants no part of that since it's morphine. I can't blame him - he's a GP, not a pain management doc. You would think after three years there would need to be some adjustments though.

Anyway, welcome to the board - you'll find some awesome people here - warm and supportive for the most part.

Dawn