My husband was in pain for 15 years. He was on a morphine drip at one time, then given morphine based painkillers.
He had the problem that they made him constipated, which was another problem as he was doubly incontinent. So he decided not to take painkillers and was sent to a pain clinic, where he discovered that a painkiller based on capsicum worked better for him. That took about ten years to find out. When we moved to Durham, he was told that they would not give him that, but they would give him opioids and antidepressants.
When I was in hospital in April, I was on morphine and given Codeine, and Tramadol, to bring home, both of which are addictive, and cause constipation. As I am not supposed to strain when I go to the toilet, that is obviously ridiculous, so I stopped taking them. I was also given a repeat prescription of 200 paracetamol!
I put up with pain at the moment, telling myself that it's there for a reason, to make sure I do not do too much and end up back in hospital.
Does this happen to everyone who is addicted to painkillers? Do they then have to take loads of senna as well?