Lesson In Openmindedness

NA's slogan which sticks in my head like glue: HONESTY-OPENMINDEDNESS-AND-WILLINGNESS, with that we are well on our way.
i have posted countless times how much i was the opposite of the above in my active addiction, i found that in recovery that trying to be those attributes in the slogan above is really so so true.
this incident with a tooth abcsess has really confirmed it, who would of thought?
this was my first incident of excrutiating pain since my year of recovery, or any pain at all for that matter, since last saturday, i endured the pain from an abscessed tooth, the post pain from mondays procedure where the dentist drilled the tooth and released the pus, tuesdays post pain from the root canal i had done from my endodontist, and presently the crown that supported that abscessed tooth has chipped 3 times since being drilled on, last night the 3rd chip has left this crown with a razor sharp edge which hurts my tongue when i talk or chew, thank goodness my dentist is squeezing me in 15 min before opening time tomorrow at his dental office and is going to replace this brand new crown i have to pay for since i had used up my dental benefits for the year and is going to replace it for free! stress!!! pain!!!!!
here is the lesson i learned:
if this would have occured in active addiction, i would of INSISTED on a narcotic for the pain, today, i knew i couldnt have a narcotic because of the sub i am on,
so i endured with otc tylenol and ibuprophen and ice packs. i also had the mindset, darn, if i wasnt on the sub i would be able to get relief from this terrible pain and i thought that ONLY a narcotic would work.
until tuesday that was the method i used for pain relief, which didnt take it all away, but made it bearable.
at tuesday's endontic appt for the root canal, he told me that to expect post pain for the next few days, great i thought, i was expecting the pain to be over after the root canal was finished, he instructed me to take ibuprophen for pain relief, i knew i was now out of ibuprophen at home, so i asked if he could write me a prescription for motrin, after all i have zero co pay on generic drugs and the otc liquid advil gel caps i had previously bought was almost 4 dollars. no problem he said, wrote me the script and by now the novacaine is just starting to wear off and i was like this still hurts!!! he told the nurse to give me a 800 mg motrin,.
i get to the car, and while driving home, i was like omg! the pain is worse than ever!!! my neck is so sore where the pus had drained down, it felt like strep throat and when i went to bite down!!!! i could only open my mouth about a quarter of an inch with out feeling this terrible terrible pain! i had had it by then, all week i suffered, finally made it to get the root canal which i thought was the cure, so as i continue to drive, boom! just like that the pain is gone!!! i can bite down on the tooth, nothing! the pain in my neck, gone! would i have ever been so openminded in active addiction to think that motrin would relieve this awful pain???: NEVER!
I had to be openminded this time because i knew i cant have a narcotic and for this type of pain and it having anti inflammotory properties in it, 800 mg prescription motrin is the bomb!!! in active addiction i would of turned my nose up to this type of pain relief and would of thought that it wouldnt be any better than taking a tic tac and i would of abused narcotics to get thru the pain.
God teaches me everyday!!! i was grumbling, why did i have to go through this, havent i been through enough lately?? and today i can look back on it as a great lesson learned in open mindedness and a great lesson learned that sometimes a narcotic may be needed, but at least try to see what non narcotic options will work, i never ever would of considered a non narcotic way before recovery!!!!
i have had to use the motrin every 6 hours since tuesday for the post pain discomfort, but today i stopped it as there is no pain as i type this, here we go again, i never would stop before! thats how i got hooked, i would pop pills every 4 hours, this time i waited 6 hours like instructed. so i am really happy with my new learned behavior this week. THANK YOU GOD! He is so good to me! and to you too! count your blessings.
i want to share Sundays gospel lesson: Seek and ye shall find... knock and the door shall be opened unto you..... so true!!
heres an update:
i had an appt as some of you already know to get a free consultation with a divorce lawyer which was scheduled for last tues. evening, i was so sick from this tooth problem i had to call and left a voice mail to reschedule, in the meantime i was advised from a good friend that having a female lawyer would not be in my best interest because the court could see it as two women ganging up on a man, my husband.
this lawyer has not returned my voice mail message, so that doesnt look too good on her part.
now i need to find a male lawyer for a free consult.
i am so confused on what to do concerning my marital woes. i want to be free of this abuse, but today i am not able to bring in a income yet to support myself, in the mean time, he is never here, but to occasionally sleep over night after the bar and to come here on wed to cash his paycheck and deposit it into our checking account. then i get into the mindset that i have it made in the shade! i get the comforts of the house and my flower garden(i would be devastated to leave,)a fenced in yard for my 3 doggies, a beauty shop in my basement, all medical benefits covered, he is never here any more to aggravate me, also if i stay married,that makes me eligible for pension, social security and medical benefits and such... these thoughts swirl thru my mind everyday, yet when i look at the flip side of the coin, i want to be free, no more porn, no more knowing he is with another woman and defying our marriage vows, no more listening to how HE earns the living and its HIS house as i struggle to work at 3 different jobs...no more pain of how i have struggled thru recovery with out one word of support or concern on his part towards me his wife of 27 yrs,who one is supposed to love, honor and cherish through better for worse, for richer for poorer..... so i know it all boils down to is to continue my faith with God and to stay in the day, JUST FOR TODAY!! today is all i have to worry about and you know what?: its a BEAUTIFUL day today!! The good LORD woke me up to another day of life to enjoy my sons, my animals and a nice hot summer day! i am gonna go lay out and get a suntan, take a dip in my pool and then get back to living and do what needs to be done today and to prioritize and NOT PROCRASTINATE!!
i am learning you guys, baby steps, i pray that i can stay strong and continue to learn, and to stay openminded..... thanks for letting me share!!!! love jewels
Hi Julie,
I'm glad your pain is gone. If I hadn't signed a pain contract with my doctor and could get meds from a dentist for something like that, I would have milked it to death! I remember having dental problems a time or two and postponing for a few days what had to be done so I could have an excuse to get another refill, and complaining afterwards of the pain even after it was gone.
In your active addiction, would you have done the same?
I'm proud of you. You were so honest with this and you also endured alot of pain which tells me how much your recovery means to you. Hats off to ya girlie!
What would happen if you took a narcotic while on sub? Would you get sick?
And did you tell your dentist that your an addict? Is that embarrasing to have to tell doctors and dentists that, and how do they take it? Are they good about it, or do they look at you differently?
Roe

Again, I'm so glad your pain is gone. I had an absess once and remember that it hurt like hell, even percocet (which at the time I didn't have the tolerance I do now) didn't take the pain away, just dulled it some. You are a strong woman, and I admire you very much.
yes, even though i had said i would never say it again after a bad eperience last april, i did tell both dentists that i am an addict, they were very understanding this time, i had a negative experience last april and if you search for the not treated fairly post under my name, it will explain.
thank you for your admiration, it feels good to have people say nice things to me in recovery as before, most of my life i believed all those negative vibes and comments i endured as a child.
if i were to take a narcotic on suboxone, it would put me in precipitated withdrawals....not fun, i am sure i dont want to experience that one.
to explain it in simpler terms, i was taught this in rehab, there are receptors in our brain, think of them as parking garages, when one takes a narcotic or whatever thats pleasurable, those receptors or parking spaces are filled up or parked in, hence, a wonderful feeling of euphoria and great pleasure, ( thats how we get hooked) trying so hard to find and keep that feeling.chasing it!
now if i take a narcotic pain pill like vicodin which was my doc, it is going to try and park in all those garages or receptors. now its pissed because suboxone is already parked there and those two drugs are going to battle which one gets to stay parked? so what happens is when the 2nd drug is ingested which would of been fine if it was only one drug ingested, they both fight each other and BOTH drugs get thrown out of the garages or receptors and then boom! the garages or receptors are empty now and guess what you feel like????? sh*t!!!
withdrawals like you wouldnt believe! awful! awful! wouldnt want to go there! there are people on this forum who could share their experience with precipated withdrawals!!! so that is why when one is on suboxone, the other component of that drug which is naloxone or narcan with buprophenine being the component that keeps an addict satisfied, keeps addicts from abusing narcotics or shooting it up because naloxone protects the receptors that have suboxone in it and wont let any other narcotics park there! whew! that one took some thought! jewels
Jewels,
Thank you for that. That was an excellent explanation. You answered my question and then some. It really makes sense now. Thanks again. Roe
Jewels,
OMGoodness, I just read that post about not being treated fairly. Thats an understatement, sounds to me like you were tortured. I couldn't imagine something being stuck down my throat in my stomach, and the staff being such asses about it.
And the ambulance guys too. Man, that would be frustrating, here you are, trying to improve your life without drugs, that must have been very discouraging. I'm glad its over, I'm sure you are too. Roe