a common goal in medicine is to taper off opiates.
after my surgery in october, i continued to use opiates for pain and diarrhea for months. gradually tapering off, i was only using opium tincture by january, and that was only to help control diarrhea.
at that point in january, i was still on an upward trajectory. my pain was getting better. my bowel movements were becoming more regular.
looking back, however, that seems to have been my high point. since then, abdominal pain and distension has worsened. it consumes the majority of my life (again).
so i tried to further scale back my opium tincture use, hoping that would relieve the bloating. it didn’t. i’ve tried adjusting almost every aspect of my diet. again, no response.
at this point, instead of avoiding opiates to minimize side effects, i’m actually going to strive to use them more. i can’t keep dragging my miserable body around in pain. i need to be able to do work and exercise and have fun.
so today, i begin my effort for taking more opiates. sigh.