I at one time had access to as much opioids as I felt was neccesary. Very compassionate Doctors at a pain clinic. They were not enough to control my pain but were too much to allow me access to my ful l intelligence. 266 mgs. per day. The equivalent of about 1000 morphine mgs., the comparison pain docs and pharmacists use.

Finally, after 1 year with no infections I could have my pump put in. Chemo had destroyed one lung and I couldn't risk any surgery. Now my morphine mgs. Rate is about 100. 4mgs. plus .9mgs. gives me much better pain management than the large oral doses ever did and with none of the side effects. No constipation, clear head and my own sparkling personality back. I still live with pain and always will but at least it's manageable. I am as much of an advocate for opioid use as you will find but oral drugs are not the way to go. 1mg. of a drug delivered directly to your spinal fluid is as much as 300 times more effective as 1mg. taken by mouth. I'm getting the benefit of a much as 1500mgs. of Dilaudid per day, (Dilaudud is much more powerful than morphine and second only to Fentanyl). That dose orally would kill me. You cannot eat enough pain meds to control pain long term. I am living proof that it does not work.

The other great thing about the pump is that no one has any suspicions about your motives or your doctors practices. Oral meds work for a time but as your body adjusts you will need larger and larger amounts and eventually they won't work at all except to make you stupid. If pain is a feature of your life that you expect will not go away, look into getting an intrathecal pain pump. Find a good neurosurgeon as threading the catheter up your spinal chord is definitely a neat trick. Big pharma could care less about seniors and politicians are as useful as teats on a boar pig. Get a pump!