I was in a serious road accident decades ago. I have been in pain ever since. This pain is not lessened by over the counter painkillers. Plus over the counter painkillers are harmful to take in large doses over a long term.

My nerves are damaged by something in my back. (it hasn't been determined what, just that the damage occurs) I am in a debilitating amount of pain.

So I take an opioid several times a day. Before the opioid crisis I was taking 10mg morphine twice a day. Now I take Suboxone, I'm in more pain but not a paralyzing amount.

To your question about what it's like: strong opioids bring a euphoric numb lightness. If you're in a vulnerable place in your life where you are not well supported and don't experience much joy, then that euphoria can be overwhelming. You might want to feel that again ASAP because compared to being in pain, depressed, anxious, you felt pretty good for a while.

I hope you're doing well as you can. I injured my back many years ago and I was worried about developing a habit. Surgery and PT have got me back to 95% though I occasionally use medical marijuana as a crutch for bad days. I count myself lucky, not everyone can deal with their symptoms with exercise and light medication.

I am doing OK, thank you. I have some useful exercises, like the piriformis stretch, that help me manage the pain level. Plus I am thankful to be able to walk my dog for 2 to 4 miles in one go, several times a week, so my physical fitness isn't completely in the toilet :)

Thanks so much for sharing. I’m sorry to hear about your injury.

The “euphoric numb lightness” was what I was looking for.

Many years ago my wife fell down the stairs and suffered, what turned out to be, a broken fragment of bone that poked into a nerve. It took quite awhile to diagnose it because <medicine is hard>. Along that journey to diagnosis she was almost bedridden, and in excruciating pain, most of the time with with physio, chiropractors, muscle treatments, nerve pain meds, etc, all failing to help her function. The opioids she was prescribed made it so she could function. She was high, "dreamy" (for lack of a better word), reported still feeling the pain, but could function. The day after the neurosurgeon performed her spine surgery she voluntarily stopped the opioids and finished her healing from the procedure with ibuprofen. She never looked back and described never feeling an urge to take the meds again. I wish I could say that this experience gave us some great insight into the complexity of opioids but it didn't. In her case they did their job until she didn't need them anymore and that was that. I don't read anything more into it then that.

Ibuprofen is basically the German strategy. It's not super strong, but everything else is only for extreme pain.

Get your wisdom teeth pulled? Ibuprofen. Broke some bones? Ibuprofen.

Burn victim? Maybe some opiates.

The strategy works. Better to have some pain, than to get hooked on opiates.

German doctors will unironically tell people to drink tea and go on a walk to treat mental illnesses.

Yep, I would say this is one of the worse parts of the German medical system. Many medical professionals don't take mental health that seriously.

You do get opiods after surgery so, if you want. Only for limited periods of time so.

Same experience but I’m in the US.

the way I've heard it described, faced with the ills of the world, heroin/opiate users just wanna crawl back into the womb. methamphetamine/stimulant users want to fix the world/their world.

There are tons of occasional recreational oxy users, and at that level the effect is basically a pure euphoria, blissful happiness.

Ironically addiction risk is also low if your usage pattern is 1-2 times per month, much much lower than someone who has been prescribed a small daily dose.

..and benzodiazepine users just don't want to care anymore.

Aspirin or Ibupofren have their limits.

That's where opiads (and other substances come in) just not before you hit those limits.