I understand what you are saying. I had a bad car accident in year 2000. I was prescribed Vicoprofen, which is Hydrocodone with Ibuprofen (which I requested due to the liver side effects of acetaminophen). I stayed on the same dosage for 9 years. Three, 10 milligram tablets a day. Day in, day out. I never asked for an increased dosage, nor ask for a stronger med.
One day when my script ran out after 9 years, I decided not to refill. Quit taking them. No withdrawal from the med, no heebie jeebies, shakes or anything at all. Cold turkey and that was that.
I can usually tell after 24 hours with nothing that I’m a bit more restless or don’t sleep as well or a hard time falling asleep.
We traveled in a road trip last summer out west with 3 of our younger kids and I didn’t think about taking anything. That night as I laid in bed around 1am unable to sleep it dawned on me why..lol
some folks take huge amounts like 250-400 mg a day and require extensive tapering off time
worse even for those on stronger meds like fentanyl or demerol etc
I try to minimize because I fear them becoming ineffective and have no desire to take super high dosage
but without them just typing with my neck looking at the screen and keyboard is a chore after 10 minutes
and I am not much of a candidate for surgery
the neck injections help...but marginally