That the best advice i have heard Thank You!!
I can't stress enough that what I said works for ME. Everyone is different, you'll have to experiment to find your own solution, but, as whitebb says, the opiates can be your worst enemy as taking them as the doc instructs will only mean you will need more and more as your body adapts.
The same goes for weed, use it all the time and it becomes less effective.
My usual "routine" is a month on weed, then a month on pharma, month on weed, etc, etc, so I can get the desired effect but also keep the tolerance down to a decent level. I figured that out the hard way, there's certain painkillers I cannot have any more because they simply do not work any more thanks to using them as instructed by the doc and was swallowing tr*madol like they were candy. Now that stuff just makes me puke because I took so much of it.
I don't know what's wrong with your back, but look for other potential treatments to complement the painkillers and remember the golden rule, KEEP MOVING as lying down on the couch all day "because it hurts" will only make things worse in the short, never mind the long, term.
As we say here in the Land of Beer and Chocolate, "Beweging is Belangrijk", "Movement is Important", doesn't matter if you're like me and need crutches to get around at under 1mph, which can help as you put more weight on your upper body so lessen the stress on the damaged lumbar area, every movement is important so go through the pain barrier and keep yourself as flexible and mobile as is possible, and I'll bet that if you put your mind to it you could be more flexible and mobile than you currently are.