Study: Don't Avoid Opioids to Treat Back Pain

WMUR-TV ^ | March 14, 2003 | By Holly VanScoy

[AlwaysLurking]

I hope the situation with Rush opens a good and honest discussion in this country on how to help people in pain.

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[_Jim]

patients are afraid of becoming addicted to them, and government officials are concerned about their abuse.

SOUNDS like cigarettes ... Rush licked that habit once ...

[Grenada]

ditto.....I hope this doesn't set back the progress made in the last decade. We, as a society, need to understand chronic pain.

[Wisconsin]

I was on oxycodone after surgery. About the third day I was talking to the cat -- and he was talking back. We discussed medieval stone work.

I got off it that evening. The pain was less scary. Besides the oxycodone constipates you.

[alpowolf]

"There is mounting evidence that physicians are being deterred from using opioid drugs for patients in pain, not only because of the bad publicity about certain ones of these medications, but also because they are concerned they will be investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency if they prescribe them," Giglio says. "Even where there is no arrest, no indictment, no evidence of physician or pharmacist wrongdoing, an investigation sends a strong negative ripple through the medical community."

Hi, we're from the government...we're here to help you. Pfah!

[jocon307]

"I hope the situation with Rush opens a good and honest discussion in this country on how to help people in pain."

Me too, but I have my doubts. I remember reading in the Reader's Digest (a pretty conservative mag)years ago about how our society discourages adequate amelioration of pain. It is not acceptable to tell people "you should be in pain, because drugs are bad", this is puritanism at its worst.

Remember, when the going gets tough, the tough do drugs.

[arasina]

You didn't try to use the litter box, I hope. :o)

[CaptainK]

I got a weeks worth of oxycodone after surgery. 3 days must be the magic number because that's how long I lasted on them. I didn't get a euphoric feeling but had such disturbing dreams, I threw them out.

[Cold Heat]

But is it all deserved?

Hell no!

All this fuss is making it even harder to be treated for chronic pain.

I have to deal with this mess on a regular basis.

I use Oxy-codone (percocet) and Oxi-Contin on a 24 hr basis for pain control.

Without them I cannot function in any normal way and my life would not be worth a 25 cent bullet to the head.

As a result of the drugs, I am addicted to them. I control my intake, but you tend to get used to the drug and the effect slowly lessens and you need more.

No body who needs these drugs takes them to get high. That would be abuse.

People who take them for chronic pain on a 24 hr basis get addicted. You cannot prevent it and the alternative is to vegitate and get a case of severe depression.

Rush has apparently let things get out of control and has admitted this. However, it is so easy to have this happen and with his resources, he has gotten the dose so high that he cannot get through the with drawls on his own. (with drawls are very uncomfortable and last for days)

He has made an error in judgement, but his addiction came as a normal side effect. His bank account and desire to keep his show going and on the air has caused him to use more than he should, but not to get high.

He did it to function normally and pain free.

It happened because there is no other option for pain relief.

If Rush has to retire because of this, it will not be because of the drugs.

It will be because of the lack of them and the resulting pain that he will have to endure.

I will say and few words in my prayer tonight for him. I want him to understand that he did not do anything wrong by taking a needed drug so that he could live as normal a life as he could. His mistake was to self medicate to such a degree.

[MissL]

I have cronic back pain and have for almost 20 years....there are just times when my back does not hurt as much as some other times....but it always hurts. I have not taken any medication, I am afraid to get started. It is not easy and I still am very active, just have made "friends" with the pain.
My Grandmother, and this was 30 or so years ago when Drs. did not consult each other about meds that they prescribed, she tookk pills to wake up, to go sleep and for pain and for more pain. I saw what it did to her and I just as soon endure.
But I can excuse and understand why Rush took the meds. Just for that sweet relief and a full nights sleep.
I can't fault him for wanting to be free from the constant pain.

L.

[Cold Heat]

"There is mounting evidence that physicians are being deterred from using opioid drugs for patients in pain, not only because of the bad publicity about certain ones of these medications, but also because they are concerned they will be investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency if they prescribe them," Giglio says.

This is absolutely true and on target.

The Veterans Admin, for example, will not provide Oxy-Contin, but they will provide morphine.

Talk about medical correctness.

[Grenada]

I am so worried that Rush will be forced to abandon the EIB mike BECAUSE he can no longer take the pain medication and he is in agony.

I take Oxycontin as well, and my first thought was,"How will he make it, if he still hurts?"

I hope he didn't break the law to get relief, but it makes one wonder. If Rush could not have his pain adequately, how can an average citizen hope to get help?

[L`enn]

The cat probably enjoyed the attention. The constipation part is back. IT can lock you down big time. Puts your peristalsis to sleep.

[Let's Roll]

I'm hoping that Rush's weight loss since he had the back problems will be enough to have healed his back. Let us pray for that. I would think a hundred pound weight loss would be very beneficial for his lower back problems in particular.

[Cold Heat]

This is my thinking as well.

Also, these Oxy-Conti stories are making it difficult to find a provider for the drug.

Without the 12hr time release version of Oxy-codone, I would be forced to take percocets all day long and the Tylenol would likely cause liver damages over time.

I wish they would combine it with someting like Ibuprophen.

It would be much better for me.

The Oxy-Contin idea is great for me. I take Ibuprophen (4 every four hrs) on top of it and it helps greatly.

[Cold Heat]

I really don't know much about his back condition.

It must be pretty painfull if he opted for surgery. I understang the surgery did not help and a back usually is worse when trying to sleep or sit, as opposed to standing for most folks that I have talked to.

[Grenada]

The big problem with the horror stories about OxyContin, is many of them fail to say that most of the addicts "cook" the pills and them "shoot" them like heroin. People don't know that when you swallow the pill whole, there is no high.

The drug has a horrible reputation and doctors are terrified to prescribe it. This leads to countless people suffering needlessly. Used properly, OxyContin is a wonder drug.

[eddie willers]

Good post.

When the Rush thing first broke, most defenders here were saying, "Impossible....he couldn't work as hard and as well as he has if he were taking all those drugs."

I was thinking, "No....it was the drugs that allowed him to be so productive."

We have just GOT to get over this knee-jerk reaction to drugs.

(and as we baby boomers, who have always gotten what we have wanted, age and become infirmed.... it may well happen)

[jess35]

I have cronic back pain and have for almost 20 years....there are just times when my back does not hurt as much as some other times....but it always hurts. I have not taken any medication, I am afraid to get started. It is not easy and I still am very active, just have made "friends" with the pain.

That's not an easy thing to do. My mother has had persistent hip pain for the last 15 years. She toughs it out...because she can.

Pain is subjective. We tend to think that everyone feels the same level of pain we experience. That's not the case in reality. Imagine your worse day and double the pain the felt that day. Would you be willing to live the rest of your life like that?