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Legal, prescribed painkillers can be as addictive as heroin
Contra Costa Times ^ | Mon, Oct. 20, 2003 | Jeff Donn - AP

Posted on 10/20/2003 11:00:31 AM PDT by yonif

BOSTON - Rush Limbaugh is not alone. Addiction to prescription painkillers has boomed in recent years, and they can be as tough to kick as heroin.

The number of Americans who begin misusing painkillers each year has almost quadrupled from 1990 to 2001, according to government figures.

And many abusers don't recognize the insidious slide into addiction.

"It's just so much more acceptable in society for people to be taking prescription drugs," said Sean Evans, 31, of Everett, Mass., a construction worker who became addicted to the pain reliever OxyContin, then moved on to heroin.

"You can always rationalize the reason to take it."

Limbaugh, the radio commentator, told his audience on Oct. 10 he is addicted to prescription painkillers that he began taking after spinal surgery "some years ago."

He said he had checked himself in for treatment twice before, without success.

This time, he said he was headed to a rehab center for a month "to once and for all break the hold this highly addictive medication has on me."

Limbaugh may be overly optimistic about the time frame, said Alice Young, a psychology professor and a drug researcher at Wayne State University in Detroit.

"He had said he was going into treatment and lick it within 30 days. I think that's probably an unrealistic expectation," she said.

Limbaugh didn't name the medication, but the National Enquirer, which first reported his abuse, said Limbaugh's drug connection said he used OxyContin and other painkillers.

(Excerpt) Read more at bayarea.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: addiction; heroin; limbaugh; oxycontin; painkillers; prescribed; wodlist
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1 posted on 10/20/2003 11:00:31 AM PDT by yonif
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To: yonif
I would like to see the medical profession held more accountable for dishing out the drugs. Personally, I have seen two family members get hooked on scripts and the docs do nothing but keep extending them regardless of the signs that something was up.
2 posted on 10/20/2003 11:03:48 AM PDT by misterrob
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To: yonif
Rush "chasin' the dragon." God, I'm depressed.
3 posted on 10/20/2003 11:05:42 AM PDT by Destructor
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To: yonif
I keep hearing people say that thirty days in a rehab center is not long enough to beat an addiction to pain killers. If this is the case, then why do rehab centers promote this thirty days business?
4 posted on 10/20/2003 11:07:19 AM PDT by Arpege92
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To: yonif
Another opiophobia article. I doubt Rush would want people to quit treating their pain for the statistically unlikely concern of becoming addicted.
5 posted on 10/20/2003 11:09:37 AM PDT by JohnGalt ("the constitution as it is, the union as it was")
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To: yonif
"You can always rationalize the reason to take it."

Yeah, like being in EXCRUCIATING PAIN without it. If anything doctors are too reluctant to prescribe pain meds. If the DEA doesn't come after them and ban them from medicine for life, then the patents are likely to sue them for getting them addicted. It's much harder to sue for not prescibing enough drugs and letting the paitient live in agony.

6 posted on 10/20/2003 11:09:57 AM PDT by Hugin
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To: Arpege92
Very good question. The "28 day model" was popular in the 70's, with little success, however is the preferred model of treatment at many rehab centers. Made even more popular by the dopey movie "28 Days", patients continue to enter into treatment hoping for success after 28-30 days.
7 posted on 10/20/2003 11:17:14 AM PDT by luckodeirish (Feel The Joy!)
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To: Arpege92
Most health insurance plans will not pay for more than 30 days of inhouse treatment.
8 posted on 10/20/2003 11:17:27 AM PDT by annyokie (One good thing about being wrong is the joy it brings to others.)
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To: Arpege92
"If this is the case, then why do rehab centers promote this thirty days business?"

Was wondering the same. . .also I am assuming that he still suffers from pain as well; if that is the case; what does he do now?

9 posted on 10/20/2003 11:17:35 AM PDT by cricket
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To: Arpege92
"I keep hearing people say that thirty days in a rehab center is not long enough to beat an addiction to pain killers. If this is the case, then why do rehab centers promote this thirty days business?"

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
10 posted on 10/20/2003 11:24:12 AM PDT by Monty22
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To: Arpege92
isn't that the time limit insurance companies pay for????after that,i think you're on your own....
11 posted on 10/20/2003 11:29:54 AM PDT by fishbabe
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To: cricket
I'm sure he is still suffering some pain, but I had read that he could also get another operation that might improve his condition and lesson his pain. Very sad situation to be in....your damned if you do and your damned if you don't.
12 posted on 10/20/2003 11:34:08 AM PDT by Arpege92
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To: annyokie
Do you know how a rehab center works? What amount of time is actually spent on getting all of the drugs out of his system?
13 posted on 10/20/2003 11:35:24 AM PDT by Arpege92
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To: yonif
I don't buy all of the arguments asserted in this article:

Doctors say the biology and treatment of addiction are similar in many ways for both legal and illegal drugs; from tobacco, alcohol and prescription painkillers to cocaine and heroin.

This may be true but what's their point (they headlined with Rush Limbaugh's name so I consider it relevant to discuss his case). Rush has told his listeners time and time again that he was addicted to cigarettes (his "formerly nicotine stained fingers"). He still smokes cigars. Maybe this is seen as more hypocrisy by some. I don't know the frequency with which he smokes cigars (which aren't inhaled) versus the frequency with which he smoked cigarettes. He certainly did make reference to it at times when people discussed being "victimized" by "Big Tobacco". Rush has certainly confronted "addictions" before. He also said that when he lost weight, he realized that he had to eliminate all "adult beverages" (sugars and carbohydrates). Addiction is not just about "willpower" but as this article later states, Rush was still taking the medications to fight continued pain. Rush has also said that he has twice before gone into rehab to stop taking these medications. We have not been told his symptoms of withdrawl, if any (why substitute pain killers aren't used).

Addiction sets in when users become dependent on the intense feelings evoked as the drug works on primitive pleasure points within the brain.

"In our field, a drug is a drug is a drug," said Bill Carrick, program manager at the CAB Boston Treatment Center. Evans, the construction worker, was undergoing detoxification there.

Initial treatment often entails detox, sometimes with a substitute drug such as methadone. Long-term therapy may aim to substitute healthy rewards in family or work life for drug-induced euphoria.

Some abusers of painkillers are no longer in pain and take the drug purely for pleasure.

Others, as Limbaugh said of himself, are also getting relief from pain.

This line of reasoning is that addicts take it because of mental, not physical addiction. There can be physical withdrawl symptoms too (not just cold sweats; I believe that I had muscle spasms after I stopped taking some muscle relaxers for back pain, I tried not to take them long because they made me sluggish and when I didn't take them I had painful/violent spasms in my leg muscles; I toughed it out for a few days to stop taking them).

Evans, for example, started taking painkillers when he had his wisdom teeth pulled.

I had all 4 wisdom teeth impacted and extracted the same day. I was given a valium IV (administered at a hospital because I wanted an anesthesiaologist on hand incase I had a reaction; it would take much more time for an emergency vehicle to get to a dentist office). After the procedure (which I was conscious through, it took about an hour) I was given some pain killers and antibiotics. I can assure you that this man's pain was long over before he started taking heroin (and I doubt that he even took Oxycontin for his wisdom teeth removal). Apples to oranges comparing this man's story to Rush Limbaugh's.

14 posted on 10/20/2003 11:39:34 AM PDT by weegee
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To: misterrob
I think it should be illegal to prescribe these things until the patient has first completed a class which spells out the tremendous danger. Most people who start taking these things with a doctor's prescription seem to assume they're safe, when they are definitely not.
15 posted on 10/20/2003 11:42:53 AM PDT by GovernmentShrinker
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To: yonif
I think Oxicotin is way over-prescribed and causes more damage than good. It is a powerful pain-reliever and may be the best drug available, but it is being way over-prescribed, especially to those that require it for a lengthy period of time.
16 posted on 10/20/2003 11:45:57 AM PDT by Always Right
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To: cricket
It is very likely that Rush will continue to have back pain after stopping taking pain medication. He refused additional surgery at the time.

Technology has changed, maybe he will reconsider this now. Jerry Lewis was so racked by back pain that he almost killed himself. He now swears by the electrical stimulation device that he can control to block pain signals to his nervous system. Rush should look into such a system to see if it would relieve his pain.

Meanwhile the DUmmycrats keep hammering on Rush. First it was that he was faking his deafness then it became that his deafness was caused by drug addiction. They also question how he could be a golfer if is back caused him so much pain (they assert that he's lying and was just joypopping hillbilly heroin).

His critics will continue to shout and wail. They are also a bunch of lying liars.

17 posted on 10/20/2003 11:46:18 AM PDT by weegee
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To: Wolfie; vin-one; WindMinstrel; philman_36; Beach_Babe; jenny65; AUgrad; Xenalyte; Bill D. Berger; ..
WOD Ping
18 posted on 10/20/2003 11:48:16 AM PDT by jmc813 (Ron Paul for President in '08!)
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To: JohnGalt
Another opiophobia article. I doubt Rush would want people to quit treating their pain for the statistically unlikely concern of becoming addicted.

Geez John, you and I finally find common ground.

I'm stunned at the reaction of some Freepers to this situation. I actually had someone on another thread say that doctors shouldn't be allowed to prescribe these drugs because someone MIGHT become addicted. Hydrocodone and oxycodone are incredibly effective in treating pain and to in any way limit the access would be terrible.

19 posted on 10/20/2003 11:50:28 AM PDT by TomB
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To: TomB
I made a mental note that you were fighting the good fight against the Advanced Victimologists of the 12-Step mentality on some of the other Rush threads.


Regards, and I will be sure to mark the occasion with a pint of ale over dinner tonight!
20 posted on 10/20/2003 11:55:57 AM PDT by JohnGalt ("the constitution as it is, the union as it was")
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