Posted on 12/27/2016 7:44:49 AM PST by Mariner
What I have read about opiod pain killers is that while using them eliminates pain the mechanism by which it works damages nerve endings. Prolonged use will damage the nerve endings to the extent that you will have pain more pain when you stop using them which is why people get addicted.
Amen.
Well, as long as the Sacklers can make a buck, what’s the problem?
The Sackler family is wanting to push their drugs around the world and they know exactly what most of it will be used for. I am sure a lot of it will be smuggled right back here into the USA.
Doctors used to prescribe pain pills like they were nothing. I’ve had a few doctors prescribe them to me and I got them filled. I had them just in case I absolutely had to take one. Instead, I took Advil or Aleve and it did the job just fine. My guess — yeah, just a guess — is that 90% of the time that OcyCotin or Lortab is prescribed, it isn’t necessary.
I’ve known more lives destroyed by pain pills and alcohol and all other drugs (legal & illegal) combined.
“Opioids WORK.”
Yeah, of course they work. They work so well a lot of people want to keep taking them even after the pain is gone.
I live in chronic pain due to arthritis and osteoporosis. I have found temporary relief from pain meds and muscle relaxers. Narcotics do help with pain but they are temporary. When they wear off, the pain is back with a vengeance. I am looking forward to having the nerves in my lower back permanently burned (until they grow back) due to facet joint cracks. That is a pain I would not wish on anyone.
Somehow, as a society, we need to find the happy medium with prescription drugs. Narcotics do serve a vital role in short term and chronic pain relief. Don’t hand them out like candy, but on the flip side, my 80 year old mother shouldn’t beg for pain relief.
“Well, as long as the Sacklers can make a buck, what’s the problem?”
These drugs are lifesavers and I applaud the Sacklers for selling them.
But to claim they are not addictive is ludicrous. And to actively market them for chronic pain is irresponsible and amoral.
And the people who fall for it, some form of junkie.
And don’t even get me going on benzodiazapines. Valium and the like.
There is the key. Most fatalities are from bone heads poppin 3,4,5 tablets at a time to get high. The 200K deaths the reports refer to are mostly addicts out for the high.
Well known deaths recently were folks taking fentanyl from the black market and or heroin mixed with fentanyl in overdose. Not hydrocodone, oxycodone which are the most prescribed for pain management.
Opiates taken at these levels will in many cases suppress breathing while sleeping...then you just pass on to meet Jesus. The overwhelming majority of people are NOT addicted or abuse these drugs as the liberal nannies would have you believe.
By their so called good intentions, they will set off a flood of black market opioid deliveries into the U.S.. Happens every single time.
The doctors are good at getting you on the drugs, but not good at getting you off the drugs.
You gotta do that yourself, and although some will do so, some will not have a clue.
Addiction means that a person is using a drug for a euphoric effect, ie to get “high”.
Abuse can include addiction but it is a broader definition meaning that a person is using a drug for an unintended effect. For opioids it can be inappropriately taken for depression, anxiety.
Dependency means that a person will have a withdrawal syndrome upon withdrawal of the medication. This is what most people think of when they say a person is addicted.
Opioids can still be used for chronic pains, but patients will become dependent on the medication over time and efficacy can decrease.
However, many patients report that they suffer reduced function and increased pain when they go off of opioids for chronic pain. Chronic pain (over 6 months) does actually result in physiologic and even anatomic changes in nerves at the cellular level in the brain and spinal cord. There are no highly effective treatments for chronic pain, and unfortunately opiates are often the best available solution. Physical therapy, injections, chiropractic, and surgery typically do not provide long term solutions.
No, this isn’t like tobacco as the article suggests nor is this like alcohol. Opioids do have important functional benefits for millions of American living with chronic pain, a real physiological/anatomical condition without a known cure or highly effective treatment. It is really a shame when governments seek to demonize patients and their doctors physicians so that they can score a few cheap political points in the worn out “war on drugs” meme. The government wants to blame heroin use on patients and physicians when the chief problem is the low cost and availability of heroin. As far as the risks associated with opioids, that should be primarily left to the patient and physician. Anti-depressive drugs, drugs for anxiety and ADD, drugs for Rheumatoid arthritis, skin conditions and many other diseases have potentially lethal side effects. Maybe we should get rid of these drugs because like opiates dangerous side effects. What about banning anti inflammatories? Did you know that NSAIDs have a significantly increased death rate from bleeding ulcers and nephropathy in the elderly?
We also need to question some of the government’s statistics too. Often, deaths are ascribed to opiates occur as result of suicide, not from taking the medication as directed. Of course, this example demonstrates the importance of psychological assessment. In addition, other medications such as sedatives are actually the primary cause of unexpected deaths, but if opiates were also found in the tox screen, it will be listed as an opiate related death.
Physicians can work with regulators to make opiates safer for patients with chronic pain. Dosing caps and clear guidelines (standards of care) would be welcomed by most patients and providers. However, the government’s current campaign of demonizing pain patients & doctors and vague rules only benefit predatory bureaucrats and thuggish law enforcement.
Come on. This article was from the Sac Bee, a government sponsored progressive fake news rag. The war on opiates is currently being sponsored by state and federal governments; that should alarm you. There are some truths here but only half truths. That’s why this is effective propaganda and should arouse you suspicion.
“The overwhelming majority of people are NOT addicted”
Anyone who takes these drugs every day for 30 days is addicted.
They would do well to admit the fact and find a way out. For instance, those with chronic bone and joint issues would benefit by using them long enough to establish a weight loss and exercise program, and a transition to high-test NSAIDS when needed.
Less they spend their lives in a narcotic induced stupor, never really living.
For those 80+ it is reasonable to ask: At this point, what difference does it make?
I had double-knee replacement surgery a few years back. I found the hydrocodone they prescribed just made me delirious and didn’t really help the pain. I just went au naturel after a few days. I have no idea why people would voluntarily ingest it.
http://www.diffen.com/difference/Hydrocodone_vs_Oxycodone
Never take a diagnosis of chronic pain either! Yes, I used Hydromorphone, for months, until my physical therapist did her magic! I could not do what she wanted my body to do without that pain medication. Now, I'm pain free and drug free. I may be the exception, but it worked.
I tore the rotator cuffs in both shoulders, and had them surgically repaired. It is a VERY painful procedure, and both times I was given Oxycodone. I’ve had pain killers before, but nothing like Oxycodone. It is really something. I would not drive a car while taking it, or try to do much of anything else. I can see where it is highly addictive. I read somewhere that the addiction cycle is in place if you take the drug for five days, so I tapered and discontinued by the end of day four. However, during those first three days I most definitely needed and benefitted from it.
But there is no way this drug should be used for anything but the most severe post-operative pain management. It is not for chronic pain relief. I also tore the ACL in my right knee 35 years ago, and it was never repaired or replaced. Does it hurt? Yeah, pretty much most of the time. But I just accept the level of pain as a fact of life and don’t take anything for it.
“Addiction means that a person is using a drug for a euphoric effect, ie to get “high”.
That is the standard boiler plate logic from the manufacturers and purveyors of these drugs.
It is not reality. Physical dependence IS addiction to any reasonable man. If you suffer a withdrawal when you stop, you are addicted.
“Use these drugs as needed for ACUTE pain only. Never accept a prescription for chronic pain...they will eventually become ineffective and leave you a junkie. “
Oxycontin is EXTREMELY addictive. Yes, sometimes it IS completely necessary for acute pain, but NEVER take this drug for over 7 days unless you plan on being addicted. For some people over 3 days will addict.
>>Top health officials are discouraging primary-care doctors from prescribing them for chronic pain, saying there is no proof that they work long-term
What is the answer for chronic pain? Just suffer until you wish for death? The medical-insurance complex sure doesn’t care as long as you keep coming back to ask for help that they won’t give.
They always ask you for your pain level on a scale of 1-10. If you say 8 or less, they tell you to take more NSAIDS. If you say 9 or 10, they assume that you are exaggerating and tell you to take more NSAIDs. But at least there’s no risk of addiction as your liver and/or kidneys are destroyed by the Ibuprofen.
Two years ago I had both of my knees totally replaced. They were done six months apart and my surgeon prescribed both Oxycontin and Oxycodone both at a relatively high strength.
About two months after my first surgery I felt so good I stopped both pain killers and after two days realized my body was going into withdrawal symptoms. It was quite unnerving so I refused to start taking them again and for two weeks I couldn't eat and could only drink minimum amounts of water. I lost 15 pounds. I then had my monthly appointment with my surgeon and he told me I should have waited to see him and he would have tapered me off the Oxycontin.
I did as he told me for my second knee replacement and although I did have some mild effects it wasn't bad. I did use Oxycodone in small doses every now and then but the Oxycontin was physically addictive.
Without those pain killers my knee replacements would have been unbearable. They have their place but you must be very careful while using them.
You are WRONG and dangerously stupid. ADDICTION is when you use a drug for an unintended side effect. TOLERANCE is what happened when you have to increase a dose. I could explain it to you over a long summation but your OPINION is not FACT. My Medical degree snd ANESTHESIOLOGY board certification demonstrate years of study and will not allow me to have your IGNORANT statement unanswered.
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