Rush's Dilemma: The Truth about Oxycontin

Patriot Paradox ^

[sonsofliberty2000]

Rush is not alone. Yesterday, Rush Limbaugh came out in what had to be a hard and very painful statement to tell his audience that :

Over the past several years I've tried to break my dependence on pain pills and in fact I've twice checked myself into medical facilities in an attempt to do so. But I recently agreed with my doctor about the next steps. So. Immediately following this broadcast, I will check myself into a treatment center for the next 30 days to once and for all break the hold that this highly-addictive medication has on me.

Highly-addicted is an understatement. Oxycontin is an agonist opioid. According to HowStuffWorks.com:

Opioid agonists are some of the most effective pain relievers available. Unlike other analgesics, opioid agonists have an increasing analgesic effect with increased doses. Meaning that the more you take, the better you feel. Other analgesics, like aspirin or acetaminophen, have a threshold to their effectiveness. You can see why, particularly for people who suffer chronic pain, a medication like OxyContin can be so beneficial: It can potentially provide up to four times the relief of a non-opioid analgesic, so even the most severe degree of pain can be managed.

So the more you take the better you feel. And why is it so addictive:

Rather than ingesting the pill as indicated, people who abuse OxyContin use other methods of administering the drug. To avoid the controlled-release mechanism, they either chew, snort or inject the medication to get an instant and intense "high." Frequent and repeated use of the drug can cause the user to develop a tolerance to its effects, so larger doses are required to elicit the desired sensation and the abuser gets increasingly addicted to the drug.

What can come about from oxycontin abuse. Death for one. Look at this info from the National Drug Intelligence Center:

Several deaths have resulted specifically from the abuse of OxyContin in Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia. The Pike County, Kentucky, Coroner reported 19 OxyContin-related deaths during calendar year 2000. In December 2000, seven OxyContin overdose deaths were reported in Southeastern Kentucky by two Kentucky State Police posts. The Logan Daily News reported in October 2000 that four Hocking County, Ohio, residents overdosed on OxyContin over an 18-day period. Two of the four died. There have been at least four OxyContin overdose deaths in Pulaski, Virginia, since 1998. In July 2000, The Williamson Daily reported five OxyContin-related overdose deaths in southwestern West Virginia since May 2000.

I want to talk a little more about the last bit there about southwestern West Virginia. Gilbert, WV in paticular. Why? I grew up and visit there often and I want to tell you that it is depressing. Oxycontin is the number one drug in that area, and the hell it has caused can be seen and is on the lips of everyone you talk to. Stores have closed because owners abused the drug, and lives are ruined.

One article at HealingWell.com has a blurb from Gilbert:

And Gilbert, W.V., police call the drug the worst they've ever dealt with, according to the National Drug Intelligence Center, which last month issued an advisory on the drug and similar products.

and the Media Awareness Project has an article from the Charleston Gazette about the epidemic in Gilbert:

The 41-year-old hairdresser says she has been around at least one person on OxyContin.

"It's like people under the influence are really intoxicated - highly intoxicated," says Vicki Stanley, who lives in the unlikely drug cradle of Gilbert. "Then when they're trying to come off, it's like they have the flu - - muscle cramps, body aches, sick at their stomachs.

"And that's just the physical addiction. The mental addiction is worse."

For the last couple of months, Stanley and other residents of this Mingo County town have been grappling with what they say is a narcotic epidemic.

According to families and friends, a good percentage of the town's population of 456 has developed an appetite for OxyContin, a potent opiate used to treat pain.

...

Palmer keeps abreast of the Gilbert group's activities. He said residents report people selling the pills at Gilbert High football games. Parents of students have entered the school, attempting to peddle the drug, he said.

How bad is it when parents of students are peddling this stuff? In a letter to Tommy Thompson, Congressman Frank Wolf laid out the issues better then most:

Several pharmacies in my congressional District have been robbed at gun point in recent months for OxyContin. No money was taken; the robbers only demanded the drug. Earlier this month, a prominent defense lawyer in northern Virginia who twice served as a local prosecutor in Prince William County pleaded guilty to federal drug charges linked to a large-scale investigation into the illegal distribution of OxyContin and other painkillers.

Communities where the illegal drug has taken hold are being completely destroyed. I am told there is one county in southwest Virginia where no one isn’t either using the drug, knows someone using the drug or been the victim of a crime by someone needing the drug.

When a professional baseball player recently died after taking the dietary supplement ephedra, your agency immediately issued fact sheets regarding potential serious risks of dietary supplements containing ephedra. You were even quoted as cautioning all Americans about using dietary supplements that contain ephedra.

According to fact sheets produced by the FDA, two deaths, four heart attacks, nine strokes and five psychiatric cases involving ephedra have been reported. More than 240 people have died from the abuse of OxyContin and countless numbers of families and communities have been torn apart by this drug.

What should be done? I don't know. Stricter regulations won't do anything, education might, but the hold of this drug is hard to break. Ask Rush. Ask anyone in Gilbert, "where no one isn’t either using the drug, knows someone using the drug or been the victim of a crime by someone needing the drug". Yeah, my birthplace, a place where I still have family I love, a family that if I asked about this drug would be able to tell me many stories of its horrible reign, was the county Wold mentioned. In a way it was a good thing that happened to Rush. I'm thankful he was given a wake-up call. Should he be ashamed? No, he should be thankful. Maybe Rush will put a human face on this epidemic. If left up to the media, however, it will probably be all about the smear campaign.

[Mo1]

She called them her "happy pills". LOL

*L* .. I'll bet she did

[Paulus Invictus]

Funny, but I have listened to Rush for years, since 1988, and have never noticed a single instance when he sounded intoxicated or had blurry thoughts and ideas. Just the opposite. Even when he lost his hearing and had to resort to having caller's messages typed for him, he still performed well.

The guy is one of the quickest thinkers and spot-on commentators on the air ever. Plus he is still my number 1 conservative hero and always will be. I greatly regret that he has been the target of the leftist trash like Asner, Moore and several others, but they are nothing more than RATS with poor memories, lack of morality and few ethics.

[Jorge]

I suffer daily and constant pain that is obviously beyond the imagination of some people. If I found a drug that made it feel better, I don't think anything could stop me. That's just fact.

I'm so sorry to hear this.
I pray that you will find something to help you through this.

[Paulus Invictus]

In medieval times, pain was a daily problem. Queen Elizabeth I had the worst possible pain from decaying teeth and she would be bed-ridden for days at a time. There were no dentists then and most people had severe dental problems, often leading to early death.

One of the worst pains I have ever had was to have a dental nerve go bad inside an undecayed tooth. It began to emit gas inside the tooth that applied increasing pressure on the nerve. Wow! With no way to alleviate the pain and no dentists nearby, it was well past excruciating and although I normally have a high threshold for pain, that was terrible. I would have taken an oxycontin in a flash had I had one available.

[A. Pole]

[ChemistCat:] I suffer daily and constant pain that is obviously beyond the imagination of some people. If I found a drug that made it feel better, I don't think anything could stop me. That's just fact.

I'm so sorry to hear this. I pray that you will find something to help you through this.

And so there are people who are unhappy because their life is miserable or because they have such personality. A dose of opium can comfort them very well while others can find solace in getting drunk. What is wrong with that?

"It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:
Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.
Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.
Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more."(Prov 31:4-7)

[A. Pole]

There were no dentists then and most people had severe dental problems, often leading to early death.

In Poland in old time, the dentist job was done by the blacksmiths who were skilfull in pulling the teeth out. People were also using the some extract of poppies (containing uncertified morphine, codeine etc) mixed with other herbs. Hot iron was used for disinfection and the molded bread (the later remedy ridiculed by scientist as superstition until discovery of penicillin).

[SarahW]

I don't know the origin or nature of Rush Limbaughs narcotic addiction.

The point is, you should not be afraid of oxycontin...if used properly, the patient is *less* likely to become an abuser than if the patient had to rely on non-timed-release narcotic formulations.

Chances are, if Rush actuall had pain and became addicted to a prescribed painkiller, it predates the availability of Oxycontin, and resulted from use of conventional intermittent high doses of narcotic. In order to get any kind of adequate pain relief for any period of time with regular formulations, the patient has to go through having too much and then not enough.

In other words, he had to use medications that could only give relief in "spikes"...which results in unnatural euphoria... which can lead to addiction and rapid development of tolerance.

A drug like oxycontin is useful to a euphoria-seeking addict when they take the deliberate step of foiling the timed release of painkiller by crushing the pill.

He was probably already addicted to the euphoria before he ever touched an oxycontin pill.

As far as chronic pain patients being "addicts", that's really a misnomer. They are addicts like a diabetic is addicted to insulin. They need narcotics to live without pain interfering with normal function. With a formulation like Oxycontin, they can have steady relief from pain without the deleterious effects "spikes" in blood levels can cause or lead to.
They are less likely to rapidly develop tolerance, or to become abusers, needing more and more seeking euphoria. They are also less likely to have some of the troublesome side effects that come from intermittent dosing.


The point is CRUSHING that pill is a willful act meant to destroy the timed release of medicine, by druggies in search of a feeling of euphoria.

This abuse should not keep a patient from having access to a safer, more effective, and LESS ADDICTIVE formulation like Oxycontin.

[Dianna]

We have a SERIOUS problem; there are patients suffering from Serious, Intractable Pain, whose Pain is NOT being addressed.

With the large number of people needing effective, non-addictive painkillers, I'd imagine there is a lot of research going on. Is this true?

What, exactly, is the problem with a person in chronic pain who is "addicted" to the meds? Are the high levels needed for continued pain management toxic? Do they cause physical damage, like to the liver?

If it were me, I think I would take the meds that work and enjoy life while I could (as long as I could be assured a steady supply of the meds). I would choose that over being in pain and limited in what I could do for 20-30 years.

[WKB]

Individual susceptibility must vary greatly


Indeeed it does. Even with booze I have known people who darnk for 30 years just stop without any problem at all.

[edchambers]

I've heard him say many times that for back pain he uses Theragesic. Maybe that's the problem.

I get a chuckle out of this I wonder if he's going to lose his Theragesic sponsorship or if this is going to somehow morph into a new improved ad campaign for that product."Don't get hooked on dangerous prescription drugs when Therogesic is a safe effective alternative"

[Vicki]

Sorry to hear about the pain you are dealing with.

I think people who are in constant and/or severe pain should be given what works for them. I deal with migraines. I cannot take the new drugs like Imitrex. A couple times a year I ask for 5 Vicodin and you wouldn't believe the hassle. One time he gave me Darvocet which didn't help and if you get what you want, you feel like a drug addict for asking.

I could understand if I was calling every month asking for 30 pills, but a couple times a year?

People even commit suicide because of constant severe pain.

[edchambers]

How did our ancestors tolerate pain? They had very little to take for it.

CORN LIQUOR

[Devil_Anse]

Regarding the proper vs. improper use of prescription narcotics such as Oxycontin, you are, I think, making the same point that a doctor on TV was making about this. He did not only distinguish btw the proper use of the timed-release medicine, but also spoke of the problems that occur when a patient isn't being prescribed quite the right dosage to give enough relief from the pain.

I was talking to a woman who works with a pharmacist, one time recently. She made a point about Xanax. She said that with a certain dosage of that drug, the patients were told to take the medicine every 6 hours. But she said that the effect of the medicine would wear off after about 3 hours. So, to her, it didn't make sense. I think the bottom line is, there is still no perfect therapy, and furthermore, a doctor probably has to really study the dosage and the patient's reported reactions, in order to get it just right.

Someone mentioned the other day that they didn't recall ever hearing that Rush had suffered any particular back injury. I don't recall hearing it, either. But a long time ago, in a Barnes & Noble, I came across the hated "Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot" in a bin of bargain books. Yes, seriously, it was in a bargain bin. It was that book's title which made me have a real contempt for Al Franken, whose Saturday Night Live antics had formerly been fairly amusing to me.

I leafed through the book a little. I realized, on doing so, that it was a REAL hit piece on Rush. I mean, this guy went really LOW in his attack. He discussed private medical conditions--how he found out about them, I don't know. One thing that was mentioned was a cyst of some sort. Not being a medical person, I didn't understand fully what it meant, but it had something to do with Limbaugh's spine. I got the impression that it was something he'd either been born with, or which he'd had since childhood. The real kicker was the way Franken then called the condition "disgusting".

IT JUST DOESN'T GET ANY LOWER THAN THAT!!!

So when you say he may have gotten an addiction which predates Oxycontin, that sounds right. Because I believe Oxycontin is relatively new. But it appears that Rush has been suffering with this condition, whatever it is, for most of his life.

There are many more people who have lived law-abiding lives who have fallen victim to addiction, for a variety of reasons--mostly, I think, b/c of things like patient error, or doctor error, or unrelenting pain, or who knows what. It just goes to show us that a person who was surely NOT just being self-destructive, and surely NOT just uncaringly seeking the "high", can fall victim to something like addiction. There is no point in blaming the drug, an inanimate object.

However, after having met many addicts of various substances, and after having seen this, I really think that if I were ever cursed with chronic, unrelenting pain, I'd be trying like all get out to find something, anything, other than medication, to help me deal with it. You need to understand that this is coming from a person who is even suspicious of Ritalin and related medications. I am suspicious of Accutane. I am suspicious of all sorts of medications. I just want to avoid medication, if at all possible. But I realize that sometimes it's not possible.

[nmh]

I've had success with an Osteopath. They see nutrition as very important as well as using natrual means to get to the root of the problem. Hey, I've been in remission with Graves' disease (hyper throid) for two years and counting - through their approach. "Traditional" Endocrinologists would have ablated my thyroid ages ago (12-18 months to be precise). What's amusing about their approach is that destroying the thyroid is crazy. It's not the thyroid that is misbehaving. It is the antibodies attacking the thyroid. If I had allowed them to do that, destroy my thyroid, I'd be forced to go on Synthroid or Armour for the rest of my life.

Now I control my levels through nutrition, avoid foods high in iodine (since I produce enough of that for am army) and herbs. Bloodwork of FT3, FT4 and TSH show that I am consistently in the normal range and feel great!

To further illustrate how "traditional" doctors handle a problem - take a strept throat. In the old days as soon as you frequently had a sore throat they'd yank out your toncils. Luckily I didn't allow them to have them despite being bribed with ice cream. Now "traditional" doctors KNOW, NOT to do that. You need your toncils.

Back to the thyroid - over in europe and particually Japan, it is RARE that any medical professional would consider R.A.I. (Radio active iodine) to destroy a perfectly good thyroid. Instead they concentrate on the source of the problem - the antibodies that are attacking the thyroid and have success with diet and herbs. It is the U.S. that is OFTEN behind in less evasive methods to solve a medical problem. It was VERY disturbing to see how the U.S. has SLIPPED in ranking worldwide on care. I had always thought the U.S. was the best in care and methods TILL I developed a medical problem.

What made it more difficult for me is that Graves' (HYPERthyroid is not common. It is HYPO thyroid that is most common - not enough iodine. So I had a tough time finding our information on it. While going through this process it is SHOCKING how little traditional Endo's KNOW about the immune disorder. Incompetence is being kind. Most don't bother to do the right blood tests or don't know.

[Fraulein]

When I had my appendix removed, the nurse gave me injections of demerol. All I remember is that each injection would suddenly put me to sleep within minutes -- I'd literally drop out like a narcoleptic -- and would have the deepest sleep of my life.

[nmh]

You: "Traditional" doctors also despise you."

Not surprised. Trust me - "traditional" doctors despise you as well. All they care about is $$ they can make off you. They should "despise" me because I no longer throw moeny at them for their destructive and worthless opinion.

[edchambers]

Vicodin might as well be so many M&Ms for all the pain relief they provide to me. Plain old codeine is MUCH more effective for me.

I hear ya plain old codeine was the most effective pain relief I have ever been prescibed.When they started diluting it with tylanol I just needed to take more for the same effect.Vicadin does nothing for me,nor does darvocet,Zoma or any of the new non asperin pain relievers for that matter.Sometimes the old stuff just works better.When I was in the service they were handing out those big blue Motrins like candy they did nothing but give me a belly ache no matter how many I took.

[nmh]

ME"Traditional" doctors if you are lucky MAY tell you side effects on what to expect but they NEVER tell you NOT to take them or what will happen to your liver and kidneys AFTER you have taken them for a prolonged period of time. "Traditional" doctors also despise you knowing that they ONLY SUPRESS symptoms which of coursecreates more problems."

YOU:First of all, that simply isn't true.

It is but you don't want to believe it.

YOU:Even if it was true, ultimately it's your responsibility to either ask your doctor or read for yourself what the side effects are. Whatever happened to personal responsibility?

So now I'M supposed to be the expert? Aren't your beloved "traditional" doctors supposed to be the "experts" and have the RESPONSIBILTY to highlight SIDE EFECTS of what THEY PRESCRIBE? Am I to be a pharmacist too? Whatever happened to YOU using some common sense and rereading your reply? It's down right comical. Every one BUT the doctor is held accountable and yet it IS the doctor who is supposed to be the EXPERT and does the PRESCRIBING.

FYI, I have found good medical care but not with the nitwits you defend - "traditional" doctors and their stupid, and destructive "opinions".

[bart99]

It sure hasn't been pullled off the market.

I just started on it yesterday.

[bart99]

Terrific post.

I think you musta overheard my doctor talking with me. He said pretty much the same thing.