Pain and opioid addiction

[MissMillie]

I get very frustrated when I hear that many people get addicted to opioids after receiving narcotic pain meds.

There ARE pain meds that are non-narcotic. I know this because since my gastric bypass in 2004, I have been unable to take narcotic pain medication. I have had several surgeries since then and have told the surgeon that the narcotics make me ill. The surgeon in every case has sent me home with pain medication and it has always helped.

I think doctors are getting wise to this now, but I can't help but wonder why they didn't go the non-narcotic route to begin with.

I keep hearing stories about the pharmaceutical companies pushing this drug on the doctors and offering big perks to doctors who push these meds on their patients.

What ever happened to the Hippocratic oath?

[samnsara]

1. I'm so lucky that entire class of drugs makes me nauseous..

[MissMillie]

2. sounds like a double-edged sword

Sure, you'll never get addicted.

What happens when you really do need pain meds?

(I forgot to mention that while in the hospital, I would get morphine--sometimes. But it was always through in IV and since it didn't have to pass through my intestines, it didn't bother me. Of course, I never got sent home w/ shots of morphine.)

[Corgigal]

3. Everyone central nervous system is a bit different.

Our old chihuahua had an enlarged heart from cardiac failure. He was on all the water pills..and 1/4 tablet of hydrocodone. My vet treated my dog better then some humans do now.

I feel bad for humans who have something that works and doctors won't prescribe it now. My husband has a implanted morphine pump for over ten years now. Gets it filled every two months, the quality of his life is way different then it was before. He was intentionally hit with a car.

It depends on what is wrong, where it's wrong and what works best for the human.

Doctors aren't getting wise, they just don't want to do paperwork for pain patients. I can't help humans who become addicted, we been taking drugs since the beginning of man. Remember what works specifically for you is not the standard.

I'm happy you're doing well.

[ehrnst]

4. I know - I broke a rib, and the ER doctor wrote a prescription for THIRTY oxycodone

after telling me that the pain should subside in a week to 10 days, and to take one to help me sleep at night.

Why the hell 30 if I was only instructed to take one at night for at the most, 10 days?

[Codeine]

6. Wow, I have the exact same story.

Right down to the number of pills! Broke three ribs in a car crash and the dr writes me this ridiculous Rx for a giant pile of opioids; I took one and it made me pretty much as ill and miserable as I’ve ever been. Whatever pain relief it provided was obviated by nausea and dizziness.

I asked for a replacement prescription of 800mg ibuprofen and was fine as long as I didn’t sneeze or laugh too hard. I ended up not even using many of those.

[Thyla]

9. Why any at all?

This right here is partially to blame.

I have had broken ribs, bones, dislocated shoulders, knees and recently managed to slice my hand open pretty severely and not once have I ever been prescribed pain meds beyond over the counter ibuprofen.

[B2G]

13. You need to get a new doctor.

Those types of injuries aren't touched by over the counter meds.

[Thyla]

15. No I don't..

I have been treated by doctors in 3 countries for these injuries and I, as a person who would complain at the drop of hat over anything if I felt it was a slight to me I cannot fault my treatment.
Injuries have always been set, anti biotics prescribed to stave of infection and even a couple of times an opioid given for the initial pain relief and that is all that most will need aside from ibuprofen later. Of course severity, age and other ailments will need to be considered and heavier treatment may be required but unless someone is agony it is entirely reckless to prescribe opioids. Sure if it isn't working then you go back and ask for something heavier but to use it as a standard broken bone treatment or for a lesser injury then there is no wonder the words "Opioid and Crisis" are starting to be used.

Other countries recognise this, then again the health industries of these countries tend not to be funded by big pharma,
eutical industry.

[B2G]

16. We can disagree.

The types of injuries you describe warrant stronger meds. People have different pain thresholds. I dislocated a rib years ago and it took 6 weeks to heal. I had nothing but over the counter meds. I wanted to die after about 3 weeks, and I have a very high pain threshold.

I would have killed my cat for an opiod.

[B2G]

14. Broken ribs take 4-6 weeks to heal.

I don't think 30 pills is out of line.

[Major Nikon]

5. Aspirin is a non-narcotic pain med

There's many other NSAIDS as well, but none are without side effects which can include permanent gastrointestinal damage and liver failure in large doses. Many, if not most narcotic pain relievers include a NSAID because the two compliment each other well for acute pain.

[DVRacer]

7. Not everyone is the same.

There was nothing short of narcotics that was going to help me after I fractured my vertebrae and mangled my left leg. There is a time and place for pain medication and what works for some doesn’t work for others. I have taken them for almost 20 years exactly as prescribed and because of them have had a full life with my kids. Yes others have abused them but to classify everyone else as an addict is wrong. One of the things that makes me not buy into other broad brush statements is how I am treated when filling my prescription. I get treated as one of “those” people it creates feelings of shame for just not wanting to live in pain.

[MissMillie]

8. I don't think I classified everyone as an addict

If I did, I didn't mean to.

But no one can deny that there are a lot of addicts, there is a problem, people are dying.

I certainly understand that there are people who need to take these medications and do take them responsibly.

[Major Nikon]

10. Virtually every drug "epidemic" is grossly overstated

First we were told cannabis was going to destroy society. It didn't.

Later we were told heroin was going to destroy society. It didn't.

Later we were told cocaine was going to destroy society. It didn't.

In every single case the number of people with significant problems as a result is a tiny fraction of those who use them for recreational and/or therapeutic purposes.

Opiods have been used for literally thousands of years with very little societal problems. What is different today is synthetic opiods are far stronger and far less forgiving of drug(including alcohol) mixing. However, the history is pretty much the same as you'll have folks who are going to point to the worst possible outcomes and propose knee jerk reactions that will result in virtually no mitigation of the problem while adversely affecting the untold masses who are using with no impact to society.

[DVRacer]

11. Thank you for having the words I didnt

It seems to be a cycle that repeats never mind the ones hurt in the process.

Especially the war on weed how many young people have had their lives destroyed by arbitrary and capricious enforcement.

[kcr]

12. Pharma companies do that with all of their drugs

Not just opioids. I'm not arguing that that system is okay, or that they should be allowed to do so. I believe in regulating corporations for a reason. Just pointing out that this isn't a special case with opioids designed to create and maintain an addiction crisis. Doctors still prescribe them for pain relief just as they always have. And just like every med, they work better for some people, and some people can't tolerate them. It simply isn't true that they're good for no one but addicts.