Worried About Pain Killer Addiction? Why You Shouldn't Be!
Do you worry about becoming addicted to pain meds? I do. And I've heard enough stories to know I'm not alone. People around us frequently worry about it as well, some of them even making accusations of addiction and distancing themselves from someone who's really just trying to manage extreme pain.
The DEA has been plenty worried about it in recent years, which makes doctors nervous about prescribing opioids. Even some doctors, nurses and pharmacists look at us suspiciously when we get refills. I get my refills through the mail, in part because I don't want to pick them up with my young children in tow. And then, I worry that some criminal will steal it en route, and I won't be able to get another refill for a month or so.
All this worry, all this suspicion, all the guilt we feel over taking medications we need - all of it should be erased by evidence that we're actually quite unlikely to become addicts.
That does need some qualification: according to a report out of Johns Hopkins, which was presented at the American Pain Society's annual meeting, less than THREE PERCENT of all chronic-pain patients without a history of drug abuse eventually show signs of dependence or abuse.
That's right - less than 3%. So why do we hear so much about abuse of drugs like Vicodin and Percocet? According to the report, it's because of things like theft, prescription forgery and unregulated online pharmacies, not legitimate prescriptions for legitimate reasons.
The man we have to thank for this information is Srinivasa Raja, MD, who's a professor of anesthesiology at Johns Hopkins. He's calling on the healthcare community, law enforcement and the pharmaceutical industry to ensure that those of us who need these drugs will still be able to get them, saying that the benefit usually far exceeds the risk of dependency.
Thank you, Dr. Raja. I hope a lot of people hear your message.
Suggested Reading
- Read more from Dr. Raja's report (you might want to print this out for your doctor!)
- Drugs for Treating Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
- Acupuncture, Massage, Rolfing & Other Bodywork for Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
- Nutrition & Exercise for Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Comments
Flupirtine is another drug coming to the US.
Supposedly it has been in use in Europe since 1981 and it seems to work well on Fibro with no tolerance build up, no ability to abuse, and is a a non-opiate analgesic.
The side effects are supposed to fade away after several days.
I found out about this from the email newsletter I get from the National Fibromyalgia Association.
Read article here:
Sign up (free) to keep up with the latest news.
http://www.fmaware.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=7087&JServSessionIdr007=bpj607s7m1.app5a
Flupirtine
Thanks, Shawna!
Here’s another article on oral flupirtine:
Effirma for Fibro
It’s definitely promising, but it’s in the very earliest stages. If all goes well, we won’t likely see this on the market for at least a couple of years.
I am grateful to Dr. Raja, but I think that doctors feel they have to be careful - from what I’ve read the current medical system monitors their prescriptions and will penalize them for too many pain pill scripts. Sadly, since there’s no commonly-available documented diagnostic test for fibromyalgia (other than a patient’s self-reported experience of symptoms), then there’s not much a doctor has to back up what he says! The system needs to change — we can’t completely fault the doctors who are afraid of risking their licenses.
Thank you for posting this, it is very important for people to understand that those of us battling this illness are not just looking for a bunch of pills. I am very fortunate in that I have a physician who understands the importance of treating chronic pain, but I still had to bring her WHO articles about opiate addiction in the case of people being treated for chronic pain.
Unfortunately it is more difficult to make the public understand; try to explain to someone that you take the equivalent to 300mg of Morphine just to carry out normal day-to-day activities … you know, like getting out of bed … it is not easy. They look at you as though you are from Mars, or like you might mug them for their money.
If someone could understand for one minute the pain that someone with FMS experiences … well, they would be swallowing my break-through meds without the help of water. I have never worried about addiction for the simple reason that I know (I KNOW) that there is no physical dependency - I have tested it by going off of everything …. At the same time, when someone asks me why I take the drugs I respond, “tell me why I SHOULD live in constant pain, and I won’t,” … for some reason nobody has yet to satisfy that question (especially with the caveat that I will “share my pain” with them by putting a twelve-inch knife through their thigh … just for the fun of it - which they never want to try, big surprise …).
Until someone can know what it feels like to have a migraine for twenty-seven years (you read correctly) and unceasing pain that does not respond to ANY therapy, don’t talk to me about the dangers of addiction; I’ve been offered illegal drugs on many occasions and have never even puffed on a joint, but synthetic THC (Cesamet) has helped me tremendously with the nausea that the constant pain causes me - it also helps the pain meds work better. I’ve found that the people who toss the “addiction” card around are often the ones with the most problems themselves and are dealing with a great deal of transference - they are transferring their issues with the use of medications (opioids) onto others without dealing with their own demons (whatever they may be).
This article really hit me hard. I have been on Ultram (same dosage) for two years, trying to control some of the pain from fibro and RSD. After my last surgery, I lay in the hospital moaning/crying several hours from pain. Someone came in and told the nurse I was suffering withdrawals and asked how much pain med. I had been taking. Three a day max. The pain med. they gave me in the hospital was not working, so they let me lay there. I was in agony from the pain…not withdrawal.
I feel this way…if using narcotics causes addiction, then i’ll become addicted to releive the pain. I’d much rather enjoy the quality of my life..for whatever time I have remaining, than live a hundred years with each day full of pain.
**A suggestion: Most people don’t count their pain medication when they pick it up. I have never done it…then I got home to discover the pharmacist shorted me 11 tablets. I went through hell trying to get them and was portrayed as a liar. Now I count before leaving.**
I ran into a huge problem with an opiate. The doctor who prescribed it, without notice dropped all patients covered by my type of insurance. I arrived for an appointment to arrange to wean off of the drug because it was causing too many nasty side effects for little real pain relief. They refused to see me! Claimed it was the insurance companies responsibility to notify my that they were no longer accepting my insurance. A huge crock of bull hockey.
I was left to withdraw from the medication alone. No doctor is is going to care for this the first time seeing you. They assumed I was an addict. I was not…I just needed to be provided a weaning schedule. I was miserable for at least two weeks.
The result is that I will never risk being in that position again. If it needs to be weaned off, I won’t take it. I just live with the pain.
Lois
People don’t understand that people who really need meds also monitor and know our bodies more than “normal” people. My son was diagnosed with ADD as a small child, and went thru regimens of Ritalin and other meds. People accused me of trying to make my son a drug addict to make up for my own failings as a parent. They didn’t understand that he wasn’t and wouldn’t become addicted to the meds; in fact, if he didn’t genuinely have the neuro-biological condition they were prescribed for, the meds wouldn’t work as they were meant to. Then some studies came out that proved that kids with ADD and other conditions requiring regular meds were actually far less likely to become addicts than “normal” kids. My son said “I don’t like taking the meds I have to take. Why would I ever take something I don’t have to?” It’s the same with us: we know the meds are needed to counter the out-of-kilter biochemistry of our bodies. We don’t see them as pleasurable or recreational. In fact, if some magic cure could be found to make using any meds unneccessary, we’d all happily give them up and then rarely take so much as a Tylenol for the rest of our lives.
Someone in my doctor’s office the other day commented about my use of painkillers for my fibro and a dozen ruptured discs (osteoarthritis of spine and pinched nerves). He (an OBGYN) told me an office member made a comment of the drugs I used, and he blasted them and made reference to his reply of “would you like to walk in her shoes with her pain?”. Then he said, “Thank goodness for pain management. Finally, someone listens to people like you who live in constant pain. You don’t HAVE to suffer!” I hugged him on the way out!