U.S. Chronic Pain Patients -- No More Pain Meds

by Lady Lee 34 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  tresdecu

  Hi Lady Lee...First of all, thanks for posting the info. With all due respect, it seems like your 'Headline' is a bit misleading ie "NO MORE PAIN MEDS" It looks to me like the foundation closed last May...but I haven't heard of any new laws passed within the last week federally or in my state that totally restrict pain meds for chronic pain patients or make anything now illegal. I don know it's difficult, and laws are cracking down, and those with legitamite need face problems. But I also know a few that have a pain doc that don't really have any issue.

  Maybe it's just me...I just think your headline is misleading and not truely the case. Please correct me if I am wrong with some more links.

  Thanks.

  TD
• 

  JeffT

  I'm conflicted about this. I understand that people want to make the pain stop. On the other hand, when I was in rehab seven years ago at least 50% of the people in there had been abusing perscription drugs. Based on what I see at AA meetings, that percentage is likely going up.

  Lisa, and others, I understand your frustration, but all those controls are in place because addicts game the system every way they can.

  The FDA gets put between a rock and a hard place on issues like this. Large groups of people castigate them for allowing dangerous drugs (or drugs that are perceived as dangerous) on the market. Other large groups of people castigate them for holding up marketing of beneficial drugs, or drugs that are perceived as beneficial. It's a no-win deal.
• 

  blondie

  Not all pain meds are opoids. My family has a history for addiction so I stick to NSAIDs and other treatments, rotating them. to deal with my severe chronic pain.

  http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/tc/chronic-pain-medications
• 

  jgnat

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kVKx-6uzsE

  Oxycontin: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/ftr-ati/_2012/2012_173-eng.php
• 

  rebel8

  The Pain Foundation is not a healthcare or pharmeceutical provider. Them shutting down does not mean no meds.

  Weird timing.Senate panel investigates drug companies’ ties to pain groups

  I work in a drug rehab and most of our patients nowadays are opiate addicts; it recently surpassed alcohol for the first time. Many started with a legitimate pain issue and wound up using other opiates, like heroin, but not all. The more accessible anything is, the more it will be used. The heartbreaking ruination of lives I see on a daily basis--it's terrible.

  Healthcare providers overprescribe. I've been offered opiates many times unnecessarily. It is a serious public health emergency that must be addressed.

  I don't know of any credible group or individual suggesting there will be no more pain meds or even that there will be no more opiates.
• 

  Lady Lee

  tresdecu

  The article came to me from the yahoogroup I belong to. She just found the info so to us it is new. And for people who live with uncontrolled pain the fear of meds being withdrawn is scary.

  My doctors at the pain clinic are very aware of the issues of uncontrolled pain and the meds required to deal with it. I consider myself very lucky to have found a combination of med s that works for me most of the time. But when it doesn't I have my opiod medication to break the uncontolled pain cycle so that the other meds can do their job.

  I am very concerned about becoming addicted to the opiod drug. I take it as little as possible which means I have to be very aware of my body and when the pain it escalating and I now try to stop it before it gets to that point. Without that one little pill that I need maybe once or twice a month I would be in terrible pain all the time. Once it has escalated I can't get it to stop with other methods. None of my doctors are afraid that I am becoming addicted. But they do caution me. In reality I am far more worried about addiction than they are. They know how rarely I need to renew the prescription.

  My doctor's office has a huge sign that they will not prescribe opioids to patients they don't know. Addiction is an issue as is getting the meds to sell to others.

  I hope that none of you who do suffer from uncontrolled pain don't have to suffer as a result of bad insurance policies that might restrict the very meds you need to make life bearable.
• 

  LisaRose

  One common misconception about opiates is that you will get used to a certain level of medication and need stronger and stronger amounts to get the same effect. Not true, you will only need more if your pain gets worse. I think some people suffer needlessly because of this fear. I've been on the same dose for two years now, it is still effective. Another misconception is that you become an addict if you take opiates for long periods of time, also not true. If you take the medicatiin as directed, and only enough to handle the pain, you will not become addicted. Addicts get that way because they seek to get high and take too much. You should take the minimum amount needed, but no less. If you have uncontrolled pain it can cause long term damage to your body, so there is no need to suffer if you can get meds. It's sad that not every one can.
• 

  jgnat

  I've been prescribed pain meds with opoids a handful of times, say, like right after I was in a car accident. Typically I got five pills with no refills. I've seen those same signs on the walls, Lady Lee.
• 

  Band on the Run

  I saw my pain mgmt docs this past week. If there were a problem with access to Meds. I would have been told. Pain mgmt has gained tremendous ground. Because of my mobility, I have been treated at six different programs. The docs worked so hard for so many years that they will not play dead dogs..

  WWithout revealing too much, I wept for jot when I first saw the website. It made me feel respectable rather than scum. The site was better than any other site I found. I contributed

  dilemma some content. I expect patients and docs will firm another site. The Nyt keeps mentioning stricter reg of opiates. I feel sad for patients without the financial resources, savvy or get access to a major teaching hospitals pain mgmt center. I have written personal letters to state officials. House was good bc the show was not anti drug. It exposed the public to a more sophisticated view. Pain pts should be loud that we are not junkies. When I see my my doc in a few months, I will ask if he knows and what to do.

  I am fed up with the terror of pain mgmt going backwards.
• 

  sooner7nc

  This Dr. had an office in the town I live in. He's a big part of the problem, or used to be as he's in prison now.

  http://mineralwellsindex.com/local/x1750831758/Fraud-drugs-at-center-of-doctor-raid