Opiods

[DannyW]

They do have a purpose !! To see people calling those that are dependent addicts is disturbing to me !! If my Dad is an addict because he is dependent on them to have a quality of life suffering from his cancer among other things, I just don't see that to be fair calling my Dad a addict !! I do think there is a difference !! I also hope that those saying such never have to see a loved one suffer, and never have to help them when they can't bathe or go to the toilet and etc alone !! But then there are those that would just stick them in a nursing home somewhere and forget about them until the time comes when you are standing at the head of coffin thanking everybody that comes by for coming !!

Greg, I agree...they do have a purpose. While one family member of mine is abusing them, another is finding relief. This person has a condition, a problem with the bundle of nerves in the back of the brain, which leaves them unable to function without pain medication.

 

[DannyW]

It's new

https://dph.georgia.gov/pdmp

I worked around this for 20 years, and IMO it's criminal for the Dr. to give a 90 day supply and for the pharmacy to sell that many at one time.

That's good news. I have not looked at the link yet, and I will, but the specific situation I described of back to back 90 day refills happened in January of 2017.

 

[lbzdually]

I have seen the worth and the downfall of pain meds. My dad was diagnosed with RA in his 30's. Without pain meds he would have probably been bed ridden years ago. He is one of the toughest men I know, but if not for the opioids he would have had to stop going to all his grandchildren's ballgames and they would have missed him being there. he went to the VA the other day and the student Drs. were looking at his x-rays of his neck, his wrists, shoulders, knees and said they wondered if the x-rays were his, because every single joint is completely worn out. They were amazed that he could even stand or walk. He takes his medicine to the T, but it has got to the point where it is not enough. His RA doctor said he would tell his primary care doc to get him whatever he wanted, but he hasn't anything else yet. I've also seen someone who absolutely needs meds but they overtake and stay sedated all the time. Opioids have a purpose and are neither good nor bad, the end user is the one that determines that. The guy that said his relative is getting multiple
scripts, it will catch up to them and they will go to jail. it is all computerized and someone will figure it out. I had a kidney stone removed and the urologist gave me a prescription and my regular doc asked a month later.

 

[rjcruiser]

That's good news. I have not looked at the link yet, and I will, but the specific situation I described of back to back 90 day refills happened in January of 2017.

Just don't see how this is happening. My family member pays more for a legal prescription than what they could buy them on the street. Mandatory office visit for the prescription, drug test every quarter, extensive drug test every year. All to make sure they're not abusing. And that's just on the prescription side. Then the pharmacists won't allow the filling of the prescription early. Makes it a pain in the reaar when traveling.

It's a problem...yes. but there has to be personal responsibility at the end of the day. The .gov can't keep people from killing themselves and the media has run with the demonization of anyone who deals with chronic pain with opiods.

 

[biggdogg]

Big Pharma doesn't create cures, they create customers....

 

[7mm REM MAG]

Just two facts for everyone to think about:

1.There are seven times as many tobacco related deaths in a year than there are for all drug overdoses, yet there is no national "tobacco crisis".

2. Heroin deaths are also included in the opioid death statistics. Heroin has been illegal for years.

 

[Artfuldodger]

One aspect of opiod addiction over tobacco is it cost more. So an opiod user ends up spending all of his money on drugs. Then it gets to the point they can't work unless they are high. So they end up spending all their money on getting high so that they can work.

They wake up in the morning thinking about where or how they can get their next fix. It totally consumes their every thought unlike a tobacco addict.

Maybe not in terms of deaths is it worse but in terms of what it does to one's family and society it's pretty bad.

 

[Slingblade]

You don't have to worry about me. I don't know why, but pain meds must effect me differently than others. They do not give me a feeling that I would want to repeat. Most meds make me sick, nauseated to the point that I had rather hurt. However, recently during a broken back recovery, I would take 1 half pill a day, after working to help cope with the pain. It made me wonder, do people get hooked on the feeling, or hooked on the want to be pain free?

They gave me a prescription after my bypass surgery, I took half of one and decided that I'd just deal with the pain rather than feel like that.

 

[rjcruiser]

Big Pharma doesn't create cures, they create customers....

 

[SkintRider]

Danny W I am one of those addicted people on opiods as has been said here. I have been taking them in different doses by prescription since 1995. Two neck operations, three discs removed, four vertabre plated together and two more discs mashed flat with none of the three Dr.s wanting to touch them. Without large amounts of money or insurance, I don't forsee any help at my age of 69.
My doctor who prescribes them writes a 30 day only prescription once a month. I have to drive a 25 mile roundtrip monthly. I have to show ID when I pickup my prescription. I have to wait while it is filled at Walmart. No 10 day hold like other scripts. Must show picture ID even tho the cashier in the drug dept. has known me for years and pay in the drug dept when I pick it up. Asked about postdated scrips and told absolutely NO. I have urine test at 90 days and urine and blood tests at 180. Last pain Dr. counted my pills, weighed, and blood pressure taken and 3 minutes of stupid questions before leaving with a 90 day return date.
Many nights of no sleep or very little sleep because of the pain. Many weeks of rehab with no help. I really don't know if I am addicted or not, but take the two a day of not the max dose and heavy doses of naproxen to help. And no, I do not wash it down with beer or liquor to get high.

 

[lbzdually]

Danny W I am one of those addicted people on opiods as has been said here. I have been taking them in different doses by prescription since 1995. Two neck operations, three discs removed, four vertabre plated together and two more discs mashed flat with none of the three Dr.s wanting to touch them. Without large amounts of money or insurance, I don't forsee any help at my age of 69.
My doctor who prescribes them writes a 30 day only prescription once a month. I have to drive a 25 mile roundtrip monthly. I have to show ID when I pickup my prescription. I have to wait while it is filled at Walmart. No 10 day hold like other scripts. Must show picture ID even tho the cashier in the drug dept. has known me for years and pay in the drug dept when I pick it up. Asked about postdated scrips and told absolutely NO. I have urine test at 90 days and urine and blood tests at 180. Last pain Dr. counted my pills, weighed, and blood pressure taken and 3 minutes of stupid questions before leaving with a 90 day return date.
Many nights of no sleep or very little sleep because of the pain. Many weeks of rehab with no help. I really don't know if I am addicted or not, but take the two a day of not the max dose and heavy doses of naproxen to help. And no, I do not wash it down with beer or liquor to get high.

Some people will never understand until they have had to deal with it themselves.

 

[greg_n_clayton]

'

Danny W I am one of those addicted people on opiods as has been said here. I have been taking them in different doses by prescription since 1995. Two neck operations, three discs removed, four vertabre plated together and two more discs mashed flat with none of the three Dr.s wanting to touch them. Without large amounts of money or insurance, I don't forsee any help at my age of 69.
My doctor who prescribes them writes a 30 day only prescription once a month. I have to drive a 25 mile roundtrip monthly. I have to show ID when I pickup my prescription. I have to wait while it is filled at Walmart. No 10 day hold like other scripts. Must show picture ID even tho the cashier in the drug dept. has known me for years and pay in the drug dept when I pick it up. Asked about postdated scrips and told absolutely NO. I have urine test at 90 days and urine and blood tests at 180. Last pain Dr. counted my pills, weighed, and blood pressure taken and 3 minutes of stupid questions before leaving with a 90 day return date.
Many nights of no sleep or very little sleep because of the pain. Many weeks of rehab with no help. I really don't know if I am addicted or not, but take the two a day of not the max dose and heavy doses of naproxen to help. And no, I do not wash it down with beer or liquor to get high.

I find this thread, in my opinion, to have become a on topic bashing of folks who depend on the pain medicines to have some relieve and quality of life, by calling them "addicts " is absurb...in my on topic opinion !!

 

[matt79brown]

While we are on the subject, would legalizing marijuana help? IT grows out of the ground. Relieves pain. Helps appetite. Helps rest. Almost no side affects. Never seen anyone rob their grandma to get it. Did I mention it grows out of the ground? By the way the U.S. makes up 7% of the world's population, yet we consume 90% of the world's narcotics. I think we have a political issue on our hands.

 

[Swamprat]

Just two facts for everyone to think about:

1.There are seven times as many tobacco related deaths in a year than there are for all drug overdoses, yet there is no national "tobacco crisis".QUOTE]

Tobacco use has declined while opiod use has increased. Not many calls to 911 for tobacco deaths but plenty for opiod overdoses. They are having to get grants to fund Narcam not Nicorette.

Tobacco is legal, heroin is not.

Lots of emergency units have exceeded their yearly budget due to overdose calls. Most of the ones getting shipped to a hospital have no insurance so we are paying for them to be high and happy before and after they get out.

 

[DannyW]

SkinRider, I understand your situation. Which is why I read my OP, saw the possibility that my rant would be misinterpreted, and then immediately posted:

To clarify...opioid drugs have a place and purpose...I took them myself after my heart bypass surgery and when I broke my upper leg and hip.

But to use them to get high, over and above the prescription of one every 4-6 hours, and especially washing them down with a few Bud Lights, is DANGEROUS.

My post was not directed at legitimate users like you...I have an 83 year old aunt who needs oxycontin to function every day. I get that...I used this drug myself for a month after my bypass surgery.

What frustrates me is people like my other family member, who got prescribed oxycontin for an injury, fell in love with it and is now addicted. This particular family member went through 180 pills in 17 days....do the math yourself for a drug which is prescribed "every 4-6 hours".

So my sincere apologies if I offended you, none was intended, but I was really stunned Sunday morning when I saw an otherwise healthy 22 year old woman being rolled out on a gurney after a night of getting high on opioids.

 

[Paleo]

While we are on the subject, would legalizing marijuana help? IT grows out of the ground. Relieves pain. Helps appetite. Helps rest. Almost no side affects. Never seen anyone rob their grandma to get it. Did I mention it grows out of the ground? By the way the U.S. makes up 7% of the world's population, yet we consume 90% of the world's narcotics. I think we have a political issue on our hands.

Opium poppies grow out of the ground too.

 

[Browning Slayer]

I am against big brother as much as anyone but I would not object if a national register was put in place that required pharmicists to check to make sure that this type of medication was not being dispensed to a person too frequently.

How about you start at the source with the Doctor's that are writing the prescriptions.

The FDA is already cracking down on the big Pharma distribution centers and they are only doing it for money. The problem starts with the doctor's writing the prescriptions. It's just easy to go after 3 or 4 Pharma Distributors than it is to go after millions of doctors.

 

[DannyW]

How about you start at the source with the Doctor's that are writing the prescriptions.

Ahhh...actually I did..here is the letter I sent on January 30,2015 to the doctor on record (pardon the "xxxx" inserted to retain some privacy):


....Letter deleted....

Suffice to say I did contact the doctor, who requested that I document my concerns in writing for their file. No need to share that on an open forum, and I have deleted the letter.

So please think twice before your criticize my motives and use a derogatory "face plant" symbol to show your opinion about how I am a complete idiot about how I have approached my personal situation. I have no idea of who you are, much less your age, but based on the "face plant" response I can only assume you are still in your 20's and have yet to to understand, or experience life's curve balls.

 

[SkintRider]

SkinRider, I understand your situation. Which is why I read my OP, saw the possibility that my rant would be misinterpreted, and then immediately posted:

To clarify...opioid drugs have a place and purpose...I took them myself after my heart bypass surgery and when I broke my upper leg and hip.

But to use them to get high, over and above the prescription of one every 4-6 hours, and especially washing them down with a few Bud Lights, is DANGEROUS.

My post was not directed at legitimate users like you...I have an 83 year old aunt who needs oxycontin to function every day. I get that...I used this drug myself for a month after my bypass surgery.

What frustrates me is people like my other family member, who got prescribed oxycontin for an injury, fell in love with it and is now addicted. This particular family member went through 180 pills in 17 days....do the math yourself for a drug which is prescribed "every 4-6 hours".

So my sincere apologies if I offended you, none was intended, but I was really stunned Sunday morning when I saw an otherwise healthy 22 year old woman being rolled out on a gurney after a night of getting high on opioids.

No offense taken. I am an old man with thick skin, so not a lot bothers me. I just wanted to put it out there.
I HAD to change a kitchen and tub/shower faucet or $$$$ someone. Heating pad for a couple of hours has helped my neck {locking very painfully up}.
Thanks again, but not needed. Have a great day!!

 

[lbzdually]

No offense taken. I am an old man with thick skin, so not a lot bothers me. I just wanted to put it out there.
I HAD to change a kitchen and tub/shower faucet or $$$$ someone. Heating pad for a couple of hours has helped my neck {locking very painfully up}.
Thanks again, but not needed. Have a great day!!

The neck is probably the worst place to have problems. You depend on being able to turn your head to do just about everything, including driving, reading, eating, etc. My dad screams out when a front moves through, or he has to get in and out of his truck. He has been on 10mg of HC for years and it does not come even close to stopping the pain anymore. He could get some of the stuff fixed, but his breathing is so bad they won't do surgery.