1 in 10 Go To Work High

Most people, not all, that use MM for pain relief know the correct dose to avoid getting high. I have a friend that uses MM for his cancer. He will sometimes "over-dose" just to get the high because the pain gets intolerable. He has pancreatic cancer and is slowly leaving us. He will smoke more than he is directed to, so he will inhale more THC and get a bigger shot of dopamine. He tells me that it really helps him and I believe him because if we are just sitting and talking, he may light up a joint back to back to get the extra hit of THC and he gets a little silly. I know he is feeling better for the moment and then that makes me feel better. This disease is just horrible, so anything that gives him a short term relief, I am all for it.

I also believe that a lot of people go to work, work, go home from work, play or whatever they do in their lives while being high. I state this based on the amount of pain pills that are prescribed and consumed in this country. Somewhere in the area of 10% of Americans are addicted to painkillers. (I have read numbers that state as low as 8% and as high as 12%.) On top of the 10% there is also another 15-25% additional people here in the U.S. consuming pain pills everyday. So, it has been determined that one out of every three people here in the U.S. take pain pills of some sort. Just to be clear on this, I am not talking about aspirin or ibuprofen or any other over-the-counter medicine. I am speaking specifically of narcotic painkillers. These are over prescribed and over used. Many people get hooked on them from having surgery or an operation and can't get off of them. The next thing that happens is that they are out doctor shopping or running to the emergency rooms, or even worse, buying them off of the street.

Opiates or opioids are dangerous and kill many innocent people every year because of ignorance. They do not know or understand the workings of the medicine they are taking. It is not a problem to take them if you have had surgery or are in severe pain from a broken bone. If a patient uses them minimally and then gets off of them ASAP, that's not an issue. People that abuse their pain meds are playing with fire. Some graduate from taking 5 mgs. of Hydrocodone to the big one, Heroin or maybe Chrystal Meth. It's a slow process to get there, but sooner or later for some people their Hydrocodone or Oxycodone will no longer give them that high, so they seek something that will, so they begin experimenting for that high.

I broke my wrist the middle of May and had to have a pin or screw put in around late June. Every time I went to the doctors before my surgery and go back to the doctor post surgery, he would ask me if I want pain pills. Just ot be curious, I asked him what he was offering. He said I could have my choice of Vicodin or Percocet. Unbelievable! I don't use narcotic pain pills. Some day I may have to, but not for this. I have used them in the past for my back surgeries and yes, I did get high and yes, I liked it. I was also pain free.

I guess that all I'm saying is just please be careful when using these pills.

Sorry to use this forum for a platform to 'preach' drug abuse, but this is an issue that I know a lot about and try my best to make people aware of the dangers of taking these addictive drugs.
 
The study and/or misc articles say those 10% are high on a Cannibas drug. Throw in opiates and/or pain killers uh oh. But in some respects this number is not surprising. Many Americans look at the work day as something to endure & get through which is fine but when they are paid to do a job at a certain level AND the initial terms of employment include DFWP or drug free work place at least honor the employment contract. That and do not endanger any one's safety, the company's reputation, customer service or other employees job security.

This has been going on for decades at this point but if you read most help wanted ads they'll frequently throw in DFWP and even give a pre employment drug screen but unless they see physical symptoms of drug or alcohol abuse the employers don't test after hire. It also would be a civil rights nightmare to drug screen after employment unless part of the job description.
 

As an airline pilot, our union allowed for spot checks, which did occur frequently. We were checked for alcohol and illegal drugs. We filled out a short questionnaire, asking if we were taking any medications and so on. It was used to close the loop holes. Most of us thought it was a good idea and also should give the public added confidence. I was once taken off my plane fifteen minutes before the flight and handed the cup.
 
I would guess that it would be higher. By the way what is MM for pain? At work, we used to joke that half our employees are dedicated, and half are medicated. :)

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I have been on one form or another of pain relievers since i was about fourteen. My back was broken when I was nine, and I was paralyzed from the waist down. I spent a years in daily physical therapy just to be able to feel my legs. There has been pain since the feeling started coming back in my legs, due to nerve damage. As a young person, I would give my pain meds away to older folk in my family that couldn't afford them, not enough to get dependant, but enough to help them be able to move.

There was just too many things I wanted to do in life, and pain pills got in the way. Through the years I built up a pain tollerance, to the point that I have woke up while in surgery a couple of times, and said not a word for fear of them stopping the procedure, just to reschedule it for another time. With no insurance, it was easier for me to grit my teeth and get it over with.

I was diagnosed with several types arthrtis at 25, which has only gotten worse, and now I have upper and lower spinal stenosis that causes pain not just in my spine. When my spine swells, it gives me radiating pain throughout my arms, legs, and neck. My Dr. figured out that my high threshhold for pain was what was driving my BP to be so high, like 19?/110. I didn't believe her, but I agreed to try pain meds again. Within two days, my BP was down into the 12?/85, and I have been able to get out my wheelchair more often. Every morning the BP is high, but within an hour it is normal. But I never take the recomended dose. I take about half of what the Dr. says to. When I asked how long I would have to take the pain meds, i was told the condition will never get better, only worse . So some of us will always need the pain meds. :tapfoot:
 
Ina said:
I have been on one form or another of pain relievers since i was about fourteen. My back was broken when I was nine, and I was paralyzed from the waist down. I spent a years in daily physical therapy just to be able to feel my legs. There has been pain since the feeling started coming back in my legs, due to nerve damage. As a young person, I would give my pain meds away to older folk in my family that couldn't afford them, not enough to get dependant, but enough to help them be able to move. There was just too many things I wanted to do in life, and pain pills got in the way. Through the years I built up a pain tollerance, to the point that I have woke up while in surgery a couple of times, and said not a word for fear of them stopping the procedure, just to reschedule it for another time. With no insurance, it was easier for me to grit my teeth and get it over with.
I was diagnosed with several types arthrtis at 25, which has only gotten worse, and now I have upper and lower spinal stenosis that causes pain not just in my spine. When my spine swells, it gives me radiating pain throughout my arms, legs, and neck. My Dr. figured out that my high threshhold for pain was what was driving my BP to be so high, like 19?/110. I didn't believe her, but I agreed to try pain meds again. Within two days, my BP was down into the 12?/85, and I have been able to get out my wheelchair more often. Every morning the BP is high, but within an hour it is normal. But I never take the recomended dose. I take about half of what the Dr. says to. When I asked how long I would have to take the pain meds, i was told the condition will never get better, only worse . So some of us will always need the pain meds. :tapfoot:
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OK, so as you well know by now with all that you have been though that you will probably be on pain meds the rest of your life, if you want to have any quality of life. There are many people in your same situation that are just going to have to continue down that road. Every situation is different and I do not pretend to be a medical genius of pain management, but I do have experience working with people that get hooked on narcotic painkillers. What happens is that when they are healed from surgery, they continue the medication because they like the feeling or 'buzz' that they get from the opiate, which is the preferred painkiller for most surgeons and pain management doctors. Then, once they are hooked, they will continue to ask for more pain medication. When the doctor refuses, the patient will start doctor shopping by going to different doctors until they find one willing to write a script for the narcotic medication. Emergency rooms is another favorite place that these people will go to to try to get pain meds.

What will happen over time is that your body will build a resistance and the meds will become non-beneficial to you, so you will have to take more of the same meds to get the same effect. This is when the patient gets himself in trouble, by self-medicating. Taking too much can stop the heart without the patient realizing what is happening. Normally, the pain management doctor will switch medicines to offset this problem. There is some pretty high potency stuff out there today. Doctors will go from Dilauded (Hydromorphone) to Vicodin (Hydrocodone) to Percocet (Oxycodone) to Opana (Morphine) and on and on it goes until you start taking the heavier stuff.

I am sure that you have been told about endorphins and dopemine and all that stuff and how it works in your brain, so there's no need to go into any of that.

Having had back surgeries myself and having been on some of this stuff all I can say is that I wish you the best of luck and hope that you have an excellent pain management physician.
 
I no longer sleep in my bed, I have to sleep in my recliner to avoid waking to such severe pain that I can wish that I were in possession of pain killers. Over a decade ago, I do recall being given a script and taking a few pain pills, I almost forgot about that, but I was in so much pain in the moment, I would have taken anything, but one thing I prefer less than the pain is to become addicted to pain meds, so, after looking up the drug and realizing what I was taking, I immediately stopped. I've since had various other forms of treatments, but, I rather suffer the pain than take those pills.

I don't fault others for going the route of the pain meds, it's just having witness drug addiction up close and personal, I don't want even the slightest chance that it can become me jonesing over some pills. Food sure, drugs not so much.

I'm seeing a new pain doctor tomorrow and I was sent a packet to sign a but of papers which included something or other to do with opiates. I intend to hand it back with a big X across the page. I only discovered about a month ago that sleeping in my recliner relieved a good deal of the pain I had to endure during my bedtime hours and the pain in my back, knees and hip still there, isn't anywhere as bad upon waking. It's been a while since I had my last cortisone shot in my shoulder and hip, with all the changes to healthcare is why I had to change doctors and haven't had any shots for a good while. I'm not really sure if there's anything at all that can be done for the back and eventually, I will have to stop the shots anyway.

As far as the use of MM to control pain, I'm not really interested, but, never say never, I'm definitely not interested in getting high. The politicians are working on the bill here in FL to legalize it for medicinal purposes, I haven't been following it closely though not sure when that will go up for the vote, probably Nov.
 
AprilT said:
I no longer sleep in my bed, I have to sleep in my recliner to avoid waking to such severe pain that I can wish that I were in possession of pain killers. Over a decade ago, I do recall being given a script and taking a few pain pills, I almost forgot about that, but I was in so much pain in the moment, I would have taken anything, but one thing I prefer less than the pain is to become addicted to pain meds, so, after looking up the drug and realizing what I was taking, I immediately stopped. I've since had various other forms of treatments, but, I rather suffer the pain than take those pills.

I don't fault others for going the route of the pain meds, it's just having witness drug addiction up close and personal, I don't want even the slightest chance that it can become me jonesing over some pills. Food sure, drugs not so much.

I'm seeing a new pain doctor tomorrow and I was sent a packet to sign a but of papers which included something or other to do with opiates. I intend to hand it back with a big X across the page. I only discovered about a month ago that sleeping in my recliner relieved a good deal of the pain I had to endure during my bedtime hours and the pain in my back, knees and hip still there, isn't anywhere as bad upon waking. It's been a while since I had my last cortisone shot in my shoulder and hip, with all the changes to healthcare is why I had to change doctors and haven't had any shots for a good while. I'm not really sure if there's anything at all that can be done for the back and eventually, I will have to stop the shots anyway.

As far as the use of MM to control pain, I'm not really interested, but, never say never, I'm definitely not interested in getting high. The politicians are working on the bill here in FL to legalize it for medicinal purposes, I haven't been following it closely though not sure when that will go up for the vote, probably Nov.
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Is it possible a change of mattresses could be of help to you April?
 
Meanderer said:
Is it possible a change of mattresses could be of help to you April?
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Thanks for that suggestion, I really do appreciate the thought, unfortunately, it's more about positioning, even if it were a bed that were more comfortable and were adjustable, it wouldn't let my hips and back sit the way my chair allows. I will still once fall asleep on my bed, but so many uncomfortable things result from it, I just much rather sleep in the chair.
 

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