The Opioid Epidemic in the US

Trade, that’s a good article and the method that’s being used there to help the addicts is unique and helpful. However, here in the U.S., the problem that our addicts have is that detox and rehabs are super expensive and many insurances don’t want to cover the patient because some of those companies do not accept dependency or addiction as an ilness.

My neighbor’s son became dependent on Oxy due to a torn rotator cuff. His dad’s insurance would not pay for even just detox, which was 5-7 days inpatient. His dad, my neighbor, finally sent him to a rehab in Florida at a cost of over $30k. He did his 28 days and came home clean as a whistle and has been since, I guess for maybe 2 or so years now.

Have you ever watched the movie “28 Days?” The movie stars Sandra Bullock.
 

I'll just toss this out there. Between my husband and my various procedures, dental work, etc., we have several bottles of oxycontin. I have taken a few as necessary for pain as prescribed, but at no time did I feel any "high" or any different than normal, really. I guess I don't understand the addiction or what people get from it. :confused:

Usually an Advil will do the job for us, so we don't feel compelled to take anything stronger. I feel for people who suffer from chronic pain.
 
CM, Advil and all the other NSAIDS are great but some people's intestines cannot take them; I am one of those people. This includes aspirin.

Acetaminophen (Tylenol) damages the liver if taken over extended periods. (never take "Extra Strength".)

You are right, Oxycontin when taken as directed shouldn't cause a big "high"- if it does, and doesn't go away in a few days, the dose is wrong, or it's just not for you.

Some people have played with this drug; crushing it, snorting it, etc. for a bigger high and then become addicted. Others, just continued to take it as prescribed and became dependent.
 

oldman said:
Trade, that’s a good article and the method that’s being used there to help the addicts is unique and helpful. However, here in the U.S., the problem that our addicts have is that detox and rehabs are super expensive and many insurances don’t want to cover the patient because some of those companies do not accept dependency or addiction as an ilness.

My neighbor’s son became dependent on Oxy due to a torn rotator cuff. His dad’s insurance would not pay for even just detox, which was 5-7 days inpatient. His dad, my neighbor, finally sent him to a rehab in Florida at a cost of over $30k. He did his 28 days and came home clean as a whistle and has been since, I guess for maybe 2 or so years now.

Have you ever watched the movie “28 Days?” The movie stars Sandra Bullock.
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The US for profit health care system is a travesty. And any discussion of it on my part will quickly become political and that is forbidden here.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
There is a hysteria about opiods. They are considered "evil" and unnecessary. They cause only addiction and death. They have to be contained. Pain is just a state of mind, for which doctors "over prescribe" inappropriate ADDICTIVE DRUGS, pushed by the billion dollar pharmaceutical industry. Bad, Bad. BAD. Unfortunately, we don't have anything else in our bag of tricks for the effective relief of moderate to excruciating pain, except opiods. Do these drugs come with horrors? Of course. We have a huge drug addiction problem that we have never been really able to control for decade, after decade, after decade. But while we try to alleviate the misuse of opiods, we can't loose sight of why we have them- PAIN.
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I agree strongly. When my niece was dying of colon cancer and I went to get her prescription (with the proper medical permission and documentation to do so because she was unable to go in person to pick them up) a pharmacist who looked about 23 and who probably had never had serious pain in her whole life gave me a hard time about the possibility that my niece would become addicted and acted like she thought we were trying to pull a fast one to get the meds for some devious purpose or planned to go sell them on the corner or something. I had a similar experience every time I would go to get her pain meds.

My first issue with all this "opioid epidemic" stuff is that I don't believe the government has any business getting between a patient and her doctor when it comes to medical treatment, including drugs. And yes, I know that some doctors overprescribe to their patients, but does this justify forcing my niece to suffer the agonies of the damned because of said opioid epidemic? Some of those people who are so stridently anti-opioid for any reason should go and watch a terminally ill colon cancer patient thrash around and scream in agony for a couple hours.

And secondly, so what if a person who has intractable pain becomes addicted or dependent because nothing else will ease their pain? Are they just collateral damage in the war on opioids? I think it is disgraceful that patients are treated like they are doing something shameful in order to reduce their intolerable pain. Most of us cannot even begin to imagine what they go through in living with constant intractable pain.

Sorry about the rant, but this is one of my hot button issues.
 
RadishRose said:
CM, Advil and all the other NSAIDS are great but some people's intestines cannot take them; I am one of those people. This includes aspirin.

Acetaminophen (Tylenol) damages the liver if taken over extended periods. (never take "Extra Strength".)

You are right, Oxycontin when taken as directed shouldn't cause a big "high"- if it does, and doesn't go away in a few days, the dose is wrong, or it's just not for you.

Some people have played with this drug; crushing it, snorting it, etc. for a bigger high and then become addicted. Others, just continued to take it as prescribed and became dependent.
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I have been taking opioids of some sort for about 8 years now for chronic joint pain from arthritis and they are the only thing that keeps my pain at bay. Yes I am definitely dependent on them for quality of life, but I have never abused them like some do. I have never gotten high from taking them, if anything I might get tired. I do take an NSAID along with Xeljanz daily, but the Hydrocodone is the only thing that takes the pain away. Eventually I will probably need to have some joint replacement surgeries, but for now this works. I hate having to jump through hoops every month to get my prescription filled, but I don't have much of a choice.
 
Well, as a Mom with a 37 year old son who is an addict, in recovery this last time for 4+ years, I have a lot I could say here. I also have an ex daughter in law who left three of my grandchildren motherless because she overdosed and died. And her husband/my grandkids’ step dad, who committed suicide while both intoxicated and high. But I'm gong to keep my mouth shut, because I don't have the time this morning to get into a full blown tirade.

I will say this. My son was in so many recovery programs, and relapsed after each one. So was my daughter in law I referred to above. While I believe these programs are a valuable tool, at the end of the day the ONLY thing an addict has working for them is their own DESIRE to get clean. A program can't do that for them. Neither can concerned loved ones, interventions or substitute drugs. The addict has has to make the choice, and even then, one of the baseline sayings in NA and Naranon is "Relapse is part of Recovery."

I've had many in depth conversations with my son about his addiction, his relapses and recoveries. He will be the first to testify that he's stayed sober this time ONLY because this is the FIRST time HE actually had a bone deep DESIRE to. Other recovery programs were mandated by the state, or he was forced into them by me, or he went there because otherwise he would have been homeless, or he did it to please his kids...the list goes on. Many of his reasons for going into a program were very well meaning. NONE of them until the last addressed his own personal desire to get and stay clean, to be so sick and tired of being sick and tired that he finally decided to do something else.

I have 4 other children, none of whom are addicts and all of whom were exposed to similar situations/circumstances where drugs were available, as well as the same upbringing, the same parenting. My 15+ year experience of being up close and personal with addiction has convinced me that it's a disease.
 
Butterfly said:
I agree strongly. When my niece was dying of colon cancer and I went to get her prescription (with the proper medical permission and documentation to do so because she was unable to go in person to pick them up) a pharmacist who looked about 23 and who probably had never had serious pain in her whole life gave me a hard time about the possibility that my niece would become addicted and acted like she thought we were trying to pull a fast one to get the meds for some devious purpose or planned to go sell them on the corner or something. I had a similar experience every time I would go to get her pain meds.

My first issue with all this "opioid epidemic" stuff is that I don't believe the government has any business getting between a patient and her doctor when it comes to medical treatment, including drugs. And yes, I know that some doctors overprescribe to their patients, but does this justify forcing my niece to suffer the agonies of the damned because of said opioid epidemic? Some of those people who are so stridently anti-opioid for any reason should go and watch a terminally ill colon cancer patient thrash around and scream in agony for a couple hours.

And secondly, so what if a person who has intractable pain becomes addicted or dependent because nothing else will ease their pain? Are they just collateral damage in the war on opioids? I think it is disgraceful that patients are treated like they are doing something shameful in order to reduce their intolerable pain. Most of us cannot even begin to imagine what they go through in living with constant intractable pain.

Sorry about the rant, but this is one of my hot button issues.[/QUOTES


People like your niece are the ones that suffer the most, some even uncontrollably and this is the shame of pharmacists involving themselves in a person’s health issues. Perhaps, there should be a code that doctors could put on the script to inform the pharmacist that “this person is terminally ill.” Just an idea, but something needs to be done to identify those patients in definite need and should be given the drugs without questions or comments.

I watched a friend of mine die from AIDS back in the ‘80’s. That was a horrible three weeks. Even though he had a morphine drip going 24/7, it still wasn’t enough. To watch a person in so much pain that they fold their legs up to their chest like in a fetal position and to hold it there for a half hour and sometimes longer, is really unbearable to watch without feeling a lot of compassion. You stand there watching your friend dying and your thinking, “If only I could do something.”
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Hoot N Annie said:
Have a friend who is now taking Nucynta, an alternative to oxy. Works better and is safer, but very expensive (~$1,000 for 30 day supply)

https://www.goodrx.com/blog/is-nucynta-better-than-other-pain-meds/

Opioid abuse is a major issue, and those who medically need it suffer because of that abuse. Collateral damage, so to speak.
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I took Nucynta following my second back surgery. The surgeon read me the riot act before giving me the script. This is a very strong narcotic that my surgeon only allowed me enough for 15 days. I also took Opana, which is another very potent opioid. I took one of those and tossed the rest.
 
Since I am new here, I worry about over sharing. But here is some of my story, short version.

I have muliple serious medical problems. I am a chronic pain patient. I go to pain management. I get a variety of shots in a variety of places for pain. My entire spine, all three levels, has serious issues. Occasionally, I would get pain pills. Then radio frequency ablation which is a process where the nerves are burned, just enough, to relieve the pain.

Once the nerves grow back, six to nine months, they are burned again. This is done under consicious sedation and using a florscope. Last summer I went to my PM for my usual RFA. I woke up screaming. I woke up unable to walk.

I have a high pain threshold, very high due to severe childhood abuse. Pain you cannot imagine, hallucinations of my grandmother. Me begging her to help me, and two useless trips to the ER. The doctors were unable to help me, unsure if I would regain any function of my useless left leg or if the pain in my back and legs would ever end. I decided to kill myself.

I had the means. A diabetic pill I was allergic to. One pill would do the trick-two for sure. One last try at the ER before it would be over. One last attempt at pain relief. I was asked, as usual, if I was suicidial. Yup, I replied. I've never been a liar, lol. Do you have a plan? Yup, sure do.

Moved to the psych portion of the ER. Interesting place-not been there before. Got to see the ER doc, got to see the social worker, whatever. Husband there, son there, drew the same ER doc I had seen before. ER doc calls my pain management doc. I get a shot and an apology from the ER doc.

Next day a shot from PM. Percocet (low dose) and a night time morphine pill. I did not get nigh. I did get enough pain relief to enable me to stay alive. I was on the pills for six weeks. As soon as I realized I could do with less, I took less. As soon as I realized I could once again do without them, I quit taking them. Pain level at a 7 with higher flares, but able to cope.

It took six months to recover somewhat. My right leg already wasn't too great, my left leg will never fully recover. I must be very careful not to walk too much or I land back into a wheelchair. Recently I've had to restart taking a minor pain pill at night. Soon I will have to go back on Percocet again for the pain at night.

I am careful to not become addicted or even dependent. Because I don't want to be addicted or dependent on drugs. But my children and grandchildren think it doesn't matter if I am. All have offered to get me "other stuff". No, but thanks. I'm fine. Marijuana just became legal. I may try it when it goes up for sale.

I live in a great deal of pain all of the time. As for NASIDS, I have one kidney and I am in stage 3 kidney failure. I also have fatty liver disease. Never drank, but boy do I eat, lol.

IMO, addicts should be helped. IMO dependency is a sad but sometimes necessary medical state. IMO no one has the right to judge and yet I have judged others, and still judge others. It is a human flaw. And finally, you don't have to have cancer to be in severe pain.
 

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