Opioid epidemic

[sassenach]

We're considering moving across the country to have access to medical marijuana for this reason. I have a very cut and dry, obvious condition that causes chronic pain, ie I'm not someone just claiming I have a vague pain somewhere for some unknown reason. My doctors acknowledge that I'm in a lot of pain, that they should be giving me opioids, but they can't risk doing it. Especially as a long term treatment with no other solution. So I'm in constant pain. Last night, I was sobbing on the floor for half an hour, unable to move.

 

I love our home. DH loves his job. We don't want to move. But medical marijuana may be our only recourse. We're going on a trip this summer to a recreational state to try it (I'm so boring, I've never smoked marijuana). If it makes a big difference, we might just have to move for that reason alone. (We live in the South, in a state that still has dry counties. We'll be the last to legalize it.)

Wouldn’t it be easier to fly to a pot state every few months than pick up your whole life? Edited February 1, 2018 by Sassenach

[Scarlett]

My friend did a series of articles on opioids for our local newspaper. With some people, it can take as little as one prescription. 

 

I can't take anything narcotic - I stopped taking Vicodin after my emergency c-section after 1 pill because it made me so nauseous and loopy feeling. Robitussin w/ codeine and Tylenol w/ codeine both make me sick as well. 

 

DH, on the other hand, can take any of those without side effects and they act as intended. The cough syrup stops his cough and helps him sleep when he has bronchitis and he's taken narcotic pain relievers in the past for gout. Thankfully, he doesn't have an addictive personality type and will take only when he needs it. I think we still have 1 leftover T3 in the medicine cabinet from his last gout attack a couple of years ago. 

 

Other people can become quickly and thoroughly addicted. I bet within the next few years, scientists will figure out which genes in the body allow for the addiction and which genes make people get sick when they take the meds. 

 

 

I am 52.  At various times in my youth I was given different narcotics for.  It didn't take until I was maybe early 20s to realize my reaction was always the same.  Violent rejection on both ends.  And sometimes instantaneously.  My husband has a more mild reaction.  If he is careful and eats with the meds he can take a few days worth...by the 4th day he is sick all of the time.

[maize]

Wouldn’t it be easier to fly to a pot state every few months than pick up your whole life?

Wouldn't help if it is not legal to own and use it in their current state.

[Sandwalker]

I am not sure. It is really hard to say. I feel like my dh is MUCH more physically disabled than him......but my dh powers through where as this other person seems to give in to it.

Come on, don't judge and gloat. You haven't walked in his shoes.

[Epicurean]

For people who need access to drugs for chronic pain, they have special pain clinics, at least around here.

That is not an option for most people. I called all four pain clinics within a 200 mile radius. The lowest amount they charge for a first consultation is $600 (up to $800). And most of them said explicitly that hey do NOT prescribe narcotics (I know, the irony). They focus on "non-opioid forms of rehabilitation" like steroid shots and physical therapy despite being pain clinics.

[Chelli]

We're considering moving across the country to have access to medical marijuana for this reason. I have a very cut and dry, obvious condition that causes chronic pain, ie I'm not someone just claiming I have a vague pain somewhere for some unknown reason. My doctors acknowledge that I'm in a lot of pain, that they should be giving me opioids, but they can't risk doing it. Especially as a long term treatment with no other solution. So I'm in constant pain. Last night, I was sobbing on the floor for half an hour, unable to move.

 

I love our home. DH loves his job. We don't want to move. But medical marijuana may be our only recourse. We're going on a trip this summer to a recreational state to try it (I'm so boring, I've never smoked marijuana). If it makes a big difference, we might just have to move for that reason alone. (We live in the South, in a state that still has dry counties. We'll be the last to legalize it.)

 

To the bolded:

 

Not necessarily. Arkansas legalized medical marijuana in their last election and it still has dry counties. It was the first Southern state to legalize marijuana. Having lived there from birth until I was 23, let's just say, I'm not surprised. It's Arkansas' biggest cash crop and that was when it was illegal.

 

Good luck finding relief. (((HUGS)))

[Scarlett]

Come on, don't judge and gloat. You haven't walked in his shoes.

 

 

Gloating on behalf of my dh? 

 

And actually I have walked in his shoes.  More than anyone else on the planet.  

[barnwife]

Me too.  I had an emergency appendectomy and I was only given a high dosage of Ibuprofin or some such.  I took a few doses of it....Really I was fine.I gave birth naturally with no pain meds.  As I am sure many here did.   

Most of my thoughts have already been shared by others. However, the childbirth comparison doesn't work here imo. A women produces hormones during childbirth to help deal with all of it. (And I've had 4 med-free homebirths. One I was so quiet someone just around the corner from me wouldn't have known I was in labor had we not told her. Another birth was so fast and furious I screamed the whole time.) Opiods just don't seem like the same thing to me.

[Epicurean]

Wouldn’t it be easier to fly to a pot state every few months than pick up your whole life?

It's illegal to bring back marijuana with you. If they catch you, they get you for transporting illicit drugs across state lines.

[sassenach]

This really worries me because dh absolutely needs opioids when he’s in a flare up. Often for months. He always cuts back off at some point, but I don’t feel even a little bad when he’s on. He has zero “high†reactions. It just cuts the edge off of his very legitimate pain.

 

About 18 months ago he went to the ER in serious need after getting hit by a baseball on his injury and they turned him away. It was inhumane.

[sassenach]

It's illegal to bring back marijuana with you. If they catch you, they get you for transporting illicit drugs across state lines.

Oh, duh. I should have thought of that.

[Epicurean]

To the bolded:

 

Not necessarily. Arkansas legalized medical marijuana in their last election and it still has dry counties. It was the first Southern state to legalize marijuana. Having lived there from birth until I was 23, let's just say, I'm not surprised. It's Arkansas' biggest cash crop and that was when it was illegal.

 

Good luck finding relief. (((HUGS)))

I didn't know about Arkansas (too bad that's pretty far away from me). But it gives me hope!

[Scarlett]

Most of my thoughts have already been shared by others. However, the childbirth comparison doesn't work here imo. A women produces hormones during childbirth to help deal with all of it. (And I've had 4 med-free homebirths. One I was so quiet someone just around the corner from me wouldn't have known I was in labor had we not told her. Another birth was so fast and furious I screamed the whole time.) Opiods just don't seem like the same thing to me.

 

 

Well I agree childbirth isn't a real comparison.  It is the most pain I've ever had.....but it was 'easy' in that I knew it had an end.  I am actually terrified of being in an accident because the thought of having to take pain meds FREAKS me out.  They would have to put me in a coma while I heal.  I just can't deal with the way it makes me sick.

[Scarlett]

I didn't know about Arkansas (too bad that's pretty far away from me). But it gives me hope!

 

 

Oddly, that is where this person lives.  

[ktgrok]

I think people do need to realize that just as reactions to pain medications can differ, people's perception of pain can differ.

 

I'm fairly tough. I've had 3 home births, and a partially unmedicated c-section. I'm not a wuss. But the idea of a few tylenol or advil being enough for post surgical pain is laughable to me. My mother, yes, that would work. Me? Nope. Wouldn't touch it. I am not 100 percent sure tylenol even does anything for me. Advil does, but not enough to cover surgical pain, depending on the surgery.

 

Now, I've been told that a sensitivity to pain is a redhead thing, maybe it is. And I do know I metabolize many pain meds much faster than normal, as does my father. My mother is the opposite. But yeah, some of us really do feel enough pain to justify a few codeine or vicodin.

 

Last time I was given nucynta, which I think is less addictive supposedly? It worked pretty well though.  

 

 

[AmandaVT]

Well I agree childbirth isn't a real comparison.  It is the most pain I've ever had.....but it was 'easy' in that I knew it had an end.  I am actually terrified of being in an accident because the thought of having to take pain meds FREAKS me out.  They would have to put me in a coma while I heal.  I just can't deal with the way it makes me sick.

 

There have been studies recently that a combo of Tylenol and Advil makes for a stronger pain reliever than opioids. This is what my dentist suggested when I needed a root canal and couldn't get into the endodontist for a few days. Worst pain I have ever been in, including labor, trying to deliver and post c-section. It works great.

 

http://www.nsc.org/RxDrugOverdoseDocuments/evidence-summary-NSAIDs-are-stronger-pain-medications-than-opioids-with-IFP.pdf

 

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/11/as-epidemic-rages-er-study-finds-opioids-no-better-than-advil-and-tylenol/ 

[Scarlett]

There have been studies recently that a combo of Tylenol and Advil makes for a stronger pain reliever than opioids. This is what my dentist suggested when I needed a root canal and couldn't get into the endodontist for a few days. Worst pain I have ever been in, including labor, trying to deliver and post c-section. It works great.

 

http://www.nsc.org/RxDrugOverdoseDocuments/evidence-summary-NSAIDs-are-stronger-pain-medications-than-opioids-with-IFP.pdf

 

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/11/as-epidemic-rages-er-study-finds-opioids-no-better-than-advil-and-tylenol/ 

 

 

I read that too.  I hold on to that hope in case I ever need meds.  No one really understands how violent my reaction is to drugs.  In the last few years they keep trying to get me to say I am 'sensitive' to drugs , not allergic.  Apparently they want to reserve the word allergic to breathing problems.

[Scarlett]

I think people do need to realize that just as reactions to pain medications can differ, people's perception of pain can differ.

 

I'm fairly tough. I've had 3 home births, and a partially unmedicated c-section. I'm not a wuss. But the idea of a few tylenol or advil being enough for post surgical pain is laughable to me. My mother, yes, that would work. Me? Nope. Wouldn't touch it. I am not 100 percent sure tylenol even does anything for me. Advil does, but not enough to cover surgical pain, depending on the surgery.

 

Now, I've been told that a sensitivity to pain is a redhead thing, maybe it is. And I do know I metabolize many pain meds much faster than normal, as does my father. My mother is the opposite. But yeah, some of us really do feel enough pain to justify a few codeine or vicodin.

 

Last time I was given nucynta, which I think is less addictive supposedly? It worked pretty well though.  

 

 

I wondered about that.  Maybe my extreme reaction to drugs would mean I need less to get through pain? I am hoping.

[kbutton]

That is not an option for most people. I called all four pain clinics within a 200 mile radius. The lowest amount they charge for a first consultation is $600 (up to $800). And most of them said explicitly that hey do NOT prescribe narcotics (I know, the irony). They focus on "non-opioid forms of rehabilitation" like steroid shots and physical therapy despite being pain clinics.

That's crazy. They do have pain clinics here that offer a lot of options, and I know very low income people who've used them. They do Rx narcotics. They are also super underutilized here, and I live in one of the worst opioid areas in the entire country. 

 

It's too bad it's not universally available.

 

Now, I've been told that a sensitivity to pain is a redhead thing, maybe it is. And I do know I metabolize many pain meds much faster than normal, as does my father. My mother is the opposite. But yeah, some of us really do feel enough pain to justify a few codeine or vicodin.

It also influences reactions to anesthesia, I believe. I wouldn't be surprised if, during surgery or procedures, if redheads aren't numbing as well, their brain ramps up the pain response also, and it creates some kind of cascade with post-procedure pain. 

[kbutton]

There have been studies recently that a combo of Tylenol and Advil makes for a stronger pain reliever than opioids. This is what my dentist suggested when I needed a root canal and couldn't get into the endodontist for a few days. Worst pain I have ever been in, including labor, trying to deliver and post c-section. It works great.

 

http://www.nsc.org/RxDrugOverdoseDocuments/evidence-summary-NSAIDs-are-stronger-pain-medications-than-opioids-with-IFP.pdf

 

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/11/as-epidemic-rages-er-study-finds-opioids-no-better-than-advil-and-tylenol/ 

 

I heard about this, but I couldn't find it and didn't want to skew the facts by trying to refer to it. 

[sassenach]

I think people do need to realize that just as reactions to pain medications can differ, people's perception of pain can differ.

 

I'm fairly tough. I've had 3 home births, and a partially unmedicated c-section. I'm not a wuss. But the idea of a few tylenol or advil being enough for post surgical pain is laughable to me. My mother, yes, that would work. Me? Nope. Wouldn't touch it. I am not 100 percent sure tylenol even does anything for me. Advil does, but not enough to cover surgical pain, depending on the surgery.

 

Now, I've been told that a sensitivity to pain is a redhead thing, maybe it is. And I do know I metabolize many pain meds much faster than normal, as does my father. My mother is the opposite. But yeah, some of us really do feel enough pain to justify a few codeine or vicodin.

 

Last time I was given nucynta, which I think is less addictive supposedly? It worked pretty well though.

And for some people, an opioid is actually the healthiest drug to be on. My dh has extreme reactions to benzos and neuro meds, but taking an opioid has zero effect on anything but the pain. It’s really weird. Give him neurontin and you’re dealing with a psych ward patient, give him Percocet and it’s equivalent to me taking a Tylenol.

[Junie]

I read that too.  I hold on to that hope in case I ever need meds.  No one really understands how violent my reaction is to drugs.  In the last few years they keep trying to get me to say I am 'sensitive' to drugs , not allergic.  Apparently they want to reserve the word allergic to breathing problems.

 

Not just breathing problems, but an immune system response.

 

I know that it can seem like you are allergic to the medication, but there is an important distinction that the medical professionals have to make.

[Scarlett]

Not just breathing problems, but an immune system response.

 

I know that it can seem like you are allergic to the medication, but there is an important distinction that the medical professionals have to make.

Yes I think the difference is they won't actually kill me just make me wish I were dead.

I thought this article about how German doctors have a different approach to pain management ("pain is part of life"), and don't prescribe opioids after hysterectomies was eye-opening:

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/27/opinion/sunday/surgery-germany-vicodin.html

 

[Junie]

As someone with two chronic pain conditions, the opioid epidemic is very concerning to me.

 

And just as people's responses to medications can vary widely, so can their responses to pain.

 

I have had RA for 10+ years and it has definitely skewed my pain tolerance.  I no longer have a level zero.  When I was giving birth to dd9, the anesthesiologist was trying to manage my pain.  He watched me through a contraction and asked me to rate the pain.  I said a 3 or a 4.  He said that what he watched would have been at least a 6 in any other room.

 

Now, I have chronic migraines.  I have had a headache nearly every day for the past two years.  Most of the time the pain hovers between a 1 and a 3.  But sometimes it ramps way up, way past childbirth (even the two that I had unmedicated).  I think the worst pain I rated was an 8.

 

The opioid epidemic is scary.  I would rather be in pain -- even very severe pain -- than be an addict.  And I watch how easy that first step is and how hard it is to get off that path once you have taken just one step too far.

 

The problem with this, though, is if you are in severe pain, it is difficult (and perhaps impossible at times) to use sound judgment.  People who don't want to take the medication will take it if the pain gets bad enough because they just can't make good decisions when the pain hits a certain level.  I think this is part of the problem. 

 

 

 

edited to correct spelling

Edited February 1, 2018 by Junie

[Julie Smith]

I think people do need to realize that just as reactions to pain medications can differ, people's perception of pain can differ.

 

I'm fairly tough. I've had 3 home births, and a partially unmedicated c-section. I'm not a wuss. But the idea of a few tylenol or advil being enough for post surgical pain is laughable to me. My mother, yes, that would work. Me? Nope. Wouldn't touch it. I am not 100 percent sure tylenol even does anything for me. Advil does, but not enough to cover surgical pain, depending on the surgery.

 

Now, I've been told that a sensitivity to pain is a redhead thing, maybe it is. And I do know I metabolize many pain meds much faster than normal, as does my father. My mother is the opposite. But yeah, some of us really do feel enough pain to justify a few codeine or vicodin.

 

Last time I was given nucynta, which I think is less addictive supposedly? It worked pretty well though.

 

Red heads do react to drugs differently than other people. I recommend you research it, there is a know list of drugs that work, don’t work, or react differently for red heads.

[Sandwalker]

I think people do need to realize that just as reactions to pain medications can differ, people's perception of pain can differ.

 

I'm fairly tough. I've had 3 home births, and a partially unmedicated c-section. I'm not a wuss. But the idea of a few tylenol or advil being enough for post surgical pain is laughable to me. My mother, yes, that would work. Me? Nope. Wouldn't touch it. I am not 100 percent sure tylenol even does anything for me. Advil does, but not enough to cover surgical pain, depending on the surgery.

 

Now, I've been told that a sensitivity to pain is a redhead thing, maybe it is. And I do know I metabolize many pain meds much faster than normal, as does my father. My mother is the opposite. But yeah, some of us really do feel enough pain to justify a few codeine or vicodin.

 

Last time I was given nucynta, which I think is less addictive supposedly? It worked pretty well though.

Yes, it is a redhead thing, there's a gene for that! Be careful with anesthesia, as sometimes redheads with the pain thing also have early resistance and can quickly become oversedated. Many anesthesiologists are extra careful with redheads. Even the 'caines, like for dental work, and epidurals may work unevenly.

 

Edit: I see this was already discussed! I should read before yapping! :)

Edited February 1, 2018 by Sandwalker

[Junie]

I thought this article about how German doctors have a different approach to pain management ("pain is part of life"), and don't prescribe opioids after hysterectomies was eye-opening:

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/27/opinion/sunday/surgery-germany-vicodin.html

 

Excellent article!!

[Scarlett]

Oh I just remembered my headaches. Way worse than childbirth or appendectomy. And still the thought of how the narcotics make me feel....no way. In fact I can't say I remember any narcotic every helping my pain....only making me violently ill.

[ktgrok]

[quote name="kbutton" post="7986771" timestamp="1517457358

It also influences reactions to anesthesia, I believe. I wouldn't be surprised if, during surgery or procedures, if redheads aren't numbing as well, their brain ramps up the pain response also, and it creates some kind of cascade with post-procedure pain.

 

That makes a lot of sense . My worst pain post op was in recovery which seemed weird since they were giving me morphine. I kept begging for more until they said more would kill me. Later I was better even on less strong drugs.

[Sandwalker]

I thought this article about how German doctors have a different approach to pain management ("pain is part of life"), and don't prescribe opioids after hysterectomies was eye-opening:

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/27/opinion/sunday/surgery-germany-vicodin.html

That's very interesting! Like Scarlett, I can't tolerate narcotics at all. I did fine with Tylenol/ibuprofen after my c section, which luckily has been my only surgery, but I did rest with the baby and let my mom bring me soup and toast. I also meditate, and I think that helped me not freak out when it started hurting some.

 

Because it's really the fear or dread of pain that's the worst part, isn't it? I don't know, I haven't felt pain like I've seen people experience, just my arthritis, so it's easy for me to say, I expect

[ktgrok]

Red heads do react to drugs differently than other people. I recommend you research it, there is a know list of drugs that work, don’t work, or react differently for red heads.

I do know I always need the long acting numbing meds at the dentist because the regular stuff only lasts a few minutes. My son is the same way. I'll research more.

[ktgrok]

Yes, it is a redhead thing, there's a gene for that! Be careful with anesthesia, as sometimes redheads with the pain thing also have early resistance and can quickly become oversedated. Many anesthesiologists are extra careful with redheads. Even the 'caines, like for dental work, and epidurals may work unevenly.

 

Edit: I see this was already discussed! I should read before yapping! :)

I never thought to correlate this to why my epidural didn't work during my c section but it makes sense given my experience with dental stuff.

[Junie]

That's very interesting! Like Scarlett, I can't tolerate narcotics at all. I did fine with Tylenol/ibuprofen after my c section, which luckily has been my only surgery, but I did rest with the baby and let my mom bring me soup and toast. I also meditate, and I think that helped me not freak out when it started hurting some.

 

Because it's really the fear or dread of pain that's the worst part, isn't it? I don't know, I haven't felt pain like I've seen people experience, just my arthritis, so it's easy for me to say, I expect

 

This is possible, ime.  The worst part of the pain is not knowing when or if it will end.  I think that's what makes childbirth easier than chronic pain.  It ends.

[maize]

But I just don’t get the “one and addicted†thing. That’s not been my experience - I can take one or weeks worth and have no issues at all.

 

People's bodies react differently. Just like some people can drink casually and never become alcoholics and others develop an addiction not long after their first few drinks.

 

People like you and Scarlett's Dh are fortunate.

 

A lot of people aren't.

 

Until we have all the genetic factors sorted out and can tell ahead of time who may be prone to addiction these medications need to be treated with extreme caution.

 

I've never taken an opioid and hope I never need to.

 

Medical marijuana definitely seems to have promise. Haven't they developed a variety with the helpful compounds and really low levels of the psychoactive stuff?

Edited February 1, 2018 by maize

[Sandwalker]

People's bodies react differently. Just like some people can drink casually and never become alcoholics and others develop an addiction not long after their first few drinks.

 

People like you and Scarlett's Dh are fortunate.

 

A lot of people aren't.

 

Until we have all the genetic factors sorted out and can tell ahead of time who may be prone to addiction these medications need to be treated with extreme caution.

 

I've never taken an opioid and hope I never need to.

 

Medical marijuana definitely seems to have promise. Haven't they developed a variety with the helpful compounds and really low levels of the psychoactive stuff?

Yes, CDB oil, and it helps some patients with seizure disorders. There isn't a high with it, as the THC isn't included.

[goldberry]

My 80 something year old mother's last pain management clinic said they were cutting off her methadone because "she didn't really need it".  She has had severe arthritis for over 20-30 years and has been on the exact same "cocktail" combo for the last 10 years at least.

 

My dad had to move her to a different clinic, who said there was absolutely zero reason to take her off it.  They are just under pressure to decrease overall prescriptions.

[Corraleno]

Yes, it is a redhead thing, there's a gene for that! Be careful with anesthesia, as sometimes redheads with the pain thing also have early resistance and can quickly become oversedated. Many anesthesiologists are extra careful with redheads. Even the 'caines, like for dental work, and epidurals may work unevenly.

That's really interesting — I'm not exactly a redhead (more reddish blond), but my mother is, so I assume I have some related genes, and everything you mention is true for me. The two times I have been under general anesthesia, I had a very very hard time waking up, but dental anesthetics barely work on me and I end up with so much of it (often topped up several times during the procedure) that my whole face is numb for a long time afterwards. And my epidural only worked partially, and even when they tried to top it up, they could not get me numb enough for a c-section so they ended up adding a saddle-block (which made me horribly sick).

 

The Tylenol/Advil combo does not do anything for me other than maybe take the edge off a regular headache; it just has no effect on any pain worse than that. The last root canal I had was so bad I was on Vicodin for 10 days and had to be super vigilant about taking each dose before the prior one wore off; the one time I got behind, I took the catch-up dose and promptly passed out on the kitchen floor. And yet after 10 days of round-the-clock Vicodin, once the pain finally stopped, I stopped taking the meds and felt fine. The whole idea that someone could take Vicodin for a week and become totally addicted just seems so bizarre to me. I mean, I know its a real thing and that some people's bodies apparently react that way, but it's just so far from my own experience it's hard for me to imagine what that "feels" like.

[Tanaqui]

I know this other person very very well. I don't think I am being judgmental. I have intimate knowledge of both situations and the other person is an addict. Always has been, since early teens. So regardless of actual injuries I know he is an addict.

 

Sure, okay. And physical addiction is a disease. And it doesn't matter how much you know about the situation, you still sound really, really judgmental. For example, your choice to call him "an addict", or to frame the difference between him and your husband as willpower.

[Happy2BaMom]

Last I heard, the U.S. loses more people every single month to the opioid crisis than we lost during 9/11. Every. Single. Month. I can't even name the amount of money that we spent after 9/11, nor do I want to. Yet we have largely done nothing (or certainly, very little) for the opioid crisis (I am not trying to turn this into a pointed one-party political post...this problem has been coming on and present for at least a couple of years and pretty much everyone in power anywhere are hand wringing and doing little else). My point is that we mobilize - greatly - for foreign threats and yet do jack sh*& for domestic ones, especially this one which has been very much driven by Big Pharma (do the research if you don't believe me), which contributes ungodly amounts of sums down both sides of the aisle.

 

I read a really depressing post on Medium.com the other day. One of the points of the author was that so many people in America seem pretty much OK with their fellow countrymen dying in droves all around them, due to a variety of preventable causes, including opioids. It's kind of true. 

[Mergath]

I think people do need to realize that just as reactions to pain medications can differ, people's perception of pain can differ.

 

I'm fairly tough. I've had 3 home births, and a partially unmedicated c-section. I'm not a wuss. But the idea of a few tylenol or advil being enough for post surgical pain is laughable to me. My mother, yes, that would work. Me? Nope. Wouldn't touch it. I am not 100 percent sure tylenol even does anything for me. Advil does, but not enough to cover surgical pain, depending on the surgery.

 

Now, I've been told that a sensitivity to pain is a redhead thing, maybe it is. And I do know I metabolize many pain meds much faster than normal, as does my father. My mother is the opposite. But yeah, some of us really do feel enough pain to justify a few codeine or vicodin.

 

Last time I was given nucynta, which I think is less addictive supposedly? It worked pretty well though.  

 

:iagree:  I was putting furniture together three days after my c-section on otc meds, but dental work even with three times as much whatevercaine leaves me hyperventilating and unable to eat for days because of the pain.

 

I never get addicted to anything no matter how much of it I use. My dh gets addicted to everything. Meds, alcohol, nicotine, computer games. 

 

Needing more pain medication than the next person or having a predisposition to addiction aren't weaknesses. They're just differences in our biology.

 

That doesn't stop people from judging, though.

[PeacefulChaos]

Well...

 

 

The epidemic is concerning for me personally.  I have gotten kidney stones on a regular basis for the last 14 years.  I visit the urologist every 3-6 months.  

 

I went into the ER in early October with terrible kidney stone pain.  I don't go for discomfort.  I have a pretty high pain tolerance.  But kidney stone pain is not a pain to be messed with.  

I was clearly in pain.  They could see the stone on the scan.  They asked what I normally take, so I told them - I've taken various levels of pain meds (once you get past the initial pain of it, the pain receptors have been blocked by the narcotic and from then on, a much lower dose is fine - the key is not to let pain get too bad before taking the meds).  Generally if I have to go to the ER (which may sound like a lot here, but we're talking maybe 7 times in the last 14 years), they give me hydro.codone.  My urologist gives me the stronger version, as hydro gives me headaches and he's had kidney stones, he knows.  

I told them this, and that I generally take zofran for nausea caused by both the stone/pain AND the meds.  

 

He gave me a dose of pepto bismol :confused: ... and told me to go home and take ibuprofen.  :svengo:

 

I was in horrible pain all day.  Finally there was no other choice, I had to go back that night.  Of course I had already tried ibuprofen - if this was a pain that could be taken care of with ibuprofen, I never would have gone in the first time!!  

When I got into the ER room and looked at the board and saw his name again, I literally burst into tears.  I couldn't stop thinking 'they aren't going to help me'.  I was absolutely terrified that they were going to send me home a second time without trying to help me at all.

Luckily, I got a nurse who had many kidney stones in the past, as well as a nurse practitioner (rather than that doctor :cursing: ) who was willing to actually give me something for the pain.  

 

(On a funny/weird note, they pride themselves on being an 'oxy-free' ER.... but that night, they gave me a rather large bolus of morphine.  So....????? :lol:  :rolleyes:  Whatever.)  I could still feel the stone, but I'm not looking to get high - I'm looking to be able to function like a normal human being.  

 

When I told my urologist, he was like, 'UGH the medical professionals are going insane.'  

 

Anyway.  So that's my story for why the epidemic concerns me.  Because it makes it harder for people with legitimate need to be able to get the medicine they need.  I don't mind jumping through some hoops.  Generally my uro takes care of all my medications relating to my kidney stones, but on rare occasions, one just decides to be out of control.  I can't accurately describe the feeling of helplessness I felt when I believed I would have that same doctor who wasn't going to help me.  It was awful.

[Mergath]

I read a really depressing post on Medium.com the other day. One of the points of the author was that so many people in America seem pretty much OK with their fellow countrymen dying in droves all around them, due to a variety of preventable causes, including opioids. It's kind of true. 

 

Probably because so many of them- as evidenced in this thread- think, "I would never get addicted to opioids. Only trashy/stupid/immoral people end up addicted to stuff like that. They're reaping what they sow and they deserve whatever happens to them, and I certainly don't want my tax dollars going to bail them out of their poor decisions." 

 

That's probably because most of us without personal experience only ever see the end result of addiction, where people are lying in their car unconscious from an overdose, unshowered, and generally looking like crap while CPS takes their kids. It's easy to think, "I'm not that kind of person, that could never happen to me."

 

Most of those people didn't start out that way, though, and they're at the tail end of a long, steep decline. Many of them were normal, middle class people until they got into a car accident. Or hurt their back. Or whatever.

[eternalsummer]

Well...

 

 

The epidemic is concerning for me personally.  I have gotten kidney stones on a regular basis for the last 14 years.  I visit the urologist every 3-6 months.  

 

I went into the ER in early October with terrible kidney stone pain.  I don't go for discomfort.  I have a pretty high pain tolerance.  But kidney stone pain is not a pain to be messed with.  

I was clearly in pain.  They could see the stone on the scan.  They asked what I normally take, so I told them - I've taken various levels of pain meds (once you get past the initial pain of it, the pain receptors have been blocked by the narcotic and from then on, a much lower dose is fine - the key is not to let pain get too bad before taking the meds).  Generally if I have to go to the ER (which may sound like a lot here, but we're talking maybe 7 times in the last 14 years), they give me hydro.codone.  My urologist gives me the stronger version, as hydro gives me headaches and he's had kidney stones, he knows.  

I told them this, and that I generally take zofran for nausea caused by both the stone/pain AND the meds.  

 

He gave me a dose of pepto bismol :confused: ... and told me to go home and take ibuprofen.   :svengo:

 

I was in horrible pain all day.  Finally there was no other choice, I had to go back that night.  Of course I had already tried ibuprofen - if this was a pain that could be taken care of with ibuprofen, I never would have gone in the first time!!  

When I got into the ER room and looked at the board and saw his name again, I literally burst into tears.  I couldn't stop thinking 'they aren't going to help me'.  I was absolutely terrified that they were going to send me home a second time without trying to help me at all.

Luckily, I got a nurse who had many kidney stones in the past, as well as a nurse practitioner (rather than that doctor :cursing: ) who was willing to actually give me something for the pain.  

 

(On a funny/weird note, they pride themselves on being an 'oxy-free' ER.... but that night, they gave me a rather large bolus of morphine.  So....????? :lol:   :rolleyes:  Whatever.)  I could still feel the stone, but I'm not looking to get high - I'm looking to be able to function like a normal human being.  

 

When I told my urologist, he was like, 'UGH the medical professionals are going insane.'  

 

Anyway.  So that's my story for why the epidemic concerns me.  Because it makes it harder for people with legitimate need to be able to get the medicine they need.  I don't mind jumping through some hoops.  Generally my uro takes care of all my medications relating to my kidney stones, but on rare occasions, one just decides to be out of control.  I can't accurately describe the feeling of helplessness I felt when I believed I would have that same doctor who wasn't going to help me.  It was awful.

 

 

I just wanted to say that I know exactly how you feel.  I have really really high pain with childbirth; pretty much a level of pain for each centimeter dilated.  By transition, I am incoherent.  I had my 3rd child  too quickly for an epidural (or anything else, of course) and also had a post-partum hemorrhage, and when I went into labor with my 4th, they were just as slow as molasses in triage.  I arrived at the hospital 4cm dilated with pain at a 4, and by the time I was in a room I was 6cm with pain at a 6.  They sent for the lady to come do the bloodwork but said the anaesthesiologist might be half an hour, he was at breakfast, etc.  I remember sitting on the bed and crying to DH, they're not going to make it in time.  I'm going to have to do it without meds again.  I can't do it again. etc.

 

They did get there in time for that pregnancy, but not for the next one, and the next one was much worse with a larger baby.  I had a mild form of PTSD for a long time afterward.\

 

Incidentally, I have dark hair and a decent pain tolerance otherwise.  I have taken I think one vicodin in my life, when I had 4 wisdom teeth removed (with only local anesthetic) at 18.

[Happy2BaMom]

Probably because so many of them- as evidenced in this thread- think, "I would never get addicted to opioids. Only trashy/stupid/immoral people end up addicted to stuff like that. They're reaping what they sow and they deserve whatever happens to them, and I certainly don't want my tax dollars going to bail them out of their poor decisions." 

 

That's probably because most of us without personal experience only ever see the end result of addiction, where people are lying in their car unconscious from an overdose, unshowered, and generally looking like crap while CPS takes their kids. It's easy to think, "I'm not that kind of person, that could never happen to me."

 

Most of those people didn't start out that way, though, and they're at the tail end of a long, steep decline. Many of them were normal, middle class people until they got into a car accident. Or hurt their back. Or whatever.

 

I think hopelessness is also a huge factor. Many of the places that are hardest hit by the opioid crisis have large economic challenges, with little on the horizon that offers hope.

 

Unrelenting poverty and constant job uncertainty changes people, permanently. And makes it so much easier to become dependent on something that allows one to numb out, just a little.  

[Epicurean]

NM I need sleep.

Edited February 1, 2018 by Epicurean

[Lanny]

OP I hope that your friend will be OK.  It is a catastrophe.  A town in WV with a population of 2900 has 2 Pharmacies. Those 2 Pharmacies, in a 10 year period, received 20.8 million pills, from 2 companies.  The drugs are readily available on the street and at very low cost and some of them are 50 (?) times as potent as Heroin and adulterated with chemicals that can kill. 

[Lanny]

I just read this article which is about the topic of this thread.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2018/02/01/ohio-ag-encouraged-by-prospect-multi-state-opioid-settlement.html

[ktgrok]

That's really interesting — I'm not exactly a redhead (more reddish blond), but my mother is, so I assume I have some related genes, and everything you mention is true for me. The two times I have been under general anesthesia, I had a very very hard time waking up, but dental anesthetics barely work on me and I end up with so much of it (often topped up several times during the procedure) that my whole face is numb for a long time afterwards. And my epidural only worked partially, and even when they tried to top it up, they could not get me numb enough for a c-section so they ended up adding a saddle-block (which made me horribly sick).

 

The Tylenol/Advil combo does not do anything for me other than maybe take the edge off a regular headache; it just has no effect on any pain worse than that. The last root canal I had was so bad I was on Vicodin for 10 days and had to be super vigilant about taking each dose before the prior one wore off; the one time I got behind, I took the catch-up dose and promptly passed out on the kitchen floor. And yet after 10 days of round-the-clock Vicodin, once the pain finally stopped, I stopped taking the meds and felt fine. The whole idea that someone could take Vicodin for a week and become totally addicted just seems so bizarre to me. I mean, I know its a real thing and that some people's bodies apparently react that way, but it's just so far from my own experience it's hard for me to imagine what that "feels" like.

 

Yup. That's it exactly. And yes, heaven forbid you get behind on the pain. In the hospital after my c-section my meds were listed as every 4-6 hours. I had my DH at the nurses station asking for it at 3 1/2 hours to make sure I got it at 4 hours. Well one mean nurse insisted I had to wait 6 hours. The pain got so bad I spiked a fever from it, blood pressure up, etc. I called my mom in tears (she's a nurse) and had her come to the hospital. Finally got my meds but man, that was 18 years ago and I'm still bitter towards that nurse. 

 

My redhead genes come from my dad's side. He is the same way. He once had a script for pain and asked the pharmacist flat out how often he could take it without killing himself, lol. Dental stuff always ask for the long acting kind. The short acting kind lasts literally 5 minutes for me. It's useless. My poor son had a filing and didn't know it wasn't supposed to hurt, because they gave him the short acting kind without epinephrine! Now he knows to ask for the other kind. 

 

So yeah, ultrarapid metabolizers have hyper efficient liver enzymes, so we convert it all very fast, that leads to a higher high but it wears off too quickly. 

[Scarlett]

OP I hope that your friend will be OK. It is a catastrophe. A town in WV with a population of 2900 has 2 Pharmacies. Those 2 Pharmacies, in a 10 year period, received 20.8 million pills, from 2 companies. The drugs are readily available on the street and at very low cost and some of them are 50 (?) times as potent as Heroin and adulterated with chemicals that can kill.

Ty Lanny. He texted me at 5:00 a.m.....said he had a miserable night but hopefully he will stick it out. The doctor told him he had been taking lethal doses and combinations and he could have died in his sleep.

 

Still he should have been set up for detox instead of just cutting him off. I feel so sorry for him.