A story about a self medicating American living in Germany trying to get prescription drugs from the doctor.
After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea
71–80 of 421 posts
Re: After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's one thing to suffer with pain needlessly, it's another if the treatment of pain could have long term harmful effects, e.g., addition to opioids. I had impacted wisdom teeth and needed dental surgery. The dentist gave me a couple of codeines to take home but I never took them. The day after the local anesthesia wore off was miserable, but it became easily manageable after that. I found a lot of times the fear of…
This is why my individualism, and Self Ownership come it to play as I feel that should be my choice if I want to take the risk, it should be up to me if the pain is server enough to warrant opioids or not as I am the one experiencing the pain. Every person reacts differently to procedures and to pain, some people having their wisdom teeth removed may not be painful, others it might be terrible pain. It should be up t…
On an individual basis, good for you that you can handle yourself. You are indeed a victim of the majority. However, making opiates freely available would be catastrophic for society to a point that would dwarf the current epidemic.
In other words, it is a shame that the system can't do better for you, but your point of view is selfish.
Re: After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
Anecdotally, it's fairly prevalent in Europe as well. Living in Europe, I know just as many Europeans who pop ibuprofen like candy compared to Americans.
Can you buy Ibuprofen in stores or do you need a prescription? In the US most stores have a big aisle with painkillers.
Ibuprofen, paracetamol and acetylsalicylic acid are generally available almost as easily in Europe as in the US.
Re: After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea
#74I had jaw surgery recently... while I wouldn't describe it as incredibly "painful", particularly since everything was numb (they have to slice through nerves for this procedure), it was really uncomfortable and stressful for a couple of days afterwards. I wasn't at all ashamed to take percocet after the surgery. Could I have lived without them? Sure. Did they turn me into an instant addict? Of course not. This story…
"Did they turn me into an instant addict? Of course not."
That's the case for you but others are more prone to addiction. My girlfriend some years ago had a surgery and got opiates afterward. The pain was gone a after a few days but it took a lot of convincing and almost force to make her stop with the opiates. This stuff is really addictive for some.
Re: After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea
#75I have no doubt that pills are overused, and Europe is a rather ahead of America in terms of natural remedies and a less pill-pushing approach. That said, doctors should take care: the only thing worse than overprescribing necessary medications is underprescribing them.
Re: After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea
#76"I took two ibuprofens that first day. In hindsight, I didn’t need them, but I felt like I should take something" I have noticed the need to "take something" with a lot of American friends when they have problem. It's almost like a reflex.
For migraine sufferers, not taking something as it starts to unfold will result in a very unpleasant experience that will take longer to resolve
I’ll second this statement. Migraines for me (and my mom as well) used to be crushing, and would take me out for potentially days at a time. Sumatriptan was a miracle drug for me, and now if I take it in time, I don’t suffer. If I catch it late, it will reduce the duration of the migraine to just a few hours (which feels like a miracle in the moment).
I had tried previous to sumatriptan many other remedies, and nothing compared. I’ve heard from my doctor many respond well to magnesium supplements as a way to head off the migraines altogether but I can’t say it worked for me (but I gave it a shot none the less).
All that being said, I’m generally averse now to opiates after seeing their long term effects on my father who was also an alcoholic. They did allow him to push through pain, which resulted in ever increasing damage to his joints (and ultimately internal organs as well). By the end, he couldn’t walk, was self medicating heavily with alcohol, and couldn’t keep himself in a physical rehab facility because his urge for alcohol and opiates couldn’t get satiated in that environment.
He died at 61.
So, I applaud the author and those who seek to responsibly limit access to medications which are highly addictive and potentially unnecessary for treatment. Pain management is very important, but it does need to be weighed against the potentially catastrophic dependency issues it can cause.
Re: After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
Anecdotally, it's fairly prevalent in Europe as well. Living in Europe, I know just as many Europeans who pop ibuprofen like candy compared to Americans.
Can you buy Ibuprofen in stores or do you need a prescription? In the US most stores have a big aisle with painkillers.
You can't buy painkillers in stores in France but we have pharmacies everywhere. It's probably the same in most European countries.
Re: After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea
#78I always get in a arguments with my EU acquaintances over pain management topics. The idea that is a "good" to suffer with pain instead of taking pain killers is abhorrent to me.
It's one thing to suffer with pain needlessly, it's another if the treatment of pain could have long term harmful effects, e.g., addition to opioids. I had impacted wisdom teeth and needed dental surgery. The dentist gave me a couple of codeines to take home but I never took them. The day after the local anesthesia wore off was miserable, but it became easily manageable after that. I found a lot of times the fear of…
Not to mention, there are plenty of safer viable alternatives. Is ibuprofen or acetaminophen as effective at preventing pain as oxycodone for most people? Probably not, but they're good enough for most wisdom teeth extractions, a common operation that unfortunately results in many opioid addictions. I had some particularly difficult extractions so I took some ibuprofen for a few weeks to make eating manageable, but avoided the oxycodone-acetaminophen I was prescribed once I left the doctor's office. When I reported this, the nurse who checked in on me was surprisingly taken aback, but to me, the potential consequences of opioid use to better mitigate temporary pain seem irresponsibly high.
Re: After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
Anecdotally, it's fairly prevalent in Europe as well. Living in Europe, I know just as many Europeans who pop ibuprofen like candy compared to Americans.
Can you buy Ibuprofen in stores or do you need a prescription? In the US most stores have a big aisle with painkillers.
Speaking for the UK you can buy ibuprofen, paracetamol (acetaminophen) and aspirin off the shelf in any shop.
You're limited to 2 packs of 16 tablets each (for a total of 32 tablets) per transaction, in an effort to reduce the incidence of spontaneous suicide attempts.
Re: After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's one thing to suffer with pain needlessly, it's another if the treatment of pain could have long term harmful effects, e.g., addition to opioids. I had impacted wisdom teeth and needed dental surgery. The dentist gave me a couple of codeines to take home but I never took them. The day after the local anesthesia wore off was miserable, but it became easily manageable after that. I found a lot of times the fear of…
This is why my individualism, and Self Ownership come it to play as I feel that should be my choice if I want to take the risk, it should be up to me if the pain is server enough to warrant opioids or not as I am the one experiencing the pain. Every person reacts differently to procedures and to pain, some people having their wisdom teeth removed may not be painful, others it might be terrible pain. It should be up t…
> it should be up to me if the pain is server enough to warrant opioids
It is!
You do get the drugs you need. If you actually ARE in pain. But this woman, as predicted by her doctor, was not. If you read the article, she did not have the pain, it was only fear of it.
Society does have to pay the price in the end if people are given what they want. See the problem of over-subscription of anything from pain killers (in the US) to antibiotics.
Not least, those drugs show up in ground water and in drinking water supplies, and water companies can't really filter that stuff out.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pharmaceuticals-i...
https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/features/drugs-in-our-dr...
If you think "the levels are low - that is save", there is no scientific basis for such a statement. We have no clue what low-level exposure to drug cocktails does.