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Who Is Telling the Truth About Prescription Opioid Deaths?

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Re: Who Is Telling the Truth About Prescription Opioid Deaths?

#51

Post by GordonS »

DanBC wrote: post #46
shabda wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am from India. I have two close family members who are fighting metastatic cancer. Their pain is not manageable with lower pain killers. I am thankful we have opoids to prescribe, which is making significant improvement to their quality of life.

Chronic is a jargon word. It means "long term pain". Cancer pain is not long term pain, cancer pain is short term pain (or acute pain). I've never argued against using opioids for cancer patients or for end of life treatment.

Cancer pain can involve both acute and chronic pain - death is not always swift.

Re: Who Is Telling the Truth About Prescription Opioid Deaths?

#52

Post by iliketosleep »

GordonS wrote: post #32
DanBC wrote: post #20

This article misses several points. When we ask people with a substance misuse disorder who use opioids what they started on we find, very often, that they started on meds prescribed by a doctor. Those meds may not have been prescribed to them - they may have been prescribed to a neighbour or family member - but they were prescribed. This is why the massive over-prescription of opioids is a problem. It floods America…

> Opioids may be a good choice for some people with long term pain (I personaly don't think they are) They definately are for some people, because I'm one of them. I've tried everything else, and nothing even touches the pain. I've tried numerous anticonvulsants (carbamazepine, lamotrigine, topiramate, levetiracetam, gabapentin, pregbalin...), tricyclics (amitriptyline, nortriptyline, dosulepin...), muscle-relaxants…

Do you need to keep increasing the dosage? Or have you found a long-term dosage that despite tolerance, it still maintains a reasonable degree of efficacy?

Re: Who Is Telling the Truth About Prescription Opioid Deaths?

#53

Post by GordonS »

iliketosleep wrote: post #52
GordonS wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Opioids may be a good choice for some people with long term pain (I personaly don't think they are) They definately are for some people, because I'm one of them. I've tried everything else, and nothing even touches the pain. I've tried numerous anticonvulsants (carbamazepine, lamotrigine, topiramate, levetiracetam, gabapentin, pregbalin...), tricyclics (amitriptyline, nortriptyline, dosulepin...), muscle-relaxants…

Do you need to keep increasing the dosage? Or have you found a long-term dosage that despite tolerance, it still maintains a reasonable degree of efficacy?

No, I've been on the same dosage for years.

I mentioned in another comment that I take magnesium, which is an NMDA antagonist, and there is a lot of evidence that these prevent the buildup of tolerance. I don't know if that's why I can remain on the same doseage, or if it's simply that I always stick to the prescribed dose.

Re: Who Is Telling the Truth About Prescription Opioid Deaths?

#54

Post by bluntfang »

dools wrote: post #37
devwastaken wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're massively downplaying addiction. Sometimes it is physical pain at first, but you get hooked on it. Not everyone does heroin because they actually need that level of pain medication. They do it because it feels amazing. They get dependence on it, and then keep doing it. Read the Heroin diaries by Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue if you want a good look into that. I don't know where you're getting that morphine…

A substance's addictive ness does not equate to lethality. The reason it's dosed incorrectly is because it is manufactured and sold in an unregulated environment. That is the cause of its lethality. Also I'm not referring exclusively to physical pain, but trauma or lack of emotional and social connection.

>The reason it's dosed incorrectly is because it is manufactured and sold in an unregulated environment.

How do you know it isn't because more of it makes you feel more of the effects?

Re: Who Is Telling the Truth About Prescription Opioid Deaths?

#55

Post by criddell »

xorfish wrote: post #6

I wonder how many death could be prevented by legalizing and regulating opioids and other drugs and educate users on different opioids and safe use.

Are you talking about drugs like heroin? Otherwise lots of opioids are legal but regulated now.

Re: Who Is Telling the Truth About Prescription Opioid Deaths?

#56

Post by criddell »

GordonS wrote: post #50
shabda wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am from India. I have two close family members who are fighting metastatic cancer. Their pain is not manageable with lower pain killers. I am thankful we have opoids to prescribe, which is making significant improvement to their quality of life.

That kind of pain management is more technically referred to as "palliative care", which often involves both acute and chronic pain. I don't think anyone here would argue that palliative care is a bad use of opioids.

Don't you think there's a danger that because of the opioid epidemic, doctors might hesitate to prescribe the drugs to people that actually need them?

Re: Who Is Telling the Truth About Prescription Opioid Deaths?

#57

Post by [deleted] »

bluntfang wrote: post #54
dools wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A substance's addictive ness does not equate to lethality. The reason it's dosed incorrectly is because it is manufactured and sold in an unregulated environment. That is the cause of its lethality. Also I'm not referring exclusively to physical pain, but trauma or lack of emotional and social connection.

>The reason it's dosed incorrectly is because it is manufactured and sold in an unregulated environment. How do you know it isn't because more of it makes you feel more of the effects?

[deleted]

Re: Who Is Telling the Truth About Prescription Opioid Deaths?

#59

Post by GordonS »

criddell wrote: post #56
GordonS wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That kind of pain management is more technically referred to as "palliative care", which often involves both acute and chronic pain. I don't think anyone here would argue that palliative care is a bad use of opioids.

Don't you think there's a danger that because of the opioid epidemic, doctors might hesitate to prescribe the drugs to people that actually need them?

Yes, I do, and I mention this in another comment here.

If you take a look at /r/ChronicPain/, you'll find lots of people who have been unfairly affected in exactly this way, some even becoming suicidal because of it.

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