I see these kind of anecdotes about overprescribing frequently, and while I’m not accusing you of making it up, nor disputing that (some) doctors or dentists have prescribed more than necessary, some of the claims are difficult to believe, assuming we’re talking about legit practitioners and not quacks running pill mills. That’s like 240 pills, give or take. I’ve had major surgery more than once and have never been prescribed that many pain pills at one time, even in the Wild West days before the “opioid epidemic” began to be take shape— nor has my wife, or family members, or anyone else I know.
And remember, recognizing that you have a problem is the first step towards giving up.
What the fuck. Survival of the fittest is an observation for how genes propagate over long time spans, it is not and should not be a prescription for actually letting people die. Besides, part of the whole “survival of the fittest” benefits from genes that, y’know, encourage the kind of social behavior that causes you to care for others of your species, allowing it to thrive.
Addicts get into some unfortunate places, and it is psychologically absurdly difficult to quit. We don’t make it any easier by treating them like pariahs (or heavily criminalizing their vice). I’m not saying we shouldn’t treat it like a problem, but it’s a problem people need help with. Rehab, care, protection, understanding. I’m not saying you gotta loan an addict money or let them into your house, or enable their excuses, but shunning them like this makes them more and more likely to fall to darker addiction due to lack of a support network.
The culture we’ve built around drugs is as damaging as the addictions themselves.
Life is valuable, people do stupid and dangerous things. They still deserve love and care just for being.
I don’t entirely disagree with this (well, maybe not the penis napkin part, but the rest seems valid). Also speaking from experience. I’ve known several people, including some very close to me, who’ve battled addiction throughout their entire adult lives. I have sympathy for their underlying depression, but among people who repeatedly go through cycles of interventions, treatment, and relapse, there is a degree of selfishness involved - there just is.
I can even have sympathy for someone who’s clean for 10-15 years and relapses - at least they’re trying. But there are people who go through the motions just to bullshit their family and friends, and the entire time they’re just putting on an act until everyone goes back to minding their own business before they go right back to abusing the bottle or whatever their substance of choice might be. In such a case, addiction isn’t just a disease, it’s also manipulation. Addicts have the right to be loved and supported, but their support have a right not to be manipulated and played for fools.
And yes, if the cycle and the drama repeats itself, there comes a point where you have to say “Fuck it - it’s your life to keep or to throw away” The people who have invested their time and energy into trying to keep this person alive just might understandably get to that point. And anyone who doesn’t understand this, hasn’t really seen addiction from that perspective.
And Lawn Jarts and Kinder Eggs. We are so screwed up.
The other effect of this is if you need to get high, you’ll get high. Inhalants. Alcohol. the Choaking Game - there are so many ways to get high - and the unintended consequence of removing one avenue is push people to the next. Is Immodium worse than huffing or self strangulation/
Pit space needs to be saved for people using the controversy over opioid drugs to push their (sometimes profit-driven) agendas.
Acupuncture advocates have seized on the issue to promote questionable claims on pain relief. Marijuana legalization forces want us to believe the answer to chronic pain is legal pot.
There are going to be a lot of pissed-off patients with significant pain issues who are told to forget proven pain relief and go to an acupuncturist or smoke a few joints instead.
Hell yes. I’m headed off to the dispensary, in an hour or so, to save my life this weekend.
Proven or no, opioids are obviously not a magic bullet. The real solution is holistic and systemic (not in the woo-woo sense). Combining multiple approaches, especially when addressing chronic pain, is going to have the best outcomes–for some it may be opioids alone, for others opioids plus mindfulness plus aquatherapy. For some, cannabis and yoga. For some, acupuncture combined with, fuck, petting llamas or something.
But approaching it that way is harder, more complicated, and has higher (initial) costs. We want something easy, a single, simple solution that works for everyone. You’re right–that’s not alternative medicine, it’s not cannabis, it’s not going clear…but it’s not opioids either. Because the magic bullet doesn’t exist.
putting the “coma” in your “glaucoma treatment?”
Fortunately, there’s a very easy way to test that theory.
Yeah, stay away from the indicas. Especially the $1000 plus per ounce(tax inc.) strains of indica lung butter.
When I see these anecdotes, I also never see what types of pills we are talking about. My only use of opiates has been in the form of 5mg vicodin (with acetaminophen), which I usually broke in half. You could probably manage to get addicted off of that, but you’d have to work a lot harder to do so than if you are being prescribed 60mg Oxy straight.
Actually, she did specify it was Oxy.
I suspect her son had previous “appointments” with this dentist. I can’t believe a legitimate doctor would believe that was an appropriate Rx.
I hope you’re talking to a mirror, see below:
Yep, according to you, when the drug companies fuck up massively, it’s someone else’s fault - the consumers, who know a hell of a lot less about biochemistry than the drug companies and doctors do, and pretty much have to trust their judgment - when a bunch of people get addicted as a result.
And how conveniently you’ve ignored the rest of the post, which was more important, about people in terrible pain. They get no sympathy from you. Ever. Right?
People don’t just wake up one day and say, “Hey, I think I’d really like to get my hands on some opioids, become addicted to them, wreck my life and relationships, lose my job, and scrounge or steal money to get more of them on the street when the prescription refills run out.”
Then again, you probably do think that.
She did say “Oxycodone”, which is the active ingredient in Oxycontin and other brand names like that. (And fairly similar to hydrocodone) but I don’t know that I count that as a specification, as Oxy is often what people use generically to refer to any opiate based drug.
It doesn’t say if it was cut with acetaminophen or an NSAID. It doesn’t say if it is 5mg or 60mg.
There is no reason at all to prescribe anything more than a week for oral surgery. If they are still in pain after that, they should probably be going back in to see what’s up.
I had follow up surgery to put a new rod in my femur several months after my accident and all I got was a three day supply of hydrocode/acet. Which was enough. I still had a fair amount of pain but doable(for me). Part of the problem is people expect to be completely pain-free, not just tolerable.
When I had my wisdom teeth out, that hurt, alot. For the next few days, I was counting down until I could take my next pain pill. Then I could stand to wait longer than I needed to, then longer and longer until I was just taking an advil.
I also occasionally get some for some pretty severe sciatica, but that’s where it gets really dangerous. Taking some for recovering from surgery is one thing, but managing chronic pain is a bit different. You can stop taking it for recovery as you get better, but for chronic pain, how do you manage that?
The first time I went to a doc for my back, he gave me vicodin and muscle relaxers. I was wary of the vicodin, as even though this was early 2000’s, I’d already heard of people getting hooked. I didn’t take the amount prescribed, I took half or less. I would take just enough to make the pain tolerable. If I’d been taking enough to actually get rid of the pain, I probably would have gotten hooked pretty quickly, certainly before that flare-up managed to calm itself.
Last anecdote. I had a friend that went to the doctor for something or other, I forget what. Something pain related, as he came back with a big bottle of percocet. A few days later, I saw him take one, and asked, “Are you still in that much pain?”
He replied, “No, the pain’s gone now.”
“Okay, so why did you take that percocet?”
“Well, that’s what is says on the bottle. Take every 8 hours.”
Good advice for antibiotics, take them till they are all gone, not so much for opiate derivatives.
Define “tolerable”.