posted
I think many, if not all, Lymies are vulnerable to the risks of prescription drug addiction.
I know I was introduced to some medications I had never heard of while I was in treamtment. Some to help me sleep. Some to help me stay awake. Some to ease my depression. Some to ease my physical pain. And I loved them ALL.
But then I realized I was caught up in kind of a viscious cycle of too many medications. Oddly-it was my dentist who simply stated "You are on too many medications." and I had to agree.
It was ridiculous. So I am slowly but surely weaning off of them with the help of my Primary Care Physician.
I'm trying to shift my well being into a more natural state. Proper sleep, consistent bedtime, I'm cheating right now because I'm on the computer and it's after midnight-a no no for anyone wanting a good night's sleep.
Better nutrition. More gentle exercise. More fresh air.
But I just felt the need to start this discussion because I feel there are posters who need to really look at what they are taking and why.
Posts: 365 | From Sylvania | Registered: Aug 2008
| IP: Logged |
Prescription drugs are the second most commonly abused category of drugs, behind marijuana and ahead of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and other drugs. The National Institutes of Health estimates that nearly 20 percent of people in the United States have used prescription drugs for non-medical reasons.
Some prescription drugs can become addictive, especially when they are used in a manner inconsistent with their labeling or for reasons they were not prescribed. Those include narcotic painkillers like OxyContin or Vicodin, sedatives and tranquilizers like Xanax or Valium, and stimulants like Dexedrine, Adderall or Ritalin. "
posted
This does not make us BAD people. This just makes us sicker than we need to be.
Posts: 365 | From Sylvania | Registered: Aug 2008
| IP: Logged |
One report from NIDA says that only four of every 12,000 patients taking opioids for pain become addicted, so if you're following your doctor's directions, you shouldn't have to worry. But if you need larger amounts of a drug to produce the same effects, or if you're asking your doctor for larger doses, that may be a sign that you're developing a tolerance. If you're concerned about being addicted, ask yourself a few simple questions:
*Have you ever felt the need to cut down on your use of prescription drugs? *Have you ever felt annoyed when friends or loved ones made remarks about your prescription drug use? *Have you ever felt guilty about taking prescription drugs? *Have you ever used prescription drugs as a way to pep yourself up or to calm down?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, have a frank talk with your doctor to see if you have a problem.
Work with your doctor if you think you're becoming more tolerant to a drug, or even if you think you no longer need it. Becoming tolerant to a drug isn't a good reason to stop taking it. It may mean your disease is worsening and you need a higher dose. Don't try to go off prescription medications on your own -- your doctor can help you taper them slowly so you don't develop severe withdrawal symptoms.
posted
"How can you recognize the signs of addiction in others?
If you're concerned that a loved one may be abusing prescription medication, be alert for certain warning signs. According to Cancer Pain Release, a publication of the World Health Organization, the following changes in behavior may signal an addiction.
*Taking drugs compulsively to alter one's mood *Lying about drug use *Stealing drugs and/or forging prescriptions *Buying prescription medicine illegally
For example, in October 2003 conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh confessed that he became addicted to the painkiller OxyContin after undergoing spinal surgery. In addition to admitting his addiction, Limbaugh also revealed that he asked his former housekeeper to buy them illegally when his prescriptions ran out."
posted
i have huge worries about this myself...went from nothing to becoming a dang pharmacy !!!
pain dr now talking about pain pump, and really looking into that option. less med (1/10) of dose needed since is straight into nervous system to turn pain signals "off"
i personally think i am on WAY to many meds !!
-------------------- i am not a Dr. any info is only for education, suggestion or to think/research. please do not mis-intuprest as diagnostic or prescriptive, only trying to help. **
dx in 08:lyme, rmsf, bart, babs, and m.pneumonia. Posts: 422 | From TX | Registered: Oct 2008
| IP: Logged |
posted
You don't have to be famous to develop a prescription drug habit.
You don't have to be an alcoholic to develop a prescription drug habit.
You don't have to do street drugs to develop a prescription drug habit.
If your life is unmanageable to any degree-it may not be from Lyme Disease-it may be from all the prescription drugs you are taking.(and I'm not talking about antibiotics here)
Antibiotics made me feel nauseous and tired and like I'd been run over by a Mack Truck- I can live with that.
Posts: 365 | From Sylvania | Registered: Aug 2008
| IP: Logged |
posted
And although I have taken the course of discontinuing the "controlled substances" that were controlling me- I do grieve for them, I long for them, but I am better off without them.
That's my soapbox- and I'm not falling off.
Posts: 365 | From Sylvania | Registered: Aug 2008
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by MY3BOYS: i have huge worries about this myself...went from nothing to becoming a dang pharmacy !!!
pain dr now talking about pain pump, and really looking into that option. less med (1/10) of dose needed since is straight into nervous system to turn pain signals "off"
i personally think i am on WAY to many meds !!
We all have to be vigilant. I remember walking into my LLMD's office and saying "I feel like a chemical factory !"
At least you are aware of the potential problem. And good for you for speaking out about it. Definitely certain meds are needed at times- but I think it is so easy to fall into dependency.
I think mostly we need to be honest about our needs and be sure that our intake is monitored by another family member or friend. It's a tricky mindfield to navigate.
I wish you success-both with your pain-and any meds prescribed. Keep in mind interactions-weigh the risks and benefits and explore all options. I feel for you.
I'm an aging hippie-so it's really hard for me to walk the straight and narrow now-Ha!
Posts: 365 | From Sylvania | Registered: Aug 2008
| IP: Logged |
Cass A
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11134
posted
This is a very vital thread!!
One of the first problems is that every drug has some side effects. Usually, when these show up, they are treated as SYMPTOMS, and another drug is prescribed to combat it!
This doesn't just happen with Lyme. For example, my mother was in the hospital for 5 days. In that time, she was put on over 20 drugs!!! And, when she had an adverse reaction, they wanted to tie her to the bed AND shoot her up with antipsychotics!!
So, the first step on getting off so many drugs is working backwards on which ones are being given to treat the drug reactions.
The problem with many drugs is that they are physiologically addicting--meaning they cause horrific reactions when you try to get off them. Paxil is a case in point for that problem.
In those cases, weaning off the drug sloooowly under the care of a physician is vital. Some of them--especially anti-depressants--can cause homicidal violence or suicide if discontinued suddenly.
Anyway, I'm definitely in favor of fewer drugs and better nutrition and exercise!
Hope this helps!
Best,
Cass A
Posts: 1245 | From Thousand Oaks, CA | Registered: Feb 2007
| IP: Logged |
Marnie
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 773
posted
Reducing the number of drugs to
***only those that are critical***
is very important.
It is too easy for the number of prescription drugs to go from...2 to 3 to 4 to 5 to 6 to 7 to...
That is not safe, not healthy (especially for our liver and kidneys), but it happens all the time.
Posts: 9424 | From Sunshine State | Registered: Mar 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
So are we talking about abx here as well. Because you can say but i am becoming a abx addict. As soon as i get off of it i relapse everything quick!
I don't know if i can break this addiction.
However, i do not take any other rx thank god!
-------------------- May God Bless you, answer your prayers, relieve you of your pain and make you stronger than what you are today. Ameen. Posts: 341 | From Columbia, MD | Registered: Jan 2009
| IP: Logged |
posted
Sonee-if your symptoms for Lyme Disease come back when you discontinue antibiotics-chances are you were not treated long enough or with a high enough dose-or a co-infection is emerging.
If you read the articles I posted about prescription drug addiction you will see they are not talking about antibiotics.
So relax and pop another Omniceff !
Posts: 365 | From Sylvania | Registered: Aug 2008
| IP: Logged |
posted
Good thread. It's often a fine line when you're really sick.
It took me six months to wean off the sleep meds once I got better. I needed them when I was sick, but it ended up being a dependence once I got well. My body was used to them.
If you need them, take them. As soon as you don't, work hard to get off them.
-------------------- sixgoofykids.blogspot.com Posts: 13449 | From Ohio | Registered: Feb 2007
| IP: Logged |
posted
Sleep meds for me were the hardest to kick-but I knew I'd never get out of bed or have a clear head unless I did. I think they also added to my feelings of depression.
I can still hear them calling my name-trying to lure me back into that dependency.
Posts: 365 | From Sylvania | Registered: Aug 2008
| IP: Logged |
Marnie
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 773
posted
On page 27 of a book written by a ER doctor titled: Hippocrates Shadow, he says this:
"In fact, once you get the pain under control, the infection usually takes care of itself."
Inflammation -> major ouch (pain).
The need for pain killers is understandable given the amt. of ongoing inflammation!
Title only:
"Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Tetracyclines"
It modulates our immune response. It keeps us out of the sunlight (a good thing). It has 2 ketones...no wonder it was chosen for 1st line defense!
What...tetracycline -> "fatty liver" :
"Protective effect of bicyclol
on tetracycline induced fatty liver in mice." Toxicology May 11, 2009
So does Depakote (-> "fatty liver").
All of the seizure drugs (which impact Na) -> hyperglycemia. The brain is starved of glucose.
In a jam, our brain can use ketones to supply energy instead of glucose.
The question is...can Bb - who depends on glucose -use ketones?
Posts: 9424 | From Sunshine State | Registered: Mar 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Very interesting, Marnie! Maybe this has something to do with why infrared light worked for me. We know that infrared light works for pain, it's even approved for pain.
A MAJOR part of my illness was the extreme cytokine response. So many meds would make it so unbearable I couldn't take them (Zith and Tindamax come to mind).
I did always do well on the cyclines - mino and doxy - though I got too sun sensitive on the doxy, even had to wear gloves to drive.
Why is staying out of the sunlight a good thing? I could not go in the sunlight when I was really sick, but a sauna was fine. Now I find I need the sunlight (Lyme is no longer an issue for me).
-------------------- sixgoofykids.blogspot.com Posts: 13449 | From Ohio | Registered: Feb 2007
| IP: Logged |
TerryK
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 8552
posted
In my opinion and experience, it is the people who are not allowed adequate pain control who are at great risk for suicide.
Chronic pain causes a cascade of symptoms including depression, inability to sleep and brain shrinkage to name a few!!!
Years ago my father told me that he was going to kill himself because he had so much pain from diabetic neuropathy that he couldn't stand it any longer.
The doctors in his little town would not give him pain meds because of the fear of addiction.
I did considerable research and found that there is a big difference between pain medication abuse and pain medication dependence.
People who take pain medication for pain may be physically dependent but not at risk for addiction like those who are psychologically addicted. For most with chronic pain, when the pain goes away, they can slowly go off the medication because they don't want or need it any longer. If the pain never goes away and they need pain medication to live comfortably for the rest of their lives, so be it.
I suffered for 9 long years with the worst kind of pain and yet avoided getting pain medication. I came close a few times to doing myself in. Lucky for me, lyme treatment made the pain bearable. I look back now and realize that I should have given in and gone the pain medication route before letting myself think about suicide everyday.
There are studies that back up the dependence vs addiction. My hard drive went down today so I'm using my husband's computer or I would look around for some of them but with some digging, I'm sure they can be found.
Terry
Posts: 6286 | From Oregon | Registered: Jan 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
hmm it only applies to addictive substances - lie pain killers, anti depressants ,stimulants
I never heard anywhere about abx addiction- they simply do not work on pleasure/addiction pathways
Posts: 856 | From MA | Registered: Jul 2009
| IP: Logged |
posted
And for those who can't afford infrared light-even a heating pad will work for pain.
Posts: 365 | From Sylvania | Registered: Aug 2008
| IP: Logged |
posted
Does a medication like Neurontin address inflammation? Do some medications deal with pain without reducing inflammation, or is all pain reduction a reduction of inflammation?
Posts: 360 | From New York | Registered: Oct 2009
| IP: Logged |
posted
I don't have the degree to answer your question- but check out Dr. S's Book- The Lyme Disease Solution. He stresses very much the role of inflammation in our disease and has an Inflammation Diet to reduce inflammation without pain medication.
[ 11-14-2009, 11:40 AM: Message edited by: JR ]
Posts: 365 | From Sylvania | Registered: Aug 2008
| IP: Logged |
cactus
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7347
posted
Terry is very right about the difference between dependence and addiction.
Addiction is serious - and I'm not disputing that in the least. Anyone who has gotten well and is still taking pain meds, or has not begun to wean off of sleep meds, etc needs to consider asking their doc for help doing so.
But I have to agree with Terry that untreated pain, insomnia, and even narcolepsy-type symptoms are not acceptable.
Too many doctors in this country let patients suffer.
I suffered with level 10+ pain for years, often ending up driven to the ER by my family - with no memory of getting there due to the white hot, blinding pain.
And - I didn't want to take pain meds for fear of addiction.
Same goes for sleep meds and stimulants. I was the person who resisted taking even aspirin.
It took my LLMD explaining to me that when we are in chronic pain, it actually changes our body's perception of pain, and re-trains our nerves to send *more* pain signals, among the other results listed above.
It is okay to take a prescribed pain med when one is in pain.
It is okay to take prescribed sleep meds to get restorative sleep, to heal.
And it is okay to take a prescribed med like Provigil as needed, to get through the overwhelming fatigue and keep one's eyes open through the day.
With my doctor's guidance, I took each of the above - and it helped me make the progress I've made to this point in the Lyme journey, which is substantial.
I'm no longer on any of the above meds - and I was never addicted.
Please - to all who are in excruciating pain...
Remember that there is a time and place or everything and that taking a pain med *when it's needed* is not going to create an addiction if you use it in accordance with a good, trusted doc's orders.
-------------------- �Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?� - A.A. Milne Posts: 1987 | From No. VA | Registered: May 2005
| IP: Logged |
to a job I love 2 days a week and keep what is left of my mental health.
When my pain is decreased I decrease my pain
meds. I get no emotional benefit from them or
feeling that I would want to continue once my
pain is healed.
I use numerous other pain management techniques: contemplative prayer, gentle stretching, myofascial release, hot baths, heating pads and stress reduction to name a few.
I know the stigma of narcotic use but can't live with what other people think of me.
My doc has known me over a decade and I trust his guidance as well.
Is there any easy way to go thru and double space I always forget and find it difficult to do at the end of a post?
Posts: 207 | From NH | Registered: Jul 2009
| IP: Logged |
posted
Cactus- I agree with everything you posted-and my treatment and recovery followed a very similiar scenario.
When I know friends who are in pain and prescribed pain meds I always tell them to take as prescribed-i.e. every four hours for pain-and not to wait until they are in pain to take the next pill because then it is even more difficult to get control over.
When I was prescribed sleep meds- I took them and WENT TO BED. I did not sit up till all hours on the computer waiting for them to kick in.
Posts: 365 | From Sylvania | Registered: Aug 2008
| IP: Logged |
klutzo
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5701
posted
Good luck getting any of these drugs now from regular doctors! There are no LLMD's near us, and I can't take ABX anyway due to allergy, so I have done a lot of alternative protocols.
Supposedly, doctors now recognize pain as the "fifth vital sign", and understand that untreated pain shortens lifespan, but you could not prove that by my recent experience.
My DH and I had gone to the same PCP for about 5 years. She gave me the small amt. of xanax I take so that I can walk unassisted. I resisted taking it 24 yrs. ago when I got sick, but without it I would be in a wheelchair due to muscle spasms throwing me over.
I have raised the dose only once in 24 years, when I developed panic disorder along with a heart rhythm problem. The dose is still well below what is usually prescribed for panic.
My DH has been doing construction work for 41 years and his upper body hurts so much now that he can't work without meds. Thanks to my illness, he can never retire (guilt to the max).
Our PCP put him on a small dose of Percocet and a small dose of Xanax to boost it's relaxation of his muscles, because narcotics make his heart race, so he could not take enough Percocet to do the job by itself.
Recently, this PCP sent me a registered letter firing me as her patient, because I questioned her when I noticed on my lab slip that she'd ordered a lab test for a very rare cancer.
She never discussed it with me and did not know that I'd already had the test done 7 times before by other doctors. I'd had the symptoms for 22 yrs., and survival time once that particular cancer causes those symptoms is only 23 months.
I saw having the test again as a waste of money. I was very respectful about it, and thought she'd want to know, but I guess she'd had enough of my knowing more than she does. (She refused to learn anything about Lyme or Fibro). I was alredy very stressed about this, since I felt it was so unfair.....
That is when my DH and I got the shock of our lives, as we tried to find a new PCP, something we'd thought would be easy. One after another, they treated us like junkies who had crawled out of a gutter looking for controlled substances.
We are older and gray haired and just trying to be able to function in life. We went through six PCPs in a row, all recommended by people we know or our other doctors, all of whom told us coldly that they never prescribe those kind of drugs to anyone at any time for any reason. I left many an office in tears.
I was a wreck over this, wondering if I would run out, since I am totally dependent on the tiny dose of xanax I take, and have horrid withdrawl symptoms, plus not being able to walk again if I go more than 2 days without the drug. My DH would have been unable to work for a living to support us if he ran out.
Finally, with only two weeks left before my DH ran out of Percocet, a friend of mine recommended her doctor, who had no trouble prescribing what we take. He was kind, listened, and treated us like normal people dealing with difficult problems. He knew all about Fibro. I was so grateful, I forgave him knowing nothing about Lyme.
If we had not found this doctor, I'd have had to go to a psychiatrist to get my xanax, using my panic disorder as a reason, and my DH would have had to go also and make up a story to get his, since there is nothing psychologically wrong with him at all.He is not a good liar and I don't think he could pull it off.
He would also have had to go to a pain clinic to get his Percocet, if they would accept him, and they pick and choose. We have only 2 pain clinics here and they require 6 months of medical records, a referral, and a recent MRI, which would have shown nothing, since his pain is in the muscles.
He would have had to replace one doctor with three new ones, and take off work without pay to go to them all, not to mention paying for an unneeded MRI out of pocket. Is this nuts, or what?
Does anyone know why this change in doctor's attitudes has taken place in just the last few years? Someone told me they don't want to fill out the paperwork required for controlled substances.
I suspect the DEA, having failed miserably at stopping illegal drugs, is now targeting legal ones. I still remember in the mid-80's when they permanently took away the only drug that worked on my monthly migraines, just because junkies were abusing it on the illegal market.
Yes, addiction is bad, if you do not need the drugs. I took Darvocet the first 12 yrs. of my illness, but got myself off it once the Lyme moved on from my muscles and attacked my brain, so I no longer needed it.
What I saw in action was the other side of the story, a puritanical backlash I could not believe. It is bad enough that no insurance will pay for these type of drugs. It is like saying you are inferior or weak if you need them, or that your pain or anxiety is not real, so we will not pay for it.
No matter how flat a pancake is, it still has two sides, and I just wanted to present the other. Hasn't anyone else experienced this, or are you all lucky enough to have LLMD's?
klutzo
Posts: 1269 | From Clearwater, Florida, USA | Registered: May 2004
| IP: Logged |
The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations. If you would like to support the Network and the LymeNet system of Web services, please send your donations to:
The
Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey 907 Pebble Creek Court,
Pennington,
NJ08534USA http://www.lymenet.org/