The importance of keeping medications secure and safe is something I want to emphasize for both those who have been on medications for a long period of time and those just starting. Many different medications can be abused in different ways, but I am going to discuss the biggest abuser, narcotics and opioids. As I mentioned before in an earlier post I have been approached by people who know I take strong medications and have asked me to give or sell them so they can get a high from them. Either by crushing and snorting the pills or by diluting the pill and injecting it. Also stated before I will not be an advocate to anyone who is trying to abuse painkillers. The most common medications that I know are abused are Vicodin, Percocet and OyxContin. Antidepressants such as Valium and Xanax can also be abused. “Individuals of all ages abuse prescription drugs–data reported in the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse indicate that an estimated 36 million U.S. residents aged 12 and older abused prescription drugs at least once in their lifetime,” according to the website http://www.justice.gov/ndic/pubs5/5140/index.htm#What.
Not only is it illegal to give or sell somebody your prescription drugs, it is also very dangerous. Taking a strong dose that is supposed to be released gradually can be fatal and cause serious side effects. Taking this dose all at once can lead to severe breathing problems. It is hard to trust anyone being around your prescription pills because of the lack of knowledge whether they abuse similar drugs. It is good to be aware of the characteristics of people who are around you as well as your prescription drugs, but it is better to have a safe or lock box that you can stow the prescription drugs in to eliminate any risks of your prescription drugs being taken or stolen. You, as the owner of the prescription drugs, are the one who suffers from the pills being stolen. Having a specific amount of pills prescribed every month is usually calculated precisely to supply the patient with just enough pills for that month. Having pills stolen or giving them away can cause withdrawals from not having enough pills and essentially higher pain levels. This is a website that helps to identify some of the problematic characteristics of a drug abuser, http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/pubs/brochures/drugabuser.htm.
Pain management is a wide topic and can include many different methods to control chronic pain. The main step towards pain management is seeing a pain specialist. A pain specialist is able to provide prescriptions for opioids and antidepressants as well as other resources to help manage chronic pain, such as referrals to a massage therapists, physical therapists, pain psychologist, chiropractor, acupuncturists, or surgeon. The Healthy Back Institute has a website that provides a lot of information on what is being done to cure chronic pain and just recently had an article on stem cells repairing herniated disc being performed in the United Kingdom. This is a huge step forward because of all the cures and possibilities that stem cells posses. http://www.losethebackpain.com/blog/2010/10/01/stem-cells-repair-spinal-discs-permanently/
Using stem cells for medical purposes is a very controversial issue because they were using embryos to obtain the stem cells, however, now they have discovered that adult stem cells are just as effective. The use of adult stem cells is also less controversial because it does not consist of destroying an embryo to get the stem cells. However, stem cells in adults are very limited. There is a lot of research being done on stem cells and the cures the may hold for the future. If you are interested in learning more about stem cells and what they are capable of doing, or any aspect of them, here is a good website to gain information. http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/
There are many different ways to manage chronic pain and not all of them will work for a certain person, everyone has to find out what works for them personally. I will continue to cover what the different resources of pain management have to offer and why you, personally, may want to try these different solutions if you suffer from chronic pain. What do you have to lose? So I hope my brief detail of stem cell has initiated some curiosity and you do some personal research of your own.
Honestly, the only way I am able to get up and have a productive each day, or at least get out of bed, is because of the painkillers I take. For me personally, the benefits outweigh the side effects and risks that come with taking prescription painkillers. I am not going to state what I take and what doses but I am currently taking narcotics and opioids to make the pain manageable and bearable. There are many days that I am unable to attend my college classes being the pain is so severe. I know that without the medications the pain would be much more severe and almost crippling. However, there are always side effects to any medication.
I have a very difficult time staying awake during the day because my medications make me so tired. My sleeping schedule is often haywire because of the pain anyways. Therefore, I am taking Ritalin to help me stay awake; it counteracts the painkillers…No it does not help me focus more, at times I wish it did! As well, taking Celebrex for six months when I was 14 years old resulted in Celebrex eating the lining of my stomach, so I take Aciphex to help with my stomach pain and such. There is also the problem of your body gaining a dependency to the medications.
I tried reducing many of my painkillers after my second back surgery. However, the withdrawal symptoms were too severe to put up with while attending college so I ended up withdrawing from the University and would re-enroll later. I became severely exhausted and the pain level was agonizing. I can only hope that when I do finally get off all of these medications, if it ever comes to that, the withdrawal symptoms will be less severe and will not last as long. I am relieved to know that the Food and Drug Administration is continually working on ways and forms that the narcotics and opioids cannot be abused. I used to have friends that would crush and snort painkillers, I have had people ask me if I would sell my pills to them, but that is something I will never do. I will not provide prescription medications to anyone, not only for my own safety but for theirs as well. Overdosing is much easier than many people think and it is a continually worry to myself.
Jim Corcoran is a pain psychologist in Fort Collins, Colorado. I have personally been meeting with Dr. Corcoran to further help in coping and living with chronic pain. A fundamental viewpoint in dealing with chronic pain, according to Dr. Corcoran, is “The Window of The Right Amount.” The window is designated the right amount, to the right of the window the amount is “Too little” and on the left is “Too Much.”
People are not always realistic about the amount of physical activity they can handle. It is a common misconception that the same amount of physical activity done before chronic pain is the same with chronic pain as well. Frustration is a frequent occurrence with chronic pain suffers who realize they cannot complete the same amount of physical activity. When a person does too much activity, they must reduce their physical activity dramatically until there is a reduction in pain to a baseline level, dramatically reducing the amount of physical activity in such a manner results in too little activity. After having a couple of days of being static, being too anxious to continue physical activities can result in too much activity. People commonly repeat this cycle; a person has far more to gain by staying in the window of the right amount.
“People need to be able to function and live within the window of the right amount of activity. Too much activity and people retreat, miss appointments, increase medication doses, then tend to do too little, back into the window and repeat the cycle. People need to be honest with their selves about what is in their means. If they don’t stay in the window, regardless of other methods that are helping with the pain, such as medications and massage, they will continue getting flare-ups, increasing pain and reducing functioning,” quoted Dr. Corcoran. Living in the window of the right amount allows for a gradual increase in activity and stamina, as well as improving life and functionality through increased activities, and reduced and controlled pain levels.
Hello, I am excited to begin my blog on chronic pain. The complications of living with chronic pain are not that well-known in society. Since I look like a healthy young lady not many people take into consideration what health problems I have. My chronic back and neck pain is severe enough that it affects my daily life. I am not capable of standing, sitting or walking for long periods of time. As you can imagine this means that my physical activity is next to none. I still like to go bowling at times and help my niece practice her technique for volleyball, but I have given up a lot of activities I once enjoyed. I want to bring awareness to chronic pain and the effects it has on daily life. Having so many restrictions on your physical life in return negatively impacts the social and emotional aspects of a person’s life. Depression is an attribute of chronic pain, and I personally have had my ups and down. I want to discuss how people living with chronic pain can cope with it on a daily basis and keep an optimistic view not only help emotionally but physically as well. Knowing how to control chronic pain is essential. My pain psychologist, Jim Corcoran, shared with me the idea of “the window of the right amount” which has played a key role in everything I decide to do. After seven years I have discovered what helps reduce the pain and what inflames the pain as well. There are only so many medications you can take to help with the pain, which brings me to another discussion point about what other health issues can occur by taking narcotics and opioids to reduce the pain. There are so many different aspects I am excited to cover throughout posts in this blog. I want to help others going through the difficulties of living with chronic pain, as well as gain insight from people. I’ve struggled living with chronic pain and I do not know everything so I am always open to hear from my readers!
