quote:

Originally posted by cgode:
damn...this hits home....i’m in the beginning stages of dealing with this with my daughter...she’s 17 and addicted heroin and our family is reeling! I’m pretty much lost right now and looking for answers...I’m getting the feeling there just aren’t any.

You have an opportunity. She’s young and hopefully not too deep yet. Get her well away (physically and emotionally) from the people she is hanging with. Like 4 states worth. Then you might have a chance.
My best to you. I’m sure there are others here that have better advice, but pulling an addict completely out of the circle they are in, and offering new healthier choices may work.

Sorry to hear this, it must be heartbreaking.

I'm sorry to see so many folks on this board have been impacted by this opiate/drug addiction problem.

For those seeking help, please look to see if there is an alanon or narcanon group in your area. Outside of a controlled rehab setting, these kinds of groups can be instrumental in getting clean and staying clean.

For those who have chronic pain they're currently managing with opiates or thinking of managing with opiates, new research is showing that in many cases non-pharmacological intervention is superior to drugs. This info is filtering out slowly to the various medical practitioners out there. Please, question your doctor if they're just throwing pills at you.

For things like back pain, pre and post surgical pain, fibromyalgia, complex regional pain, chronic fatigue, neuralgia and so on treatments like massage, certain types of behavioral therapy, biofeedback, acupuncture, physical therapy and chiropractic can be much better choices.

Some of these treatments are admittedly 'fringe' so always make sure you're dealing with a licensed/credentialed provider. Legitimate massage therapists are typically LMT's and your state will have a registry you can search. Psychotherapeutic practitioners will almost always have a master's degree if not a PhD and will also be state certified. A lot of MD/DO provide biofeedback. Acupuncturists are nationally certified through NCCAOM and carry state licensure - make sure whoever you see has both credentials. PT's and DC's are pretty straightforward and your state will have a registry of these providers.

I'm a nationally certified and state licensed acupuncturist (but not necessarily licensed in your state). I work a lot with both pain management and drug addiction - unfortunately they tend to go hand-in-hand nowadays. My email is part of my public profile if anyone wants more information.

thank you irreverent...we have considered getting her out of her circle of friends...we are entertaining a second home purchase in florida and my wife and her making the move until such a time i retire...(two years) and rejoin them.

jimmy123...she did a detox/rehab stint in florida for 45 days back in november/december and is in an out-patient program now here at home. If anyone thinks I can get any info about her progress in any program because she is 17 your sadly mistaken...much to my surprise as well. I’ve spoken to multiple counselors and doctors and they all say the same thing...if she doesn’t want you to know...we can’t twll you. It’s a very frustrating situation and like I said....my wife and I are totally lost

my appology to the OP...didn’t intend to derail your thread....it’s good to know i’m not alone and you should know your not either. Good luck Brother!

I firmly believe that an “addictive personality” is real. I have nothing I can offer as a parent, ours is still a little one. You do have my deepest sympathy. I was taking Oxy for a few months after a second spinal fusion last summer. There is a thread here somewhere about it. I got myself off of it, it sucked for a couple of weeks.. but I did it. It really sucked matter of fact.

quote:

Originally posted by dry-fly:
I firmly believe that an “addictive personality” is real. I have nothing I can offer as a parent, ours is still a little one. You do have my deepest sympathy. I was taking Oxy for a few months after a second spinal fusion last summer. There is a thread here somewhere about it. I got myself off of it, it sucked for a couple of weeks.. but I did it. It really sucked matter of fact.

I believe an addictive personality is real, but really makes up a small percentage of people.

I think most addicts seriously lack coping skills to deal with normal life. I think with most addicts, it falls into the following categories whether it's from being coddled when they were raised, to going through a seriously traumatic incident, or a seriously tramatic childhood, or just lacking love and attention growing up......They just can't handle normal life without self medicating.......every little thing is doom and gloom.

I'm sorry to hear that hopefully it will all work out in a positive way in the near future.

I do have a question on the addiction part of this, when I broke my ankle and had surgery I was prescribed the same drugs but never felt any kind of high or nice feeling it was just having the pain go away and that was all. I only used them for maybe a 2 weeks and quit because the severe pain went away.

my question is do they make you feel high or intoxicated like drunk ? just wondering sorry if this is the wrong place and time to ask.

quote:

Originally posted by XLT:
I'm sorry to hear that hopefully it will all work out in a positive way in the near future.

I do have a question on the addiction part of this, when I broke my ankle and had surgery I was prescribed the same drugs but never felt any kind of high or nice feeling it was just having the pain go away and that was all. I only used them for maybe a 2 weeks and quit because the severe pain went away.

my question is do they make you feel high or intoxicated like drunk ? just wondering sorry if this is the wrong place and time to ask.

Someone I know was addicted to OxyContin and took over 20 a day. He described them as having an orgasm (during sex), that lasted and lasted. Till they wore off. I guess they effect some people differently

I will keep him and you all in my prayers...can't hurt.
I am so sorry for all

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I see addiction every day in the ER. I’m an asshole for giving people narcs for pain and I’m an assholes if I don’t. This is truly an American problem. Other countries don’t deal with the same levels of addictions as we are. Other countries don’t routinely prescribe narcotics even after surgery. I some times wonder if culturely we are just weak when it comes to pain. 80% of the worlds narctotics are prescribed in the US. I just don’t know if it’s possible to put the horse back in the barn....no pun intended. Americans are no just wired for it and it’s a damn shame.

quote:

Originally posted by newmexican:
This is timely as its something I'm worried about for myself.
For the past three weeks they have had me on heavy meds, tramadol, oxycodone and a few others, due to pain, they have re-filled my prescription 3 times now.
I have not had addiction problems in the past but I can feel it taking its grip with this oxycodone, 3 weeks ago, 2 pills did the trick, now I'm taking 5 to sleep through the night.

See if your insurance will cover the anesthesiologist doing a nerve block. Some do, some don't.

There is a difference in taking RXs for pain - real, legit pain - and taking them for the buzz.
Option one you can deal with. The pain goes away and so do the pills.

Option two is MUCH more dangerous. The pain goes away but the desire for the buzz doesn't.
If the pain is gone, the pills must be gone.

To the OP all I can say is, I wish you the best in a really shitty situation.
Prayers Brother.

My primary care guy says the whole opiate explosion started some ten years ago when physicians were instructed to address physical pain as a pathology all on its own; they were taught to actively detect it, diagnose it, and treat it, usually with opiates. That's how I got into it. The whole thing snowballed into the opioid crisis we know today.

Drug court is a good option, as RogueJSK mentioned. We use it for last-chance folks here. Fail out of drug court and you go to prison. The success rate is good, but the failures shine a lot brighter, unfortunately.

quote:

Originally posted by KMitch200:

quote:

Originally posted by newmexican:
This is timely as its something I'm worried about for myself.
For the past three weeks they have had me on heavy meds, tramadol, oxycodone and a few others, due to pain, they have re-filled my prescription 3 times now.
I have not had addiction problems in the past but I can feel it taking its grip with this oxycodone, 3 weeks ago, 2 pills did the trick, now I'm taking 5 to sleep through the night.

See if your insurance will cover the anesthesiologist doing a nerve block. Some do, some don't.

There is a difference in taking RXs for pain - real, legit pain - and taking them for the buzz.
Option one you can deal with. The pain goes away and so do the pills.

Option two is MUCH more dangerous. The pain goes away but the desire for the buzz doesn't.
If the pain is gone, the pills must be gone.

To the OP all I can say is, I wish you the best in a really shitty situation.
Prayers Brother.

I hate the "buzz" from these pills, makes it hard to think even just light reading while I surf the net, constipation, over sleeping...not my idea of fun.

I posted here a couple years ago about my son. He was (and still is) an addict. He's clean for now, but I know the pull is still strong. It'll never go away.

He stole from me and my family, constantly lied to us about anything and everything, but when I had the chance to get him home and break his circle of friends, I took it.

He's clean and working now, but it took a lot to get here and it wasn't easy. He tells me all the time that he still feels the pills calling him. He told me last night that he needed to get away from here in general, just to be away from his circle.

OP, I pray for you and your family. I know its tough on everyone. Intervention CAN work, but only if the addict wants to quit. And sadly, not even that is enough sometimes.

I am sorry to read this about all these fine people being done in by drugs that are directly caused by the FDA. This long article was published in the January issue of the Life Extension magazine by DR. Fallon the editor and explains the effect it has on the brain and why these drugs should have never been approved by the FDA. Hopefully, President Trump will bring the FDA into control and get people educated on health issues.

Here is a snip of the article:


FDA Fueled Opioid Epidemic
January 2018
By William Faloon

Heroin is one of the most addictive substances on earth.

When deprived of opioid drugs like heroin or oxycodone, addicts endure harsh withdrawal that often requires medical intervention. The addict may then undergo long-term treatment to reduce odds of relapsing.1

Recovering opioid addicts may not sleep properly for years. Relentless physical and mental cravings result in over 90% of treated users resuming opioid addiction.2 The final exit for many is recovery or death.

Opioid addiction has skyrocketed in the United States as have fatal overdoses.3

To meet the surging demand, synthetic opioids (like fentanyl) are smuggled into the United States. Those convicted of trafficking opioids can face decades of incarceration.4,5

What if, instead of risking prison, you duped the FDA into approving a synthetic opioid drug for routine pain relief?

That way doctors would widely prescribe your opioid drug with insurance companies paying for it.

Having physicians inadvertently hook their patients creates a large base of addicts who will do anything to avoid the horrors of opioid withdrawal.

That’s what a pharmaceutical company accomplished when it got the FDA to approve their time-released oxycodone in 1995.6

With FDA’s approval in hand, the company launched a marketing campaign to mislead doctors and patients about the risk for addiction and abuse of their opioid drug.6

This article will open your eyes to facts that should have precluded OxyContin® from ever being approved for widespread use.

For those with persistent discomforts, help is available. Greater use of natural alternatives may reduce the growing population of Americans who become dependent on opioid drugs that are approved by the FDA.

An estimated 100 million Americans suffer chronic pain.7

Pain prevalence increases with age due partly to chronic inflammatory issues that exacerbate degenerative diseases such as arthritis and traumatic injury.

Opioid drugs provide immediate relief, but fail to correct the underlying inflammatory problem.

As pain sufferers become tolerant to narcotic drugs, they need to increase their dose. Increased dosage is required to keep their pain in abeyance and to satisfy their unintended addiction to the synthetic opioid their doctor prescribed.

Patients who thought they were going to take “pain pills” for a limited period find themselves hooked on a narcotic drug, something they might refuse if they knew of its addiction risk.

The complex factors that create opioid addiction are incompletely understood.8 The public gets confused when terms like “detoxification” are used to describe what an addict endures to get off opioid drugs.

As you’ll read next, opioid addiction is more difficult to cure than merely removing a “toxin.”

How the Brain Gets Addicted

Brain cells contain opioid receptors.8

When a person takes an opioid drug, it quickly fills opioid receptor sites to relieve pain while inducing calmness and euphoria in many people.

Continued opioid drug use (be it heroin or oxycodone) causes opioid receptors to become desensitized in a way that often necessitates higher doses of the opioid drug to keep the brain from going into a physical withdrawal.

In the state of acute withdrawal, the opioid receptor sites in the brain scream for more opioids. With insufficient opioids, the addict can experience intense pain throughout their body that is already agitated because their desensitized opioid receptors are unable to transmit neuronal signals the addict needs to feel normal.

Acute withdrawal is a physical phenomenon that can require medical intervention to prevent possible death. During the acute and chronic withdrawal period, the opioid addict may be unable to achieve normal sleep and is likely to suffer from relentless discomfort and intense agitation, along with craving for opioid drugs.

Over a multi-year recovery period, the opioid receptor sites can become re-sensitized to the low levels of natural opioids produced in the body. This in turn slowly enables the opioid addict to regain a sense of normalcy.

Sleep deprivation, however, can last for years as the brain is unable to achieve sufficient relief from the anxiety because their opioid receptor sites were so damaged. Instant relief can be found by reaching for a heroin or oxycodone “fix,” which can ignite another vicious addiction cycle.

The body produces natural opioids that help mitigate pain and reduce anxiety. There are not enough natural opioids produced, however, to compensate for the loss of receptor site sensitivity caused by prior abuse of the opioid drug.

Understanding how opioids create physical addiction makes the FDA’s approval of opioid drugs (like OxyContin ®) all the more abhorrent.

How Heroin Abuse was Temporarily Curbed

In the 1960’s, compelling film footage of heroin addicts twisting and screaming as they were strapped to hospital gurneys was shown to high school students. This film footage vividly revealed the horrors that heroin addicts endure as they fight through the acute withdrawal phase.

These films often depicted addicts cooking heroin in rusty spoons and using dirty needles to inject it into their quivering bodies. The visual impact was significant.

Much of society back then viewed heroin (opioid) junkies with disdain. Educated individuals said no to needles and opioids.

The reason for the resurgence of addiction and overdose deaths is the FDA approved an opioid drug that was illegally marketed to physicians as a relatively “safe” pain reliever.

Where Today’s Opioid Epidemic Started

In the early 1990s, a company called Purdue Pharma developed a highly-addictive semi-synthetic opioid drug and named it OxyContin®.9 The company funded clinical trials showing that OxyContin® in long-acting form relieved pain for up to 12 hours with few of the side effects associated with opioid drugs.10

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reviewed the company-funded clinical studies on the use of OxyContin® and approved it. The FDA was told that because OxyContin® was in a “time-release” tablet, it posed a lower threat of abuse and addiction.10

The FDA reviewer (Curtis Wright, MD) who led the approval of OxyContin® left the FDA and within 2 years was working for Purdue Pharma.10

This kind of revolving door between the FDA and pharmaceutical companies has been previously exposed in this magazine, and more recently in the Washington Post and on the CBS TV program 60 Minutes.

We view this revolving door as deferred bribery or “business as usual” as it relates to how the FDA approves new drugs and allows dangerous ones to remain on the market.

Purdue Pharma heavily promoted their OxyContin® to primary-care physicians who had little training in the treatment of serious pain or in recognizing signs of drug abuse.6 OxyContin® rapidly became the instant fix for patients complaining of any kind of discomfort since the drug usually provided immediate relief.

OxyContin® does this by occupying the opioid receptor on brain cells. As pain returned, so did the patient for a refill of higher-dose OxyContin® to counteract the desensitized (less responsive) brain cell opioid receptors caused by their prior use of OxyContin®.

It did not take long for experienced drug abusers and novices to discover that chewing an OxyContin® tablet, crushing it and snorting the powder, or injecting it with a needle produced a high as powerful as heroin.

By year 2000, parts of the United States began to see skyrocketing rates of addiction and crime related to OxyContin®,11,12 which has severely worsened in recent years.

Purdue Pharma Gets Indicted13

Between 1995 and 2001, Purdue Pharma brought in revenue of $2.8 billion from sales of its FDA-approved OxyContin® drug.13

The active ingredient in OxyContin® is oxycodone, which is a semi-synthetic opioid narcotic.

Unlike drugs such as Percocet® that contain oxycodone and other ingredients, OxyContin® contained large amounts of pure oxycodone in each time-released tablet.

Purdue Pharma recognized they would face resistance from doctors who were concerned about the potential for OxyContin® to cause addiction.13

To counter this, the company developed a fraudulent marketing campaign designed to promote OxyContin® as a time-released drug that was less prone to such problems.13

As addiction rates soared, Purdue Pharma and its executives were criminally charged for misrepresenting the addiction potential of OxyContin® to physicians.

In 2007, Purdue Pharma settled the criminal charges by paying a $634 million fine.6 The executives who perpetrated the crimes were not sentenced to serve any jail time and the company was allowed to continue selling different versions of oxycodone-containing drugs.14,15

As had been widely reported in recent years, neither Purdue Pharma nor the FDA has effectively stopped what has been an explosive growth in America’s addiction for opioid drugs that Purdue conned the FDA into approving 23 years ago.

Continued:
http://www.lifeextension.com/M...As-We-See-It/Page-01

^^^^^^^
Damn

I met some of the researchers who worked on OxyContin. They were very uncomfortable about what they were developing, but were assure it was only to be used for palliative care It was never intended , by then, for a patient to ever come off it. It was to be used as a means of keeping the dying more lucid

quote:

Originally posted by kkina:
My primary care guy says the whole opiate explosion started some ten years ago when physicians were instructed to address physical pain as a pathology all on its own; they were taught to actively detect it, diagnose it, and treat it, usually with opiates. That's how I got into it. The whole thing snowballed into the opioid crisis we know today.

Is that when we started to see these charts?