http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1702188#t=article - Full Article
What are your guys’ thoughts? They make a solid point that opiods are useful for some cases of extreme pain.
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this topic has come to light over the last 10 years. I know personally how pain pills opiates dope can rip apart families. if anything we can do as responsible advocates for holistic medication. is too back it up and fight it and be true to it. its brand new and we can control the outcome. opiate addiction was created by monsters to create smaller monsters. vicious cycle and jerry was just 1 in 100 with the same story. we need better coping methods in general. good post. and this is just my initial opinion . food for thought
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I think short term usage for extreme pain is valid but being on opioids long term should be reserved for pain that can’t be managed any other way. Also I think that pain management needs to be a lot more sophisticated as many people are giving opioids without realizing just how addictive they are. But they’re still valid for what they are used for. The problem is the profit margins for these drugs mean that the pharma industry pushes for them being used so they can make as much profit as possible.
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Ultimately the problem started when big Pharma convinced doctors to treat pain itself as a condition. It is a symptom of being human. There is no cure. Providers are starting to have the courage to tell us that we have to live with it the way people have since forever.
There are no long-term opioid uses for pain that are effective. You need an ever increasing dose to accomplish the same end. If you get addicted to it while you’re young you’ll have to give it up before you are immune to the effects or succumb to accidental overdose that stops your breathing.
Obviously this is the part where our industry comes in because we can provide a large amount of pain relief through both internal and topical application. I am aware of the irony that many people can only use our products because of “chronic pain”. But that is a legal construct, not a condition or disease.
Suboxone is the next step that pain management providers will take in the battle against opioid addiction. Similar to methadone, it gives relief to addicts without providing a high. The advantage is that it is given in pill form as prescription . This does just trade one addiction for another, but the newest thinking is that these people have had their brain chemistry changed forever and will always be Addicts, so this is a means of keeping them functional.
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This article that came out today is relevant:
“He said published scientific research already suggests cannabinoid molecules interact with the brain in a way that has an important “synergy” with how opioids interact with receptors in the body.”
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This has already been proven true locally. My wife is a pain management specialist here in Oregon and at the latest conference it was shown that Oregon is one of the few places that has reduced opioid use.
Co prescribing is now becoming more popular and nearly every patient says it reduces their pill intake
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As a kidney stone maker coming from a long line of stone formers. Demerol, keeps me out of the hospital. Every quarter, I take my Demerol bottle into my nephrologist to prove I am not abusing them. I prefer not having to use it.
She refills the difference in what I have used versus unused.
But, when you are hit with a stone you curl up on the floor and want to die. If I can control the pain, keep my meds down and I don’t have a fever. I don’t have to go to the ER. I have secessfuly stayed out of the ER 95% of the time. I tend to switch to noproxisodum (Aliev) as soon as I can manage the pain. Living in a state where cannabis is not available as an anti-emetic. I have to rely on big pharma. Cannabis is definitely a better anti-emetic than the crap they prescribe. Ginger helps to as an anti-emetic. Learned that on a business trip to India.
I also bring in my stones from the last quarter.
Generally, if I follow the diet, drink my 6 to 8 litters a day, take my medication for stone prevention. I have cut my stones down to a couple a quarter.
We definitely are piss poor in managing chronic pain in this country. But, I have started to see the adoption of Europen pain management programs in the states.
New book just published on pain management using cannabis:
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