Programme about painkillers

[Suzyhayes]

Tonight on BBC One there is two part programme called the doctor who gave up drugs. It's about the efficacy of painkillers and over prescribed drugs. Should be interesting.

[grace111]

yes suzy i will be watching that. i'v got it ready to record. im looking forward to it. obviously there are people who will really need to keep taking their pain killers and iv had a big operation and even before the operation i was in very bad pain.i really needed my pain killers for pain for quite a while, however i found that i was taking more pain killers than i needed just to give me energy and to get me through the depression of the day sometimes. so i'v cut right down to the minimum, and i feel much better and not so depressed. i'v got an addictive personality. so i'v got to watch. i cant beleive that iv done so well cutting down. im so pleased. iv been doing exerises most days for the last 3 weeks. even when i was depressed. i watch utube and do two routines for my arms. they are only about 10 or 12 minutes each. so i can see a big difference already and that also spurs me on. i also look a lot better. im still in some pain and cant do stomach exersise yet as im still quite numb where i was cut open above the ribs.i had a 5 hour operation. its still quite swollen as well. so i have to wait before i can do stomach exercise. but hopefull i will get there. how are you. well i hope. love grace xoxoxo

[Suzyhayes in reply to grace111]

Congratulations Grace, you seem to be doing very well. Having a positive attitude is half the battle.

My condition never changes but I don't take any painkillers now and I feel like you more energetic and healthier but I do take Kratom capsules from time to time for a bit of pain relief.

Kratom is now banned in the u.k. but I order it from Amsterdam.

[Bananas5]

Heard the trailer for this prog and they talk about depression. No mention of pain

How this girl could learn cold water swimming. That stress was more than her depression and kept her mind occupied.

Fine if every chronic pain person could go swimming!!

Sure there will be many other subjects too. The ones it is easier to get off meds

x

[Suzyhayes in reply to Bananas5]

Very interesting experiment in which a women who had been taking pain killers for years and is given placebos instead had no change in her pain level.

Suggest you watch the programme Paton .

With regard to depression it is a well known fact that exercise which releases endorphins definitely helps with coping with depression.

Don't know why you are so negative about a programme you haven't even seen. Surely if we can find alternative ways to reduce the amounts of drugs people are consuming that is a good thing.

[grace111 in reply to Suzyhayes]

yes. its in two parts so we dont know yet what its really about. but its definately true about exercise it does make people feel better and release endorphins and i also feel better for not taking so many pain killers. i know that there are terrible side effects with lots of medicines. like constipation. and i was getting laxido for constipation because the pain killers cause constipation and when i read that if you take more than two sachets a day then it reduces your kidney function and i was getting 3 a day in hospital long before i even saw the insert. im not taking any more of them. the thought that my kidneys were getting affected scared me.

[Bananas5 in reply to Suzyhayes]

Ouch.

Maybe I have been involved with chronic pain people for too many years to understand it is not just stop taking pain relief. The whole pain package is complex and with less and less resources - meds are often all people are left with.

Try giving placebo to someone who suffers CRPS who has already lost a foot and arm with that relentless pain

There were a series of 6 progs many years ago - scientists v medical evidence involving placebos. Wonderful, amazing, until it was proved the progs were faked.

And I don't 'watch' any TV - just listen.

[Bevvy]

I didn't watch the program because I saw the doctor on the 'one show' and was very concerned about some of his comments about depression and people going cold water swimming. Even the interviewer queried his comments. Doctor seemed to suggest that everyone with depression could stop their meds if they went swimming..... Blanket comments such as this are wrong and could be dangerous. Certainly without my antidepressants (it took months to get the right combination) I wouldn't be still here! Not prepared to mess with my meds.....!

[Bananas5 in reply to Bevvy]

That's the bit I heard too Bevy, As you say - blanket statement.

And what support would she get while in so called recovery'

Well said and glad you have meds which work

x

[RAYJAYC]

He was so smug about his experiment result and whilst I'm not belittling that woman's shoulder pain, she was hardly 'disabled' and in agony was she?

She didn't have any other prescription meds, just Paracetamol & Codeine with the odd Diazepam which strangely wasn't mentioned in the two weeks trial??

From the preview of next week's episode, there's obviously a woman with chronic pain whom he sends to exercise sessions and she'll no doubt never ever have to take any pain meds again!! Miracle cure incoming people!!

This programme does nothing but make us out to be lazy, drug addicted, liars.........I'm seething already; if anyone says to me "did you see that programme about the lady who took lots of painkillers? You should try it....." or words to that effect, I won't be responsible for my actions (or in my case words as I'm not capable of inflicting physical 'actions'!!)

I've also got depression so should I dunk myself into a freezing lake so I feel so much brighter? What happens when my back goes into complete spasm from the cold so I either drown or can do even less when I'm dragged out of the water?

He simplified it all so much that the 'lay' person will actually believe him and have a 'view' and the inevitable 'advice & cure' for me/us now!

At no point did he emphasise that these experiments were carried out under supervision and that nobody should reduce/stop taking any medication without consulting their GP first; it was only said at the end. I've no idea what the programme was/is trying to achieve regarding antidepressants and pain meds; the antibiotics issue is entirely different and VITALLY IMPORTANT but to mix the two have sent an incorrect message to the viewer.

Rant over..........until next Friday!!

RJC

[romana1 in reply to RAYJAYC]

he was rather smug, i thought so. and i didn't like her on the painkillers. i felt sorry for the one on the anti depressants as she is on next week and in a right state. i do believe that far to many anti biotics are given out and also they should stop putting them in the animals and also steroids as we are eating them.

[Bananas5]

Very well ranted RAYJAYC. Glad I didn't get it on catch up.

Like all these programmes. and I include all those on Welfare too, it is always us who are made out to be in the wrong. Must try harder for a job. Must make your self better. They are same old same old and brings us all to boiling point.

We have spent years and years trying to get recognition for chronic pain and mental health. The BBC can undo all that work in 2 hrs

Full stop before I get my reinforced soap box out

Pat x

[Suzyhayes]

There seems to be quite a negative response to this programme and perhaps it was a bit simplistic but I do believe nevertheless that doctors who are often in the pocket of the pharmaceutical companies and prescribe far too many drugs which may be ultimately not very effective and sometimes harmful with side effects that damage various organs in the body.

Here in France I see people leaving the pharmacy with huge bags full of medicaments and I wonder if they are always necessary.

A huge percentage of the population are on long term anti depressants. Isn't this drug dependency a symptom of modern life?

People living in poverty don't have the luxury of stuffing themselves with pharmaceutical products and perhaps they are better off for it.

For the record I have been living in constant pain for nearly five years so I understand that people seek relief from drugs but for me nothing worked so I just gave them up.

We are all different and have different tolerance levels. Drugs are not always a solution.

[RAYJAYC in reply to Suzyhayes]

He didn't include those prescribed antidepressants by a psychiatrist; very different diagnoses and needs but to the uneducated viewer, everyone who takes them only gets them from a GP. Did he attempt to sit in on a psychiatrist's clinic? Would he dare to question a psychiatrist's treatment plan? I doubt it (and will retract this statement if he does) but the simplistic content of that episode leads the 'lay' viewer to believe that depression is easily treated with cold water shock therapy.

Yes, most of us on here know it's a broad spectrum but we only know it because we're either in the midst of a dark depression or live/work with it!! There are a lot of people who think or say "you need to pull yourself together, that's all. What have you got to be depressed about?" etc,etc......

Regarding GPS "in pharmaceutical companies' pockets", to an extent I'm sure there's pressure but GPS are also under massive amounts of pressure to cut their spending so sending someone away without a prescription is financially more appealing! There are too many people that get NHS treatment and it just cannot cope; loadsa people but not loadsa money and add in those who haven't paid in a penny equates to financial crisis.

Drug free therapies are of course a preference to some but many need educating & evidence that it's a worthwhile undertaking. I use both types of treatment and have reduced the 'chemical' approach a little but have proved to my GP & Pain Clinic that certain medication is vital for me. I also have physiotherapy, acupuncture, 'talking therapy' and do exercises & stretches everyday; which without, I can't get out of bed!! Unfortunately, like others, I've had to experience & evaluate many different types & trials of treatment to just be able to function; it doesn't appear as yet that the programme is going to include people like us though!! Maybe one person but that's really very diagnostic.......

Happy thoughts everyone 😩😊

(I did say I wouldn't be 'ranting' until next Friday didn't I? Another fail...........!!)

RJC x

[Suzyhayes in reply to RAYJAYC]

Obviously people suffering from clinical depression need anti depressant drugs but don't you agree that a lot of people are prescribed these drugs who don't really need them.

I know here in France they are definitely over prescribed to people who are just fed up and want the feel good factor with a quick fix.

Living with constant pain is very depressing but in my case I try to alleviate the negative thoughts with as many diversionary activities that I can cope with rather than resort to drugs because I know my depression isn't caused through chemical imbalance. If I could just get rid of the daily grind of this pain I would be happy as a lark.

Bonne journee

[grace111 in reply to Suzyhayes]

i did notice that the ones he took on the walkling exercise for blood pressure and diabeties made great progress and when they were retested were told the good news, but failed to keep it up. obviously they'd rather take the pills. it speaks for its self.

[grace111]

the medical profession make me sick.

[grace111]

that woman who was on the painkillers who wasnt in that much, pain did not need the pain killers and was proved that they did not work. that medial practise was not under massive amounts of pressure to cut their spending.

[grace111]

if i need a medicine i dont care what anyone else thinks. and psychiatrists, in my experience are the worst offenders. they give out medicines its almost impossible to get off. thats why people are suing them in america and suing the pharmaceutical companies. go to the site called mad in america and see the suffering of the people there trying to get of the evil medicines that they have been put on and i was a victim of that. i will never forget what i went through.

[MSShine]

My husband had a mystery virus years ago that mimicked . He was left with horrible pain across the center of his back and was sent to pain management. Every month he would go and they would ask his pain level. He had no verbal guide was to what each level represented. He kep telling them an eight or nine. They kept upping his does and giving him stronger medication. Fast forward years and a new doctor. She told him that he was 50 now and these meds were destroying his body from the length of time he has been on them. Very slowly one baby step at a time they first worked on the dangerous drugs and then down to the more ordinary medication. He is now OFF all pain meds.Yes he still has pain but guess what? It is no worse than when he was on them and was so over perscribed!