Opiod "crisis"/ Medical Cannabis

[Bumble34]

Depressing to read in todays Times another hatchet job on the prescribing of Opiods in the UK, lessening still further any chance of we sufferers getting help in that direction, slight upside for me personally I had my interview/consultation for Medical Cannabis over the weekend via the Project Twenty21 Portal, approved, subject to statuary panel review, keeping fingers crossed as struggling to cope with a combination of Pregabalin and Kratom to keep the nightly torture at bay.

[silkyreg]

What helped me tremendously against my RLS is 1. intermittend fasting (I fast 16 hours and eat 8) 2. don't take any Aspatame 3. for whatever reason Coke seems to make my RLS crazy so I don't drink it anymore. I recommend to try the intermittend fasting. Costs nothing, no prescription neccessary and if it doesn't help you with your RLS it doesn't harm you but is at least beneficient to your health.

And yes, I am a strong opponent to prescribing Opioids against RLS! There are so many medicines to try first! If at all Opioids should be the last choice!

[rls-insomniac in reply to silkyreg]

You are very lucky that you can control your rls with diet. A lot of us can't do that as we suffer with severe refractory RLS. We have been left with little or no choice but to use opioids. Our lives would be hell otherwise!

[silkyreg in reply to rls-insomniac]

Have you ever tried intermittent fasting for several weeks? See my posts about me and my RLS experiences:

healthunlocked.com/rlsuk/po...

healthunlocked.com/rlsuk/po...

healthunlocked.com/rlsuk/po...

And yes I still don't need any medication for my RLS anymore! Last night I slept 10 hours sound asleep without any pills! I still have RLS but that mild that I can live with it without medication.

[rls-insomniac in reply to silkyreg]

Yes indeed I have, for several months. I lost weight, but it did nothing to alleviate my RLS. My RLS is inherited. My mother and sister also suffered/suffer with it. I have tried lots of diets, lotions and potions etc, but again to no avail. We are all different, of course. What works for one, may not necessarily work for another.

[grandpianoman in reply to silkyreg]

I have done intermittent fasting for at least 3 decades, eating only twice a day, which has been good for my general health but it has not helped my refractory RLS at all. I'm glad it's helped you, but we are all different as to what works.

[Hidden]

Problem is we RLS are the collateral damage for those trying to deal with a genuine & very serious opioid crisis problem out in the community. No one is criticising or accusing individuals. Opioids are basically very addictive by their nature, nothing to do with the nature of the person. I was a GP. At one time we were encouraged +++ to relieve the discomfort of many people who appeared in droves for their wish/right for treatment & this is the mess folk have got into as a result. No one realised till it occurred. Drs are damned if they do & damned if they don’t.It’s the condition that’s the problem ( mine is truly awful ), not the drs. More research is needed.

[rls-insomniac in reply to Hidden]

I agree with what you say. However my symptoms were so bad that I would regularly tell my partner that I wouldn't care if I didn't wake up. That in itself was a joke as I was severely sleep deprived. He felt helpless. I had tried just about everything else. My life is so much better for taking a low dose opioid. I do sometimes feel criticised for doing so.

[silkyreg in reply to rls-insomniac]

I hope no one is so stupid to criticise you for taking Opioid against your RLS and be sure that I don't, despite I am against using this drug. But if this is really your last straw it's ok for me.

[Hidden in reply to rls-insomniac]

Yes, those who need opioids are the collateral damage for the previous policies that had these unknown consequences. I’m glad you are benefitting & I wish I was brave enough to ask & try them. My evenings & nights are hell. But something has to be done to try to stop the genuine harm that has resulted to others due to previous policies. It is so complicated

[rls-insomniac in reply to Hidden]

I totally agree. I just hope that those who are in genuine need aren't thrown by the wayside because of it. I'm so sorry to hear that you're suffering so badly. This disease is just dreadful. Believe me, I didn't go down the opioid route without trying to tackle my symptoms in other ways. Desperate times called for desperate measures in my case. I do hope that you'll find a way of easing yours. I wish you well.

[Hidden in reply to rls-insomniac]

I don’t think anyone should need to apologise or justify what they are taking to relieve the dreadfulness of what we suffer. No one would expect any other suffering to be ignored & suffering it indeed is. It’s just that no one else ‘gets’ it & it is very unfortunate that what seems to work is embroiled in the consequences of earlier policies.I wish you very well

[Bodstar11 in reply to Hidden]

I disagree with you on more than one account.I would also like to have believed that a GPs would see, that it is largely down to the individual and their medical history on prescribing Opioids with the risk of it being the wrong decision. There is no way you can tell me taking two 70+ patients with valid long term chronic pain is going to be beneficial when the Opioid medication has been prescribed and alleviated pain for years. In comparison to a young man, in pain, with a history of alcoholism and dependency history?. Come on. Yes there is a large amount of Opioid abuse out there and that is my whole point. Sensible patients like my parents are left with non effective treatment due to this. It's not viable or fair as previous comments on here highlight. I do agree with you on one point. Your damned if you do and Your damned if you don't. That's were the Dept of Health, Local Authorities and the MHRA leave Doctors high and dry. My parents GPs do not want to remove the drug. They have NO option as basically they are being forced. This is NOT right or good procedure. I'm sorry. Kind regards.

[Hidden in reply to Bodstar11]

Hi Bodstar, thank you for getting back to me. I do think you misunderstand what I was trying to say though, which may be down to me not explaining properly.As I am 70 myself I don’t know the full details of what current GP’s are being asked to do re opiates, I just know what happened in the past with encouragement to prescribe them for pain and the inadverent harm that resulted.

Because it isn’t just the young guys with eg alcohol problems that have been harmed, but very many ‘ordinary’ people, not stupid people who have found themselves with an addiction problem & who are distressed & angry & whose life has been ruined because of it.

No one realised at that time that the milder opioids could do this, and it is down to the actual chemical’s effect on the brain, not down to weakness or carelessness in the person.

I do not have a addictive personality, I am extremely responsible & careful & yet I am scared to try an opiate even though I suffer from awful RLS, in case the opioids do something to my brain I find hard to control.

It does seem crazy to stop treatment for those who are contentedly taking it with no problems.

But now that it has become clear what can abs has happened something has to be done & there is sadly a fallout from this.

It is all very complicated.

It is also useful to have debates & so thank you

[Bodstar11 in reply to Hidden]

Hello Alison. Yes I do take some of your points and agree in your most recent reply. I think there is a need for greater, more strict prescribing procedures by Doctors and there has been a need for this in the past. There is level headed people who have become addicted or dependent on Opioid. In my Mother's case, she had taken 6 Co Codamol for a number of years along with other drugs for untreatable chronic pain. Can you imagine the difficulty the last 8 months have been trying to adjust as she is missing some of the pain alleviation she received using this medication. I feel in these instances that benefit outweighs risks, as there aren't going to be a miracle cure. I also feel the way that particular surgery handled the issue was appalling. Phoning her (not even a GP) to tell her that Co Codamol is dangerous and she risks a host of horrendous side effects. Left her with 2 tablets for 5 days then that was that. End of prescription. It's a very hard line to draw, as you say, in which individual will become addicted I. E taking them for no reason. This is where strict GP consultation regular and assessment would be beneficial. Doctors must be being forced from some source as both GPs of my parents don't want to take them off them. Yet they employ someone to phone and basically bully the fact in that the drug is stopping. Someone is lying. I also didn't know Opioids were popular in RLS treatment. Only reason I did is because my campaign statements inadvertently fell into RLS threads of which I apologise if they have taken up time with sufferers of RLS. I know it's a very unpleasant condition. On saying that. I wonder if RLS sufferers are having Opioids removed from prescriptions. Like, in my own argument, I would think this very unfair, as they are sensible and legitimate users of Opioids for genuine wellbeing and relief. It's a tough one but I don't like the way it's being dealt with. I apologise Alison if my previous reply seemed a bit harsh and insensitive. I wish you well and relief from your illness in the future.

[Hidden in reply to Bodstar11]

Good to hear from you again. I won’t write much more except to say that in my day pharmacists were employed by health boards to scrutinise prescribing of all sorts in practices & visit us & point things out then ‘action’ policies.It is good in many ways to have overseeing of prescribing as it’s another layer of checking nothing inappropriate is going on.

I suspect there’s something like this happening but it’s not being well handled.

There will also no doubt be politics involved so no one can be now blamed for causing addiction

[Bodstar11]

Good morning. I have written to several Newspapers regards to these articles which are, your quite correct, hatchet jobs. You will find this very common in British press when the Dept of Health, local authorities or the MHRA are needing back up and validation of their actions. I am awaiting response to find if patients suffering long term chronic pain and on Opioid Analgesics could humbly have their say on the totally one sided issue. We will see. Kind regards.