A Warning re Prescription Drugs for Pain Relief

[shaws]

This is from Dr Mercola:-

tinyurl.com/owjhuxz

[helen0701]

These are all fully controlled drugs in this country with the exception of low dose codeine so probably not the same issues for the uk, I work in a pharmacy and ive never seen a pregnant women prescribed opiates

[shaws Administrator in reply to helen0701]

Just as well we don't live in the USA.

[puncturedbicycle in reply to shaws]

My mum lives in the US and for a number of years it has been virtually impossible to get a prescription for these painkillers, which is another reason behind the explosion in heroin addiction.

I don't understand your reasoning about this being an American problem. Opiates are available here otc. They are highly addictive no matter where people use them.

The study quoted in that article used insurance statistics as their source. I wonder what pain relief uninsured women get. I guess it's not surprising to see that the poorest communities have the highest rate of opiate prescription for pregnant women. But I think the pregnancy element of the article is a red herring. Pregnant women require pain relief too, and as it says in the study, the script are short-term and pain in pregnancy can be detrimental to the fetus.

[puncturedbicycle in reply to helen0701]

helen0701 they are controlled in the US as well. I can't account for what was happening many years ago but my mum (who lives in the US) has had surgery and broken bones in the last 15 years and has only been prescribed one of these notorious painkillers once. In my experience the protocol there is similar to here - paracetamol/ibuprofen for everything except the most extreme circumstances.

[puncturedbicycle]

Sometimes women are given opiates during childbirth so I would assume that there has been no established risk to the fetus in the short term.

[helen0701]

Maybe I read the article wrong but my interpretation is that the Overprescribing of opiate drugs in the USA is leading to more use of street opiates in the usa

[puncturedbicycle in reply to helen0701]

Yes helen0701 I think you're right, that is what they're saying, but I think it is far more complex than that. A lot of these meds being sold on the street, where they are more expensive than heroin. I think the article implies that anyone may be accidentally hooked because they get a little backache. In my experience, though there must be unethical/illicit prescribing going on, for most doctors these drugs are verboten, partly because they attract addicts shopping for scripts. There are signs in doctors' surgeries saying that oxycontin and the like are not prescribed.

I think it is a scaremongering article and I've had many excellent experiences with American health care. I'm just a bit cheesed off - but I'll get over it.

[Duchy82]

I don't understand how anyone can get addicted to codeine i projectile vomit if i take them there's nothing euphoric about that :S. Similar ones like tramadol also make me feel pretty sick so i try and avoid them at all cost.

I have known one of my friends to be prescribed codeine whilst pregnant i dont think she took much of it though because of being pregnant in the first place.

[shaws Administrator]

It does say that many deaths are due to prescription drugs. I remember a few years ago someone I know who suffers pain was ecstatic about a new drug which was prescribed. She urged my sister to get GP to prescribe. A few weeks later the friend phoned to say her GP had contacted her to stop meds immediately. It was Vioxx a new 'wonder drug' which was causing heart attacks.

nbcnews.com/id/6192603/ns/h...

bmj.com/content/334/7585/120

[puncturedbicycle in reply to shaws]

People are abusing prescription painkillers as well as heroin, as they always have done. Many many people who are overdosing are buying them on the street. Almost 20 years ago I worked with homeless people who were selling their DF118s so they could buy their drugs of choice. Opiates are problematic.

I don't understand the connection with Vioxx.

[shaws Administrator in reply to puncturedbicycle]

Only that it was a prescribed painkiller and people want pain relief.

I saw an advert on TV the other night for an over-the-counter painkiller describing the benefits of the active ingredients. and people with severe pain would probably buy, but in very small print at the bottom of the advert was 'do not use for more than 3 days' so I imagine it must be quite strong.

[puncturedbicycle in reply to shaws]

Well there are various issues with otc painkillers, one being that you shouldn't self-medicate indefinitely in case your pain is caused by something serious, another being that no meds are completely risk-free. Even taking nothing more dangerous than aspirin every day can cause clotting problems, bruising and serious gastrointestinal issues. The strength of the meds is only one element among many.

The important thing is to be informed and to care for yourself.

[Houghton73shaw]

I really think the worse one is tramadol, I had to take it for pain when I had Gallbladder problems but once I'd had it removed I found it difficult just to stop as I had been taking for almost 4 months. Then when my problems with joints started last September I was told to take them again...and now I have my lupus diagnosis I am still having to take them...last night, had major pains in feet and hips...before I got any relief I'd had to take 6 in a 10 hr period! Apparently Tramadol is up there with the worst of the class a drugs! Nobody mentioned the addictive nature when I was first prescribed...

[shaws Administrator in reply to Houghton73shaw]

I am really sorry you have had a very bad experience with Tramadol. We don't really know the affect a prescribed medication will have on a particular person. When it has such an adverse affect as you've had it's awful.

Do you also have a thyroid gland problem too? If so, what medication are you taking.

[Houghton73shaw]

I certainly do.... I have been Hypo for 15years and taking levothyroxine. I have just actually had a phone call from my GP. I have been on 250 mcg for a year but over the last few months TSH was very high! She's asked me to increase to 300 mcg and repeat bloods in 3 weeks!

[shaws Administrator in reply to Houghton73shaw]

Would your GP not consider adding some T3 to your levo as T3 is the active hormone that our cells need?