Chronic Pain: Risk Management

Over the course of the last hour I came across three separate yet related articles that address the issues regarding the treatment and management of chronic pain.  Below you'll find links to each article so please feel free to offer your perspective about what patients chronic pain patients might need to function, what doctors are up against and the addiction & overdose risks attached to these particular drugs (Oxycontin, methadone, Vicodin, etc).

Pain Management Fails Due to Rx Drug Abuse Fears 

(Pain-Topics.org, January 8, 2010)

"Millions of Americans with significant acute or chronic pain are being undertreated as physicians fail to provide comprehensive pain treatment, according to recent reviews. The failure is due to inadequate training of physicians, personal biases and, increasingly, fears of prescription analgesic drug abuse." Read On...

Managing the Emotional Aspects of Pain 

(Crossroads for Women blog, January 15, 2010)

"A recent article found on CNN.com talked about how living with chronic pain can hurt personal relationships. Michael E. Geisser, a professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Michigan, states in the article, “It has been shown that relationships in which one partner has chronic pain tend to be more strained, have more marital distress, more conflict, and a greater likelihood for divorce.” Read On...

Even Legitimate Opioid Use May Cause Overdose 

(Reuters Health, January 19, 2010)

"Perhaps it's not surprising, but people who take high doses of opioid painkillers even for legitimate medical reasons are at risk of overdosing, new research shows." Read On...


For local and national treatment options, please visit SAMHSA's Treatment Locator at: www.findtreatment.samhsa.gov .  In Maine you can also dial 211 or visit www.211maine.org 

For parents, a child’s addiction also brings social stigma (Patriot Ledger)

(Hat Tip: NOPE TaskForce)

The Patriot Ledger

Posted Jan 09, 2010

BRAINTREE — Bill Brids wakes up every morning knowing that today could be the day his 20-year-old son goes back to heroin. He knows that it could be the day his son dies. It started at 16, when Dave Brids dipped into his mother’s stash of pills. She was dying of cancer. “I was drinking, and one night we couldn’t get beers,” Dave Brids said. “So I tried the drugs (Oxycontin), and I fell in love.” He didn’t know that what he was taking was essentially the same drug he swore he’d never use. Heroin was for junkies. “I looked at it as smoking weed and drinking beer,” Dave Brids said. “Little did I know it was a pharmaceutical form of heroin.”

Read the full story HERE

If you would like more information on treatment options and support for anyone suffering from opiate addiction visit any of these sites:

SAMHSA's Treatment Locator -

http://findtreatment.samhsa.gov/ 

Narcotics Anonymous (Maine) -

www.namaine.org

Maine Office of Substance Abuse -

www.maineosa.org

Portland Public Health Division -
http://substanceabuse.portlandmaine.gov/resourcesforsouthernme.pdf

Peer Pressure is What Made Me Use Drugs and Alcohol (INTERVENE @ DrugFree.org)

"As a young girl, two of the more traumatic things I went through were growing up with an alcoholic parent and my parents’ divorce. I tried to stuff the void I experienced with drugs and alcohol.  I never even considered the idea that I might become an alcoholic or drug addict, and I swore to myself that I would never end up like my father.  However, as I would later find out, the cards were stacked against me.  My family’s long history of drug and alcohol addictions played a huge role in where I ultimately ended up. The lifestyle itself was so familiar to me that it didn’t even register that I wouldn’t be able to stand up to the pressure to succumb to it."

Read the full post: http://intervene.drugfree.org/2009/12/peer-pressure-is-what-made-me-use-drugs-and-alcohol/

Dual Disorders Rarely Treated Properly

By Tom Jackman

Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 28, 2009

"He didn't need to die, he just needed to get better."
The parents of Danny Watt, who died in April 2008, describe their son's struggles with mental illness and the treatment they believe failed him.

Click HERE for the full Washington Post story and HERE for the 5 min video from Danny's parents

Dentists Seen as Source for Prescription Pain Pills

Dentists Seen as Source for Prescription Pain Pills

Individuals addicted to prescription pain medications often turn to dentists as a source for drugs like codeine, Vicodin and OxyContin, CNN reported July 21.

Typically, users will work their way through the phone book, calling dentist after dentist complaining of tooth pain and asking for a prescription. "I kind of found out on my own that a dentist will prescribe you painkillers over the phone, instead of a doctor who you would most likely have to go in and see," said Kenny Morrison, a Los Angeles chef who ironically got addicted to pain pills after having dental work, taking up to 25 pills daily at his worst point. READ ON.

(Shared via AddThis)

Hope, Help & Healing: Using Media to Connect People with Help for Addiction - Part 1 of 2 | Reclaiming Futures Every Day

[Steve Pasierb is President and CEO of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. This is Part 1 of a 2-part post. -Ed.]

"A research-based communications exploratory by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) produced a set of 10 “lessons learned” that can be applicable to all working to communicate with the public on addiction treatment. It also became the foundation of the Partnership’s ongoing collaboration with the Treatment Research Institute (TRI), which has produced a range of innovative, useful new intervention tools like Time To Act."

Go to: Hope, Help & Healing: Using Media to Connect People with Help for Addiction - Part 1 of 2 | Reclaiming Futures Every Day

Go to: Part 2 of 2

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Addiction Behind Bars (NY Times Editorial)

(Hat Tip: The Second Road)

April 12, 2009
"The United States must do more to curb the spread of diseases like AIDS and hepatitis C in prison, where infection rates are high and inmates can easily spread disease through unprotected sex or by sharing needles. Drug treatment in prison is clearly part of the solution. But by some estimates, fewer than one in five inmates who need formal treatment are actually getting it. That’s alarming, given that about half the prison population suffers from drug abuse or dependency problems."
Read On...

Acupuncture Helps Addicted Inmates (Baltimore Sun)

"Beyond the iron gate, the fence and the razor wire, 10 inmates in maroon uniforms sit in stillness, listening to the serene sounds of sitar music. Eyes closed, hands folded, they await the tiny pricks of acupuncture needles being inserted delicately in their ears.

"Ancient Chinese medicine came to Baltimore's jail 16 years ago with the promise of curbing the cravings of drug addiction. Since then, acupuncture has been the centerpiece of a treatment program that serves nearly 700 inmates each year.

"Modern science has not found solid evidence that it works. Still, the inmates claim that with acupuncture, all they crave are the meditative moments it brings. They say it soothes them and helps clear their cluttered minds to find the strength to confront their addiction." Read On...

(Hat tip: Benoit Denizet-Lewis' blog: "America Anonymous")

Dr. Jeffrey Junig takes on the Suboxone-haters

In order to best serve the people I work with, I am always trying to learn as much as I can about addiction and treatment options for addicts. A site that I frequent for such information is from Dr. Jeffrey Junig, a psychiatrist and recovering opiate-addict from Wisconsin who blogs at suboxonetalkzone.com

Dr. Junig's no-nonsense approach, experience, and honesty offer professionals, addicts, and the general public clear answers to their questions about addiction and Suboxone. This week, Dr. Junig posted a YouTube video response to the ever-present anti-Suboxone question, "Isn't it just trading one drug for another?" Dr. Junig's well-thought out and informative video-reply simply addresses the question, "Why do you care so much about people using Suboxone?"

Listen to Dr. Junig's detailed explanation about Suboxone on YouTube