This is rediculous. An epidemic is sweeping North America.

The DEA estimates 7 million people abused prescription opiates in 2007 in the United States.

"They come in a bottle, and in a nice little pill, no fuss no muss. Only they're just as destructive, if not more so, than heroin and cocaine."

The brain doesn't know the difference between OxyContin and heroin," said Randy Viers, director of Olalla Recovery Centers, where treatment of patients with prescription opiate dependence has more than doubled since 2003. "An opiate is an opiate is an opiate."

"The problem of prescription painkiller abuse is much bigger than people realize," said Dr. Clifford Woolf, director of the neural plasticity group and professor of anesthesia research at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and Harvard Medical School.
"No other drug type in the last 20 years had been so abused in such a short period of time," he said. "It's an epidemic."

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I find it very odd that many of the articles and information about this opiate epidemic are nowhere to be found in the news or on the net. Also, the pharmaceutical companies are recording record profits and are in complete denial there is a major problem.

[imanaddict]

Thanks for posting that! Us addicts have lined the pockets of the pharmaceutical companies, but not only are we paying them $$, we are paying with our health, our lives, the lives of the people we love, our lying, stealing, possible jail time...but NO! There's no problem!

Dr. Clifford Woolf hit the nail on the head..."The problem with prescription painkiller abuse is much bigger than people realize"

Sooooo many people don't understand just how bad it is and  don't look at it being in the same category as heroin, but it is! And it's growing! There are even commercials talking about parents not realizing their teens are getting high off the stuff in their medicine cabinets.

I wonder how this will all play out over the next 10 years?

[Josephtyler]

I don't mean to sound politically radical, but the technology to make pills harder to abuse, give less feelings of euphoria but still kill pain has been around for years. Why then, are the drug companies dodging and taking there time to implement these safeguards. I know a few have done a couple measures to stop abusablity, but they implemented those fixes while kicking and screaming.

[10356]

As drug companys give free samples to Dr.s  with the Dr. I have these samples they are free give it a try and see if it helps.. the dealer also does this as he knows do this a couple of times they will be back.. then you start charging them money.. once hooked you have a regular customer.. all about the mighty dollar.. lesa

[lifespercs]

I buddy, been reading a few of your posts, love em... I myself, still on the Oc's, don't have much room to talk about much of anything, yet... But, I must agree, I unfortunately have been on the so called "drug scene" for a lot of years, and it's insane how many people are hooked on the prescription meds... Even ten years ago, it wasn't this bad... and it's only going to get worse... whoever said the brain doesn't knwo the difference in heroin and and the Oc's is damn right....and I would also, like to add that an addict's dirty litlle secret doesn't seem so dirty anymore, when it's coming from their family physician and in a bottle with their own name printed on it too... but it's just abou the same damn thing, I've been on both sides of the track.... these prescription meds are almost worse, b/c it doesn't seem as naughty for lack of a better word.. I dunno, but I'm lovin' your posts:)

[I_want_out]

I wrote a huge letter to my congressman in Nevada, and copied it to a representative in congress (White House) and of course you know they will NEVER read it. Or, even better, they already know and REFUSE to do ANYTHING about it. People die EVERY DAY from this, and the only ones who seem to care are those here. I stated that in my message to all these people. Do you think I would get ANY response? Nope, and I never will. So yes it will get worse, more will die.....and more, by the thousands will enter this forum for help. Thank god for MEDHELP ONLINE!

[Josephtyler]

This really pisses me off. 10356 said it best. It is all about profit. Instead of the shady guy dealing on the corner, its Purdue and Mallinckrodt pushing these drugs onto Doctors. You know what I see when I go to my pain doctors office? I see a mouse pad advertisement for Kadian (Morphein Extended release) showing all the colorfull choices and doses, "just right for you!!" at the front desk, I see those jelly keyboard wrist supports with opiate meds advertised all over them. Then I see doctors dishing this stuff out like it is candy (I know many people who go to the same center I go to). It took me 4 months, to go from 5mg percocet, to these scripts: 60mg oxycontin 3 times a day AND 30mg oxycodone twice daily. And I had never used before!!!!!! This is how fast they upped my dose, just by me saying "it does not work as well as it did, I am still in a lot of pain"

[C8H10N4O2]

I found myself in the exact same spot as you...  The docs just kept piling on the meds.  I kept asking what the alternatives were and there wasn't much I could do.  So far, I'm 4 days in to detoxing 60 - 80 mg of hydrocodone and I'm not dead and I actually feel like I can handle the pain.

I can't wait to go to my next pain doc appointment and tell her I'm not taking anything.

That look on her face will be awesome.

Matt

[LateAugust]

My simple story.  My daughter started with pot  and after more drugs than I can count she reached oxy.  No doctor involved, she wasn't in pain, but found her ultimate high, railing oxy, bought off the street.......... just as all of her "druggie" friends got their oxy.  It had nothing to do with a dr. over or under or wrongly prescribing,  it was soley by her own hand.   And the dealers   a lot get it from Mexico......  and from  well you know how it goes.

I am on a committee in my state that has started an oxy awareness program, with the police, for parents, because most like me, are so shocked and ashamed of their kid using, it is hard to reach out for help. Oxy is an expensive habit and touches a lot of "affluent" people, that think drug addiction won't touch their lives.    We are in the early stages of our organization,  but extremely dedicated that we not loose one more child from a drug overdose.  It has been amazing the support we have received from the medical field as well as political reps,  law enforcement  and the pharmacies in providing us with much needed info, materials and direction.

There is no one I can sit and blame my daughter's addiction on,  but I can get involved in every community awareness program related to prescription drug addicition.   Even if that  includes  creating a new non-profit org. to fight for our children.    There is a lot we all can be doing, other than passing blame......  and trust me I have incredible guilt of what I did to cause my daughter to become a hard core oxy addict,  but that guilt contributes nothing to trying to slow down this epidemic of prescription drug addiction.

[goldenarm]

I actualy ran out of my scrip early and was in mexico on buisness and paid to see a dr who said they werent alowed to prescribe oxycontin in mexico...

[teko]

I just heard on the news, that here in Florida, out of 20,000 children in foster care 1 out of every 5 or 6 children are on psychotic meds to control their behavior. Some as young as 3. In many cases no one has signed off for permission to prescribe these drugs. After investigating it, it was found that these meds are being given to children to make them easier for the adults to control behaviours. And that is just the foster program that was investigated. What did we do before, up until about 20 years ago? How did we ever raise our kids without drugs? Now it is add, adhd, depression etc, etc, etc.  I think our children are the latest guinea pigs to make the pharmaceutical companies and the doctors even richer.  Why cant people c this ahead of time?

[ChronicPain1]

People abusing these meds make me so angry, because I'm in terrible chronic pain and it took me years to be prescribed anything because of those people.

Now the epidemic that is pain is just as bad, if not much worse. Problem is doctors treat everyone like a pill seeker and an addict because others choose to abuse them.

[NautyOne]

Considering North America has a population of over 500 million--if I stand correct---7 million is quite the drop in the bucket.......probably why addiction is looked at, or considered a low risk, or side effect when it comes to opiate use???  

I hated Statistics and the math that goes with it, but I would guess that in reality that  the percentage is pretty low when it comes to "abuse" in those who are prescribed or even taking opiates on a CP basis?.......dunno

nauty.........

[ChronicPain1]

Well the studies I've seen stated that under 3% of Chronic patients prescribed opiates with no prior abuse history become addicted. Mind you this requires knowing that dependence and addiction aren't the same thing, which many seem to ignore.

I don't think it's a drop in the bucket so to speak, addiction is terrible of course. I myself am addicted to nicotine and this gives me the ability to know for sure that my opiate use is not an addiction. When I stop taking opiates I do not crave them, the only time I truly want them is when the pain is bad enough. When I become tolerant to the meds I don't get upset or take extra, and in fact have just stopped taking them when they don't work. When I was on Percocet for a minor surgery after a month they didn't work for me and actually made me irritated to take them, so I stopped.

But don't think I'm trying to underplay the risk of addiction at all or say I'm better than someone who got hooked. They just don't give me a "good" feeling, they take the pain away and that's why I use them. I got hooked on cigarettes because I was weak and overestimated my strength, and the withdrawals from nicotine are horrendous for me.

[ChronicPain1]

By definition Nicotine isn't a narcotic.

"a drug that produces numbness or stupor; often taken for pleasure or to reduce pain; extensive use can lead to addiction"

Also, I'm not addicted to opiates and i'm addicted to nothing but nicotine, so that's an incorrect assement. I'm addicted to nicotine because I kept smoking for a while until I got hooked, mentally and physically. I can stop taking opiates at any time and do not crave them, want them or anything. It's completely different.

[NautyOne]

Ok, chronicpain.........humor me and stop taking them for just 3 days straight and tell me howz you feelz.........you ever get this feeling with some people, like fingernails on a chalkboard ........sqreeeccchhhhh...........

Maybe think about taking the "Nauty Challenge"???......

Nauty..........

[ChronicPain1]

I have stopped taking them for 3 days, even stopped taking them for over a month. Just recently I was changed to Fentanyl at HALF the dose I should have been conversion wise, and the patch didn't work at all. No serious withdrawals or cravings, nothing.

At most I get a little irritable and have to use the bathroom a lot. That's normal physical withdrawal, but I do not crave them in the least. Mind you I am in no way saying I'm amazing or immune to addictions, I'm horribly hooked on nicotine. THIS is how I know what addiction is, when I stop smoking for a day I lose my mind, can't sleep, sweat and freak out. Quitting opiates is nothing like that for me.