Octopus Overlords

tgb wrote:bringing my stash with me (I'm not sure what that's supposed to show).

tgb wrote:Besides, while the Vicodin helps considerably with the pain, I can't even say that I get that much of a buzz off of it.

Kraken wrote:Do addicts grind them up and snort them, or swallow them by the handful, or what? Or is vicodin just a junior member of that class?

Kraken wrote:Wife got some vicodin for a recent minor surgery. She reports that it is a fine pain reliever, but that there's nothing euphoric about it.

gameoverman wrote:I was never into those kinds of drugs. Last time I was in the hospital for a really bad broken ankle, they gave me a drip for the pain. One of those deals where you can push a button when you need the pain relief(up to a point of course). A nurse came by early on and noticed I wasn't using it. She told me not to be afraid, I won't get addicted. I laughed and said "I don't care if I get addicted or not, I don't like the side effects". .

McNutt wrote:I've never needed opioids (thank God), but I've read so many stories of people who got addicted at the drop of a hat. From my little knowledge, lots of hoops seems appropriate.

gameoverman wrote:This is typical when reactionary policies are implemented. In this case, people are abusing drugs, so they make rules to stop it. Except the only people following these rules are the people who need the drugs, the abusers have alternative methods of acquiring drugs. So the rules really only make things difficult for the people it needs to be easiest for, and does nothing to stop the abuse.

I'm sure the people who always say "We need to do something" feel better though. They can feel like we're doing something about the problem even if we aren't doing something that works.

Lorini wrote:I vomit every hour on the hour with Vicodin and Codeine makes me sick as well. I hope I never ever have to take opiates. I have Etodolac for hip pain and it's been fine.

Jeff V wrote: I think if I ever suffered chronic pain that needed treatment I'd likely lobby for weed. I think. It's been a few decades since I partook.

NBCNews.com wrote: CVS Pharmacy will limit opioid prescriptions to a seven-day supply for certain conditions, becoming the first national retail chain to restrict how many pain pills doctors can give patients.

When filling prescription for opioid pills, pharmacists will also be required to talk to patients about the risks of addiction, secure storage of medications in the home and proper disposal, the retail pharmacy chain said Thursday.

The move by CVS to limit prescription opioids like OxyContin or Vicodin to a seven-day supply is a significant restriction for patients — the average pill supply given by doctors in the U.S. increased from 13 days in 2006 to 18 days 2015, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

dbt1949 wrote:I would drop CVS if I were using them.

After years of addiction, Gaffney’s goals are modest. She wants to raise her child in a normal home. She wants a normal life.

Uebel finishes the examination. “She looks real, real good,” she says.

Gaffney is relieved. She scoops Elliana into her arms and takes her appointment card for her next visit to the clinic in December.

“See you then,” she says.

(Ten days later, Gaffney is dead from a heroin overdose.)

AWS260 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 23, 2018 2:33 pm The Cincinnati Inquirer ran a lengthy story documenting a week in the opioid epidemic in central Ohio. It was published last September, but I wasn't aware of it until it won a Pulitzer last week.

It's devastating and eye-opening and well worth the read. For me, the part that struck hardest wasn't the description of an overdose, but a report from a well-baby visit by a new mom who quit cold turkey when she found out she was pregnant. Her baby is healthy, she's doing well, and in the accompanying video she and the baby are just joyful.

After years of addiction, Gaffney’s goals are modest. She wants to raise her child in a normal home. She wants a normal life.

Uebel finishes the examination. “She looks real, real good,” she says.

Gaffney is relieved. She scoops Elliana into her arms and takes her appointment card for her next visit to the clinic in December.

“See you then,” she says.

(Ten days later, Gaffney is dead from a heroin overdose.)

Daehawk wrote: ↑Mon Apr 23, 2018 6:27 pm Premature ejectalati....ejac.....damnit. Theres a joke there somewhere I just cant find it.

Chrisoc13 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 24, 2018 9:50 am Honestly the crisis is not fabricated, it's certainly real. On the prescriber side I can say the awareness has increased dramatically as have the hoops we have to jump through to prescribe. But along with this there has been a significant amount of research into opioid usage and requirements. In my field (urology) we are actively moving away from narcotics completely for many procedures. The research conducted has shown that the risks outweigh the benefits for much of what we do.

The entire shift requires a huge culture change and a change in mentality, as well as a lot of education. When we initially started drastically cutting back on narcotics prescriptions we would routinely get called by the post operative nurses who were incredulous that we weren't giving narcotics and this not adequately managing the patient's pain after surgery. But now they have seen that the vast majority of our patients have their pain managed by non-narcotic means and have bought in largely as well.

Another compounding issue is that the average lay person has many misconceptions and a general lack of knowledge of what narcotics actually do, what they are good for, and the differences between various narcotics. Most people are completely ignorant about narcotics. We need a much better education strategy aimed at patients. I tend to have to spend a fair amount of time educating patients about why narcotics won't actually solve their problem. Like I said it's a dramatic shift in mentality and culture going on.

In Maine (and most States I presume) all narcotic prescriptions are carefully tracked and we have access to the state database where we can see what people have been prescribed before. With this tracking now mandatory (as of the last couple years) there have been lots of meetings in conferences educating prescribers. One in particular was interesting because the high volume prescribers in Maine were largely dentists. It's a problem they are trying to tackle from multiple fronts, and honestly it's a worthwhile and worthy cause.