Posted by greenhornet on October 26, 2005, at 10:45:39
In reply to Re: ritalin .. » zoolin, posted by ed_uk on October 24, 2005, at 14:18:24
As one who was at one time in a somewhat similar , situation, and believe me, you have my prayers. There was a wonderful article in AARP magazine about people who must live in chronic pain mainly due to physicians who are afraid to prescribe opiates in the proper doses or fail to prescribe them AT ALL because they feel the DEA is breathing down their necks and/or they are afraid of the patient becoming "addicted".
From this article:
"in reality, for those using opioids as prescribed, the likelihood of addiction is extremely low, according to research. "It's really an unwarranted fear," says Christine Miaskowski, former president of the American Pain Society. Many patients do become physiologically dependent—meaning they'd go through withdrawal syndrome if they quit cold turkey—but this is a normal condition that can be managed by tapering down the dosage. It's not the same as addiction, which requires psychological dependence. Experts say patients with a history of drug abuse can safely use opioids too, as long as they are carefully monitored by their physicians to avoid a recurrence of their abusive behaviors."You can read the article in its entirety at"
http://www.aarpmagazine.org/health/prisoners_pain.htmlWhile I was on Ritalin (prescribed by my psychiatrist) I developed sever and debilitating pain from an old injury. I was given Fentnyl by an orthopedist. I took both medications AS PRESCRIBED. When my then-family-doc found out about both meds, he flipped out. Worse yet when I came in to see another physician in the same practice, I overheard my former MD telling the second guy I was seeing (For what turned out to be a broken foot) that I was a "med seeking addict who is already on all kinds of crap" -- Needless to say, I do not see those docs any longer. I sued for slander - it was settled out of court and the first doc had to pay!
So -- is it ADDICTION? is it ABUSE? or is it relief, that brings with it the ability to function as close to normal as possible?? Can you tell me??!
poster:greenhornet
thread:571265
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051024/msgs/572063.html