Reply to Opiates vs. Cannibis.

Forum Index » Health and Medicine

Reply to "Opiates vs. Cannibis."

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have neuropathy as well as a chronic pain condition and am treated with Gabapentin for the neuropathy and opiates for the chronic pain condition.   Other posters are absolutely right.  If you have straight-up neuropathy with no other conditions, then you should be treated with Gabapentin or Lyrica as a first-step remedy.

Additionally, OP, I respect your concern about addiction and opiates; I have had the same fear and have discussed it with multiple physicians, especially since my mom was addicted to benzos and alcohol.
[b]
However, if opiates truly ARE the best way to treat a condition (and I agree that they're not for neuropathy), then you CAN take them, even long-term, without addiction.[/b]  To be sure, you need to work with a doctor to wean off of the medication if/when you're able to come off (some conditions really do end up requiring years of dosing, especially if you're not able to use a pain pump or a spinal cord stimulator).  Dependence and addiction are two different issues and are managed entirely differently.

I'm posting this because I am among those suffering from long-term chronic pain or cancer whose ability to have a reasonable quality of life can be compromised by the restrictive approach to opiates.  We absolutely need better regulation -- there is no question about that -- but there is also a danger in making access nearly impossible for some patients.  I'm lucky because I have an excellent pain management team, but not everyone is in this position.

One note: typically, pain management physicians will not prescribe both medical marijuana and opiates and I am presuming Gabapentin/Lyrica -- it's a 'one or the other.' [/quote]

That's a dangerous gamble. Millions of Americans have become addicts with this exact advice from doctors. If you have ANY disposition to addiction, even if you've never touched a mind altering substance in your life, you are playing Russian roulette. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics