Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many people hooked on heroin now -did- have the right choices modeled for them. And yet they turned to drugs anyway.

Look. Go read a book, one that explains addiction. In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, the one mentioned above, is great. Until you do that, you're just going to continue looking dumb because those of us who have taken the time to understand this issue know that there is a lot more to addiction than drugs and making one bad choice.

NP. Whatever , slice it any way you want . It's still a matter of choice

I've been on daily opiates for about five years, and have never taken more than the prescribed amount/usually take less. I was so scared to start taking opiates because of all the 'it only takes one time!!' etc scare tactics, but all it does for me is keep my pain to a dull roar so I can work, take care of my family, and sleep a few hours a night. It is frustrating to have to refill my rx's exactly the same day every month and having to go to the dr so often because of controlled substance laws.

The current research shows that people with happy, stable lives are less prone to addiction than people with undiagnosed mental health issues (lots of people self-Medicare), unstable family life, etc.

Anonymous wrote:Has the heroin epidemic touched you or anyone in your immediate circle?

Taking drugs, just like smoking and drinking, is a CHOICE. I have zero sympathy for drug addicts or alcoholics. Unfortunately, they ruin many other lives with their addictions.

Anonymous wrote:I find it interesting that several people seem to easily obtain opioids from their doctor. I have had chronic pain for 5 years that has destroyed my quality of life, and it's next to impossible to get any opioid. I've seen dozens of doctors and pain medicine was a last resort to me.

One time i was given percocet for 30 days and then the doctor went on some rant about abusing drugs, DEA, etc. Some doctors have signs that say that they won't even talk about opioids! A friend of mine has chronic pain and has been taking opioids for approx 10 years, as prescribed. He was obviously chemically dependent, which is a given, but never abused the drug. The doctor cut him off and then he ran into the same problem as me. He ended up having to go to a methadone clinic to obtain opioids, which actually is great for chronic pain because it stays in your system for so long. The whole opioid problem is horrible, but the backlash against doctors has definitely had a horrible impact on my life and I'm sure many others with chronic pain.

Agreed. It's extremely difficult to get opioids in my experience. My mom needs a low dose of percocet for her 4 herniated discs in her back. Without this she is crippled and really cannot move. With the percocet she leads a full and happy life. Getting enough percocet is very difficult though. You can't get more than a month supply and they won't fill the prescription ahead of time. So all vacations are planned around going to her pain management clinic and when she can get a new prescription. She needs to move, but can't because she can't find a pain management clinic to take her in the new state. It looks like drug seeking behavior.

I will say that I think a lot of the heroin epidemic is because people think you should never be in pain. You need to delay taking pain management drugs until you can barely function and then take the lowest dose possible. If you have an ongoing condition, you will always be in some amount of pain.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, a young mother who OD'd and left behind a 4 year old. Tragic.

Kid is better off with a dead mother than a junkie in his/her life.

You are a terrible human being, PP.

Have you seen what having a junkie for a mother does to kids? No? I have, in both my professional and personal life. The kid is better off with a dead mother, than a mother who is using.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep, dd has wealthy friends from private school who were hooked on heroin. Fortunately, one is in recovery. The other is off heroin but continues to use other drugs.

so sad.

No, it's not. Heroin users are garbage people. They destroy the lives of everyone around them and then they destroy themselves. The faster they die, the better off everyone else is.

No one should be called "garbage people". And you know nothing about addiction.

I know lots about addiction. I have had multiple people in my family die from heroin use. It was their choice. They had multiple opportunities to make other choices. They wreaked untold amounts of havoc on their family, friends and employers before they died. We would have all been better off if they died years earlier.

They're garbage and the faster you dispose of garbage the better off society is.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep, dd has wealthy friends from private school who were hooked on heroin. Fortunately, one is in recovery. The other is off heroin but continues to use other drugs.

so sad.

Not any sadder than a poor person hooked on heroin.

NP thank you

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone here knows someone who is affected by heroin or one of its first cousins, known by pharmaceutical names like Tramadol, Xanax, OxyContin, Hydrocodone... It's everywhere.

It was amazing to me how quickly a doctor prescribed Tramadol for a back problem for me. I had been on non-prescription NSAIDs, and asked if there was something stronger I could be taking (I was talking about in the NSAID family), and he prescribed Tramadol without telling me what it was. I got the prescription filled and then looked it up before taking it. I was shocked. Dealing with really bad back pain has got to be better than a lifetime addiction to pain pills and eventually worse.

I can't believe how casually doctors prescribe this stuff, and this was in 2015, so people knew what was going on by then.

Oh, and I never went back to that doctor again.

IMHO doctors like these should face stricter consequences. Over prescribing narcotic painkillers is a violation of the Oath.

When doctors don't prescribe narcotics, then patients are distraught because their pain is being controlled adequately. Doctors can't win in this situation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep, dd has wealthy friends from private school who were hooked on heroin. Fortunately, one is in recovery. The other is off heroin but continues to use other drugs.

so sad.

Nope

It is much harder to get addicted to Tramadol than other opiates. The scheduling is different, and it is considered far milder than, say Vicodin. That said, it is possible to get hooked on Tramadol, it's just far less easy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone here knows someone who is affected by heroin or one of its first cousins, known by pharmaceutical names like Tramadol, Xanax, OxyContin, Hydrocodone... It's everywhere.

It was amazing to me how quickly a doctor prescribed Tramadol for a back problem for me. I had been on non-prescription NSAIDs, and asked if there was something stronger I could be taking (I was talking about in the NSAID family), and he prescribed Tramadol without telling me what it was. I got the prescription filled and then looked it up before taking it. I was shocked. Dealing with really bad back pain has got to be better than a lifetime addiction to pain pills and eventually worse.

I can't believe how casually doctors prescribe this stuff, and this was in 2015, so people knew what was going on by then.

Oh, and I never went back to that doctor again.

IMHO doctors like these should face stricter consequences. Over prescribing narcotic painkillers is a violation of the Oath.

Anonymous wrote:Regarding why some people get hooked on pills and others do not, I think there are differences in how each person metabolizes them. I loved Vicodin the first time I took it. I never took more than the prescribed dose, which was minimal (5 mg, 2-3x day) and every time, it made me feel euphoric. I never had to take more to continue getting that feeling. I loved it so much that I stayed on it for 3 years, and my pain management clinic was only too happy to oblige. Finally stopped taking it and realized how much it had dulled my emotions and sense of joy. Feel like myself again.

Right - I totally agree. For example, I randomly used to occasionally smoke a cigarette or two while out drinking in college. After a little while I felt like the cigarettes made me sick and so I just stopped. Other people's bodies have a totally different reaction and they become addicted.

I'm not addicted to substances but I am addicted to the internet (like probably most people here). The book Beautiful Ruins described it accurately... she woke up and took a digital hit...

Ugh I want to work on it!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone here knows someone who is affected by heroin or one of its first cousins, known by pharmaceutical names like Tramadol, Xanax, OxyContin, Hydrocodone... It's everywhere.

It was amazing to me how quickly a doctor prescribed Tramadol for a back problem for me. I had been on non-prescription NSAIDs, and asked if there was something stronger I could be taking (I was talking about in the NSAID family), and he prescribed Tramadol without telling me what it was. I got the prescription filled and then looked it up before taking it. I was shocked. Dealing with really bad back pain has got to be better than a lifetime addiction to pain pills and eventually worse.

I can't believe how casually doctors prescribe this stuff, and this was in 2015, so people knew what was going on by then.

Oh, and I never went back to that doctor again.

Anonymous wrote:Everyone here knows someone who is affected by heroin or one of its first cousins, known by pharmaceutical names like Tramadol, Xanax, OxyContin, Hydrocodone... It's everywhere.

It was amazing to me how quickly a doctor prescribed Tramadol for a back problem for me. I had been on non-prescription NSAIDs, and asked if there was something stronger I could be taking (I was talking about in the NSAID family), and he prescribed Tramadol without telling me what it was. I got the prescription filled and then looked it up before taking it. I was shocked. Dealing with really bad back pain has got to be better than a lifetime addiction to pain pills and eventually worse.

I can't believe how casually doctors prescribe this stuff, and this was in 2015, so people knew what was going on by then.

I'm the person who recommended that book a few weeks ago! Thank you for reading it, and thank you for posting this. All these "personal choice and responsibility" posters make me sick. It's pretty hard to know what the right choices are when nobody ever modeled them for you, and your brain never gave you a chance to practice making healthy choices. We all have vices. We all turn to external sources to soothe our emotional states every once in a while.

And I thank you for recommending that book. I work in public health policy for HHS and it's remarkable to me how little we know about, let alone consider, the impact of adverse childhood experiences. I'm encouraged to read recently that the Kentucky state department of health has named it as a public health priority. We do spend a lot (though not nearly enough) on post-natal care and early childhood for kids born into poverty, but then care for children and young adults just sort of falls off. And this book made understand, for the first time, that so much lifelong damage can happen in developing brains just from the stress levels of the mother when she's pregnant. There's also the study of the missed brain development that happens when child and mother are separated even for short periods in the first few months of life. It puts the issue of maternity leave in a whole new light, and that cuts across socioeconomic status.

Ultimately, we continue to look at poverty and the opioid epidemic as matter of personal choice/responsibility, but we've failed in so many preventable ways as a society and culture. Again, across SES.

I'm also overwhelmed and appalled by the stories of child abuse in this book. There have been many times when I've had to put it down and walk away for awhile.