Dontpunishpain

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    OPIOIDS ARE EFFECTIVE FOR CHRONIC PAIN

    Contrary to what the mainstream media and "anti-opioid" lobbyists would have you believe, legally prescribed opioid painkillers DO actually work for chronic pain. Opioids have been used for thousands of years to provide relief from pain, so why is there a mis-perception or inference in recent times they should only be used for acute pain?

    In America the CDC Opioid Prescribing Guidelines state there is "insufficient evidence to determine long-term benefits of opioid therapy for chronic pain" [SEE LINK BELOW], and in Australia we are told there is a "lack of evidence for opioids in the management of chronic non-cancer pain" [i.e. based on the International Assoc. for the Study of Pain Policy Document February 2018].

    Many anti-opioid activists claim there is “no evidence” or "insufficient evidence" opioids work long-term, yet there are NO high quality, placebo controlled studies routinely conducted for longer than 3 months. Therefore, to say there is no evidence is "a misleading statement, because non-opioid pain medications and alternative treatments are not studied for long periods either."

    IF there are no reputable or "good studies" that go beyond 3 months [i.e. due to funding and other regulatory and scientific restrictions], surely the absence of evidence is NOT evidence of absence? There is a silent majority of responsible chronic pain patients, using their opioid pain killers safely and successfully for many years, yet their voice is not being heard.

    #research #CDC #IASP #OpioidCrisis #PainManagement #Opioids #Painrelief #prescriptionopioids #Dontpunishpain #ChronicPain #PainManagement #OpioidEpidemic #OpioidCrisis #opioidtapering #forcetapering #Dependence #Addiction #opioidprescribingguidelines #OpioidHysteria #fearofopioids #opioidrestrictions #chronicpainpatients #deprescribingopioids #abandonment #untreatedpain #OpioidUseDisorder #SubstanceAbuse #PainKillers #StopTheStigma #Holisticcare #qualityoflife #noonesizefitsall

    www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2018/5/3/study-finds-opioid-...

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    What is Success?

    (cw: opioid forced taper, chronic pain)

    I'm a writer/poet and I mentioned to my therapist (for medical PTSD) that I wanted to practice doing spoken word poetry but was having a hard time coming up with a topic. She recommended I write what's been bothering me the most in healthcare right now. The following snarkiness is what flowed out. I don't intend to ever use this for anything other than practice but, being the perfectionist that I am, I thought I'd share it here to get some feedback. Anything else I should add? TIA

    ...

    Dear doctors,

    I must refuse your
    (rather smugly satisfied)
    congratulations for
    "getting off opiates"
    since this decision
    was made without me.

    Rather, this course of (non)treatment
    was built upon
    political maneuvers
    scapegoating
    pain patients
    in 10-second sound bites
    on the evening news
    (because adding "illicit-" to "opioid epidemic" is just too long).

    Guidelines misapplied
    and revoked
    still have life
    when bolstered by
    misunderstood
    and misapplied science
    (and a few outright lies);
    then fulfilled by
    frightened doctors
    trying to help patients
    without blowing up
    their healthcare careers
    in a political minefield.

    What success is it that you see?

    Stealing my pain relief
    was successful
    in a noticable increase
    in number of days spent
    unable to get out of bed
    and number of nights spent
    staring at the ceiling
    hoping I'll die before I awaken
    to another day
    in
    this
    much
    pain.

    It's been successful
    in making my loved ones
    victims of angry outbursts
    and cancelled plans.

    It's excelled
    in rapidly increasing
    • sleepless nights (check)
    • brain fog (check)
    • memory loss (check)

    It has successfully
    morphed my life
    from sort of OK
    to more difficult than liveable
    with frequent moments of impossible.

    And it has had
    wildly successful gains
    (if you're talking about weight).

    If the true measure of achievement
    is counted in teardrops
    then I really am
    the pinnacle of success.

    ...

    #MightyPoets #PTSD #MedicalPtsd #Opiods #OpioidStigma #Opiodsforchronicpain #Dontpunishpain

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    A Day in My Life #Dontpunishpain

    I wake up most mornings if I haven't already awakened in the middle of the night with painsomnia. I wake up feeling sick. I wake up feeling like I have the Flu. The muscle aches, the chills or sweats, and the sore eyes and the headache. But I don't have the flu. I just feel like it. I do have #Fibromyalgia and #EDS #sjogrens and #dyautonomia but I feel like I have the flu pretty much all of the time. I have nausea, gut aches and pains. And my joints, all of them, feel like acid burning and stalagmites, and I can't get warm enough or I can't get cool enough. And I wake up with rashes I didn't go to bed with. And rashes or blisters I had when I was going to sleep have disappeared. I'd think I was losing my mind if I hadn't taken pictures of these things.

    My joints go out more than I do and they go out at night quite often. I awaken and take an inventory of where my ankle is, and wonder if my knee will be where I left it. And it is anyones guess if my hips will be in place or will have slid just enough out of joint to render me in even more pain that my baseline and render my bedrest until I can coax them to get back into alignment by gentle rolling or by pushing them where they need to go. And I hope I don't do damage to cartilage or tendons; it really isn't possible to do any more damage to my ligaments, because they are already like silly string already.

    And I drink water by the Litre. And I'm nauseated and hungry all at the same time. And foods don't always taste good and everything I eat causes abdominal pain; my gut all over hurts. I can drink water without pain. Propel hurts. Simple boiled rice hurts. Mashed potatoes hurt. Applesauce hurts. Bananas hurt. Crackers hurt. Grilled peanut butter sandwiches, my comfort food, hurts. And the nausea remains and washes over me with sweats and chills and I'm drenched in sweats from the tip of my toes to the top of my head and everywhere in between. And fruit hurts. And salads hurt. Yes, everything I eat hurts except for water. And so i try to eat things that hurt me less. So, i don't eat fried foods. I don't eat fast food. I can no longer drink coffee and take some solace in a cup of tea.

    MyPainPointOfView

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    #Scaredoftomorrows #Pain #PainMedication #Dontpunishpain

    With my prescription refill yesterday, I am officially at half the dosage of my pain medication that has been working for me for the past 11 years. The pain management center has informed me that the government regulation wants me even lower. With the dosage I was on, and after multiple surgeries to my spine and joints, I sat so comfortably at a level 3 most days. Of course there were bad days were there were multiple spikes and needed additional help like massages, heat therapy or just staying in bed. Now, I’m lucky if I can get lower than a 5 but sit at a 7.
    Right now, I am laying on the floor with tears running down my face, waiting for my meds to kick in for some relief at all. Life is now about chasing pain rather than managing pain. ***The only reason I’m on the floor is that my dog is sleeping comfortably there and I need to be by her, she makes me feel a little better.
    I ‘m relatively young at 47 and cannot imagine living possibly another 30 or so years like this.
    I keep hearing that there are alternatives to medication. If it’s out there, I’ve tired it! And on top of that, insurance won’t pay for most of it because they deem it “unnecessary”.
    It is such a loose, loose situation.

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