[Road Runner]

RR, I am very proud of you.

 

[maelochs]

Most Opioid addicts aren't people who took them for minor surgery and got hooked---they are people who buy them on the street, crush them and smoke them.

I have a pharmacist friend and the problem was states like Florida where there were "pain clinics" where a person could get an "examination" by a "doctor" and get the max prescription with max refills, because "Doc I am in pain."

People would drive down from across the eastern third of the nation. with six people in a van, and all get the max dose at as many places as possibly, then drive home and sell them for huge profits.

A lot of them were kids who stole the drugs their parents were prescribed and didn't take,, found they liked it, found they could buy the stuff, and became drug addicted.

Also ... it isn't all prescription opiates by any means.

A lot of those addicts found out the heroin and fentanyl on the street is cheaper than oxy or whatever, and switched to street drugs.

I read that the Mexican Sinaloa cartel is switching to smuggling fentanyl instead of pot, coke, and heroin because it is so much more profitable. And it isn't profitable because people Aren't addicted. (http://www.ntd.tv/2018/02/10/dea-an...boston-police-seize-enough-fentanyl-to-kill-entire-population-of-massachusetts/) (Near the end, scroll down to the last bold section.)

 

[killerbug]

I recently saw a news item on TV that stated that during 2015, over 1/3 of all Americans had been prescribed an opioid drug for pain. This seems unbelievable, but it was on national news and is on the internet, so it must be true. I have never taken an opioid, except when they were given to me in the hospital after one of my crashes.

How about you? Are you all constantly hopped up on oxycodone and fentanyl?

I get offended by these mocking attitudes about opioids. There are a large number of people in the US that have to take prescription pain killers because we have no choice. I have neurological pain and as the neurologist said after an exhaustive set of tests, the only treatment is narcotics. The hydrocodone I use allows me to live something approaching normalcy, like sleeping at night and holding down a job. The current uproar over opioid addiction and the resulting legislation only makes the lives of legitimate users more hellish. Abusers will still get their drugs anyway. What is interesting is that movement, like riding my recumbent reduces the pain and I take less than if I sat on my tuckus all the time. At 64 yrs being able to feel LESS pain by moving is miraculous.

 

[Guntrainer]

After facial reconstructive surgery following a bout with cancer, I was given a large bottle of Hydro-something. Took a few of them, they are still in the cabinet. Had fentanyl (sp) for a medical procedure. Definitely not for me, don't know why people WANT to feel that way.

 

[kneedrachen]

This may be one of the stupidest threads I've ever seen.

 

[i12ride]

Why? How many are missing?

 

[Hawkowl]

This may be one of the stupidest threads I've ever seen.

How so? There are many people who owe their lives to opoids. At the same time many have taken their own lives because they could not obtain relief from devouring monster pain.

A recent public radio presentation by medical people who run the hospital addiction program says it best. They say many, if not most, people are addicted to something. The primary difference between addictions is that some are socially acceptable and some are not. Opoids, while the most publicized, are not the most damaging addiction.

 

[superj]

I have probably been prescribed something but I wouldn't know the name or what it was. I hardly take medication for anything when prescribed because I take advil or aleve or whatever, so little, that aleve works for any pain I ever have. a bottle of aspirin lasts me a few years.

 

[rola643]

H Opoids, while the most publicized, are not the most damaging addiction.

Not more damaging than what for example? I can't think of another addiction that that has the immediate affect Opoids have, certainly not tobacco, or even alcohol. Generally tobacco and alcohol don't make people take their live from the onset, maybe after years pf abuse and the results of cancer and alcoholism take affect.

I guess I'm missing your point in that.

 

[lectrichead]

That is totally untrue - look at the stats, talk to some substance abuse counselors and others who work in the field. People get hooked and THEN they start having to buy them on the streets.

Most Opioid addicts aren't people who took them for minor surgery and got hooked---they are people who buy them on the street, crush them and smoke them.

 

[Hawkowl]

Not more damaging than what for example? I can't think of another addiction that that has the immediate affect Opoids have, certainly not tobacco, or even alcohol. Generally tobacco and alcohol don't make people take their live from the onset, maybe after years pf abuse and the results of cancer and alcoholism take affect.

I guess I'm missing your point in that.

Type 2 Diabetes is a far more pervasive and damaging problem both to the individual and society. It is entirely a self inflicted problem. Tobacco use, while the numbers are improving in some parts of the world, is still a major killer. I could go on.

Our failed and largely poorly thought out drug laws that have driven up prices and created danger are the problem not the drugs.

 

[rola643]

Type 2 Diabetes is a far more pervasive and damaging problem both to the individual and society. It is entirely a self inflicted problem. Tobacco use, while the numbers are improving in some parts of the world, is still a major killer. I could go on.

Our failed and largely poorly thought out drug laws that have driven up prices and created danger are the problem not the drugs.

Agreed but how is type 2 an addiction?

 

[cwtch]

I avoid opioids and most anything besides some beer on occasion. Oh and coffee I drink that on days I work.

 

[longjohn]

I try to avoid Opie, I thought he was too much of a goody two shoes kid and his father the sheriff was too.

 

[i12ride]

So opiods are Opie fan club members? Sorry, my rock is pretty kick @55 so I don't come out from under it very often.

 

[kneedrachen]

Maybe my perspective on opioid use is a bit different that most other folks. I still stand by my original comment.

 

[Hawkowl]

Agreed but how is type 2 an addiction?

It is the result of addiction to food. Much like a drug abuser uses for effect, these people eat for effect. They crave the feeling of lots of sugar and a stomach stuffed to the physical limit.

 

[kneedrachen]

That's a pretty broad brush to paint with and I'll disagree with you on it. Addiction? Or poor dietary choices per budget, education or environment?

 

[rola643]

That's a pretty broad brush to paint with and I'll disagree with you on it. Addiction? Or poor dietary choices per budget, education or environment?

I was kinda wondering how we go to type 2 in this thread...addictions I reckon.

 

[kneedrachen]

So there's an old adage in pre-hospital for NIDDM (Type II Diabetics) of the 3 Fs.

Fat
Flatulent
Flabby

The gist of it is, you'll NIDDM in people that are typically obese, accompanied by GI issues from poor dietary choices and very low lean muscle mass but high amount of lipid tissue.

While I do not deny, there are folks that have a food addiction (I'll admit to the Oreo or dark chocolate binge during certain times of stress), I think (and just my opinion) people that eat a bag of potato chips, guzzle a 72oz regular soda followed by friend onion rings and a greasy burger make poor dietary choices and no ncessarily an addiction. Why? IT IS SO EASY TO TAKE THE EASY WAY OUT! No food prep! No clean up! No need to get out of your car at the drive through!. Coupled with the GI distress these choices make and the lack of exercise, your body can no longer maintain a healthy homeostasis. Enter NIDDM. I believe genetics loads the gun, but dietary habits pull the trigger.

Addiction? Maybe some folks self-medicate with food, but I believe the burden is on dietary choices rather than addiction.

Hell, look at a group of Americans out and about compared to 20 years ago.