Good call by trump.

[USN_Hokie]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... -emergency

I'm against the Reagan war on drugs. I don't do pot, but don't believe govt should criminalize it. That is a massive waste of taxpayer $ and human capital.

I do think trump needs to come down like a ton of bricks on Dr's that are overprescribing opioids. I'd ban big pharma from marketing opioids, ban any gift at all to any Dr from a company that sells opioids and stop this at the source. The medical community and big pharma are group zero of this mess and trump should starve their profit incentives.

You think advertising is the problem with opioid addiction?

Doctors are writing the prescriptions. They're doing so because they don't want to get sued.

Doctors are writing prescriptions because it's the easy way out. Medicating and masking makes it go away -- until the next visit. They aren't being paid enough, particularly those in rural areas where the opioid problem is most severe, to spend the necessary time to fully diagnose and treat the variety of ailments they are seeing. And their patients are on Medicaid so the reimbursements are small and the paperwork too big to do lengthy evaluations and true treatments.

I think we're saying pretty much the same thing (and again, advertisements have nothing to do with it).

Almost every doctor will tell you that chronic pain (particularly chronic back pain) is a problem between the ears, not in the back. Why it manifests itself like that, I don't know. But, it's no coincidence that opioids and marijuana are effective in treatment.

Everything you said is true, but the fact is that litigation has forced pain to be treated as a symptom and doctors get sued when patients come in reporting pain and aren't treated for it.

So physical trauma and nerve inflammation/impingement play no role in back pain?

It's psychosomatic?

I'm talking about chronic pain. Getting in a car accident and screwing your back up is very real. The chronic pain that people often feel afterwards is often times the manifestation of opioid withdrawal.

[cwtcr hokie]

No they don't, that's just completely false. It's not an imaginary problem at all. Mine looked at the MRI and went over surgery options.

Now ask your doctor for some statistical evidence of how effective surgery is in reducing chronic back pain. It's not.

it totally depends on what is causing the pain, my BIL had surgery many years ago and it helped him immensely, I have had friends that have had it and it failed miserably. I have had some back issues but I use some daily exercises to control the pain and keep it to a min.

I bet your BIL was still on opioids after the surgery....

No, not at all, I use some advil daily for my issues but I don't think he takes anything

[CFB Apologist]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... -emergency

I'm against the Reagan war on drugs. I don't do pot, but don't believe govt should criminalize it. That is a massive waste of taxpayer $ and human capital.

I do think trump needs to come down like a ton of bricks on Dr's that are overprescribing opioids. I'd ban big pharma from marketing opioids, ban any gift at all to any Dr from a company that sells opioids and stop this at the source. The medical community and big pharma are group zero of this mess and trump should starve their profit incentives.

Newsflash...Junkies will find something else to get high on if "opiates" are banned/controlled/massively reduced. And with that, yes they will do junkie things- steal, commit other crimes, prostitute and yes die at high rates.

[USN_Hokie]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... -emergency

I'm against the Reagan war on drugs. I don't do pot, but don't believe govt should criminalize it. That is a massive waste of taxpayer $ and human capital.

I do think trump needs to come down like a ton of bricks on Dr's that are overprescribing opioids. I'd ban big pharma from marketing opioids, ban any gift at all to any Dr from a company that sells opioids and stop this at the source. The medical community and big pharma are group zero of this mess and trump should starve their profit incentives.

Newsflash...Junkies will find something else to get high on if "opiates" are banned/controlled/massively reduced. And with that, yes they will do junkie things- steal, commit other crimes, prostitute and yes die at high rates.

The oxy epidemic led to the heroin epidemic. This is about preventing future junkies

[USN_Hokie]

No they don't, that's just completely false. It's not an imaginary problem at all. Mine looked at the MRI and went over surgery options.

Now ask your doctor for some statistical evidence of how effective surgery is in reducing chronic back pain. It's not.

it totally depends on what is causing the pain, my BIL had surgery many years ago and it helped him immensely, I have had friends that have had it and it failed miserably. I have had some back issues but I use some daily exercises to control the pain and keep it to a min.

I bet your BIL was still on opioids after the surgery....

No, not at all, I use some advil daily for my issues but I don't think he takes anything

Well, neither of us know his particular situation.

[CFB Apologist]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... -emergency

I'm against the Reagan war on drugs. I don't do pot, but don't believe govt should criminalize it. That is a massive waste of taxpayer $ and human capital.

I do think trump needs to come down like a ton of bricks on Dr's that are overprescribing opioids. I'd ban big pharma from marketing opioids, ban any gift at all to any Dr from a company that sells opioids and stop this at the source. The medical community and big pharma are group zero of this mess and trump should starve their profit incentives.

You think advertising is the problem with opioid addiction?

Doctors are writing the prescriptions. They're doing so because they don't want to get sued.

Doctors are writing prescriptions because it's the easy way out. Medicating and masking makes it go away -- until the next visit. They aren't being paid enough, particularly those in rural areas where the opioid problem is most severe, to spend the necessary time to fully diagnose and treat the variety of ailments they are seeing. And their patients are on Medicaid so the reimbursements are small and the paperwork too big to do lengthy evaluations and true treatments.

I think we're saying pretty much the same thing (and again, advertisements have nothing to do with it).

Almost every doctor will tell you that chronic pain (particularly chronic back pain) is a problem between the ears, not in the back. Why it manifests itself like that, I don't know. But, it's no coincidence that opioids and marijuana are effective in treatment.

Everything you said is true, but the fact is that litigation has forced pain to be treated as a symptom and doctors get sued when patients come in reporting pain and aren't treated for it.

LOL- My sciatic nerve beating through my leg like a knife and waking me up in the middle of the night is not mental... Neither is not being able to walk after sleeping on a bad hotel mattress.. that is not mental and you will never convince me otherwise. I hate taking medication- hate it- avoid it..I have never abused opiates - not even close. Chronic back pain to the point of tears is not mental..lol

[awesome guy]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... -emergency

I'm against the Reagan war on drugs. I don't do pot, but don't believe govt should criminalize it. That is a massive waste of taxpayer $ and human capital.

I do think trump needs to come down like a ton of bricks on Dr's that are overprescribing opioids. I'd ban big pharma from marketing opioids, ban any gift at all to any Dr from a company that sells opioids and stop this at the source. The medical community and big pharma are group zero of this mess and trump should starve their profit incentives.

You think advertising is the problem with opioid addiction?

Doctors are writing the prescriptions. They're doing so because they don't want to get sued.

Doctors are writing prescriptions because it's the easy way out. Medicating and masking makes it go away -- until the next visit. They aren't being paid enough, particularly those in rural areas where the opioid problem is most severe, to spend the necessary time to fully diagnose and treat the variety of ailments they are seeing. And their patients are on Medicaid so the reimbursements are small and the paperwork too big to do lengthy evaluations and true treatments.

I think we're saying pretty much the same thing (and again, advertisements have nothing to do with it).

Almost every doctor will tell you that chronic pain (particularly chronic back pain) is a problem between the ears, not in the back. Why it manifests itself like that, I don't know. But, it's no coincidence that opioids and marijuana are effective in treatment.

Everything you said is true, but the fact is that litigation has forced pain to be treated as a symptom and doctors get sued when patients come in reporting pain and aren't treated for it.

So physical trauma and nerve inflammation/impingement play no role in back pain?

It's psychosomatic?

I'm talking about chronic pain. Getting in a car accident and screwing your back up is very real. The chronic pain that people often feel afterwards is often times the manifestation of opioid withdrawal.

Links for that? Doesn't make sense that it would be a localized pain.

My doc said this was likely from scar tissue that continually rips as it's weak. He also said it could just disappear one day.

[HokieJoe]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... -emergency

I'm against the Reagan war on drugs. I don't do pot, but don't believe govt should criminalize it. That is a massive waste of taxpayer $ and human capital.

I do think trump needs to come down like a ton of bricks on Dr's that are overprescribing opioids. I'd ban big pharma from marketing opioids, ban any gift at all to any Dr from a company that sells opioids and stop this at the source. The medical community and big pharma are group zero of this mess and trump should starve their profit incentives.

You think advertising is the problem with opioid addiction?

Doctors are writing the prescriptions. They're doing so because they don't want to get sued.

Doctors are writing prescriptions because it's the easy way out. Medicating and masking makes it go away -- until the next visit. They aren't being paid enough, particularly those in rural areas where the opioid problem is most severe, to spend the necessary time to fully diagnose and treat the variety of ailments they are seeing. And their patients are on Medicaid so the reimbursements are small and the paperwork too big to do lengthy evaluations and true treatments.

I think we're saying pretty much the same thing (and again, advertisements have nothing to do with it).

Almost every doctor will tell you that chronic pain (particularly chronic back pain) is a problem between the ears, not in the back. Why it manifests itself like that, I don't know. But, it's no coincidence that opioids and marijuana are effective in treatment.

Everything you said is true, but the fact is that litigation has forced pain to be treated as a symptom and doctors get sued when patients come in reporting pain and aren't treated for it.

So physical trauma and nerve inflammation/impingement play no role in back pain?

It's psychosomatic?

I'm talking about chronic pain. Getting in a car accident and screwing your back up is very real. The chronic pain that people often feel afterwards is often times the manifestation of opioid withdrawal.

I'm sure the scenario you present certainly happens. However, it also presumes that the medical issue(s) has been solved. I've no doubt that some people are just hooked on the high, but I'm skeptical that chronic pain is always between the ears. People deal with pain differently, so it makes defining addiction more complicated. I realize there's an issue, but we should mind that we don't over react.

[ip_law-hokie]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... -emergency

I'm against the Reagan war on drugs. I don't do pot, but don't believe govt should criminalize it. That is a massive waste of taxpayer $ and human capital.

I do think trump needs to come down like a ton of bricks on Dr's that are overprescribing opioids. I'd ban big pharma from marketing opioids, ban any gift at all to any Dr from a company that sells opioids and stop this at the source. The medical community and big pharma are group zero of this mess and trump should starve their profit incentives.

You think advertising is the problem with opioid addiction?

Doctors are writing the prescriptions. They're doing so because they don't want to get sued.

Good post Cap'n Bullshit!

[ip_law-hokie]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... -emergency

I'm against the Reagan war on drugs. I don't do pot, but don't believe govt should criminalize it. That is a massive waste of taxpayer $ and human capital.

I do think trump needs to come down like a ton of bricks on Dr's that are overprescribing opioids. I'd ban big pharma from marketing opioids, ban any gift at all to any Dr from a company that sells opioids and stop this at the source. The medical community and big pharma are group zero of this mess and trump should starve their profit incentives.

You think advertising is the problem with opioid addiction?

Doctors are writing the prescriptions. They're doing so because they don't want to get sued.

Doctors are writing prescriptions because it's the easy way out. Medicating and masking makes it go away -- until the next visit. They aren't being paid enough, particularly those in rural areas where the opioid problem is most severe, to spend the necessary time to fully diagnose and treat the variety of ailments they are seeing. And their patients are on Medicaid so the reimbursements are small and the paperwork too big to do lengthy evaluations and true treatments.

I think we're saying pretty much the same thing (and again, advertisements have nothing to do with it).

Almost every doctor will tell you that chronic pain (particularly chronic back pain) is a problem between the ears, not in the back. Why it manifests itself like that, I don't know. But, it's no coincidence that opioids and marijuana are effective in treatment.

Everything you said is true, but the fact is that litigation has forced pain to be treated as a symptom and doctors get sued when patients come in reporting pain and aren't treated for it.

A legal expert and a medical doctor in one thread from our Cap'n. I feel blessed.

[ip_law-hokie]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... -emergency

I'm against the Reagan war on drugs. I don't do pot, but don't believe govt should criminalize it. That is a massive waste of taxpayer $ and human capital.

I do think trump needs to come down like a ton of bricks on Dr's that are overprescribing opioids. I'd ban big pharma from marketing opioids, ban any gift at all to any Dr from a company that sells opioids and stop this at the source. The medical community and big pharma are group zero of this mess and trump should starve their profit incentives.

You think advertising is the problem with opioid addiction?

Doctors are writing the prescriptions. They're doing so because they don't want to get sued.

Doctors are writing prescriptions because it's the easy way out. Medicating and masking makes it go away -- until the next visit. They aren't being paid enough, particularly those in rural areas where the opioid problem is most severe, to spend the necessary time to fully diagnose and treat the variety of ailments they are seeing. And their patients are on Medicaid so the reimbursements are small and the paperwork too big to do lengthy evaluations and true treatments.

I think we're saying pretty much the same thing (and again, advertisements have nothing to do with it).

Almost every doctor will tell you that chronic pain (particularly chronic back pain) is a problem between the ears, not in the back. Why it manifests itself like that, I don't know. But, it's no coincidence that opioids and marijuana are effective in treatment.

Everything you said is true, but the fact is that litigation has forced pain to be treated as a symptom and doctors get sued when patients come in reporting pain and aren't treated for it.

LOL- My sciatic nerve beating through my leg like a knife and waking me up in the middle of the night is not mental... Neither is not being able to walk after sleeping on a bad hotel mattress.. that is not mental and you will never convince me otherwise. I hate taking medication- hate it- avoid it..I have never abused opiates - not even close. Chronic back pain to the point of tears is not mental..lol

Cap'n Bullshit, M.D.

[RiverguyVT]

This whole thread is pain-inducing.

[USN_Hokie]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... -emergency

I'm against the Reagan war on drugs. I don't do pot, but don't believe govt should criminalize it. That is a massive waste of taxpayer $ and human capital.

I do think trump needs to come down like a ton of bricks on Dr's that are overprescribing opioids. I'd ban big pharma from marketing opioids, ban any gift at all to any Dr from a company that sells opioids and stop this at the source. The medical community and big pharma are group zero of this mess and trump should starve their profit incentives.

You think advertising is the problem with opioid addiction?

Doctors are writing the prescriptions. They're doing so because they don't want to get sued.

Doctors are writing prescriptions because it's the easy way out. Medicating and masking makes it go away -- until the next visit. They aren't being paid enough, particularly those in rural areas where the opioid problem is most severe, to spend the necessary time to fully diagnose and treat the variety of ailments they are seeing. And their patients are on Medicaid so the reimbursements are small and the paperwork too big to do lengthy evaluations and true treatments.

I think we're saying pretty much the same thing (and again, advertisements have nothing to do with it).

Almost every doctor will tell you that chronic pain (particularly chronic back pain) is a problem between the ears, not in the back. Why it manifests itself like that, I don't know. But, it's no coincidence that opioids and marijuana are effective in treatment.

Everything you said is true, but the fact is that litigation has forced pain to be treated as a symptom and doctors get sued when patients come in reporting pain and aren't treated for it.

LOL- My sciatic nerve beating through my leg like a knife and waking me up in the middle of the night is not mental... Neither is not being able to walk after sleeping on a bad hotel mattress.. that is not mental and you will never convince me otherwise. I hate taking medication- hate it- avoid it..I have never abused opiates - not even close. Chronic back pain to the point of tears is not mental..lol

Are you telling me that your doctor prescribed you opioids for a nerve issue?

You realize that's doing nothing to make you better and just making you dependent on the opiates, right?

[HooFighter]

This whole thread is pain-inducing.

All these self-described rugged, Marlboro-man types complaining about their sore lower backs.

[awesome guy]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... -emergency

I'm against the Reagan war on drugs. I don't do pot, but don't believe govt should criminalize it. That is a massive waste of taxpayer $ and human capital.

I do think trump needs to come down like a ton of bricks on Dr's that are overprescribing opioids. I'd ban big pharma from marketing opioids, ban any gift at all to any Dr from a company that sells opioids and stop this at the source. The medical community and big pharma are group zero of this mess and trump should starve their profit incentives.

You think advertising is the problem with opioid addiction?

Doctors are writing the prescriptions. They're doing so because they don't want to get sued.

Doctors are writing prescriptions because it's the easy way out. Medicating and masking makes it go away -- until the next visit. They aren't being paid enough, particularly those in rural areas where the opioid problem is most severe, to spend the necessary time to fully diagnose and treat the variety of ailments they are seeing. And their patients are on Medicaid so the reimbursements are small and the paperwork too big to do lengthy evaluations and true treatments.

I think we're saying pretty much the same thing (and again, advertisements have nothing to do with it).

Almost every doctor will tell you that chronic pain (particularly chronic back pain) is a problem between the ears, not in the back. Why it manifests itself like that, I don't know. But, it's no coincidence that opioids and marijuana are effective in treatment.

Everything you said is true, but the fact is that litigation has forced pain to be treated as a symptom and doctors get sued when patients come in reporting pain and aren't treated for it.

LOL- My sciatic nerve beating through my leg like a knife and waking me up in the middle of the night is not mental... Neither is not being able to walk after sleeping on a bad hotel mattress.. that is not mental and you will never convince me otherwise. I hate taking medication- hate it- avoid it..I have never abused opiates - not even close. Chronic back pain to the point of tears is not mental..lol

Are you telling me that your doctor prescribed you opioids for a nerve issue?

You realize that's doing nothing to make you better and just making you dependent on the opiates, right?

It makes it so we can walk or stand. It completely helps relieve the pain, you're way off on this one. I of course get anti-inflammatory and anti-spasm meds too on top of the pain meds. But claiming they do nothing to make us better is just false. Luckily you've never been layed out on the floor, unable to move from the pain and weakness from a pinched nerve.

[USN_Hokie]

I'm talking about chronic pain. Getting in a car accident and screwing your back up is very real. The chronic pain that people often feel afterwards is often times the manifestation of opioid withdrawal.

Links for that? Doesn't make sense that it would be a localized pain.

My doc said this was likely from scar tissue that continually rips as it's weak. He also said it could just disappear one day.

The longer you use opiates, the more likely you are to become dependent on them. Muscle / joint, and specifically lower back pain are all symptoms of opioid withdrawal. It's really as simple as that.

WHY OPIOID MEDICATIONS ARE DIVERTED AND ABUSED
Opioid medications exert their analgesic effects predominantly by binding to mu-opioid receptors. Mu-opioid receptors are densely concentrated in brain regions that regulate pain perception (periaqueductal gray, thalamus, cingulate cortex, and insula), including pain-induced emotional responses (amygdala), and in brain reward regions (ventral tegmental area and nucleus accumbens) that underlie the perception of pleasure and well-being. This explains why opioid medications can produce both analgesia and euphoria. Mu-opioid receptors in other brain regions and in peripheral organs account for other common opioid effects. In particular, mu-opioid receptors in the brain stem are mainly responsible for the respiratory depression associated with opioid-overdose incidents and deaths.

Opioids not only directly activate these brain analgesia and reward regions but also concurrently mediate a learned association between receipt of the drug and the physiological and perceptual effects of the drug — a type of Pavlovian conditioning.23 Repeated receipt of opioids strengthens these learned associations and over time becomes part of the desire (craving) for the drug’s effects — analgesic or pleasurable.24 For a patient in chronic pain, even mild levels of pain can trigger the learned associations between pain and drug relief, which are manifested as an urge for relief. Such a conditioned urge for relief from even mild pain can lead to the early, inappropriate use of an opioid outside prescribed scheduling.



http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1507771

Bottom line: unless you have life-ending ailment (in which case, who cares?), you should avoid opiates for everything except sudden, acute pain as prescribed by a doctor. I've only had one time in my life I that I really *needed* hardcore painkillers myself.

[TheH2]

I'm talking about chronic pain. Getting in a car accident and screwing your back up is very real. The chronic pain that people often feel afterwards is often times the manifestation of opioid withdrawal.

Links for that? Doesn't make sense that it would be a localized pain.

My doc said this was likely from scar tissue that continually rips as it's weak. He also said it could just disappear one day.

The longer you use opiates, the more likely you are to become dependent on them. Muscle / joint, and specifically lower back pain are all symptoms of opioid withdrawal. It's really as simple as that.

WHY OPIOID MEDICATIONS ARE DIVERTED AND ABUSED
Opioid medications exert their analgesic effects predominantly by binding to mu-opioid receptors. Mu-opioid receptors are densely concentrated in brain regions that regulate pain perception (periaqueductal gray, thalamus, cingulate cortex, and insula), including pain-induced emotional responses (amygdala), and in brain reward regions (ventral tegmental area and nucleus accumbens) that underlie the perception of pleasure and well-being. This explains why opioid medications can produce both analgesia and euphoria. Mu-opioid receptors in other brain regions and in peripheral organs account for other common opioid effects. In particular, mu-opioid receptors in the brain stem are mainly responsible for the respiratory depression associated with opioid-overdose incidents and deaths.

Opioids not only directly activate these brain analgesia and reward regions but also concurrently mediate a learned association between receipt of the drug and the physiological and perceptual effects of the drug — a type of Pavlovian conditioning.23 Repeated receipt of opioids strengthens these learned associations and over time becomes part of the desire (craving) for the drug’s effects — analgesic or pleasurable.24 For a patient in chronic pain, even mild levels of pain can trigger the learned associations between pain and drug relief, which are manifested as an urge for relief. Such a conditioned urge for relief from even mild pain can lead to the early, inappropriate use of an opioid outside prescribed scheduling.



http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1507771

Bottom line: unless you have life-ending ailment (in which case, who cares?), you should avoid opiates for everything except sudden, acute pain as prescribed by a doctor. I've only had one time in my life I that I really *needed* hardcore painkillers myself.

Someone learned how to google!

[HokieFanDC]

Doctors are writing prescriptions because it's the easy way out. Medicating and masking makes it go away -- until the next visit. They aren't being paid enough, particularly those in rural areas where the opioid problem is most severe, to spend the necessary time to fully diagnose and treat the variety of ailments they are seeing. And their patients are on Medicaid so the reimbursements are small and the paperwork too big to do lengthy evaluations and true treatments.

I think we're saying pretty much the same thing (and again, advertisements have nothing to do with it).

Almost every doctor will tell you that chronic pain (particularly chronic back pain) is a problem between the ears, not in the back. Why it manifests itself like that, I don't know. But, it's no coincidence that opioids and marijuana are effective in treatment.

Everything you said is true, but the fact is that litigation has forced pain to be treated as a symptom and doctors get sued when patients come in reporting pain and aren't treated for it.

LOL- My sciatic nerve beating through my leg like a knife and waking me up in the middle of the night is not mental... Neither is not being able to walk after sleeping on a bad hotel mattress.. that is not mental and you will never convince me otherwise. I hate taking medication- hate it- avoid it..I have never abused opiates - not even close. Chronic back pain to the point of tears is not mental..lol

Are you telling me that your doctor prescribed you opioids for a nerve issue?

You realize that's doing nothing to make you better and just making you dependent on the opiates, right?

It makes it so we can walk or stand. It completely helps relieve the pain, you're way off on this one. I of course get anti-inflammatory and anti-spasm meds too on top of the pain meds. But claiming they do nothing to make us better is just false. Luckily you've never been layed out on the floor, unable to move from the pain and weakness from a pinched nerve.

Don't know your situation, but I had/have compressed vertebrae that used to make it so I couldn't sleep, sometimes couldn't move my arm. Got the steroid injection, and basically had 2 options. Solve it by PT, or solve it by surgery. I've been doing PT for about a year, therapeutic massage followed by specific exercises (stretches, weights, planks, ab work), and rarely have pain any more. Luckily, able to mostly eliminate the pain, but if it hadn't worked, surgery would have been the next step. And also luckily never had to take anything stronger than ibuprofen. Have you tried acupuncture? About 20 years ago, I had an accident that screwed up my back, and acupuncture did the trick. It was also relaxing.

[awesome guy]

I'm talking about chronic pain. Getting in a car accident and screwing your back up is very real. The chronic pain that people often feel afterwards is often times the manifestation of opioid withdrawal.

Links for that? Doesn't make sense that it would be a localized pain.

My doc said this was likely from scar tissue that continually rips as it's weak. He also said it could just disappear one day.

The longer you use opiates, the more likely you are to become dependent on them. Muscle / joint, and specifically lower back pain are all symptoms of opioid withdrawal. It's really as simple as that.

WHY OPIOID MEDICATIONS ARE DIVERTED AND ABUSED
Opioid medications exert their analgesic effects predominantly by binding to mu-opioid receptors. Mu-opioid receptors are densely concentrated in brain regions that regulate pain perception (periaqueductal gray, thalamus, cingulate cortex, and insula), including pain-induced emotional responses (amygdala), and in brain reward regions (ventral tegmental area and nucleus accumbens) that underlie the perception of pleasure and well-being. This explains why opioid medications can produce both analgesia and euphoria. Mu-opioid receptors in other brain regions and in peripheral organs account for other common opioid effects. In particular, mu-opioid receptors in the brain stem are mainly responsible for the respiratory depression associated with opioid-overdose incidents and deaths.

Opioids not only directly activate these brain analgesia and reward regions but also concurrently mediate a learned association between receipt of the drug and the physiological and perceptual effects of the drug — a type of Pavlovian conditioning.23 Repeated receipt of opioids strengthens these learned associations and over time becomes part of the desire (craving) for the drug’s effects — analgesic or pleasurable.24 For a patient in chronic pain, even mild levels of pain can trigger the learned associations between pain and drug relief, which are manifested as an urge for relief. Such a conditioned urge for relief from even mild pain can lead to the early, inappropriate use of an opioid outside prescribed scheduling.



http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1507771

Bottom line: unless you have life-ending ailment (in which case, who cares?), you should avoid opiates for everything except sudden, acute pain as prescribed by a doctor. I've only had one time in my life I that I really *needed* hardcore painkillers myself.

If it were withdrawal then it would be all or random joints, the exact one causing the pain to begin with.

[USN_Hokie]

It makes it so we can walk or stand. It completely helps relieve the pain, you're way off on this one.

Not saying that's the case here, but people on opiate withdrawal can have similar symptoms.

I of course get anti-inflammatory and anti-spasm meds too on top of the pain meds. But claiming they do nothing to make us better is just false. Luckily you've never been layed out on the floor, unable to move from the pain and weakness from a pinched nerve.

They don't do anything to make you better. They mask the pain in your noggin, that's it. For people who need it on a short term basis in order to function, that's fine.

[USN_Hokie]

If it were withdrawal then it would be all or random joints, the exact one causing the pain to begin with.

That's not what the research says.

[awesome guy]

Doctors are writing prescriptions because it's the easy way out. Medicating and masking makes it go away -- until the next visit. They aren't being paid enough, particularly those in rural areas where the opioid problem is most severe, to spend the necessary time to fully diagnose and treat the variety of ailments they are seeing. And their patients are on Medicaid so the reimbursements are small and the paperwork too big to do lengthy evaluations and true treatments.

I think we're saying pretty much the same thing (and again, advertisements have nothing to do with it).

Almost every doctor will tell you that chronic pain (particularly chronic back pain) is a problem between the ears, not in the back. Why it manifests itself like that, I don't know. But, it's no coincidence that opioids and marijuana are effective in treatment.

Everything you said is true, but the fact is that litigation has forced pain to be treated as a symptom and doctors get sued when patients come in reporting pain and aren't treated for it.

LOL- My sciatic nerve beating through my leg like a knife and waking me up in the middle of the night is not mental... Neither is not being able to walk after sleeping on a bad hotel mattress.. that is not mental and you will never convince me otherwise. I hate taking medication- hate it- avoid it..I have never abused opiates - not even close. Chronic back pain to the point of tears is not mental..lol

Are you telling me that your doctor prescribed you opioids for a nerve issue?

You realize that's doing nothing to make you better and just making you dependent on the opiates, right?

It makes it so we can walk or stand. It completely helps relieve the pain, you're way off on this one. I of course get anti-inflammatory and anti-spasm meds too on top of the pain meds. But claiming they do nothing to make us better is just false. Luckily you've never been layed out on the floor, unable to move from the pain and weakness from a pinched nerve.

Don't know your situation, but I had/have compressed vertebrae that used to make it so I couldn't sleep, sometimes couldn't move my arm. Got the steroid injection, and basically had 2 options. Solve it by PT, or solve it by surgery. I've been doing PT for about a year, therapeutic massage followed by specific exercises (stretches, weights, planks, ab work), and rarely have pain any more. Luckily, able to mostly eliminate the pain, but if it hadn't worked, surgery would have been the next step. And also luckily never had to take anything stronger than ibuprofen. Have you tried acupuncture? About 20 years ago, I had an accident that screwed up my back, and acupuncture did the trick. It was also relaxing.

I'm on the spinal injection schedule. They help a ton. I also get massages, chiropractic, etc. Acupuncture is on my to-do list.

[awesome guy]

If it were withdrawal then it would be all or random joints, the exact one causing the pain to begin with.

That's not what the research says.

That's not withdrawal, it's a Pavlov association if anything. Withdrawal is physical.

[USN_Hokie]

Don't know your situation, but I had/have compressed vertebrae that used to make it so I couldn't sleep, sometimes couldn't move my arm. Got the steroid injection, and basically had 2 options. Solve it by PT, or solve it by surgery. I've been doing PT for about a year, therapeutic massage followed by specific exercises (stretches, weights, planks, ab work), and rarely have pain any more. Luckily, able to mostly eliminate the pain, but if it hadn't worked, surgery would have been the next step. And also luckily never had to take anything stronger than ibuprofen. Have you tried acupuncture? About 20 years ago, I had an accident that screwed up my back, and acupuncture did the trick. It was also relaxing.

I think that's the right approach: surgery as a last resort.

[awesome guy]

It makes it so we can walk or stand. It completely helps relieve the pain, you're way off on this one.

Not saying that's the case here, but people on opiate withdrawal can have similar symptoms.

I of course get anti-inflammatory and anti-spasm meds too on top of the pain meds. But claiming they do nothing to make us better is just false. Luckily you've never been layed out on the floor, unable to move from the pain and weakness from a pinched nerve.

They don't do anything to make you better. They mask the pain in your noggin, that's it. For people who need it on a short term basis in order to function, that's fine.

Being able to walk or sleep by masking the pain is making us better.