Anyone get addicted to street drugs through prescribed pain relief?

4068ac1elhodqr

Deleted User wrote: »

Obama's administration had a massive blindspot for the problem, seeing it as a user problem and not a crisis caused by mass prescribing, even after the CDC called it an epidemic in 2011.

Agree, Obama's hometurf of Chicago has something like 100,000 known junkies, thanks mostly to prescribed opiods (pushed by pharma, pushed to prescription)



The maker of Nurofen was slapped with a 1.4bn fine
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jul/11/reckitt-benckiser-to-pay-record-14bn-fine-over-opioid-sales


x4 pharma companies also got millions of dollars of settlements to pay out for just before a trial began ...'knowingly doing something wrong'.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/21/health/ohio-opioid-settlement-monday/index.html

BraveDonut

I am completely clueless about these things...

I have bough Neurofen a few times as a painkiller and have gotten the grilling by the pharmacist.

Does it actually give the taker a high? I just want any pain to go away

Pauliedragon

Webuser. wrote: »

I've been in rehab twice and by comparison the main ones I seen here is the addiction to the nurofen type drugs available over the counter

The other major change I seen was the increase in cocaine addiction nationwide

You've been on boards about 5 mins and you're addicted already. Maybe another stint in rehab is in order.

lucalux

zerosugarbuzz wrote: »

You're probably thinking of solphadene, apparently very addictive to some people.

Neurofen plus has 12mg of codeine per 500mg tablet of ibuprofen
Solpadeine has 8mg of codeine per 500mg tablet of paracetamol

begbysback

BraveDonut wrote: »

I am completely clueless about these things...

I have bough Neurofen a few times as a painkiller and have gotten the grilling by the pharmacist.

Does it actually give the taker a high? I just want any pain to go away

No, in the + version there may be very small amounts of codeine which may be addictive.

lucalux

begbysback wrote: »

No, in the + version there may be very small amounts of codeine which may be addictive.

In Neurofen Plus there is 24mg in a 1000mg dose (2tablets) if you take them as recommended you can take '6' in 24 hours, - 72mg
After three days continuous use there is a risk of dependence and withdrawal affects.

Cold water extraction with paracetamol tablets is a thing too, hence the need to quiz customers and limit sales of Solpadeine etc
Most people I've known who have become dependent on codeine will go waaay beyond the safe dosages, taking 2 tablets every four hours, at a minimum.

So in a 24 hour period you could be ingesting 168mg of codeine, and way too much ibuprofen.
Similar with Solpadeine. Paracetamol being so much more dangerous to the liver

punisher5112

They do absolutely nothing for me, I can't feel the addiction draw myself.

I told ya

I was on Oxycontin and Oxynorm for nearly 12 months. It was give as pain relief during cancer treatment - tumor, bone damage.

I was told it was not addictive when taken for genuine pain relief. And I was also told, on more than one occasion, that "you do not have to be in pain, take the pain relief".

I was taken off it and put on tramadol for a few months. Again they said, use it for genuine pain relief.

I still remember the first tablet I took, oh the relief.

greenspurs

Hes gone already ??

Didn't last long , did he ?!

riclad

Theres famous people who have become addicted to painkillers after they had an accident and needed painkillers .opioids are used as painkillers ,
they were over prescribed in america and alot of people became addicted to them.
Drug addicts go to clinics and get free methadone which is a subsitute for heroin.
if you need advice go to a chemist or your doctor.

Errashareesh

On the one hand it seems like the doctors were over prescribing for pain relief, but on the other hand, what if that amount of pain medication was needed? Like if you were working in the steel plant and put your back out.

And another aspect of a multi layered problem was patients not hiding their pain meds from their kids/grandkids, who'd rob them to get high with friends - some then developing a habit.

The problem I think is the way the FDA clamped down on the amount being prescribed - this led people with chronic pain AND opioid dependency to the streets. It was like - what fills the gap? Top that off then with some of the areas, such as Huntington WV and Middletown Ohio becoming economic blackspots with the closure of the pits and forges and manufacturing plants. Heroin finds economically depressed places like a magnet.

Although interestingly, the wealthier Massachussetts is seeing an opioid crisis (the Cape Cod documentary has already been mentioned).

My cousin's brother-in-law in NYC has an oxy habit which ended his marriage recently (thankfully no kids). Don't know why he started using. He was always mad into drugs so it could just be that - stupid drug to experiment with though. However he worked in construction for years too so maybe it was an injury.

hurikane

Only one thing worse than drug addiction. An addiction to creating sh1te threads.

dartboardio

lucalux wrote: »

In Neurofen Plus there is 24mg in a 1000mg dose (2tablets) if you take them as recommended you can take '6' in 24 hours, - 72mg
After three days continuous use there is a risk of dependence and withdrawal affects.

Cold water extraction with paracetamol tablets is a thing too, hence the need to quiz customers and limit sales of Solpadeine etc
Most people I've known who have become dependent on codeine will go waaay beyond the safe dosages, taking 2 tablets every four hours, at a minimum.

So in a 24 hour period you could be ingesting 168mg of codeine, and way too much ibuprofen.
Similar with Solpadeine. Paracetamol being so much more dangerous to the liver

I know a man who was an alcohol and painkiller addict. He used to take 100 nurofen plus a day.

Yes, he used to get very very high. He also has extreme problems now with the lining of his stomach, liver etc..

I find it funny when people say 'sure ya wouldn't get anything off them'. If you took enough of them ya would!

Errashareesh

Had to take a load of codeine when I was 17 or 18 for a severe ear abscess - the pain felt like the side of my head would explode.

Experienced what I assume was a mild opioid high - felt like I was floating in the air, and the voices in the room were far away and echoey. Didn't enjoy it - it was kind of a "dirty" buzz - but I'd imagine it'd be nice if your life was awful.

B.A._Baracus

Webuser. wrote: »

I couldn't believe the unofficial stats I heard from a police officer in the USA

He said 90% of the heroin users he meets told him they started on oxycontin and the like.

Easy enough to see how it starts with pain and then you.migrate to the cheaper opoids on the street.

Wouldn't necessarily be believing 90%.
Sure for some of course. But it really does sound like the "poor me" spiel. Rather than some junkie coming clean and saying they made poor life choices etc. They'd say how they had a bad back and it lead to oxycotin then harder stuff.

It's like a stripper who only strips to put herself through college. Yeah sure. Lol.

Errashareesh

Great money in it, the hours suit - I think it makes perfect sense as a part time job to fund being a student (if you have the confidence). What would the attraction be besides the money?

B.A._Baracus

Errashareesh wrote: »

Great money in it, the hours suit - I think it makes perfect sense as a part time job to fund being a student. What would the attraction be besides the money?

It's the old cliche. It's the old joke.
Many a stripper around the world doing it for years and years but when asked why ... The old cliche comes out "I just do it while I put myself through college" - there is no college.

People lie.

Errashareesh

Errashareesh wrote: »

On the one hand it seems like the doctors were over prescribing for pain relief, but on the other hand, what if that amount of pain medication was needed? Like if you were working in the steel plant and put your back out.

And another aspect of a multi layered problem was patients not hiding their pain meds from their kids/grandkids, who'd rob them to get high with friends - some then developing a habit.

The problem I think is the way the FDA clamped down on the amount being prescribed - this led people with chronic pain AND opioid dependency to the streets. It was like - what fills the gap? Top that off then with some of the areas, such as Huntington WV and Middletown Ohio becoming economic blackspots with the closure of the pits and forges and manufacturing plants. Heroin finds economically depressed places like a magnet.

Although interestingly, the wealthier Massachussetts is seeing an opioid crisis (the Cape Cod documentary has already been mentioned).

My cousin's brother-in-law in NYC has an oxy habit which ended his marriage recently (thankfully no kids). Don't know why he started using. He was always mad into drugs so it could just be that - stupid drug to experiment with though. However he worked in construction for years too so maybe it was an injury.

Purdue and other companies worked hard to shift medical thinking from seeing opioids as a drug to relieve "end of life" pain towards using it for chronic pain. There was no medical evidence to support this decision, it was simply a larger and more lucrative market. The drugs themselves didn't work as promised, often running out over a shorter period of time than the companies admitted so users had to take more than the prescribed daily dose.

20 years ago doctors who researched the area warned that chronic pain shouldn't be treated by opioids due to the risk of addiction and the need for ever increasing doses due to tolerance build-up in users but pharma companies bankrolled Pain Associations to promulgate the idea that America was suffering from a pain epidemic.

s1ippy

Errashareesh wrote: »

Had to take a load of codeine when I was 17 or 18 for a severe ear abscess - the pain felt like the side of my head would explode.

Experienced what I assume was a mild opioid high - felt like I was floating in the air, and the voices in the room were far away and echoey. Didn't enjoy it - it was kind of a "dirty" buzz - but I'd imagine it'd be nice if your life was awful.

You get the same sort of sensation from edibles.

I was clearing out the freezer last week and found a delicious brownie which I ate. It turns out it was 8 doses of weed brownie. I was absolutely wrecked in a few hours and woke up for work the next day fairly confused about the previous night as the onset was very gradual and I hardly noticed it until I was well into the psychedelic swing. I really should have put a label on it.

Errashareesh

s1ippy wrote: »

You get the same sort of sensation from edibles.

I was clearing out the freezer last week and found a delicious brownie which I ate. It turns out it was 8 doses of weed brownie. I was absolutely wrecked in a few hours and woke up for work the next day fairly confused about the previous night as the onset was very gradual and I hardly noticed it until I was well into the psychedelic swing. I really should have put a label on it.

Oh Jesus!

Badly Drunk Boy

Just before I saw this thread, I was listening to this piece of marvellous music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN-EZW0Plsg

.anon.

BraveDonut wrote: »

I am completely clueless about these things...

I have bough Neurofen a few times as a painkiller and have gotten the grilling by the pharmacist.

Does it actually give the taker a high? I just want any pain to go away

A 'high' is probably overstating its effects - unless you take dangerous amounts. I used to regularly misuse it because I found that it alleviated anxiety. I discovered this accidentally after injuring my back in a car crash. In addition to killing the pain, three or four tablets would elevate my mood slightly and make me feel quite relaxed. At one point, I was buying a packet of 24 every second day, which was quite a lot. Close enough to 100 tablets a week - and sometimes I'd exceed that. It required a bit of 'shopping around' because most pharmacists get a bit funny about selling it to you more than once or twice a month.

I stopped taking it a couple of years ago, when I started a job that involves random drug and alcohol testing. I missed it a lot at the start (because it was a useful crutch), but never experienced any noticeable withdrawal effects, despite having taken at least six tablets pretty much every day for three years. I still buy the odd packet, if I have a few days off work.

I was probably just lucky that it didn't do any damage (that I'm aware of), and that I didn't get addicted.

banie01

I told ya wrote: »

I was on Oxycontin and Oxynorm for nearly 12 months. It was give as pain relief during cancer treatment - tumor, bone damage.

I was told it was not addictive when taken for genuine pain relief. And I was also told, on more than one occasion, that "you do not have to be in pain, take the pain relief".

I was taken off it and put on tramadol for a few months. Again they said, use it for genuine pain relief.

I still remember the first tablet I took, oh the relief.

Also was taking both oxynorm and Oxycontin for an extended period (still do occasionally).

From being doubled over and at one point fainting during a medical exam. Unable to walk or use stairs on a bad day to having what I can only describe as a switch being thrown.
The pain was gone.

Incredibly effective for a lot of people, but with the catch that if not at least monitored and managed.
It's a drug all too easy to get hooked on.

I've not experienced that myself, but do know some who have.
When I stopped taking it, it was a weaning tho.

Occasionally use now for breakthrough pain that other neuropathic meds don't fully control.
There is a bliss that accompanies even 1, when not taken in a while that I could certainly see some chasing.

JustAThought

Documentary Heaven (.com?) has some shocking documentaries in the addiction epidemic in the US - all the same theme, injury, painkillers, increasing doses needed to get the same pain relief ( the units of oxy. range from 20, 40,50, 80, 100, 150) - after that you are looking at either massive daily doses and black market perscription sales or the far cheaper option of heroin. Ironically it is those with good jobs and good medical insurance that are most likely to get hooked after a sports injury, car crash or job injury - as the insurance companies will cover the doctors and perscriptions. Its after you get hooked and the medical dose won’t give you the same pain relief anymore and your doctor won’t perscribe a higher dose or there is no higher to go to, that the huge issues start and ‘normal’ people turn to heroin - a similar but far cheaper fix.

There are documentaries with whole towns affected where there may have been a steelmill or heavy labour industry with a lot of back injuries - generations ruined, crime and prostitution out of control and the white oicket fences and american flags flying proudly in every garden and with every other family having their children taken away by social services to adopt out due to repeated drug use and overdosing and lives utterly ruined,

Firemen in some states do more daily callouts to overdoses than fires or car crashes. Its beyond belief. That and meth. Not even once.

ShatterAlan

Errashareesh wrote: »

Massive problem in the so called "rust belt" (former hubs of heavy industry) due to workplace injuries (and other factors). Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and the former coal mining regions of Kentucky and West Virginia.

Apparently some fella by the name of Trump is gonna sort it out.

In fairness it has nothing to do with workplace injuries. There haven't been factories in these places in decades. They are completely depressed and depressing places to live. That's why people are getting high.

ShatterAlan

s1ippy wrote: »

You get the same sort of sensation from edibles.

I was clearing out the freezer last week and found a delicious brownie which I ate. It turns out it was 8 doses of weed brownie. I was absolutely wrecked in a few hours and woke up for work the next day fairly confused about the previous night as the onset was very gradual and I hardly noticed it until I was well into the psychedelic swing. I really should have put a label on it.

Be thankful you didn't keep it to bring to work to have with your morning coffee :eek:

Errashareesh

ShatterAlan wrote: »

In fairness it has nothing to do with workplace injuries.

It has. It stretches back to before the pharmaceuticals started monetising pain.