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Abuse of Opioids takes away from all the good it can do
Chronic Pain | Last Active: May 8, 2023 | Replies (132)Comment receiving replies
Hi,
My heart goes out to those who are suffering due to the new laws. I too, benefit from limited use of an opiate, which I take on a very limited basis.
I'm also a nurse (don't take the opiate before work clearly). And every day I see patient's who's pain is under or untreated. And it's patients who are truly suffering. Not much tops watching an elderly person with a broken hip laying on a bed in the hallway and being told to give 650mg of Tylenol and 5mg of oxycodone. Or watching someone who's essentially nonverbal suffer and being told when you ask the team about it "there's no indication" for putting them on a patch or something. Though admittedly, I can't be sure if that's the new laws or my patients have a mental illness. But the under-treated and un-treated pain makes me completely crazy.
I think we've gone from one extreme to another. The way I hear (and see) providers react to the idea of pain meds for patients, it's as if they don't think anyone benefits. After all, people are human beings. No one deserves to suffer because of someone else's mistakes. Knowing this, I am very careful with my own medication.
Replies to "Hi, My heart goes out to those who are suffering due to the new laws. I..."
I also was in the hospital for a broken hip recently and underwent a partial hip replacement, and it's no walk in the park. I was originally given that same low dose Oxycodone and it had no effect on me, so the doctor switched me to Norco 50/50 (Tylenol, Hydrocodone) now that worked. I can only hope that lady spoke up and said that this dose just isn't working.
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You are so correct. “PAIN” is a very personal and subjective thing. This entire concept of “Rate your level of pain now at this moment on a scale of 1 to 10, what is it?”
Firstly, the type location and severity of pain vacillates during the day and night.
Some patients have several different pain sites or areas of pain occurring concurrently! An ensemble of moderate to severe pain in various sites can be worse than one area of moderate to severe pain.
Another misnomer is that “Moderate to Severe” Pain are perceived to be the worst possible pain you’ve ever had or could imagine.
I suggest they add a measurement of “EXTREME PAIN” to the list.
Even more misleading is the fact that whatever a person considers to be experienced as a level of “10” is solely predicated on whatever their experience is at that point of time in their life,
The first time I reached a level of “10” I didn’t even think it was possible to get that painful. Then, over time, I experienced an even greater level of “10.” Then, another. So, my experience of a level “10” of pain has changed over time with more experience of having them.
The bottom line. Physicians should treat pain, regardless of so called “perceived levels” based on whether the patient is no longer suffering enormously but has reached a level of pain management which is no longer tortuous!
If my level of pain in any given moment is totally dominating my existence than I am being grossly under medicated. Once I am sufficiently relaxed and out of too much suffering I’ve been adequately medicated.
For example, following surgery out of recovery and into my room, if I am squeezing the bed rails in intractable pain without getting any kind of measurable relief I am being horribly under medicated! If I can’t get to sleep because the pain is too severe than I am being under medicated! It shouldn’t be that hard to figure out!!!!
Most patients in “EXTREME” pain are not enjoying some kind of euphoric feelings of bliss under their pain meds. There’s usually too much ongoing pain to continually deal with to have any kind of possibility like that occurring.