Finding Pain Relief When There ’ s Potential for Addiction

I am a woman with a family history of addiction who is also in chronic pain. What if someday I need opioids to manage that pain? First, two discs in my lower spine degenerated. Then, they herniated, both bulging out and impinging nerves, inciting an excruciating, sciatica-like pain that affected me around the clock. More than a year since my discs were damaged, pain has become my daily reality. I wake up stiff and sore as though I’ve just been hit by a car (having been hit by a car as a kid, I actually know what that feels like). The only thing I struggle with as much as the pain itself is finding the best way to treat it so that I can have a better quality of life. For many people in my monthly chronic pain support group, opioids have offered them a lifeline by allowing them to engage in activities they couldn’t otherwise without assistance, including basic things like showering or grocery shopping. Some even credit opioids as the only medication that makes a dent in their pain after trying everything else. Yet, the opioid epidemic has also ushered in new rules that are restricting people from accessing their much-needed medication, as a Boston Globe article reported earlier this summer. Nevertheless, the epidemic is real and deadly, with opiate-related overdoses now claiming more lives each year than car accidents or guns — at a rate of approximately 20,0000 annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. I am caught in the middle of the d...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Addiction Health-related Personal Publishers The Fix Chronic Pain Drug Addiction drug counseling Epidemic Family History Laura Kiesel Medication Methadone opiods opioid addiction overdoses Pain Relief prescription drug ab Source Type: blogs