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John Oliver - Opioids

ghark says...

Can't watch the vid because it's blocked for me, so I apologise if anything I mention is covered by the vid.

There are very few cases where opiates are a good idea for chronic pain (as yours is). The research (which the new CDC guidelines on pain management incorporate) shows there is very little evidence opiates are beneficial for managing chronic pain. The only situations where it should be considered for chronic use are basically end of life (including cancer and palliative). The downsides are just huge, and outweigh the benefits for just about every other situation.

The reasons? Apart from the obvious stuff like tolerance, addiction, death and the rest of the massive list of side effects, there is also a lesser known problem called hyperalgesia. Opioid induced hyperalgesia is where the use of opioids actually prime the body to become more sensitive to pain, even after the opioid has left the body. So in essence, people unaware of this problem think they are reliant on opioids, but in reality taking the opioids may make them more likely to need more analgesia. It's pretty messed up actually, and there should be more education about it, particularly to the doctors doing the prescribing.

newtboy said:

The really shifty part is, now that there have been so many problems, people like me that need opioids to function now have to jump through numerous hoops to get the medications we need. In my case, my doctor retired and the office sent home a letter saying they'll keep me as a patient, but will no longer prescribe pain medications of any kind. I would just switch doctors, but we have a severe shortage here and waiting lists for doctors are 2-5 years long. As it stands, I'm not at all sure what to do...it's as if they want me to buy pills on the black market.
I've been on opioid pain meds for 15 years (+-) and I've never abused them. Lucky for me, I hate how they make me feel if I take too much.

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