Help me understand how pain killer addiction happens. (addicted, pill, medication)

[jman07]

I've been thinking about this for a while and haven't gotten a good answer yet. How do people accidentally get addicted to pain killers if they are seeing a doctor who prescribes them to them? This makes me furious because the whole point of going to a doctor and paying them all that money is so that things like addiction don't happen. They should lose their license if a patient gets addicted. It also makes me mad when they automatically give you a 30 day supply when you only need a few days to a week. Usually when drugs are laying around unused like that it is a bad thing and can also lead to addiction.

[texdav]

They take to many or their doctor isn't much of a doctor. Alot are just drug pushers like any other;plian and simple. They do when proven lose their license. Not hard for a person to do the research themselves on taking whatever pain killer.

[Pikantari]

My dr does not do that. She gives me about a week supply. I end up keeping it a few years.

I have chronic pain due to Rheumatoid Arthritis, and I can see how it would be very easy to become addicted.

When I have had to take it, it of course takes the pain away (for the most part) but there is a feeling in my head or brain. Then it eases off.

Most of the time these drugs are prescribed every 4-6 hours as needed. I imagine once that feeling wears off, a person just pops the next one, even before it is time.

I do not like the feeling it gives me. Though I live with severe pain, I do my very best to not have to rely on these medications.

A patient can go to more than one dr, emergency rooms, etc to get these medications. I would say it is getting harder these days but it can be done.

They are also sold on the street.

I do not think a dr should lose their license if a patient becomes addicted. I have worked in a drs office and there are drug seeking patients, that is for sure. Once a dr realizes that, they normally send them to a pain management facility and cease all prescribing of pain medication for that patient.

The pain management facility makes the patient sign a form stating they will only get the medication from them and are drug tested each time they come back. I suppose every 30 days.

It is not any one persons fault, and truly, it is the patients fault. That is my opinion.

I could easily become addicted on narcotics if I used them the way many chronic pain people do. I choose not to.

[georgia dem]

Originally Posted by jman07

I've been thinking about this for a while and haven't gotten a good answer yet. How do people accidentally get addicted to pain killers if they are seeing a doctor who prescribes them to them? This makes me furious because the whole point of going to a doctor and paying them all that money is so that things like addiction don't happen. They should lose their license if a patient gets addicted. It also makes me mad when they automatically give you a 30 day supply when you only need a few days to a week. Usually when drugs are laying around unused like that it is a bad thing and can also lead to addiction.

hey it is NOT the doctor's fault if you get hooked on the pills
talk to your doctor right away and take responsibility for yourself
one of the things addicts do is blame others!!
it is plainly stated that narcotics can be habit forming!!
If you only needed a few pills and you kept taking them that is on you!!!
Quit blaming your doctor!! If this was the FIRST time you have taken them, which I doubt
you would not get addicted so quick
I happen to be in recovery an I was always blaming someone else
Why should a doctor loose their license because you can not be honest??
Good grief!!

[HappyFarm34]

Originally Posted by georgia dem

hey it is NOT the doctor's fault if you get hooked on the pills
talk to your doctor right away and take responsibility for yourself
one of the things addicts do is blame others!!
it is plainly stated that narcotics can be habit forming!!
If you only needed a few pills and you kept taking them that is on you!!!
Quit blaming your doctor!! If this was the FIRST time you have taken them, which I doubt
you would not get addicted so quick
I happen to be in recovery an I was always blaming someone else
Why should a doctor loose their license because you can not be honest??
Good grief!!

Well said. People always want to find a reason to blame others when its their own fault and refusing to own up to the consequences of their actions. Any reputable doctor will refuse to write a prescription for anyone that is suspected of abusing narcotics

[stepka]

I remember once that I had a cough I couldn't shake so I saw the doc and he gave me an rx for the biggest bottle of cough syrup I ever saw and I noticed it had morphine in it. I think I had it for years before I threw the remainder out but I was irritated that I had to pay for that big bottle of syrup. I think it was about a pint!

[woxyroxme]

Some people will suffer a severe injury and need to be on pain pills for weeks, I broke my ankle in three places and had surgery, I have a plate and seven screws now, during that time I was given 200 Vicodin and 60 percocets, I did not get addicted but some people could have.

[Escort Rider]

Originally Posted by HappyFarm34

Well said. People always want to find a reason to blame others when its their own fault and refusing to own up to the consequences of their actions. Any reputable doctor will refuse to write a prescription for anyone that is suspected of abusing narcotics

One problem is that there are a surprising number of doctors who are not reputable. Over the past couple of years the Los Angeles Times has run a series of exposés documenting doctors (naming names) who have had multiple patient deaths from narcotic overdoses. There have been criminal prosecutions of some of those doctors. One just sat in a café and wrote prescriptions without any examination of the patients. In another case, a doctor asked an undercover sheriff's deputy (posing as a patient), if he was in pain, and the undercover cop said no. The doctor then shook his head "yes" and repeated the question; the "yes" answer then got the prescription written!

It's a sick and sleazy world out there. The temptation of easy money - lots of it - can lure even doctors in.

[Dollydo]

I live in Florida, the "pill mill" capitol. You would be amazed at the number of senior addicts we have here, they doctor shop and even buy the pain killers on the street. Their systems do not assimilate the drugs at the same rate as a younger person and many fall, pass out and end up in the hospital over and over again. It is sad, and they just don't understand that they have become addicts, their answer is "Well my doctor wrote a prescription" so it is what I need. Many seniors in their 70's, 80's, don't even question their doctors, they believe and do whatever they say...strange to me.

[gentlearts]

Originally Posted by jman07

I've been thinking about this for a while and haven't gotten a good answer yet. How do people accidentally get addicted to pain killers if they are seeing a doctor who prescribes them to them? This makes me furious because the whole point of going to a doctor and paying them all that money is so that things like addiction don't happen. They should lose their license if a patient gets addicted. It also makes me mad when they automatically give you a 30 day supply when you only need a few days to a week. Usually when drugs are laying around unused like that it is a bad thing and can also lead to addiction.

Here is my understanding. Prescription drugs became a problem for someone I know who was shot 3x in Iraq, and needed several surgeries and rehab. The balancing act that happens is, you can't heal or rehabilitate if you are in pain, so pain relief is important and necessary. When you take narcotics, it changes your brain and causes you to think you need more to curb the same amount of pain. In the soldier I know case, it did not help that the doctors in his unit definitely over prescribed. He struggles with this 10 years later.
There is a new law in effect now in which one must have a paper prescription for each refill, so it slows the process down somewhat. My husband just had hip replacement surgery and I've had to physically drive to the doctor's office to get him pain meds prescription.