# Our Opioid Crisis.



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

A special report from Successful Farming. This has touched all in some way.....we either have friends, acquaintances, or family that this drug is destroying.

Regards, Mike

http://www.agriculture.com/news/sf-special-fighting-back-in-rural-america-s-opioid-crisis


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

I had rotator cuff surgery in July. The surgeon gave me a prescription for 50 Percocet. I took five over the next 4-5 days and did not sleep for 36 hours straight at one point. I had so much "energy", I was doing laps around the living room. Something about that makes me want to take more. I don't--but I sure want to.

Scares the devil out of me.

Ralph


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Some docs will still hand them out like candy. I broke a rib and was taking nothing but got checked up due to a big hard mass all around it, doc gives a script for opioids. Had to argue with him that I wasn’t going to jump to that when Tylenol and Advil are options.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

My wife had carpal tunnel surgery on both hands but at different times last year. They gave a prescription for Percocet. There were 60 pills. She took 1. Got the next hand worked on. They asked if she wanted another prescription. No thanks still have 59. She hated the feeling that it gave her. I've taken some for a knee surgery. Also hate the way it made me feel. I just can't see how people get addicted to the stuff. It's awful. Some people kinda like the feeling I guess. Like Ralph above. I hate it. Just like I hated the stuff they used to give at the dentist. I've never been drunk in my life, but have gotten a bit buzzed. I disliked that feeling a lot also. I'm not a good candidate for any drugs or alcohol I guess.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Addiction has much to do with ones body chemistry. Two brothers can easily be affected totally differently by drugs and alcohol.....one a addict...one a abstainer.

If one is not prone for addictions, they should thank God for allowing them to be born that way....because it is a gift. About the only thing that I crave regularly is sweets....and I am grateful.

Regards, Mike


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

Vol said:


> Addiction has much to do with ones body chemistry. Two brothers can easily be affected totally differently by drugs and alcohol.....one a addict...one a abstainer.
> 
> If one is not prone for addictions, they should thank God for allowing them to be born that way....because it is a gift. About the only thing that I crave regularly is sweets....and I am grateful.
> 
> Regards, Mike


For me it's about my perceived or real loss of control of myself. I hate that feeling so much I don't want to do anything to lose control. Like the super energy and not sleeping from percoset. That is a horrible feeling to me. It doesn't feel good. Though I do kinda lose a different kind of control when there are cookies or ice cream in the house. So we just don't buy any. And if I do buy cookies they rarely make it into the house...... My wife's father was an alcohol addict. Liver cancer got him early. So my wife won't touch alcohol with fear that she might be like her father.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Vol said:


> Addiction has much to do with ones body chemistry. Two brothers can easily be affected totally differently by drugs and alcohol.....one a addict...one a abstainer.
> 
> If one is not prone for addictions, they should thank God for allowing them to be born that way....because it is a gift. About the only thing that I crave regularly is sweets....and I am grateful.
> 
> Regards, Mike


It is the addiction "gene" that causes some to have problems and others not.....I have seen it just the way you describe, however, I think it's there for the other sibling as well.....they may have not acted on it or acted in a completely different manner, generally 180* different. 
Addiction, is part of the "hand to mouth" disease group......not to be confused with typical disease classifications, no matter how hard they want you to believe that. There is all kinds of blame to go around, but it ultimately comes back to ones genetic makeup if they are to beat the addiction. It, addiction, will destroy your life, your spouses and your children's life. It's non-discriminatory, it will level the playing field between white/black, smart/dumb, rich/poor....it knows no boundaries.

I was driving and thinking (like I tend to do a lot, my head won't leave my head alone.  ) ya know, another addiction we have today that is going to have consequences as well....cell phones. I would suggest to you that 80% of kids under the age of 25 are addicted to their cell phone. Now it seems like a purty innocent addiction, but wait.....this is their hard drive storage that you and I have in our hard drive (think brain), so instead of the knowledge base that we may or may not have learned at a early age, they probably don't have that in any capacity. It's gonna make for some interesting problems in the future should technology take a vacation.....especially in the business world where technology has been employed in every facet of the operation.

It's easy to blame the M.D. for the epidemic.....my daughter was prescribed hydrocodon the other day at college for a sore throat, I had to make a phone call on that one....unbelievable, but you ain't got to take them. How about the insurance companies that pay for them, the pharmaceutical companies that make them, the salesman that sells them.....none of them amount to a hill of beans if the person doesn't take their hand and put them in their mouth. The same can be said for obesity in most respects.....another "hand to mouth"....I hesitate to call it a disease, that classification only came about so that insurance companies would now have to pay for the pills instead of the junkie.....it's an absolute mess, all the way around. But history is littered with problems associated with opioids......during Vietnam, it was tough to find a medic that had any morphine to give the soldier with a bullet in his chest, the medic had turned into a junkie.....sad but true, we have little natural resistance to this wonderful yet evil drug. I pray that those that suffer with opioid addiction find the help they need.....I can tell you that no one on this earth has an answer for it, one has to look upwards to find their way out of that hole, it can be very deep.....


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

somedevildawg said:


> It is the addiction "gene" that causes some to have problems and others not.....I have seen it just the way you describe, however, I think it's there for the other sibling as well.....they may have not acted on it or acted in a completely different manner, generally 180* different.
> Addiction, is part of the "hand to mouth" disease group......not to be confused with typical disease classifications, no matter how hard they want you to believe that. There is all kinds of blame to go around, but it ultimately comes back to ones genetic makeup if they are to beat the addiction. It, addiction, will destroy your life, your spouses and your children's life. It's non-discriminatory, it will level the playing field between white/black, smart/dumb, rich/poor....it knows no boundaries.
> 
> I was driving and thinking (like I tend to do a lot, my head won't leave my head alone.  ) ya know, another addiction we have today that is going to have consequences as well....cell phones. I would suggest to you that 80% of kids under the age of 25 are addicted to their cell phone. Now it seems like a purty innocent addiction, but wait.....this is their hard drive storage that you and I have in our hard drive (think brain), so instead of the knowledge base that we may or may not have learned at a early age, they probably don't have that in any capacity. It's gonna make for some interesting problems in the future should technology take a vacation.....especially in the business world where technology has been employed in every facet of the operation.
> ...


You are right about kids addictions to smart phone, tablets, mostly the games. On going battle at our house. I wish I had never introduced them to our 11 year old at age 6...... He can go off of playing for a week or two but then has a relapse and finds some way to sneakily play them. Doesn't help when his friends play all they want all the time.


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## IH 1586 (Oct 16, 2014)

Vol said:


> Addiction has much to do with ones body chemistry. Two brothers can easily be affected totally differently by drugs and alcohol.....one a addict...one a abstainer.
> 
> If one is not prone for addictions, they should thank God for allowing them to be born that way....because it is a gift. About the only thing that I crave regularly is sweets....and I am grateful.
> 
> Regards, Mike


I agree with this

Never smoked until I was older and have never smoked continuously, probably not more than 2 packs total. Worked out west around people who smoked and took a while to figure out why I had a headache when I came home for weeks, withdraw. If I drink I have a craving for them. I can smoke for days and stop when ever I want and never want another. Just did it for the fun (stupid) of it. Should consider myself lucky I don't get addicted.

I hope to never need stuff like this, sounds horrible. I don't take anything for pain unless it's absolutely unbearable. A small container of Tylenol can last me a decade or longer and if I do take one, it is one and pain is gone in minutes.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

As I've gotten older, my drug of choice is ibuprofen, Advil liquid gel, really helps with inflammation....it will get the job done, if it don't you may need to see a M.D.


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## CowboyRam (Dec 13, 2015)

My ex wife carried a small pharmacy with her at all times; she had a pill for this and that. I don't really know all what they did, but I blame part of her and my divorce due to them. They really messed up her system, and she got to the point where she would sleep all day and be up all night. She was on disability, and could not work at all. Along with all those prescription she would take a handful of stool softeners. Those doctors if one pill don't work they just give you another; it seems they have just become pill pushers.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

CowboyRam said:


> My ex wife carried a small pharmacy with her at all times; she had a pill for this and that. I don't really know all what they did, but I blame part of her and my divorce due to them. They really messed up her system, and she got to the point where she would sleep all day and be up all night. She was on disability, and could not work at all. Along with all those prescription she would take a handful of stool softeners. Those doctors if one pill don't work they just give you another; it seems they have just become pill pushers.


i bet she would tell you what each of them was needed to do? My mom is that way and after years of this she is shocked to be having kidney failure. They can't know how 5-6 different drugs react with each other for each person. I always get a kick out of when I go to a doctor and the nurse asks what prescriptions im taking I say nothing. They always seem shocked. Especially given my cancer history. And I'm only 42. Are 40 year olds supposed to be on a bunch of drugs?


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

somedevildawg said:


> As I've gotten older, my drug of choice is ibuprofen, Advil liquid gel, really helps with inflammation....it will get the job done, if it don't you may need to see a M.D.


im taking that for a tennis elbow I'm trying to heal up. Works great at inflammation. I suppose I could look into and avoid foods that cause inflammation also.


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## glasswrongsize (Sep 15, 2015)

If one were to point fingers at the problem, they would be hard pressed to find just one.

$$$$$$$

Doctors are financially incentivised from both the pharmaceutical companies and their "patients" to prescribe certain meds. Quite a few doctors get federally indicted every year for their prescription practices (suffice it to say that I'm aware that I have never seen it as an error in prescribing...they are prescribing those meds for their own financial gain and to people they KNOW have no need for them)

"Patients" go "Doctor Shopping" for doctors that will prescribe the meds they want. Mostly they are on the taxpayer's dime (welfare) and will go to different states to get multiple prescriptions from numerous doctors. They may get a 90 ct prescription for a month (@$900 street value) from 5 different doctors....$4500 clear a month for no work. It's a fairly safe crime unless they get caught in the act of selling because they legally possess them...if they get "caught" with them, it's no big deal because they have a prescription! They actually rent tour bus-types of rigs and go to other states in groups...all to see the same doctor on the same day; then, on to the next stop.

Due to the Hippa (or however the acronym is spelled) laws and other factors, there was no (I think they are working on it or have it in-place in places) way of tracking individual's prescriptions from different doctors to check for redundancy.

Some doctors are fearful of NOT prescribing meds and thereby neglecting a patient's real and true need for pain meds.

I doubt there will be any real progress with the opioid situation; there's too dang much money involved from the pharmaceutical companies, the drug store retail market, doctors, the welfare rats...everyone stands to lose money on this deal. They will lobby the crap out of our elected officials to protect their golden goose.

The meds (such as hydrocodone) have different effects on different people. Me?; makes me sick to my stomach and does nothing to relieve the pain; (a shot of bourbon is far better for muh rumatiz and snakebites and whatnot). Others, it (hydrocodone) gives a euphoric high similar to methamphetamine or such as Ralph describes.

The new(er) generation has been programmed for instant gratification...they want all of their problems fixed right now!! If I complain of an ache/pain associated with an injury (such as pulled muscle or sprain, etc) I always get asked "well, didja take sumn for it?"; I give the same answer: God gave us pain to keep us from doing more stupid stuff and making the injury worse. I don't take pain meds for injuries. I will take naproxin (alleve) for a headache. Injury pain is there for a reason.

The opioids are addictive even when taken "as prescribed" but the addiction factor gets compounded by unintended overdosing (the instant gratification complex and people take more than prescribed when the pain is not totally gone).

Some people have an addictive personality and don't intentionally abuse any substance, but find themselves addicted to everything. I had a buddy that was addicted to nasal decongestant spray. I've seen people addicted to having a toothpick in their mouth, caffeine, chewing gum, tanning beds, facebook, Haytalk...and the list goes on and on.

Some are "lucky" and get addicted to something as innocuous as a toothpick; others are not so lucky.

Some people would do ANY drug so long as it was illegal. If they made it illegal to put a trash bag over your head until you pass out, there would be a run on the Hefty aisle at WalMart.

Skip A Rope, Mark


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

CowboyRam said:


> My ex wife carried a small pharmacy with her at all times; she had a pill for this and that. I don't really know all what they did, but I blame part of her and my divorce due to them. They really messed up her system, and she got to the point where she would sleep all day and be up all night. She was on disability, and could not work at all. Along with all those prescription she would take a handful of stool softeners. Those doctors if one pill don't work they just give you another; it seems they have just become pill pushers.


ABSOLUTELY!!!!

My folks are that way. My grandmother on my mom's side was that way. Dad used to say that Ma-ma was just taking too many pills... she took like a half-dozen a day. Dad became disabled due to post-polio syndrome, peripheral neuropathy, and complications from heart failure and diabetes later on... He was taking upwards of 15 different meds a day, and it didn't seem to be doing much if any good. Mom has problems (diabetes and other old age related ailments) and takes a fistful of meds as well. She's exactly as you described your ex-- sleeps all day, up all night, and carries a mini-pharmacy with her at all times. It's crazy.

The health care system is the biggest culprit. Every time I'd go to the doctor (which was a lot more often when I was driving the school bus-- either constantly sick from exposure to kid germs circulating around, or going in for annual driver physicals) I end up sitting in the waiting room for over an hour while at least 1 and sometimes 2-3 drug sales people come rattling through the lobby and straight back to the doc's office in back, peddling their wares... Usually it's some leggy blonde in hooker heels, a tight blouse, and a skirt that wouldn't make a decent handkerchief, pulling one of those little suitcases on wheels full of dope from her drug company... And of course, if they write a few hundred scrips for whatever they're peddling, they get to go on a free fishing junket to Cancun or whatever... Remember when the TV commercials and magazine ads were for new cars or laundry soap?? Now that doesn't even rate anymore-- it's all two-page ads for various prescription meds that you should "ask your doctor" about... I don't get that... HE'S the professional-- HE is supposed to know about the various drug options for treating whatever condition ails you; WHY should you have to "ask your doctor if "mycoxafalin" is right for you"?? What happens is like what my Ma-Ma used to do... she was a candystriper in the hospital and therefore she knew just enough to be dangerous and didn't realize it. She thought she knew more than the doctor and would go in and tell him what was wrong with her and basically DEMAND a given medication to treat it. She really didn't take "no" for an answer either-- if she got a "no" without absolutely rock-solid information to the contrary and a completely successful alternative, then she figured the doc was a "quack" who wouldn't listen to her, and go to a different doc.

I've been to the doc once in the last five years, and that was because of a urinary tract infection that was giving me prostate problems that were extremely uncomfortable, and it took two long scrips of antibiotics to wipe out. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gone then. I had a kidney stone about 2-3 years ago, had never had one before, but I muddled through that one. Had another one in the other side here about a few months ago, before the UTI (probably contributed to it as the other happened soon after). I was muddling through the pain, but it was pretty dang bad... lay down awhile, get up awhile. Betty had some Tylenol with codeine that they gave her when she broke her elbow in two places, and she said, "if it gets too bad, take one". After a few hours, I did. Wow that was crazy... I've been drunk once maybe twice in my life, buzzed maybe 3-4 times, and don't drink alcohol much at all. Never cared for the taste of beer or hard liquor. Never taken dope or smoked pot or anything like that. I took one Tylenol with codeine and I was sitting in the chair-- the pain was dulled but still there, but it was kinda pushed to the back of my mind-- it was there but I could kinda ignore it or dismiss it... but I was laughing out loud because of all the freaky stuff I was seeing-- all sorts of mathematical equations and weird stuff I was seeing-- couldn't make sense of any of it. Just out of control and nonsensical... Then I fell asleep in the chair and woke up several hours later, and it had passed and the pain was gone.

I can sorta see why some people would be drawn to that sort of feeling, the being out of control and floating around seeing stuff, everything else being dulled away... but I didn't care for it myself. I know some idgits think they could get all sorts of "enlightenment" from what they see-- I laughed because I thought if I could just understand all those equations I could solve Grand Unified Field Theory (the theory of everything in the universe) LOL Course I know better, but some people don't.

Dad ended up dying of cancer between the liver and bile duct. Course most all those prescription drugs are very hard on the liver-- the liver is what processes and deactivates them in the body, so I wonder how much of that has to do with that.

IMHO, the best meds are the ones I'm NOT taking. If I'm gonna take a med, it better be because the alternative is a LOT worse... How most of this stuff even gets on the market nowdays just amazes me... "Got thinning hair, take this pill... side effects are diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, rare forms of cancer, liver failure, your kneecaps might drop off, double vision, hearing loss, inform your doctor if you've been out of your house in the last year, as certain types of fungal infections are possible, do not even breathe on a pregnant woman if you're on this medication, because it can cause severe birth defects, etc. etc. etc... Just nuts! WHY would anybody EVER want to take something like that?? And they're usually for the most TRIVIAL sort of "problems" (like thinning hair) anyway... Just crazy...

Til they fix the healthcare system, the rest of this is just academic, anyway... if not opioids it'll be something else...

Later! OL J R


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

glasswrongsize said:


> If one were to point fingers at the problem, they would be hard pressed to find just one.
> 
> $$$$$$$
> 
> ...


Absolutely true... Like model airplane glue and huffing paint, and yeah there's idgits who put a trash bag over their head til they pass out... same reasons some weirdos "choke themselves out" during sex. We dealt with stuff like that when I was in the police academy. You're right that people can get "addicted" to anything as well... for a long time I was "addicted" to rock salt... still crave the stuff at times. I even asked the doc about it, wondered if I had something out of whack with my body chemistry or something-- he said, "nah, it's a habit" and left it at that.

I think you're right... this is a lot of hoo-hah about something that's been going on a VERY long time and it's not going to change much (if any). Too many "vested interests" with too much to lose (big pharma chief among them).

The big pharma companies successfully lobbied to get prescription drug advertising legalized in the mainstream media. HOW is that a GOOD thing?? "Have erectile dysfunction, ask your doctor if "Mycoxafalin" is right for you!" Gee, ain't the DOC supposed to be the PROFESSIONAL-- ain't HE supposed to know what medications are available to treat various conditions or ailments and what the side effects are, and the interactions, and make the decision whether a certain medication is a good option for a particular person with their particular problems in their specific case? Silly me, I thought the cartoon doc in the commercial knows better... SO while they spend obscene MILLIONS of dollars advertising all this dope in two-page spreads in all the major national magazines and at every commercial break all day and all night on TV, so they can "encourage" some numbskull to DEMAND that their doc give them this specific scrip that they saw advertised... In the meantime, the price of meds is through the roof (gotta pay for all that advertising don't ya know...) and insurance is through the roof (gotta pay for all those expensive meds) and you sit in the lobby at the doc's office for another hour waiting to get in to be seen when you've got a simple infection and need an antibiotic to dry it up, because another dope peddler from the drug company comes wiggling through the waiting room in her hooker heels and micro-miniskirt pulling her little dope suitcase on wheels behind her goes straight back to visit with the doc in his office... and of course tell him all about their new incentive program-- if he writes a couple hundred scrips for their latest dope they're selling, he gets a free vacation in Aruba or whatever...

THAT is the root of the problem, and you're right-- they're not gonna do ONE DARN THING about it, either...

Later! OL J R


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Careful taking too much of it for a long time, linked to I think it was kidney and heart damage with enough exposure.



somedevildawg said:


> As I've gotten older, my drug of choice is ibuprofen, Advil liquid gel, really helps with inflammation....it will get the job done, if it don't you may need to see a M.D.


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## CowboyRam (Dec 13, 2015)

Now my dad is just the opposite as my ex, he is afraid to take those high powered drugs. He will be complaining about his rheumatoid arthritis and I will ask if he took his meds, nope; he only takes them when is is really hurt bad. He is worried about getting addicted to them; I tell him he is 81, I don't think he has to worry to much about that, but he is not going to take them. It is a good thing he has the farm to keep in active, even though I am doing most of the hard heavy work.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

I have always put off taking meds until the situation was unbearable. Remember, pain killers only MASK the pain. That can enable some to keep on doing what they want, further damaging injured tissue without knowing it.


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