BREAKTHROUGH ADDICTION RECOVERY HOUR

MARCH 14, 2009

RECOVERING FROM PAIN PILL MEDICATIONS

Brian: Welcome everyone to the Breakthrough Addiction Recovery Hour, my name is Brian Fujii and my co-host is Jill Mattingly. Today we are discussing the issues surrounding pain pill medications and the situations surrounding them.

Jill: That’s right Brian, and I wanted to say why we are doing this show because we have been seeing a lot of folks in our office in Norcross and it wasn’t like they are looking for the drugs they get the prescription and using a medication that was for a specific problem and then found out that it did more for them and didn’t see a problem. We are also getting calls here Brian and people listening to our show. With all of the people out there we need to address this a little bit more,

Brian: Yes, last week, we had calls coming in about the pain meds and our aging society with pain issues and we are seeing oral surgeries, back surgeries and could be listening and wondering if the pain medication has been used too long. What happens when you have to stop? If you are listening and would like to participate in the conversation please call us, 770-222-0920 again the number is 770-226-0920 and if you are outside the area 1-888-920-2665. Jill one of the things we see at our offices is people are coming in of all ages and so it is not a condition that is age specific. They begin using pain medication to calm themselves and even energy .

Jill: Let’s clarify that we are not talking about the illegal opiate the heroin and things like that we are talking about prescription drugs that are also called narcotics made from the opiate and actually you may have some in your medicine cabinet at home like oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphene, these are all in the category. Their trade names are vicodin, percocet, and such that people perk up for when they are looking for them. It is very easy when you have a root canal or a herniated disc in the back or neck, a car accident injury, um, there are so many reasons to receive the medications that are well within the realm of good medicine. Interestingly enough Brian, many times after surgical procedures it was expected to have pain in healing and now in our culture we have developed medications that have developed into a whole area of medicine, pain management. So now there is alarm if there is pain at all, an arthritic joint, 50 years ago people were in pain chronically and living full lives, we have now trained people to not accept pain in any form, so that enters into a difficult era. My engineer is laughing, especially for a physician, if you don’t believe in pain meds for a bad hip and if someone is still walking and aches at night, that is not an issue for a pain medication maybe an analgesic. So we enter into the difficult era and people don’t accept the pain in healing.

Brian: So true not for the physical pain or the emotional pain. Sadness, frustration, worry, they don’t like to have that,

Jill: Right, and now we have financial environment, foreclosures, people feel emotional pain and increased stress and we know that opiates can hit a place in the brain that can relieve that. 770-226-0920 call us if you have a question or comment about prescription pain pills and the problems with dependency and the problem of coming off of a pain medication. People don’t realize that everyone is different. Some feel real good when on them and energized and then as it wears off, they don’t go seeking it but they remember the positive feeling. There are people like me that can take a small amount of pain meds and get sick.

Brian: You will never be dependent. Some people become addicted and others don’t because of the physiological reactions that people have to different types of drugs or alcohol.

Jill: Hopefully if you are listening you will take this bit of truth and understand a bit more about addiction but one thing I want to say addiction is a brain disease of memory. When you have a positive situation in the brain with the release of neuro transmitters the brain remembers that it can relieve whatever ails you. So, many times the disease of memory deals with many complex things however, I think that it is interesting when we talk about pain medication.

Brian: When we return we will talk about drug memory and that is a powerful piece of how people move from using to dependence. 770-226-0920 is the number and we will be right back.

Commercial Break

Jill: Welcome back to the Breakthrough Addiction Recovery Hour, 770-226-0920, my name is Jill Mattingly and we are sitting together talking about pain pill addiction and as I look outside and that song of Fleetwood Mac, everything seems so heavy right now, but how do you lighten up the subject.

Brian: In some way we can say there is hope if you are suffering in this web of using pain meds for other reasons than pain. This program can help you and give you direction.

Jill: Some of the saddest situations in treatment are the person caught up in web of opiate addiction and it is powerful in terms of how it directs your thoughts and your life. You have everything you need in that one pill and when it is missing or there are no more, your whole body will follow suit.

Brian: We know that the biggest reason for not stopping is they can not tolerate withdrawal. It is so uncomfortable and that is another reason why it is so difficult.

Jill: The number to call if this is something you are experiencing. 770-226-0920 please call in if you want to make a comment. Our website contains a secion on opiate treatment and if you look around there is “One Man’s Story” or “Paul’s Story” this is a fascinating journey of someone who didn’t mean to but ended up in dependency on prescription drugs and he tells an amazing journey of going for a root canal receiving vicodin and his wife had been given pain meds also and he realized that just taking one or two of those a night, was like drinking a glass of wine and enabled him to enjoy the kids and not stress about money and everyone liked him more and he didn’t mean to make this into an abuse or dependency problem but reading the story you see the journey and down to 22 doctors that did not know about each other. This is extremely doable and people are doing it every day.

Brian: Mark in Cumming is on the line. Hey Mark

Mark: Hi, I am blessed, I just want to comment and I want to hear the response. I went through a divorce two years ago and I was kind of a party drinker after the divorce and got to a point where I would get off work and drink three or four every day and I did that for about 6 months and on the weekends heavier. It got to the point where I was tired of feeling like garbage every morning, so I quit, Does this happen? Do I have a drinking problem?

Brian: You were into binge drinking but at the same time we see that you had personal problems and dealing with a chemical. What we would like for you to do is take a look at the pattern and that is why you can quit. You didn’t cross the line into dependence.

Mark: That makes sense.

Jill: Abuse can look many ways but in your emotional struggle the neurochemicals made you feel better but unfortunately the next day you didn’t. You can feel good when you are doing it and for you were able to put the brakes on. You are very fortunate in that case.

Mark: My biggest problem was my kids, I love them so much and one day I realized I didn’t get to see them and I am remarried happily and very seldom touch the alcohol and you have a great weekend, thanks for your time.

Jill: When you look back at your own situation like Mark, that is a good question where were you in the scheme of dependency and abuse. Many ask when they come in for a consultation they don’t think there is a problem and maybe they don’t need treatment and by talking we can help you understand where you are on that slippery slope and Mark is very very fortunate and not many can pull back.

Brian: You do see this a lot. Cutting back hardly ever works. 770-226-0920 the number to call and we are talking about addiction related to prescription pain killers. Some do this to just feel energetic and not for pain at all. This is a huge issue.

Jill: The medical model now is more along the lines of helping people manage pain and the translation is in the mind of the patient that they should not feel any pain. Physicians are controlled tightly by how they prescribe or give the medication and not take the time to educate the patient about how and when it should be used. I mean people can actually take a bottle of pills and use them for other matters and feel better and on about day 7 the pain is over and so they stop taking the meds and lo and behold they are having withdrawal symptoms. As an internal medicine PA I have had people talk about how horrible they feel. They need to be educated. 770-226-0920 please call we want to hear from you.

Commercial Break

Jill: 770-226-0920 Opiate addiction is difficult to treat because opiates have a natural receptor in the brain and the brain loves opiates and actually our bodies make our own called endorphins and then when you take something like an opiate derived from the poppy plant you can see how pleasurable this is to the brain. Opiates do for us more than just ease the pain, they ease anxiety and insomnia and they do help detach from difficult emotional situations and deaden your emotions and help with depression and so when it comes to that if you don’t know this about opiate medication it is a really good reason to go and research what your doctor is giving you for your surgery. We advocate education about your medication.

Brian: As we take a look at the education component this is the age of information and we need that. Another piece is that when a client comes in and they are trying to detox from their meds and put on anti-craving meds the studies have shown that they can stay off of those drugs and not only important to have medication but education. So many times people take something for pain without having pain. They take it for stress and anxiety and so we need to find out what is going on in these various emotional issues.

Jill: A breeding ground for opiates is depression and anxiety. They will take the medicine from a few weeks ago for a tooth extraction. There is a dangerous behavior because this is the way opiates and the brain work. The neurotransmitters create a memory for the brain and then you get the desired result.

Brian: We look at addiction as a brain disease and opiates as you said creates the emotional memory. The brain knows exactly where to go to and digs up that memory and that gets them back into using.

Jill: I would like to talk to people that are really their ears have perked up and they are taking a few hydrocodone a day because it is there and thinking that it is helping you get through the day and maybe taking at least 8 if it is a bad day. It may be time to start looking at why you are doing this. What do you feel like when you start to cut back. Let’s talk after the break. 770-226-0920

Commercial Break

Jill: Welcome back we are the Breakthrough Addiction Recovery Hour and we are talking about opiates, pain killers, how it feels to stop taking them and the feeling that comes over you. That body ache as if you were getting the flu and then the aches become much more intense and your heart begins racing and you are so uncomfortable you feel like you have to pace and you are restless, that’s not the flu. We need to help you understand that is a withdrawal from narcotics. That is a withdrawal from the medicine taken religiously for the last six months. People don’t realize the more they take the medication, the more sensitive they are to a pull or a strain. If they had just taken Advil after working in the yard, now they feel as if they need the vicodin or percocet. There are people with true pain from ruptured discs and things like that, what I am talking about now is how the use becomes very cavalier and no thought given to the fact that the pain is not that deep.

Brian: If they are already having trouble with physical pain and then the emotional they will become frustrated and take the medication to ease the emotional pain. They don’t want to face withdrawal and are struggling with emotions that are hard to manage.

Jill: The client will feel bad for a day and try to take Tylenol and go to bed early and then they may feel better in a day or so. They might miss work or worse they might try to go to work in withdrawal and that can be very dangerous. So, you could actually move through this and maybe two or three days later have the understanding that they don’t ever want to be going through this again, and that might do it. Unfortunately, those that come to Breakthrough usually have a problem and have said I can’t walk away from it and that is where our program comes in.

Brian: Now they are struggling with a drug dependence and in our free consultation we see the struggles with this type of addiction or abuse of pain medication and if you are one of those people listening today, it is a free consultation and we can talk about all of the different options and so for example if someone is struggling with this addiction we can help them not only help with detox but also getting them the very important psychoeducation and they can begin understanding what is happening to them.

Jill: You have the medication from your doctor, go back to him and talk about your problem and he or she might refer you to an addictionologist to be able to come off of the opiate or narcotic and sometimes that is the only way to do it without ending up in the ER because of the withdrawal being so intense. So, I encourage you to talk to your doctor. We have an addictionologist that works with us that can help you step down off of the drugs and address your problem.

Brian: 770-226-0920 and we are talking about pain medications and prescription drugs that have caused addiction or abuse. If you or a loved one is struggling, it is not hopeless we can help you.

Jill: I understand this is a somber problem and it is hitting many households. Paul, who has struggled out of the depth of pain pill addiction and when you hear the amounts that he was taking you will be shocked. 770-226-0920. We are actually we might have a caller. I want to tell you about the internet story of Paul on our website. He actually got to the point where he was taking about 30 or so pills a day of vicodin.

Brian: Most folks can not comprehend that. That is so horrible

Jill: 90 pills usually in a prescription for a month or two is gone in three days. Which is why you have to go to a doctor or different doctors to get what you want. A creative person can go a long way and addiction gets your brain driving you into places you would have never dreamt of going. We have a few calls…..Derek in Gwinnett

Derek: Hey how are you. I know after taking so many oxycodones, even though I feel better I just couldn’t stop and now withdrawal, the cold sweats, um from um,

Jill: Derek people need to know that at first you are taking them for the feeling, then you keep taking them and the switch does come so that you are taking them to not get sick. How are you doing with that,

Derek: I was tying to ease off of them and the pain got worse, and it scared me with the cold sweats and nausea

Jill: You were in withdrawal and I am glad you saw it as a negative, we have to talk to some other callers, thanks for calling, people needed to hear what you went through. Take Care, we have got to take a break and we will talk to more listeners.

Commercial Break

Brian: Welcome back we have a caller, Cove in McDonough welcome.

Cove: This is for my mother, we lost my sister and my mother is taking the medication and everyone can tell this is not healthy and I am kind of well,

Jill: Cove let me stop you, you don’t need to read the scripts on the air, we are heading into the last of the program. Hold on and I will talk to you after we are off the air.

To our listening audience, call us and talk to someone over the phone, let us help educate you to the symptoms and it is your health so take responsibility we are there to help you.

Brian: Thank you for listening today, that is it for this week’s show and again www.breakthroughaddictionrecovery.com, our offices are in Norcross, GA and we would be happy to sit down with you in a free consultation so call us, 770-734-8091.