The Opioid Crisis Is Killing Pain Patients, But Not How You Think

Here she is again, going on for what, the third time now about The Opioid Crisis, Opioid Epidemic, Overdose Epidemic. Whatever it's being called this minute. Why, you must be wondering, do I keep going on about it again and again? Perhaps I'm hoping that eventually my words and my information will get through somehow, will sink in, will resonate. This is a subject of hot debate and for very good reason. The trouble is, however, that misinformation is not only widespread amongst the laymen in the public but amongst doctors and political figures as well.

Many are of the opinion that this issue is caused by prescription pain medications, that pain patients are overdosing left and right on opioids we are being prescribed. This is not the case. The number of prescriptions written for opiates has been falling dramatically since 2010 yet overdoses continue to climb.

The true cause of the overdoses in the opioid epidemic is illicitly manufactured and purchased fentanyl as well as heroin - both of which are opiates as they are, as is the case with most narcotic pain medications, derived from opium. These drugs are what are causing massive overdoses - fentanyl especially. Many who use heroin are unaware of how potent fentanyl is and overdose on their first go, or their dealer irresponsibly sells laced heroin - or worse yet sells fentanyl as heroin - with no warning, leading to immediate overdose.

Meanwhile, responsible chronic pain patients are being punished for the actions of people using street drugs. I am not denying that accidental overdoses happen amongst chronic pain patients; nor am I denying that some utilize opioids to commit suicide. However they are a small fraction in this epidemic. Even terminal cancer patients are now being denied adequate pain management because of these people shooting fentanyl and heroin into their veins. Doctors are being handcuffed whether by new laws or out of fear that they will be investigated simply for prescribing adequate pain management to their patients.

The result of this? Chronic pain patients are committing suicide at an alarmingly growing rate, and some are even turning to street drugs in search of pain relief and overdosing. This isn't because we're junkies unable to get a fix - this isn't because we're addicts. This is because we are in severe, constant agony that is in desperate need of pain control and we are being denied that aid because the government is far more concerned with its ineffective war on drugs than those who have no choice about the pain in their bodies and the fact they depend upon pain medication to function or even to have a life remotely worth living, which is the defining factor between someone who is dependant upon a medication rather than addicted to it. We depend on these medications for quality of life.

Some of these people are veterans, others are fire fighters or police officers that were injured on duty. Some are simply like me - born this way. And some simply were just hurt at work or in an accident and the injury causes constant and unceasing pain that has no cure.

Are we all to be punished because of these things? Are we to be denied a remotely desirable existence? Are we to be denied the right to take a breath without agonizing pain?

Because right now the only answer I am seeing in this whole mess is "Yes."

All methods of adequate pain control are being cut off one by one. Is it any wonder many are choosing death over a life of endless agony brought about at the hands of a government that doesn't understand the first thing about chronic pain? Nor that takes the time to listen to pain management doctors about what is truly necessary to treat their patients.

It seems less a war against the opioid epidemic and more an extermination ploy against chronic pain patients, and without the voices of those who do not suffer it sounding out with our voices that denying our pain is wrong, it will only continue, and the death toll of those in ceaseless pain will only continue to climb in this utterly unsympathetic and unempathetic climate that is being created.

The Truth About The Opioid Crisis

With the influx of articles and blog posts about the Opioid Crisis, some may say that I'm bandwagoning here by writing this post, but honestly, I've been planning to write it for some time. My next-to-last blog post touched on the subject, dipping my toes in the water, if you will. This one is going to be a bit more in depth, and much more personal. I'm not going to throw out a bunch of tables and graphs, but I will give some statistics. And I will give the truth. The government and propaganda would have you believe that anyone on prescription opioid medication is abusing them. The statistics do not support that.

What statistics? (Note: rather than using two numbers [e.g. between x and y percent] I will go with a median number to simplify the statistic unless it's a margin of 5 or more) That only about 21 to 29 percent of patients prescribed opioid medications misuse them. Only 10% develop an abuse problem. Only 5% transition to heroin.

While it's true 80% of heroin users first abused prescription opioids, only 5% of that 80% had them prescribed to them in the first place. 

The truth is, this opioid epidemic is a heroin and illicitly manufactured fentanyl epidemic. The overwhelming majority of patients who are prescribed prescription opioid do not abuse them nor become addicted to them. Yet we are being punished for the minority that does. We are being punished for people abusing street drugs because we responsibly use prescription medication that happens to be in the same drug class.

And now the death toll is rising. But here's the thing, dear reader. The rising death toll I'm referring to isn't overdoses. It's suicides. Yes, you read that right. A steadily growing number of chronic pain patients are committing suicide because they are being cut off of the one thing that makes their lives bearable with little to no hope of reaching that point again. They're committing suicide because they HAVE no hope, because they're seen as drug addicts, as junkies looking for a fix, not as people in unbearable amounts of pain who are crying out for help and being told they just need to suck it up and stop looking for drugs. They're committing suicide, dear reader, because the fear of death is far outweighed by the agony of life they're experiencing without proper pain management. The pain management many of you who don't live with chronic pain are cheering to be taken away. 

You're killing us. We are sick. We are in levels of pain that you could not even imagine and frankly, I don't WANT you to be able to imagine. And that pain never stops, it never goes away. It's there with every breath we take, even in our sleep, it's there. 

I have dreams where my pain permeates them. I get torn apart by animals or my bones broken by falling rocks and wake up with a start... Only to realize the pain of the dream is still there. Because it's real, and often I can't move for several minutes because of the level of pain I'm in. It's all I can do to force myself to breathe because even that is agonizing. But after a while, sometimes as little as five minutes and sometimes as long as an hour, I can move a little. And then a little more. Bit by bit I coax my spasmed muscles and throbbing, swollen joints into movement and manage to roll over to reach my bedside table where I can finally take a pain pill and a muscle relaxer. Fifteen minutes later, I can finally take a full breath without feeling like knives are scoring down my back and across my ribs. I slowly work the stiffness out of my joints and muscles, and another hour or so later, I can finally get out of bed and with the support of a cuff crutch, make a slow journey the 15 feet to the restroom and back before I have to rest again as that short trip has exhausted me from the pain, and I know that the rest of my day is going to be primarily spent in bed trying to fight off pain with heat, various topical analgesics, and medications. Rare are the days I'm well enough to go out and enjoy myself. They happen, and I make the most of them. But they're rare. Because pain management has such a tight leash on it that my regimen is completely inadequate.

I'm not telling you this to earn your pity. I don't want it. I'm not being hyperbolic either. None of this is an exaggeration. God knows I wish it was. 

I'm telling you this so hopefully you can understand, just a little bit, what living with severe chronic pain is like. Why people like me need opioid medications to get by, to try to have a relatively normal life. The restrictions in place make properly treating us difficult if not impossible, and it's only getting worse.

Please, help us. We're using our own voices to speak out, but without the help of people like you, reader, people who don't suffer but who have compassion and empathy, who understand that chronic pain patients are not drug addicts, our voices may not be enough. We need your help in this fight. We are fighting for our lives. Literally. Some of us have already lost that fight. 

Help the rest of us win.