The Pandemic of Prescription Drugs

Originally posted by drock905
Obviously some people do need to be medicated but oddly enough the people with serious conditions never look or act the way addicts do even if they have been on the meds for years.

I'm one of your odd people then. I've been on pain medications for 4 years and the few times I've run out I never went out "doctor shopping" or looking for relief on the street. It's the worst experience of my life and I live in constant fear of ever being caught in that situation again.

Television news would have you believe it's a simple matter for someone to go to a doctor and get pain medications. That is simply untrue in my experience. It was always the last option and if given was usually in such small dosage as to be ineffective. Over the course of 6 months I went from 150lbs to 120 lbs before they would up the level of treatment for me. And I had no fat on me to start with! My wife and I were incredulous that the doctors would not do more to treat pain.

It's the doctors. Narcotics are insanely addictive and the doctors don't want to or refuse to admit it. I deal with people all day long who look 20-30 years older then they are because of pain med addiction. These people got addicted because they were prescribed them without proper education to the addiction risk. Not to mention the government and health care pays for it so it's virtually free for them to keep using.

I was never warned about what to expect; how addiction works and what happens when you don't have any more.
They should sit you down and give you a heavy lecture for 10 minutes and tell you that if you run out you will feel like you're dying and you will get sicker than you ever have in your whole life.

Thanks for posting that. People need to understand both how deadly and how awful this stuff can be. I had fentanyl patches and felt no relief from them but I've heard people cut them up and even try to smoke it which can be deadly. Like GRA said time release drugs are some of the most dangerous so I think Oxycontin would have to make the list.

There is a new synthetic morphine called Opana that is getting increasing use. I was put on it and without insurance it cost me $800 a month! For just 2 pills a day. Mad expensive.

I think I should add that I have a spinal condition that there is no alternative but pharmaceuticals for. I would never have become an addict were there any choosing on my part about it.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


You're spot on.
When I was a kid it was unusual that even adults would be on any medication permanently. Kids on medications were only on them for a week or 2 and it was odd for anyone to have allergies other than hay fever. I can only remember 1 kid with asthma when I was in grade school.

What a change we've gone through! Young folks wouldn't believe there was a time when hardly anyone took medicines prescribed by a doctor.

We can reduce the actual high number of Death and Accidents with the right
Information of witch Drugs can be combined and which not!!!

Sometimes i am really shocked to see what kind of potential Deadly
Mix of prescription Drugs the People eat daily!

There are some Pages who provide the medical important Information
and more important it is to speak with the Doc about all the Medicine you get,
he/she need to know to avoid lethal Mixes like Tramadol and SSRI
or Opioid-type Drugs and Benzodiazepine!

people trust their doctors. People often have multiple doctors. My wife has a lethal combination of prescriptions at this very moment. She could walk into her medicine cabinet, take each of the prescribed medicines that doctors have given her over the past month

Aren't doctors supposed to ask what medications their patients are on(It's always the very first question I am asked, and my answer is none, in case you're curious.), so lethal combinations like this don't happen? Did your wife tell her doctors which prescriptions she was on?

Prescription drugs help people much more often than they kill them.
Someone mentioned all but two of their friends takes prescription drugs. Did that person ask them if these drugs helped them?

I'm sorry, but prescription drugs are just symptoms of multiple pandemics. The drugs themselves aren't the pandemic.

There are problems with how drugs are prescribed, amphetamines for adhd are prescribed easily to people without adhd for example. That doesn't mean that the drugs themselves are a problem. It's a complex science, that does have problems, yet it is still HELPING MUCH MORE people than it harms.

Of some of the celebrities (including Houston) it is known that they also took harder drugs such as crack. This sets them up for needing substances to change their mood and it also sets them up for overdosing on prescription drugs, imo.

Nice work on the OP btw.

If you mix drugs that don't mix or take too much of a pill it really is your problem. If you mix a bunch of CNS depressants like Whitney did, DUH! you're gonna stop breathing.


Yeah there can be random deaths, but there are random deaths from tylenol too.

I hate when people diss all drugs. Especially pain killers. You try living in constant pain and see how quick you'll be begging for opiates. I'm pretty sure you'd be insulted if people called you a drug addict because you needed pain pills to have any quality of life.

reply to post by Asktheanimals


This is one of the emerging problems!

Many people do have legitimate need for the drugs, but due to the crackdown by authorities, they are finding it harder and harder to get their drugs. Doctors are prescribing less, and not giving refills easily. Pharmacies are refusing to fill a lot of prescriptions. It is basically impossible to fill a prescription outside of your own county or state, and it is basically impossible to get a Doc to give you enough meds to cover a couple of weeks, so if you are going out of town for a month, you find yourself in a very difficult situation!

Sadly, it is much easier to find a shady doctor, or buy pills illegally than it is to find a legitimate doctor, who will take your whole situation into consideration and prescribe accordingly.

So, not only are the drugs extremely dangerous for those that don't understand them, or choose to abuse them, but it is also creating a painful and dangerous situation for those that legimately need the drugs!

reply to post by RealSpoke


Your take on the issue is extremly naive, and apparently you didn't read any of the links in my OP, and you haven't been watching the news.

There are not 7 people per day dying from Tylenol. There are not people making $500k per month from fake prescriptions of Tylenol. There are not people selling their souls to get more Tylenol. There are not people taking the prescribed dosage of Tylenol before bed, and then dying in their sleep.

What we are talking about in the OP, and in the news, and in law enforcement, and in the Health Departments is basically a lethal combination of drugs that can cause accidental death.

Narcotic/Painkiller + Muscle Relaxer + Mood Enhancer/Anti-depressant creates a situation very similar to what a Euthanasia Doc might want to create. It dulls the pain receptors, dulls the body's emergency response, and slows the heartrate and breathing rate to lethal levels.

In fact, with the high volume of deaths, and the specific combination of drugs creating the deaths, a good conspiracy theorist would have to jump to far to wonder if it is intentional?

reply to post by getreadyalready


I wanted to say something about that as well and you're right; I moved a year and a half ago but I still drive 5 hours to go see my specialist. Pharmacies usually refuse to fill a prescription from a doctor that's not in the immediate area - out of state? - forget it! I only use one pharmacy to make things simpler but when there's a pharmacist who doesn't know me they make me wait until they can get a fax or a call back verifying the script. So yes, even if I could travel we don't - I'm mortified of someone stealing my Rx's or an unethical cop pulling me over and helping themselves.
Also God forbid there should be the slightest mistake or anomaly on the script itself - they won't fill it. I've been in situations where I had to drive 5 hours to my old town just to get a prescription filled.

That's just the short version of the horror stories I could tell. I've been in the ER 3 times for running out of meds and twice it had nothing to do with me but mistakes the doctor made or because of a recall of a certain drug.

The last person being considered is the pain patient, I can tell you that. The state wants to look "tough" on crime, and the doctors and the pharmacy are worried about covering their own butts.

Pain patients have to watch out for themselves because no one else will. We have no lobbyists, no advocates and no representation. It's a damn lonely situation to find yourself in.

The problem is that Doctors do not believe that you can addicted to prescriptions. They find it difficult to see the harm which they do. It is for this reason that there are very few organisations which support people with addictions to prescription medications.

A really good one is run by the Charity Mind In Camden and is called the Minor Tranquilliser Project.
I'd recommend anyone who is interested in this area lend them support via twitter @minortranx (www.twitter.com/minortranx) or through their facebook. www.facebook.com...

reply to post by Asktheanimals


There are even some pharmacies that are now refusing to accept "cash" patients. They only fill health insurance prescriptions, and at the same time, there are other pharmacies that are only seeing cash patients!

Organized crime has now been tied to some of the cases busts in Florida. CIA, DEA, US Marshalls, and just about every other alphabet agency has been involved in one way or another. The problem is extreme, and you're right, no one is lobbying on behalf of the patients. In fact, far too many people assume all the patients are addicts or abusers or dealers. There are legitimate patients like yourself, but currently no one seems concerned with them.

Google Search for "Florida Pill Mill Busts"

reply to post by getreadyalready


We were all born without drugs, it is sad that when people abuse drugs, they think they can get away from the problems they face in life. In the end, they fail to realize that it will come back and bite them.

Originally posted by RealSpoke
You try living in constant pain and see how quick you'll be begging for opiates. I'm pretty sure you'd be insulted if people called you a drug addict because you needed pain pills to have any quality of life.

You hit the nail on the head
You sound like you either have someone close to you in that situation or have been there yourself.

It is all about quality of life and I feel for all the people who can't get help or who are severely under medicated. The system is stacked heavily against them and I would imagine being in a minority would only exacerbate the situation.

If they would just treat the people properly who need help there wouldn't be such a huge underground business in dealing pain medications. I had to nearly die before I got the help I needed.

reply to post by Asktheanimals

If they would just treat the people properly who need help there wouldn't be such a huge underground business in dealing pain medications.

I think that opens a whole other HUGE can of worms.

"Treating" a patient is something doctors are doing less and less. In my opinion, this pain med problem started, when Doctors started joining large groups and alliances, and stopped being personal doctors. They know less and less about their patients, and they ignore personal attention like diets/nutrition, exercise, therapies, counseling, etc. Instead, they spend 45 seconds with a patient, and write a prescription that addresses the symptoms.

Many of the people on pain meds don't realize they could eliminate the pain by getting rid of calcium and/or phosphor buildups in their system. Or they could take down lumps and swelling by eliminating caffeine. They don't realize they might need a new bed mattress! They don't know proper lifting techniques to use at work, or they don't realize they have a pinched nerve, or a vertebrae out of place. Instead, the docs just give them muscle relaxers and pain pills, and when that doesn't work, they add on anti-depressants and sleep aids.

Some doctors are able to see hundreds of patients everyday. It used to be dozens per day, but now it is hundreds per day! How can anyone get any decent care in a brief moment or two?

Very informative thread.

Regarding the topic of depression, I believe that people who are deficient in Vitamin D3 are victims of depression. Back in the day before all these TV channels, computers, and video games, people, especially children, got outside more often and enjoyed sunlight more. Now that we're staying inside out of the sun, the percentage of those suffering with depression has gone through the roof. Since I've began taking 5000iu of D3 per day, my mood has stabilized and I'm not depressed anymore. Of course, the government and big pharma make way too much money off dispensing anti-depressants, so they aren't going to tell you that you have a vitamin D3 deficiency. I only pay $5 per month for D3.

Another thing is that people who abuse Rx drugs usually abuse alcohol, too. This is a lethal combination and will cause death eventually. If an overdose doesn't kill you, your liver is taking a beating and will fail a lot earlier than someone who only abuses alcohol.

Next time you're in a Wal-Greens, check by the counter for the fuzzy, stuffed Happy Pills. They're very colorful and laugh hysterically when you squeeze them. These are obviously marketed for children and should be banned right along side candy cigarettes.

Sadly I have watched my closest friend go from a independently secure woman to a recluse.

She had a excellent goverment job with great pay a upper management position at the age of 42
she decides she will go on disability because she says shes tired . She has diabetes and hyperthyroidism
she has a insulin pump and is on thyroid meds. She talked her Dr into diagnosing her with fibromyalgia.

Next thing I know she is on Provigil ( because shes tired) Wellbutrin (shes deppressed) Celebrex (pain) Valium (anxiety) Vicodin( more pain) Oxycodone (because the vicodin does nothing) a variety of perscription sleep aids she smokes weed and some stuff called insense. She combines them all.

This all has happened over the last year and a half all coming from one DR whom she calls the Candy Man he gives her higher and higher doses all the time she filling perscriptions 2x a week not to mention her getting them mailed to her.
She now is a walking zombi before this all came about she was 150lbs beautiful funny had everything going for her she managed her diabetes and thyroid well... now she is barely 100lbs and sickly it is hard to look at her.
Nothing I say or do matters to her anymore I have tried everything along with other friends and her parents.
She is now a ward of the state.
I don't understand how this Dr is able to feed her all these pills and sees the outcome from what he has done and can sleep at night.
One day I know the SWHTF I feel helpless and miss her and want her back the way she was.

reply to post by starlitestarbrite


I'm sorry to hear that your friend has chosen to live a life where she doesn't want to feel her emotions because they are too painful. I'd suggest turning her doctor into investigators, but if he were shut down, she'd simply find another "candy man". It's hard to wake up someone who has gone so far down into the darkness. Stopping her meds is probably worse for her health than staying on them at this point. For example, I was on Cymbalta for two years to ease my fibromyalgia, but decided to quit taking them cold turkey one day. Wow! That was a bad decision. I had sensory hallucinations and couldn't go out in public for three weeks because I was too scared to drive and didn't feel normal enough to even be around people. Bad stuff. I wish now that I'd weaned myself off of them, but what's done is done and I'm just happy I made it through the withdrawl symptoms.

I am tired of threads like this blaming the worlds problems on drugs!! People make bads decisions period! They will get drugs whether legally or not. The more we try to stop it the worse it gets!
We waste millions of dollars on the war on drugs and our prisons are full of drug users that we are paying to take care of instead of the true murders,rapists etc that really roam our cities. My brother is a police man and they waste hours of time dealing with this petty stuff. Sorry that I can't get behind the ban all drug bandwagon. Because it will not work period.
We have doctors afraid to even treat pain now in fear of being called a drug pusher. It is ridiculous. I feel the government should stay out of a doctor / patient treatment and if people make wrong decisions that is their fault. Grown adults are completely capable to know when they are making mistakes. These are not children we are talking about.

This is exactly what the government wants. You as a citizen to demand "something" be done so they can control and manipulate our lives even more!!
Sorry I disagree but I am sick of the whole thing.
Wake up to reality. Prohibition worked really well didn't it????
PS Alcohol is the most abused drug and is completely legal!!! Don't see that hear in the report!!

reply to post by getreadyalready


S&F for an excellent post on a topic that merits discussion since prescription drug use is a sneaking, insidious epidemic that affects us all - loved ones included. I live in FL: and not a day goes by when some attorney firm is not asking: Did you take advair or zoloft or such and such a drug and now are experiencing kidney failure or cancer? Call 1 800 - bad drug.

It is my opinion the way the FDA legalizes drugs for use among the general public is foolhardy irresponsible and hazardous.
Why after the fact - are we taking up class action lawsuits against the drug companies themselves when the FDA is quick to approve all these chemicals for public use and assure us of their safety?

Isn't that what you might call - a lie?
We said they were safe, we approved them but now they are taken off the market as they are killing people.

Not exactly the way it should be done, I'd say.

Whatever the ailment I go the natural route and if that is not good enough then I might try modern medicine but otherwise I don't think they have much new to offer except a surefire way to leech chemicals and drugs into our groundwater - by promoting drugs and providing pills to every man woman child and dog alive for every rash, hiccup and inconvenience.

Another thing that's messed up are the amount of commercials marketing these drugs.
"Ask your doctor about (fill in the blank)."
These should not be allowed.