Being a Chronic Pain Patient for over a decade, recent events have opened my eyes. The New War on opioid use has gotten way out of control. No sane person will say that recreational or long term use of poppy based alkaloids are good for you. My Drs have spoken with me, they are concerned. Drs. licenses and livelihoods are now being threatened. Ten years ago the same Drs were told that they must treat pain. They were fully aware of the potential for drug abuse. These types of abuses and behavior patterns have been around since "Milk of The Poppy" was discovered. China went to war to keep The English from importing opium to its shores ( China lost!). The big problem , as I see it is as follows... There are real people who suffer greatly from real pain issues that only opioid based medicines help with. One half of our States are opposed to any Cannabis derivative treatments. Eastern Medicine and its application is not readily available to most of our Society. Most MD's I have seen ( and there are many) are not open to a primary holistic approach to pain management. In a secondary role most MD's i have spoken with will play lip service, but few will integrate Chiropractic, Massage, Acupuncture, Water treatments and so on into a primary treatment plan. I do not begrudge the Drs their reluctance. Today Drs are under tremendous duress from the Federal Government in areas of licensing, insurance mandates and the threat of malpractice. I always repeat to myself before entering a Drs office that these people entered the field of medicine to help people. Now more than 50% of their time is spent covering their asses just to maintain a livelihood. That Is just crazy. How often have you had a job that the employer with no plan of malfeasance set his shop and employees up to fail? It happens all the time. No one wants to fail, but sometimes the restrictions of law, market and the winds of chance all but ensure a smooth track into failure and disaster. Our Government, despite the will of the People continues to fail us. The powers that be are at best under questionable control. There has to be a better way. i began this missive because i am tired of being treated like a criminal. My Drs are tired of being treated as criminals. Insurance Companies must be laughing all the way to the bank. I will not even begin to comment on my view of the American Health Insurance game( as of this moment).
I am so totally frustrated with the situation, I requested to be placed into Hospice Care. I was laughed at. American Medicine, Great Doctors, Fabulous Hospitals, amazing Nurses and Angels of physical therapy brought me back from Death, not once but twice. The money put into my body through every program imaginable plus my personal fortune runs into the millions. The result, I am alive, I have a certain quality of life. In any other culture, any other time (era) any other place , I would be dead! The price, I live in constant, never ending, debilitating pain. Opioids help keep a quality of life. Yet I will not immediately die with out them. Overtime the depression that goes hand in hand would win. Something terrible and fatal would surely follow. It is beyond my comprehension how so many of our Veterans DO NOT commit suicide. The shear concept of phantom pains is beyond me. I have no answers. If you have any, please let me know. We can do better. No one wants to see anyone overdose and die. We must teach our young the dangers of improperly used medicines, we must find a way to deal with chronic pain..
Good thing at heart I'm an optimist, otherwise this could get really depressing.
Never Give Up, Never Give In. reach Out for Help If The Demon Depression gets out of it's Cage. Sally -Forth
Thank You
