NEWS.COM.AU report on the rise in prescription opiate overdoses today
sparked fierce debate among readers who have used the drugs.
OxyContin, or "hillbilly heroin", is a prescription painkiller. And experts it's killing people, too.
Some experts say the drugs are being overprescribed. Oxycodone users,
many of whom use the drug everyday as a painkiller and live normal lives, were
divided about this.
A kind of oxycodone, the drug Endone, was implicated in Heath Ledger's
death. Above, Ledger in 2006. Picture: AAP
A reader had a tragic experience with the drugs. Her husband died from
an overdose of alcohol and oxycodone in 2005. "His doctor at the time of
death knew of his doctor shopping and my husband always pressured him to give
more painkillers." "It’s a tragedy and doctors need to be more aware
of their patients and not just so easily write a prescription and send them on
their way," she said.
Another blogger, who used the drugs for ten days to treat chronic pain,
was troubled by their addictive properties and lax regulation. He told
News.com.au: “I found that within a couple of days I was craving the tablets
and I also started to panic about small rooms and heavy bedclothes over me, not
nice at all.”
When he was discharged from hospital doctors gave him four boxes
of the drug.
“This is where I believe that the addiction to them is coming
from and there is not a full realisation of how highly addictive this drug can
be to some people.”
But other readers also said that access to pain medication like
oxycodone was vital and that treatment of pain patients is poor. Some oxycodone
users said people who abuse the drugs were giving those with a legitimate need
a bad reputation. A woman with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, symptoms of which
include daily dislocations of joints and ligament tears, said
:"People have NO idea how difficult it can be to get adequate analgesia. "We
get told that our bodies are addicted to these drugs and that's why over time
we need to have our medication increased, when it has been established, at
least in my case, that the medication is needing to be increased because my
pain is ever-increasing."
A Queensland reader also had difficulty accessing the medication, this
time thanks to State Government restrictions. "One time, I was going to be
away from the area when I would of needed my next Oxycontin prescription and it
was about a week before my tablets would run out.
"When the doctor rang to get an authority for the Oxycontin he was
refused untill he explained that I would be unable to get to the doctor surgery
next week because I was going to be out of the area." He developed chronic
pain due to a car accident 6 years ago and has been on oxycodone for a year.
Another reader, who linked emotional problems to the use of the drugs,
said: “My advice to anyone who needs to take this for an injury or chronic
pain… Take it on very low doses and for a very short time.
“If you need long
term pain control, see a pain medication specialist."
Experts are similarly split. Professor Richard Mattick, from the
National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at UNSW, told News.com.au: “Long-term
opioid therapy for non-cancerous pain is not a good idea.” “It’s not
particularly effective. The reason is you get tolerant to the drugs.”
Dr Geoff Dobbs, the Vice-President of the Australian Medical Association
said: “Chronic pain in our community is being better recognised and more
comprehensively treated.”
One of the problems is there is an association
between chronic pain and depression, he said.
The Federal Government is
looking to expand programs that would restrict the overprescription of the
drugs. But many patients go about their daily lives without becoming addicted
to the drugs. On Twitter, a commenter said: " I took two Endone [an
oxycodone] last night and got up for work this morning! People do it."
News.com.au
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