We've lost too many in this insane '#opioid' war.
The sick & injured are spending the last years of their lives fighting, suffering, begging MDs & GOV for the medicines they need to mediate their pain.
They say taking our medicines away is to 'save' people.
No one is being saved.
Gov entities & groups like @ShatterproofHQ & @supportprop are directly responsible for spreading the #GreatOpioidLie.
No one with addiction is being helped by denying people in pain #opioid pain medicines.
In fact, despite draconian opioid policies, ODs continue to skyrocket.
Right now #Opioid policies aren't resulting in anything resembling #PatientCenteredCare.
Even though quality of life has declined for millions, allowing people pain care with proven, effective, opiate class medicines has become taboo in medical practice. #MedicalTyranny
We're told to 'quiet down', to supress any anger we might feel, told we just need to be patient year after year, while one after another we watch more and more of our friends in the pain community senselessly losing their lives. #RxOpioidsSaveLives#HarmReduction#OpioidHysteria
Shamed by the public, by our GOV officials, by medical 'professionals', ignored by most in the media.
Admonished that MDs are withholding needed medicines from us 'for our own good'.
Gaslit, abused both emotinally & physically, there is nowhere for us to turn. #ScreamLouder
Constant pain wreaks havoc on the body, mind, and soul.
Anyone in an instant can go from healthy and functional to losing their autonomy in regard to both basic self care and being able to make decisions about what is right for them as far as medical treatment. #MedicalTyranny
There's so much more I could add to this thread.
But why bother, I'll likely just find myself screaming into the void-Locked in an echo chamber- Made a shut in after 10 long yrs of torture-No longer able to march, or travel, or to be an effective catalyst of change. #ChronicPain
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Thread: Denying opiate medications to individuals who genuinely need them for pain management can lead to many serious health issues and so much more...
#PainCareCrisis #TheOutlawAdvocate
2-Increased Pain and Suffering:
The most immediate effect is an increase in pain, which can severely degrade the quality of life, making daily activities unbearable or impossible.
3-Mental Health Deterioration:
Chronic pain can significantly contribute to or exacerbate conditions like depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. The psychological toll of unrelieved pain can be profound.
Kolodny laid out a detailed plan in how to reduce opioid Rxing in a meeting in NY, before guideline was even published.
@jmkillingnyc has so much information on how insidious this anti-opioid agenda was from inception in early/mid 2000s and even earlier I believe.
#PainCareCrisis
2-In order to fight back against draconian prescribing protocols, we need to understand how we got here & what's preventing change.
Changes in Standard of Care requires MDs to stay withing the bounds of restrictions.
Law enforcement in medicine has created a chilling effect.
3-With changes re: opioid Standard of Care, if MDs stray, Medical Boards can target them, DEA can charge them, jailing at worse, destroying their reputation and financial standing at the very least. Pts claiming harm by opioids have increased ability to sue for malpractice.
Thread...1-Prescribing practices should never have gotten to the point where some of the most vulnerable people in our society-the sick/injured/elderly-are left in agony, driven to the point of desperation with little to no hope in sight of things changing.
#PainCareCrisis
2-People with serious illnesses and injuries have been being told every year for over a decade to 'hold on', that change is coming. I know from having boots on the ground in the chronic illness community that for most, things have only gotten worse.
#PainCareCrisis
3-Right after CDC/PROP's unrolling of the 'opioid guideline', I and others watched medical professionals convene boards to change the Standard of Care in managing pain in EVERY aspect of medical care, with an anti-opioid, 'dangerous drug', directive driving those changes.
1-What I've noticed over 14 years of advocating for people in pain is when you make it clear you're not anti-opioid, MDs, legislators, media, and GOV officials become rude then dismiss you. If you still don't go away, they'll then attack your character/ignore you.
#PainCareCrisis
2-Even when presenting facts-like the extremely low incidence of 'addiction by prescription'.
Or if we explain the safety/efficacy of opiate medicines when taken as prescribed, or the real dangers of leaving someone without effective pain control, including death- we are ignored.
3-More often than not, a pain patient advocating for themselves is automatically judged as ignorant and having no credibility. We are usually labeled as people 'just wanting THOSE drugs', called junkies or pharma shills, or bots.
Thread-There's probably more to unpack here than X or my current flare will allow me to elaborate on.
From deflection to gaslighting and than on to dismissal of anything we #chronicpatients or even professionals say.
#ChronicPain #PainCareCrisis @DEAHQ federalregister.gov/documents/2024…
2-Section 306 of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) (21 U.S.C. 826) requires the Attorney General to establish aggregate production quotas for each basic class of controlled substance in schedule I and II...
Maybe next letter writing campaign to the U.S. A.G?
#PainCareCrisis
3-DEA received 4,699 comments from people with chronic pain, patients (ADHD), pain advocacy associations, U.S. professional associations, U.S. nurses, and far more.
1-The most idiotic & insulting things those with #ChronicPain face is the implication or direct accusation that we 'just want opiates'.
The truth is, we ARE 'seeking' the meds from MDs we require for pain relief but usually ONLY AFTER trying almost everything else already.
2-When one is ill or injured they usually try the old standby's first vs before going to a doctor.
Ice, heat, OTC meds like Ibuprophen or Tylenol-Even both. Some try herbal supplements, massage, gentle exercise, diet, even acupuncture before seeking help from an MD.
#ChronicPain
3-Those w/#chronicillness have usually done their research & avoid medical offices/ER like the plague if at all possible.
From cost to gaslighting, we'd rather deal with our issues at home. But facts are, we require MDs help as THEY are the only ones who can RX meds we need.