The Staggering Truth About Those Who are Addicted to Painkillers

Painkillers are unfortunately also people killers--which raises the question into what they are...really.

Nevertheless, not enough curiosity and caution surrounds the painkiller phenomenon, despite it causing so many accidental overdose deaths.

Veracities about the many varying facets of pain medication are often characterized as hard-to-digest truths that nobody wants to hear and only want to talk about after a tragedy.



Account of a confessed painkiller addict:

"At the age of 20, I became an addict to a narcotic which began with a prescription following a surgery. In the weeks that followed the operation in addition to orally abusing the tablet, crushing it up enabled me to destroy the controlled release mechanism and to swallow or snort the drug. It can also be injected to produce a feeling identical to shooting heroin. The physical withdrawal from the drug is nothing short of agonizing pain." --- James

Narcotic: a drug affecting the brain and the spinal cord (central nervous system), which causes dizziness, lack of coordination and unconsciousness.

Fact: Painkillers don't cure anything. They simply mask the pain by temporarily dulling the brain's sensory to it.

Excerpted from radio commentator Rush Limbaugh's on-air statement, Friday, October 10, 2003 

"I am addicted to prescription pain medication. I first started taking prescription painkillers some years ago when my doctor prescribed them to treat post-surgical pain following spinal surgery...Over the past several years I have tried to break my dependence on pain pills and , in fact, twice checked myself into medical facilities in an attempt to do so. I have recently agreed with my physician about the next steps."

No one ever needs to exaggerate the seriousness of taking prescription painkillers. Each personal story of abuse contains it own unspoken warning.

Despite the variety of pharmaceuticals to choose from, robbers have held up pharmacies and demanded only OxyContin, a drug that greatly concerns the legal community in the Eastern United States.

OxyContin is commonly known as "hillbilly heroin" because of widespread use in Appalachian communities and heralded for 80% of the crime in those areas.

Fact: Morphine is the most active substance in opium and a very powerful painkiller that hooked many US Civil War Soldiers.

Some patients who are addicted to painkillers fabricate points of pain to get the drug. Others, who can afford to pay the price, find a street dealer, verifying this trend as a growing epidemic. 

Several physicians have come under scrutiny for providing drugs that played a role in recent accidental overdose deaths of high-profile people, of which Anna Nicole Smith and Michael Jackson are most notable.

Drugs in Anna Nicole Smith's system at time of death:

Therapeutic drugs:

• Diphenhydramine (Benadryl)
• Clonazepam (anti-seizure drug, also used for panic attacks)
• Diazepam (Valium, used to treat anxiety)
• Nordiazepam (metabolite, produced in digestion of diazepam)
• Temazepam (metabolite, also produced in digestion of diazepam)
• Oxazepam (used to treat anxiety)
• Lorazepam (Ativan, used to treat anxiety)

Other drugs found were:

• Atropine (a drug used in resuscitation)
• Topiramate (Topomax, used to treat seizures, migraines, and sometimes weight control)
• Ciprofloxacin (Cipro, an antibiotic)
• Acetaminophen (like Tylenol)

Source: Broward County medical examiner

Drugs in Michael Jackson's system at time of death:

• Propofol (fast-active hospital sedative administered intravenously before anesthetics)
• Lorazepam (Ativan, a benzodiazepine used for seizures, anxiety, insomnia and sedating aggressive patients) 
• Midazolam (used to treat seizures, anxiety and severe insomnia)
• Diazepam (Valium, used to treat anxiety)
• Lidocaine (local anesthetic used to treat skin inflammations and used by dentists to deaden gums)
• Ephedrine (stimulant and appetite suppressant)

No one likes to think they could become addicted to prescription painkillers. Likewise, parents are often in denial of their addiction to opiates, using the "doctor's orders" line to justify use and counter scrutiny. In addition, parents also deny that their kids have a problem with abusing pain medicines, even to the point of accidental overdose death, 

None of the instances discussed here is any indication of character and worth of the people affected. This data simply highlights a legal practice that grew into an out-of-control epidemic, either by the greed of practicing physicians or all involved are mere victims of circumstance.

Article was written by Peggy Hatchet James
Copyright © 2015