I have a question about painkillers?

why do you think that doctors prescribe painkillers if they know how highly addicting they are? i understand that in emergency situations it's necessary but like if you go to the doc complaining of back pain or whatever, why do they give you vicodin or percocet if they KNOW how highly addicting they are??? and then, if you ask for refills, they tell you that these pills are habit-forming and that you are now addicted and basically make you fee like crap? does anyone know why this happens? why can't pharmaceutical companies make a medication that is effective at taking the pain away without the addictive component of this is so many people in this country are addicted to painkillers?

I agree with you. It is a tough situation for everyone...the patients and the doctors. Here is my situation....I have had a bad left knee since I was 12 years old. I am 26 now and have had 15 surgeries. Overtime, it just became too much for my body to take and now my knee is just not repairable. Surgery will make it worse. I have had 4 surgeries in the past year and after each one the pain is worse than before. Not only that, my leg does not function properly. I cannot bend it all the way and the kneecap tracks incorrectly. That all means PAIN. Needless to say I have been on narcotics for quite some time. My orthopedist really didn't know what to do with me (not his fault as I was an extremely rare case), so he just kept refilling my pain meds. When I expressed concerns about addiction he would change them. As time has gone on I have needed to use stronger and stronger meds for the pain, especially for post surgical pain. At one point my doctor sort of accused me of abusing the medication. And I kind of had to throw it back at him that he was the one who basically said, "here, take these." So I asked to be referred to a pain management doctor and now things are better. I am under the care of someone who knows pain and knows what they are doing. I think my doctor felt guilty for basically destroying my knee with a botched surgery and knowing how much pain I was in, felt that at least he could give me these medications and let me have a little bit of a normal life. Without them I would not be able to get out of bed, shower, work, etc... and I am only 26. It is a catch 22. Good question though.

I don't understand it either. I try to get some vicodin for serious pain and my doctor wouldn't give me any but my nephew A DRUG addict was able to get them instead of me. I don't get it.

I agree with you!!!!! If I'm in pain i need something that wont make me have embarrassment and make me fell like crap!!

Addiction is the trade-off to an effective painkiller. Most powerful painkillers are made from some derivative of the opium poppy, which is also where drug dealers get heroin from. If someone has chronic pain that is severely interfering with their daily life, prescribing an addictive painkiller might be necessary. But in the end it's up to the patient to use the medicine wisely: Just because a doctor prescribes it doesn't mean a patient HAS to take it.

But if you don't like that explanation, use the conspiracy theory: All pharmaceutical companies are ruled by evil corporate overlords who design addictive medicine intentionally, to create a zombified generation of medical junkies who are addicted to their painkillers.

Because patients are persistent about it. Patients who need the pain meds get them. Drs know when they are being abused. They will only let you go so far. Pain clinics are helpful for Docs because they specialize in pain control. For your info., only about 1% become addicted. If your pain is real and you aren't being helped, maybe it is time for you to seek out a new Doc.

Good Question! Knowing that pain medication can be addictive, most people will only take one when they are in substantial need. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and the first pain killer I was given co-proxmal. I was prescribed 100 and after one year my Doc asked me if I needed another prescription whereupon I replied I still have 75 left. The problem is pain perception. I can recall waking up to a elbow the size of my thigh and I refused to move it, touch it and when I got dressed, wore short sleeve because long sleeve rubbing off it would induce pain! I went to my Doc and what did he do? He grabbed my arm, bent it in several directions, I nearly hit the roof with the pain and then said 'Its inflamed, take some more anti-inflammatory drugs and rest up!' I got home and thought: How stupid am I? I refused to bend my arm, straighten my arm, refuse to allow anyone and anything touch it, yet arrive at the Doc and TRUST him 100%? This is weird? I obviously do not trust myself to bend it or straighten it! Odd? To date I have never arrived at the Doc and cried, screamed or rolled around on the floor in pain. I might have shouted a few times, but never cried. I have cried because of pain but in bed at night alone. Yet Doctors are faced with many people who are in PAIN? You cannot measure pain, Doctors cannot feel your pain, so they can only go on what you tell them and they ask describe your pain? I still cannot describe the pain from Arthritis, because I have nothing to compare it with? Therefore I have to rely on my Doc who sees the x-rays, MRI to decide what treatment to give me. When the Disc bulged, he started me on the Fentanyl Patch and I was not keen to start it whatsoever. He is now mumbeling on about 'long term pain relief' whatever that means? Yet I sit alongside other people who scream pain because they have cut their finger? Now how do Doctor differenciate between real pain, excuriating pain, unbarable pain, or someone who is telling an untruth? They cannot, so they prescribe according to what the Patient tells them. Then if the Patient gets addicted, well the Doctor only then relaizes that the Patient was not being truthful. That is why I always tell Patient to tell their Doctors the truth, because should the time come when you really need pain killers, based on your previous History, will they prescribe?

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Some of us have to be addicted to pain medication because of our condition.. I have a cervical spine injury thanks to a drunk driver. I didn't ask to suffer from chronic pain but I don't have a choice.

There is a big difference in being addicted to pain meds and abusing them. I've been taking narcotic pain meds for 10 years. If I would not take them for a day of course I would feel the effects of addiction. But I never take more than the dosage stated and I only get medication from one doctor. I never run out of medication so being addicted really doesn't mean much to me. I'll be on pain medication until I die or I will be confined to my house if I don't take them. There really is no choice is there?

It's really not any different than someone with diabetes that has to have insulin or their body won't function.

The whole thing is addiction is not a bad thing, abusing is.

I've seen far more people that drink that bother me than anyone I've known taking medication for pain.

right on honey. you're absolutely correct and couldnt agree with you more. doctors are so willing to write out a script of pain pills initially. but yeah, when your script runs out and you're still in pain, they look at you like your some kinda crackhead and then they're like "well take a motrin". thanks doc.

I gotta agree with ChasB. Like him I have needed to be on pain meds for years but, I go to a pain management doctor, I never get meds from anyone else. I have it on file with the dentist and General Practitioner as well as my pharmacy. There is a big difference between becoming addicted because of unneeded use and abuse of medications -vs- becoming addicted because you have to take them to survive or else you can't move due to the pain. It is a fine line and often people are not honest with the doctors.

I sit in the waiting room with people who are laughing and talking, walking around without any problem, until the nurse calls their name...The start limping and moaning. I have even over heard a patient telling the nurse that her pain over the last month was a 10 (0-10 scale) She had just been telling me about her snow skiing vacation and how much she loves to snow board. I am sorry but if your pain is a 10 at all times you cant be snow boarding. But the doctor has no choice but to believe her since you cant measure pain it is purely subjective. People need to be truthful to their doctors but the drive for the pain meds is stronger than they are. It is a shame but there is no changing people.