Ma’am I see you have scheduled pain medicine on your list of meds……… Yes, I take them for my PAIN….. What do you need pain medicine for????  Well, let’s see. Could it be the Systemic Lupus? Or Maybe the Endometriosis? Or could it be the interstitial cystitis? Or maybe the chronic migraines or fibromyalgia?????? 
For some pain medicine is the only way that they can make it through the day. Maybe even the only way they can get out of bed!!!  For others it’s just something they can take a couple times a week and be good. Why is it that those of us with documented conditions that are known to cause pain are still looked at like drug seekers? 
Have you ever been on the receiving end of questions about the medication you take that just gets you through the day? Do you ever feel like you are treated like a druggie or a criminal because you need prescription pain meds? 

There is nothing more frustrating to me then being looked at like I’m a drug seeker when I go in to the dr or pharmacy because I take pain medication. And heaven forbid I ever go into the ER because if a hemiplegic migraine or a horrible lupus flair, and need some relief. When that happens it’s almost for sure someone will look at me like I’m drug seeking. This shouldn’t be!!! All the people out there who have abused the system and abuse prescription pain medication have ruined it for all the rest of us. 

We shouldn’t be grouped into that category. Especially when we have multiple document conditions that can cause life altering pain. But we are. I see almost daily that there are lawmakers trying to pass a law that should prevent the abuse of narcotic pain meds. But if that happens will we stop getting the looks? Or will providers stop making us feel like we can’t seek medical treatment for fear of being treated like a drug seeker?? In my opinion no!!  It’s always going to be a problem for us. No matter what laws are passed and how much thy try to cut down on the abuse of prescription drugs I feel like we are always going to be treated poorly. It’s always an assumption that just because we take the meds we are a druggie. 

I’m not saying every doctor or nurse or pharmacy treats people like that. But I guarantee that at least 5 or more of the people who are reading this could tell us a story about how they were treated or not treated because of the medication listed on their home Med list!

How do we stop this unfair treatment? How do we stop feeling like everyone assumes the worst of us?  I wish I knew. But we need to find a way. Find a way to prove to the world that just because you take pain meds you are a seeker or a druggie. Prove to the world that these conditions that we suffer from everyday cause such pain that we need those meds. Prove to people that sometimes without those meds we wouldn’t be able to get out of bed. Or complete our daily activities. And sometimes even WITH the meds we can not complete any of our daily routines. Do we carry a sign that has a list of our conditions? Sadly, that wouldn’t help. Because if you haven’t experienced the pain of these conditions yourself you can never fully understand. 

How do we prove to the world that just because there are those scummy people who buy meds for abuse or steal meds to abuse them, that we aren’t all that way? Sadly, in this day an age there is such a high rate of abuse of prescription meds that I don’t know that we will ever be able to prove our case. According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, Of the 20.5 million Americans 12 or older that had a substance use disorder in 2015, 2
million had a substance use disorder involving prescription pain relievers. And In 2012, 259 million prescriptions were written for opioids, which is more than enough to
give every American adult their own bottle of pills!!! 

I don’t know about you but to me that data is staggering. And the fact that Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the US, with 52,404 lethal drug overdoses in 2015. Opioid addiction is driving this epidemic, with 20,101 overdose deaths related to prescription pain relievers is beyond understanding.  I completely underatand why law makers and medical providers want to find a way to cut down on the number of people taking prescription narcotics. But what they don’t seem to understand is that there is a large population with chronic pain issues who truly require these meds. 

According to the American Academy of Pain Medicine; pain is a significant public health problem that costs society at least $560-$635 billion annually, an amount equal to about $2,000.00 for everyone living in the U.S. This includes the total incremental cost of health care due to pain from ranging between $261 to $300 billion and $297-$336 billion due to lost productivity (based on days of work missed, hours of work lost, and lower wages).  These numbers are crazy to me. Do all these people really need pain medication or are some of them abusing it? Probably a little of both.  

 Chronic Pain is a real thing and needs to be dealt with. And those who really need the meds should be able to get them without feeling like they are being looked upon negatively.  I hope and pray that there is a way for this to be done. But at this point I don’t know how to go about it!  (Okay rant over!)

If you would like to share your story about how you have been treated negatively because you take prescription meds or have requested meds because of you condition. Please place those stories in the comments or email me. I would love to read them and compose another blog post with everyone’s story. 

-Amber 
Resources:

http://www.asam.org/docs/default-source/advocacy/opioid-addiction-disease-facts-figures.pdf

http://www.painmed.org/patientcenter/facts_on_pain.aspx