
Painkillers such as aspirin 'do more harm than good' for chronic pain - pseudolus
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/aug/03/painkillers-such-as-aspirin-do-more-harm-than-good-for-chronic-pain
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partyboat1586
Painkillers are a massive plaster over complex inflammatory issues modern
medicine can't yet properly diagnose and treat. (affordable) Doctors don't
have the time to do a deep investigation into root causes. As a result you get
an outgrowth of snake oil salesmen and quacks along with legitimately well
intentioned holistic healers building the alternative medicine industry. Most
people with chronic conditions end up bouncing around in the second space
until they get lucky or never find anything and suffer on painkillers for
years before they die young. We really could do better.

~~~
dudyehhrf
We have these things called opioids that are extremely effective at treating
severe chronic pain but people decided weed was good enough because they saw
John Oliver talk about it and that convinced them that depriving junkies was
more important than ensuring patients be able to easily access the most
effective medications.

~~~
Nginx487
I have chronic headache, caused by some kind of vascular dystonia (still can't
be properly diagnosed). I would say, opioid-based painkillers is a terrible
way to treat chronic pain on a long-term scale. Not to mention harm it cause
to your liver (especially when medicine has Acetaminaphen as one of
components), all opioids have tolerance - sooner or later it would stop
helping you, until you bump into maximum daily dose. Also, all opioids have
withdrawal effect. Imagine yourself flying from one country to another,
there's no way you can bring any strong painkiller with you, unless you want
to be accused of drug trafficking. You have to bring prescription with you,
see a doc in other country and buy medicine, it may take up to week. All this
time you're going to experience pain AND withdrawal effect.

I would not say about others, but I sincerely hope that soon would be
available medical marijuana without affecting cognitive abilities, allowing
you work, drive etc.

~~~
bill_from_tampa
The effectiveness of chronic opioids for pain is really patient and disease
dependent. My SO has chronic abdominal and widespread somatic pain diagnosed
with autoimmune small fiber polyneuropathy (by biopsy) and also chronic
intermittent small bowel obstruction (diagnosed by gastrografin small bowel
xray, thought due to peritoneal adhesions). Local surgeons refuse to try to
lyse adhesions. But opiates have been helpful and remain helpful 8 years into
the disease process. They are pretty much the only thing that helps (have
tried pain psychology, acupuncture, physical therapy, occupational therapy,
several antidepressants, lyrica, gabapentin, celiac plexus block).

So persons with chronic (apparently incurable) disease with pain that responds
to opioids <should> have access to the medication that helps. Maybe only 1/100
or 1/500 persons with chronic pain caused by an underlying disease do have a
good response to opioids, apparently that was not your experience -- but
please don't deny others the benefit of a medication that is helpful because
you found it unhelpful!

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NuageWIT
I usually lurk but this post is relevant to my personal situation, and
inspired me to voice an anecdote.

I was born with chronic polyostotic pain caused by a post-zygotic mutation.
Because my physical disease is plainly visible, my pain wasn't dismissed so
easily unlike others. Unfortunately, I have a life long history of "chronic
pain treatment" to show for it. I was 12 years old when I experienced my first
withdrawals from opioids, served from a brown bottle as candy flavoured syrup.
Today, I've had the experience to try many other analgesic medications
including Cannabis but to no avail. Almost nothing helps reduce my suffering.

My opinion isn't popular but I'm not convinced that opioids are useful for
treating anything but acute pain because it exacerbates the mental health
aspects of chronic pain. The only medication that raised my quality of life,
isn't marketed for treating pain and wasn't prescribed to me for treating
pain. The only medication that helps me live any appreciable life worth
living, is the phenethylamine-class of stimulants used for treating ADHD, mine
being marketed under a branded french name meaning liveliness. This accidental
discovery has been the closest thing to a miracle for me.

I can't substantiate any of my anecdotes with academic sources but I've
personally found that CNS-depressants like opioids or Cannabis increased my
sensitivity to pain, while CNS-stimulants decreased my sensitivity. My chronic
pain is forever eternal, but now it doesn't dominate my life. I can now live a
more active life, with far greater mood and energy than ever before. If my
chronic pain flares up, I take an NSAID with a proton-pump inhibitor and be
done with it. I'm satisfied with this combination, and I actively refuse any
prescriptions for opioids or Cannabis. My tolerance for pain is greater than
ever, much to the horror of those poor nurses working in the ER. When I first
met them, they couldn't believe the fact that I wasn't begging for pain relief
after seeing my X-rays. Now that we're on a first name basis, they understand
that it's business as usual for me.

I hope my history has helped someone, or sparked an intellectual curiosity.
This is my first post, and I hope it meets the comment guidelines. I do not
wish to elaborate in detail about any specifics, and I'm not promoting any
medication in particular. I'm simply sharing a life's worth of struggles, and
a life's worth of findings. Happy hacking, comrade!

