How Can We End The Heroin Epidemic?
The question, “How can we end the heroin epidemic” is on just about every parent’s mind right now. As the opiate and heroin crisis kills more of our young adults, we become more fearful that it will happen to our own children. I’m writing this on behalf of all of the parents out there who want to do anything and everything possible to not allow their child to get sucked into the opiate/heroin crisis. As a professional recovery coach, addiction counselor and drug interventionist I see too many people suffer from addiction and particularly heroin and opiate addiction. As a family in recovery talking about addiction is an open topic no different than what you want for dinner. As with most things we are often reactionary in our attempts to find solutions. In this article I will roll things way back to real solutions for prevention. Ready? Here we go!
Let’s Start With Some Education on Opiates
What is an opiate anyway?
Drugabuse.com states that opioids are typically of the synthetic version (think prescription pain killers) while opiates are from the naturally occurring narcotic components of the opium poppy plant. According to a quick google search here are examples of opioids: Painkillers such as; morphine, methadone, Buprenorphine,hydrocodone, and oxycodone. Heroin is also an opioid and is illegal. Opioid drugs sold under brand names include: OxyContin®, Percocet®, Palladone® (taken off the market 7/2005), Vicodin®, Codeine,Percodan®, Tylox® and Demerol® among others. For this blog article I’m going to categorize both legal and illegal forms as opiates, just to make it simple.
Personal Accounts Of The Overuse of Opiates In The Medical Industry
OK, back to the point. I’m writing this to tell people that we have options whether or not we will take the prescription pain killer that is offered to us or to our kids. But first I want to shed a light on how prevalent receiving opiates is in the medical community. I’m going to start with three different personal examples from my life that happened within the last three years.
First time…Back when I was jogging I suffered a major knee injury that landed me in the emergency room. I couldn’t apply pressure (stand on) my leg. I was only in pain when I stood up without crutches. The nurse asked me if I needed pain medication. I said, “No, I’m only in pain when I stand up”. I thought that was a good enough answer, but apparently it wasn’t. She asked again. When I turned it down she said, “I’ll just put it right over her in case you want it”. Say WHAT??? Keep in mind I was never asked if I has a family history of drug addiction, or if I was in recovery. She just put those narcotics on the little shelf in the room and walked out. Needless to say…I didn’t take them.
Second time….it’s as good as the first. I had knee surgery and was given narcotics for the pain. I said to the doctor that I didn’t want any narcotics and was pretty much looked at like I was some kind of a freak…for…turning…down…an…addictive…substance…. I still said no and the doc decided to call in the script ‘just in case’. This time I actually did wake up in so much pain that I actually took 1 pill. This was my fault for not taking care of the inflammation (my knee was numb, I couldn’t feel it). That is all that I needed, but keep in mind I had a whole bottle full. I remembered the doc said to fight the inflammation and that will fight the pain. I didn’t want to take another pill so I fought the inflammation naturally with bromelain and curcumin which worked great. At the follow up appointment I actually brought the bottle back (only 1 gone) and said I would like to discard them in the office. Again…I was asked, “Didn’t you need them?” Say WHAT????? NO! I don’t NEED them or WANT opiates. Again…I was never asked if I had a history of drug addiction, or my family had a history.
Third time….Now you’re messing with my kid. We recently had his wisdom teeth extracted. I went up to the nurse and told her that I didn’t want any narcotics prescribed for pain so they would have to prescribe something else. She looked at me, cocked her head and said, “Well, that is what we give.” She said this like I was the crazy one not wanting my kid to take an opiate. Are…you…kidding…me? The message I received was that it was standard procedure to prescribe teenagers opiates.
We went home without an opiate prescription or so we thought….he was prescribed acetaminophen with codeine. So…apparently they do not know what is classified as an opiate and what isn’t. Furthermore, there was never any questions about addictions for him or in his family (his father is in recovery by the way).
If You Aren’t Part of the Solution, Don’t Be Part of the Problem Either
Why am I bringing this up? Because opiates are incredibly easy to get and are given indiscriminately by many different kinds of healthcare providers. Our children are often introduced to them very early on after surgery whether its tonsils, wisdom teeth or sports related injuries. Parents are pretty comfortable getting the prescriptions filled because it is what the doctor ordered and they don’t want to see their kid in pain. Did you know that there are many ways to manage pain without narcotics?
But, what if the genetic code of the child predisposes them to addiction? Now we have just potentially turned that gene on and have caused a whole crap storm of an emerging problem. In 2010 over 210 million opiate prescriptions were written. I’m sure that number is much higher now. Prescription opiate users are way more likely to turn to heroin. Let me say that again…prescription opiate users are way more likely to turn to heroin. Do you want your child to turn to heroin? I don’t think there is a single parent out there that wants that to happen.
Here Is the Answer To The Heroin Crisis…At Least Part Of It Anyway
Parents, listen up!….we are so scared about the heroin crisis that is occurring in our own back yards across the country and say we don’t know what to do about it. What if we actually hold most of the cards here? I offer you my solution….if your child has surgery, or is experiencing pain ask the nurse or doctor a simple question…..
How can I manage my child’s pain after this surgery without using opiates? What if every parent asked this question every time their child had a surgery? Could that question change the prescribing paradigm? What if when you have surgery you ask the same question for yourself? You would make the medical community think about alternatives rather than the standard prescription thus changing the way medical practitioners help their clients manage pain.
I also call for all prescribers to do an addiction screen on all of their patients. It could be as easy as asking three simple questions,
1. Do you have a history of addiction in your family 2. Are you or any immediate family members in recovery? 3. Do you currently use drugs or alcohol (marijuana included) recreationally or daily? Not only would they begin to make those questions standard, perhaps because they are asked EVERY time they won’t be filled with such shame. If we continue to hide under a rock, or not want to ask those questions because they are uncomfortable we will continue to perpetuate the problem. Let’s stop making those questions uncomfortable…normalize them.
My goal is to not have to do a single drug intervention on a heroin addict ever again. Perhaps these simple changes will be the method we all need to use to put me out of business.
If you or a loved one is in need of an addiction intervention or recovery services please give me a call.
(920) 257-6923 or email me at DrTerri@CardinalPointWI.com
Want and Appointment?
SCHEDULE HERE
Sincerely
Dr. Terri
