New opioid prescription policies released last week reflect what Kelowna香蕉视频直播檚 Brian Gervais has been saying.
Some of the responsibility for B.C.香蕉视频直播檚 drug crisis rests on how doctors doled out medication in the last decade.
香蕉视频直播淚香蕉视频直播檝e been watching the (opioid crisis) happen from a first-hand perspective, and it香蕉视频直播檚 been very frustrating,香蕉视频直播� said Gervais. 香蕉视频直播淒octors were handing (opioids) out like candy.香蕉视频直播�
Gervais has Crohn香蕉视频直播檚 disease and five years ago a complication from his condition led to a painful intestinal surgery. Complications from that initial operation then led to three more surgeries, and what he describes as an incredibly painful recovery.
To manage the pain, he was prescribed Hydromorphone, which is also known as dihydromorphinone, and sold under the brand name Dilaudid, among others. It香蕉视频直播檚 a centrally acting pain medication of the opioid class and a derivative of morphine.
香蕉视频直播淲hen you take it, you aren香蕉视频直播檛 told you are taking something equivalent to heroin香蕉视频直播攖hey just don香蕉视频直播檛 tell you about that,香蕉视频直播� he said.
Gervais said he was prescribed the medication because he was unable to work, and therefore on a fixed income. That meant he couldn香蕉视频直播檛 afford any other style of treatment that would have helped reduce the symptoms of chronic pain.
香蕉视频直播淚f you香蕉视频直播檙e a person on disability making $900 a month, the only thing you could do to manage your pain was take the drugs provided by the government,香蕉视频直播� he said. 香蕉视频直播淭hey didn香蕉视频直播檛 pay for physiotherapy or massage and (the drugs) are quick acting.香蕉视频直播�
What Gervais didn香蕉视频直播檛 realize when he first was prescribed those pain meds, however, is that he was going to become an addict in addition to being chronically ill and chronically in pain.
香蕉视频直播淚 was taken on a ride and thinking, 香蕉视频直播榯his is what I was supposed to do,香蕉视频直播櫹憬妒悠抵辈 he said.
香蕉视频直播淏ut when you take opioids you are building a tolerance. It doesn香蕉视频直播檛 matter how strong-willed you are, your body reacts as it does and tolerance keeps building and growing.香蕉视频直播�
It香蕉视频直播檚 no secret that Canada is now in the midst of an opioid epidemic.
This country is the world香蕉视频直播檚 second highest per-capita consumer of opioid pain relievers. In an article spelling out new prescribing policies, the Canadian Medical Association Journal said in Ontario admissions to publicly funded treatment programs for opioid-related problems doubled from 2004 to 2013, from 8,799 to 18,232.
香蕉视频直播淎mong Ontarians receiving social assistance, one of every 550 patients who started on chronic opioid therapy died of opioid-related causes at a median of 2.6 years from the first opioid prescription, while one in 32 of those receiving 200 mg morphine equivalents daily or more died of opioid-related causes.香蕉视频直播�
In B.C. the links to prescriptions haven香蕉视频直播檛 been made as clear, but the overdose crisis prompted the health minister to call a state of emergency in 2016 and overdose deaths have yet to slow down in 2017.
With no choice but to recognize the problem, the 2017 Canadian Guideline for Opioid Therapy and Chronic Noncancer Pain was released May 8, calling on doctors who treat people with chronic pain to restrict the prescribing of opioid drugs like Percocet, OxyContin, Dilaudid and morphine.
Their first line of action is now to be prescribing non-drug treatments and non-opioid drugs before turning to a prescription for opioids. They say that opioids should only be prescribed after other treatments are tried and only after other treatments are given a fair trial.
Doctors are also dissuaded from prescribing opioids to patients with a prior history of alcohol or drug abuse or active mental health disorder.
The recommendations also address the escalating needs of opioid users, establishing a maximum dose of 50 to 90 mg a day.
Gervais said some of these methods may have helped when he was initially dealing with pain, but he香蕉视频直播檚 concerned about what happens to those who have already developed an addiction being put on a prescription cap.
Increasing tolerance requires an ever-increasing dose of drugs and once tolerance has been built, that香蕉视频直播檚 when things get complicated.
香蕉视频直播淲hen government initially decided they wanted to get everyone off of it, people started struggling to find doctors to help,香蕉视频直播� he said, of a mandate that predated the new round of recommendations.
香蕉视频直播淚 was told I香蕉视频直播檇 just have to deal with it and find other ways to deal with the pain. I wasn香蕉视频直播檛 given an answer on what that would be.香蕉视频直播�
The sudden change in tack caused many to go to the streets to meet their needs.
Gervais wasn香蕉视频直播檛 much better off. The doctor who had long treated him cut him off, but he said he was lucky to find another who picked up the prescription to ensure that Gervais would have safe access to medication.
Then he took another course of action.
To address what香蕉视频直播檚 become a well-established addiction, Gervais decided to do a quick detox and then get prescribed Suboxone, a drug that blocks the effects of opioids.
香蕉视频直播淭his new program in Victoria called the rapid detox opiate withdrawal is a brutal program but it gets you off quick and gets you going back to your life,香蕉视频直播� said Gervais.
香蕉视频直播淚 want to just strongly, strongly say that if you are going to have surgery or if you have pain in any way and you have an option to start on opiates or not香蕉视频直播攄on香蕉视频直播檛. Trust me when I say the physical pain you will be masking is nothing in comparison to the life and years you will lose from starting on that medication.香蕉视频直播�
Being on Suboxone, he said, isn香蕉视频直播檛 exactly freedom, but it香蕉视频直播檚 a step in the right direction and a step he hopes more opioid addicts take, while more of the community learn about what香蕉视频直播檚 created the issues at hand.
香蕉视频直播淚t makes me so angry,香蕉视频直播� he said. 香蕉视频直播淚 see a lot of people being blamed for being addicts who really didn香蕉视频直播檛 understand what they were getting into to begin with.香蕉视频直播�
