Hi all,
I have had chronic pain due to way to many diagnostic conditions that I have. One of the worst to cause pain is two herniated disk at the lowest possible location of my spine. I believe it is L4-L5 and L5 to S1, or something like that. Anyway, I have found and have been using the greatest medicine for relief of my pain. I have not become dose tolerant of this medicine, i.e. I haven't had to increase the dose in the two years that I have been taking it. That, to me, is so very important. I take tramadol when I wake, and sometimes in the late afternoon.
I cannot imagine trying to live without it. I am sure that some of you feel the same way.
Back a few years ago, it was highly recognized by the medical field, that pain was way to often untreated, due to the laws made and enforced by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). Doctors were too intimidated to write a prescription for pain medication. Some almost lost their medical license.
The doctors working for the DEA, got together and addressed the problems with all of the restrictions on prescribing pain medication. In other words, the DEA itself recognized that they were the cause for many people with pain to go untreated. They changed the rules and wrote articles on the lack of proper pain relief, and made new prescribing guidelines for opioids and other pain medications for all doctors. I think that this happened around ten years ago.
Now from the article I found below, there seems to be some zealots that want to take away our pain relief and the increased quality of life that they give us.
Cheers to all,
Jack
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Physician's First Watch for February 11, 2009
Guidelines on Opioids in Noncancer Pain Issued
Guidelines on the use of opioids in treating chronic noncancer pain have been issued by the American Pain Society and the American Academy of Pain Medicine.
Among the 25 recommendations, appearing in the Journal of Pain:
Before starting chronic opioid therapy (COT), physicians should perform a history and physical exam and should assess the patient's risk for substance abuse.
Physicians should monitor patients on COT to document their level of functioning and any adverse events.
Patients with a history of drug abuse should receive COT only if their clinician can monitor them frequently.
Patients on COT should be able to identify a physician "who accepts primary responsibility for their overall medical care."
On Monday, the FDA announced plans to tighten restrictions on opioid use. Asked to comment, Dr. Roger Chou, first author on the guidelines, said that both efforts were "part of the same movement to relieve pain and suffering while minimizing the risks of the medications involved."
Guidelines in the Journal of Pain
Physician's First Watch coverage of FDA call to tighten restrictions on opioid prescribing.