Here is a story that is for sale:

All materials are copyright© 2005 by Michelle Weisblat-Dane. All rights reserved No portion may be reproduced either electronically, digitally, manually, in print, or by any other means without written permission.

If you would like to buy a story, please contact me at Sales@iamcompubear.com

In Chronic Pain

by Michelle Weisblat-Dane

Chronic pain is debilitating and can often take life away.  It can strike at any age making it impossible to do what the average person takes for granted. Many people with chronic pain can no longer even get out of bed.  For some, even the simple task of bathing can cause extreme agony. The severity varies from person to person. Most chronic pain suffers will tell you they “have good days and bad.” The pain is much worse some days than others; it is variable and unpredictable. 

For those trying to live a normal life, every day is a challenge.  Just being able to hold down a simple job is often out of the question. No employer will hire you when you can’t guarantee you will be able to make it into work every day - or even most days. Taking care of children or grandchildren is also a challenge when you may not be able to make it to the kitchen to fix their meals or to the laundry to wash their clothes. Your social life becomes almost non-existent as you try to explain to your friends why you constantly have to cancel going out with them. You find yourself imprisoned in your own home and maybe even your own bed.

For 10 years, I have been in chronic pain due to disease called Fibromyalgia, a form of rheumatoid disorder characterized by aching pain, tenderness, and stiffness of muscles.  I was involved in a car accident 2 years ago, further aggravating the condition. My husband has been a chronic pain sufferer for 16 years, the pain caused by a severe and permanent deterioration of his back.

According to the American Chronic Pain Association, as many as 15 million people in the United States live with some form of chronic pain. They range from people suffering with terminal illnesses, nerve pain, and automobile accidents, to those with arthritis, or other diseases. Chronic pain sufferers may have pain in part or all off their bodies. The pain may range from slight to excruciating, and may change in intensity at any time, without warning. It does not go away. However, with the use of pain management techniques and services, some people may experience significant relief. Pain management may include diet, exercise, physical therapy, and both over-the-counter and prescription drugs.

            Until recently, the attitudes of society and most doctors were “live with it” or “it's all in your head.”  Thanks to the work of non-profit organizations like the American Cancer Society and American Chronic Pain Association, doctors are becoming aware of the necessity to treat patients suffering with chronic pain. There is still more work that needs to be done to educate doctors regarding proper pain management.  Only when this happens will chronic pain sufferers be able to get the treatment they need to live even semi-normal lives.

Chronic pain syndrome (CPS) has many causes, with more than as many treatments available. Doctors try to prescribe the least invasive drug that will do the job of both relieving the pain and allowing the patient to live as normal a life as possible. For some, the treatment may be simple regular physical therapy combined with over‑the‑counter (otc) medications such as naproxen (Naprosyn™) , ketoprofen (Orudis™), ibuprofen (Motrin™), acetaminophen (Tylenol™), and aspirin. For others these may not be sufficient, or the side effects from taking daily or large doses of these drugs can cause other medical conditions such as ulcers, or kidney or liver problems.

The next alternative is what is known as cox-2 inhibiters; these are drugs such as Vioxx™ or Bexxtra™. However, recent developments have shown that these two drugs - and others of the same type - can have major side effects, such as heart complications or even death. Doctors have become fearful of prescribing these drugs, not just for fear of lawsuits, but for fear of making their patients' conditions worse. However, according to a spokesperson for the American Chronic Pain Association, “Some persons with CPS have stopped taking their medications for fear of a heart attack. Others state that they would rather live ten pain-free years than live twenty years with pain. Many say that they obtain similar medication from Canada because they cannot function without their medication. For these individuals, concern about the risk doesn’t seem to be as great as their fear of the pain itself.” Celebrex™ also a cox-2 inhibiter is a slightly different formula and in low doses is still considered safe and recommended by most doctors. What other choices are there?

.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

            Narcotics are given to treat sever cases of Chronic Pain Sufferers. There are many good reasons for narcotics being given to relieve the pain and in some cases allow the person to be able to even sleep through the night. Some of these drugs are vicodine, vicodone, and hydrocodine . Although they work at reliving the pain and in most cases allow the ability to have some kind of life, they are addictive. They also cause great emotional affects. Most of the drugs such Hydrocodine have only a four-hour life span. This causes great emotional ups and downs and wear off during the night causing the sufferer to not be able to get a full nights sleep. Drugs such as Oxicontain and Methadone have longer half-life span and therefore offer relief sometime for a full 24 hours. There are many social stigmas for these two drugs. Many insurance companies will not cover a patient that is on regular use does of Oxicontain. Methadone is known for being a substitute for those addicted to heroin. Many Pharmacy will “not carry a drug for addicts” Methadone is a very good long term pain reliever with out the ups and downs of other short-term pain killers. 

            Morphine is usually prescribed for terminally ill patients. Doctors understand better how important it is to make sure terminally ill patient feel comfortable in there final days. However they are still leery about giving the patient too much medicine at one time.  Will the doctor be accused of Euthanasia if the patient overdoses? Again there is a fine line between removing the pain and death.  A doctor who didn’t want his identity known said, “I give my patient enough medicine to kill the pain with the understanding of how much of the medicine will kill them. They are informed adults what they choose to do with there medicine is there decision.”

Doctors for many reasons are hesitant about prescribing narcotics. The DEA has many doctors scared of the repercussions of handing out too much narcotics. “The threat is always looming over our heads that they will come in and just take our ability to write prescriptions for narcotics away,” says a Denver doctor afraid of consequences for speaking out. “Then we will be of no use to our patients if we can’t write any prescription for their pain.” It’s a fine line that doctors have to walk. It’s almost a catch 22.

The other problem is addiction.  It’s easy to become addicted to Narcotics. The question is it better to have someone who is addicted and able to function in normal life situations or is it better to not give their patients narcotics. The threat here is the law suits from the patients or their families accusing the doctor of causing the patient to be an addict.

 Taking too much narcotics may relieve the pain but leave the person in a state of drug fog and unable to function. Another fear is overdose either intentionally or accidentally by the patient.  These drugs are extremely strong the need to get rid of the pain can be so intense that patents accidentally take to much medicine in order to try and get relief. This too can bring on a law suite.

Many Chronic Pain Sufferers can become severely depressed. It’s not hard to see why. The consent pain with no long-term relief, lack of activity, lack of social life and narcotics can all have an effect. This depression can cause Chronic Pain Sufferers to commit suicides to relive the never-ending pain and thus end their misery.

The choice to live is important and living means being able to enjoy life. Being able to function with dignity and not having to have others take care of you is just as important. There are many choices to relieving chronic pain. It is best to discuss with your doctor what is best for you.