Finally got my run in tonight. Ran 3.1 with Christine, and another 2 alone. Just under 11:00 pace, I believe. Felt the knee just a titch at the end. Okay guys, I promised a discussion on prescription drug abuse, so here we go... I personally know someone who struggled with addiction to strong painkillers that is very very dear to me. It is so tough, because it started off so legitamate. He hurt his back badly and needed the painkillers. It never really healed, but for the next 40 years of his life he was basically drugged. He was groggy and slept a lot during the day, then he ended up being up for most of the night. He talked about his pain constantly...CONSTANTLY. I think it was because he needed the pain as an excuse for not really living his life, and abusing pain killers. Although it is hard to say... I always feel bad because I don't know how much pain he was actually feeling. All I know is that when he went into an assisted living situation, and lost control of his pain meds (because the nurse administered them) he stopped talking about his pain all the time. He came out of the fog and became the pleasant, caring person he had always been on the inside. There's not much to say about this except that it is very sad, and was a huge waste of this person's life. Here are the points I think are worth debating:
1. Why are doctors so willing to prescribe addictive substances? Ritalin is just one example. (Oh boy, I just got someone really riled up, I can already tell.) Ritalin is a highly addictive stimulant! It is in the same category as PCP in terms of probability of addiction (I got that from a book on Ritalin use.) But all you have to do is go in and tell your Dr. that your kid is struggling in school and they will write out a prescription. Another example is cough syrup with codeine. Every time I've been to the Dr. for a germ-caused illness, the Dr. prescribes stuff like tylenol with codeine and/or cough syrup-for-druggies. I always tear them up. But lots of people think that if a Dr. gives you the RX, you have to fill it. Also, many times when I have been to the ER, there are a bunch of people in there just because they ran out of "meds". Painkillers, basically. I swear I could tell this one guys was just lying and had taken them all too soon, or else was hoarding them to get a high later. It was so easy! The Dr. didn't even examine him, he just wrote out the RX and the guy left, all happy. No accountability or checking on his story at all. Obviously Vicodin is extremely addictive, yet Drs. prescribe it left and right. Bleh. Well, that's a good start. I have lots of other stuff to say, but I will wait until I see what you guys have to say about this.
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