RIP Prince

[Cachoo]

Public service announcement-

If you or someone you know is taking potent opioids please consider having a Naloxone kit on hand at all times. Learn how to administer it. You could save a life.

Tolerance to pain medication is not the same as addiction.There are 2 domains... physical and psychological. Pain is pain and should not be overlapped erroneously with other types of addiction. Yes there can be physical tolerance but there is so much more to substance use disorder.

That said, I am so sad to hear it was a possible accidental overdose.

And yes Fetanyl can be accesed outside of the hospital. 'Off the boat', shady docs, double doctoring, pharmacy robberies, 'fell off the truck', people sell their own Rx, stealing from family/friends. etc.

That is a shame. Doctor Drew was on CNN tonight and believed a strong Fetanyl patch worn as instructed would release medication over many hours and shouldn't cause heart failure. But he said it is common for abusers to break the patch open and eat or shoot at once. That is scary given that F is even stronger than heroin. I still am curious to know who supplied Prince.

 

[Twilight1]

Popcorn is big right now and yes people do suck the medicine out and inject it. We are handing out Naloxone kits through Public Health and front line staff are getting trained on Naloxone. We call it the Epi Pen for opioids. I am telling everyone to get one... even if you are taking Dilaudid or Morphine. You never know who may grab whatever from your medicine cabinet.

CCSA, CAMH are trying to get the message out there about Fetanyl. It is so sad that Prince had to pass for mainstream to really talk about this.

 

[Allskate]

Please people, don't take prescription narcotics for more than a few days. The vast majority of patients I have treated through the ER who get "hooked" come from real surgeries, injuries, etc. Anyone needing them for longer than about a week really should have a consultation with a pain management specialist. There are too many "candy doctors" who prescribe way too many.

I think that it's just not on the radar for a lot of doctors. My surgeon sent me home with 60 oxycontin pills, with no oral instructions, and only vague instructions on the label. I think part of the reason they prescribe so many pills is that insurance companies are sending home people so soon after surgery. My surgery was major, but it was "out-patient." I went in for surgery in the morning and they had trouble getting my pain under control and getting me ready to be discharged. They finally discharged me at 11:30 at night. I vomited within one minute of getting home.

Fortunately, I was paranoid about getting addicted to opiates and didn't use the majority of the pills. I was in bed for four weeks, mostly because it was so painful to get out of bed. I used OTC painkillers, alternating the types. But, I was lucky to have the sick leave. I don't know what I would have done if I had felt like I had to go back to work sooner. I probably would have taken all the pills and then asked for more.

 

[skatesindreams]

I think part of the reason they prescribe so many pills is that insurance companies are sending home people so soon after surgery

I agree.

Fortunately, I was paranoid about getting addicted to opiates and didn't use the majority of the pills. I was in bed for four weeks, mostly because it was so painful to get out of bed. I used OTC painkillers, alternating the types. But, I was lucky to have the sick leave. I don't know what I would have done if I had felt like I had to go back to work sooner. I probably would have taken all the pills and then asked for more.

How terrible to be put in that position.

 

[Twilight1]

Study after study indicates post surgery, opioid pharmacological treatment is actually contraindicated. It is the same as prescribing Benzodiazepines for the long term for anxiety when it was designed for short term treatment of anxiety and contraindicated for long term use.

 

[Badams]

Fentanyl is killing a lot of people in my area now. Heroin laced with fentanyl. I know more people who have died from heroin than any other ailment right now. Fentanyl is scary, not that heroin isn't. It's just really sad what's going on right now. So many lives destroyed. I hate drugs.

 

[MacMadame]

That is a shame. Doctor Drew was on CNN tonight and believed a strong Fetanyl patch worn as instructed would release medication over many hours and shouldn't cause heart failure. But he said it is common for abusers to break the patch open and eat or shoot at once.

Most people I know start with using more than one patch at a time. I don't actually know anyone who broke the patch open, let alone shot it up. But I've read about people having something like 5-10 patches on them at once!

 

[Artistic Skaters]

The news of the test results is so sad. I'm still thinking about how he was by himself at the end.

I came across a lighthearted story about Prince this week & figured I would share it on national donut day:
24 hour pastry people: http://www.columbusalive.com/conten...d-the-clock-campus-eatery-buckeye-donuts.html

1:30 a.m. Prince isn’t walking through the door tonight. But one evening in 2001, the late musician did roll through at this very hour — a tale that has become part of Buckeye Doughnuts lore. Here’s a slightly abbreviated version of the story Jimmy told earlier in the day: “It was so dead in here. We were just sitting around ... and a limo pulls up and the bell rings — ding! — and this limo driver walks in like, ‘Do you guys have a bathroom?’ Then he goes outside and comes back and opens the door, and Prince walks in. He was dressed in dark purple, and he had the frilly [sleeves and collar], sleek, slick shoes and his hair looked amazing. He was just looking to have a coffee and a doughnut. I was nervous. I never addressed him by his name. ‘What can I get for you?’ He was like, ‘A cup of coffee with cream.’ I get the coffee and I'm like, ‘Would you like anything else?’ He's like, ‘I'd like a custard doughnut.’ ‘Chocolate custard or powdered?’ And he just did this [wiggles the fingers on both hands in a gesture mimicking snowfall], ‘Powdered custard.’ And my jaw just dropped. I gave him this powdered custard doughnut. He was here 10 [or] 15 minutes. He had a couple bodyguards who were like, ‘What do we owe you?’ And I was like, ‘You know what, guys? Tonight it's on the house.’ We actually needed the money. That would have been our biggest sale of the night. Then they got in the limo ... and drove off north into the moonlight.”

Powdered custard, coffee with cream & his hair looked amazing!
RIP Prince.

 

[Cachoo]

On "Vice" tonight they looked at the Heroin/Fet problem and started with Oxy. They showed people (lobbyists, docs for big pharma) who quoted a less than one percent addiction rate over and over and over again when oxy was introduced. When they went back to find the study quoted it was actually a paragraph in a letter to the editor. It wasn't based on a study or someone who would know...just an opinion in a letter to an editor.
Amazing.

 

[Really]

Fentanyl abuse has been a huge problem in Alberta for a couple years now with 272 people dying from overdoses in 2015 alone. Naloxone is more widely available in the province, but the bigger problem is the addiction itself, and the willingness of people to use almost anything to get a high. I have no answers; just a great deal of concern.

 

[Jay42]

Fentanyl abuse has been a huge problem in Alberta for a couple years now with 272 people dying from overdoses in 2015 alone. Naloxone is more widely available in the province, but the bigger problem is the addiction itself, and the willingness of people to use almost anything to get a high. I have no answers; just a great deal of concern.

Yeah we have signs on all the buses in my city warning about Fentanyl. A group of people have been going through the local Facebook groups encouraging people to get Naxalone just in case the encounter someone who's overdosed.

 

[puglover]

I had surgery in December - not minor but not major either. I was initially supposed to be in hospital overnight but soon after the surgery I was walking around and saw no reason to remain in hospital. Fortunately, the staff agreed and I was discharged. In my discharge package was a filled prescription for 40 oxycodone. I am majorly allergic to ASA but was experiencing only minor discomfort and saw no reason for such a major drug. There are lots of pain killers I can take that I am not allergic to and are not anywhere near as powerful as what they were giving me. I said I could just take Tylenol and did not want to take the oxycodone but they insisted that as it had been prescribed by my doctor I had to take it with me. I never did take even one and did just fine on tylenol.

 

[Twilight1]

After my herniated disk surgery, all I needed was Toradol. Found that was all I needed. Before surgery I needed Lyrica, Cyclobenzoprine, Toradol and Tylenol 3. The one I found that worked the best was the Lyrica for the sciatic problems.

Now I have a meniscal tear that I reinjured and Naproxen is what I am taking. Every once in awhile I get shooting pain from my knee down to my foot though... gawd I hope I am done with surgeries.

 

[once_upon]

I think there is a place for Lortab or codeine (especially with coughing). I've had several major surgeries and episodes of pleurisy (where taking a breath hurts so much that I was at risk for pneumonia). I have never received more than 20 Lortab or 4 oz of Phenergan with Codeine at any one time.

I think that there is a medium place between no pain relief and over prescribed. I fought a couple of surgeons who ordered ASA or Tylenol for pain relief for kids who had 8 hour hip surgeries or spleenectomy or other surgical procedures.

If someone has chronic pain, pain management specialists should be the referral rather than continously ordering narcotics. But I know the doctor hopping, pharmacy hopping make it easier to mask usage

 

[Twilight1]

Totally agree once_upon. Every person is different, different nerves/ different areas other collateral that a pain specialist can help with. Family docs should make a referral and then the specialist can work it out with the patient.

 

[AxelAnnie]

I had surgery in December - not minor but not major either. I was initially supposed to be in hospital overnight but soon after the surgery I was walking around and saw no reason to remain in hospital. Fortunately, the staff agreed and I was discharged. In my discharge package was a filled prescription for 40 oxycodone. I am majorly allergic to ASA but was experiencing only minor discomfort and saw no reason for such a major drug. There are lots of pain killers I can take that I am not allergic to and are not anywhere near as powerful as what they were giving me. I said I could just take Tylenol and did not want to take the oxycodone but they insisted that as it had been prescribed by my doctor I had to take it with me. I never did take even one and did just fine on tylenol.

Where do you live. . I may move there. In California 15 vicodin you might get if you are lucky. . It is very regulated. . And oxy is much stronger.

I had a fractured heal that was not properly diagnosed for 7 weeks. Finally had an MRI an air cast and 15 vicodin. Priceless!

 

[puglover]

I am not there at the moment but this happened in December in Calgary, Canada. I was shocked as I thought it was much more involved to be prescribed such a strong narcotic. He was not my regular physician but a surgeon I had been referred to so I have no idea if that is his regular post surgery procedure but it wasn't even just a prescription - it had been filled at the hospital and was the actual pills. Now I am in Samoa, and believe me, little, if anything, is regulated. You can buy tylenol 3, xanax, valium, not sure what else - right off the shelf. Medications are also dirt cheap - 100 antibiotics amount to only a few U.S. dollars. We think they probably import them from India. They are still expensive for the local population or else they might have a real problem on their hands.

 

[Artistic Skaters]

*** 'Prince Day' declared for June 7 in Minnesota :

http://www.citypages.com/music/prince-day-declared-for-june-7-in-minnesota-8333757

*** Remembering Prince: Four decades of City Pages stories :

http://www.citypages.com/music/remembering-prince-four-decades-of-city-pages-stories-8232830

 

[PeterG]

'Prince Day' declared for June 7 in Minnesota...

Why are you discussing Prince in this thread?