OxyContin Awareness


Name:Bobbi murphy Email:[email protected] Type:Death Story Date:8/13/2002	My only child died at age 28 from an overdose of MS Contin. After his death I learned that he also had taken oxycontin sometimes. These prescription drugs cause pain that will never end. My son hid his addiction well, only a very few had knowledge.These were the ones doing drugs with him and were certainly not concerned for his safty and welfare. I am a medical professional and I see doctors every day live the lie of being legal "pushers" by writing prescriptions for these deadly drugs to people that it is very obvious NOT in need of these type drugs. Greed is their bedfellow. Keep the customers back in the office for the refill prescriptions. I live every day of my life now with the pain that NO drug can take away.I do wonder how these doctors live with themselves. THEY alone are responsible for putting them in the hands of persons not in true medical need . I see so many law suits against the manufacturers of the drug,why I ask? They would stop making the drug(oxycontin) if there were no demand for it. There needs to be stricter regulations of doctors whipping out the prescription pad so quickly.Nip the problem where it originated,in a doctors office writing these deadly prescriptions. Little do they care that they are also signing death warrants.

Name:David Email:[email protected] Type:Chronic Pain Story Date:8/13/2002	I've been taking Oxycontin for about 5 years. My life changed 12 years ago when I had an accident and broke my back and damaged my hips. Within 6 years, the pain was so bad that I could hardly walk. I've had back surgery, a hip replacement in the right hip, and I will soon need to have the left hip replaced. In 1997, the pain was so bad that I thought about suicide almost everyday. Then one night, I lie awake at night screaming in pain with a gun pointed to my head praying to Jesus, my Lord and personal savior, to help me. Luckily, I didn't pull the trigger. The next day I found the Purdue-Pharma website Parterns against pain and it had a list of compassionate doctors who were trained in pain management. This website saved my life. I was able to see one of the doctors listed on the site, within a few days. The doctor prescribed me Oxycontin and it saved my life. I have went from having to withstand suicidal pain to having a happy, productive life and I owe it all to Oxycontin. Five years ago, there was no mention of Oxycontin abuse. Drug addicts hadn't heard about it and only chronic pain patients were getting the drug. However, around 1999, the media started bombarding the public with stories about how drug addicts were crushing up Oxycontin and snorting them or shooting them up. While the media may have ment well, what they actually did was tell drug addicts how to abuse the drug. I remember one broadcast calling it "hillbilly heroin" and informed addicts that they could easily get Oxycontin from numerous doctors. I consider that a public service announcement for heroin users telling them how to get a legal fix! Within 6 months to a year after the media started telling drug addicts how to abuse it by crushing it up, drug addicts started overdosing from Oxycontin at unprecedented rates. I've heard the quote, "Federal officials say that no drug in the past 20 years has been as widely abused after its release." There is a reason for this!! The sensationalized stories in the media drew drug addicts attention to what they were calling "Legalized heroin" and taught them how to abuse the drug by crushing it and shooting it up!!!!! I also know that there are legitimate chronic pain patients that have abused this drug and have fallen victim to it. They fall victim to it by not taking it per their doctors instructions and run out of the drug and have to suffer withdrawal symptoms. However, this was their choosing. By disobeying their doctors orders on how to take this medicine, they have made their life a living hell. Most of these patients report that they get high off the drug, which means that they are taking too much of the drug. If Oxycontin is taken properly, the "high" feeling will disappear after a couple of weeks on the drug. If you are a chronic pain patient that fits in this category, don't be fooled! Your life "has not" necessarily been ruined by Oxycontin! There is hope for you! There are a couple of alternatives to Oxycontin other than having to return to suicidal levels of pain and without having to check into drug rehab. Ask your doctor to give you Methadone. While not quite as effective as Oxycontin, Methadone will relieve much of the pain and you can switch to Methadone easily without having to suffer withdrawal symptoms. Methadone stays in your system for days instead of hours and it gradually exits your body over a period of days. Thus, you don't have the intense cravings to abuse the Methadone as you had when the Oxycontin wore off. Also, you will not feel the immediate relief that the Oxycontin brings you because Methadone enters your system much more gradually. Granted the Methadone is not as effective of a pain reliever as Oxycontin, but if dosed properly, it should at least keep you from having suicide levels of pain. Another solution is to have a pain pump installed. The doctor fills the reservoir that contains the pain medicine directly under your skin and the medicine is distributed at regular intervals to your spinal cord. Since it is distributed directly to the spinal cord, only a fraction of the oral dosage is needed. The benefit of the pain pump, is you are not tempted with abusing your medicine since the pump distributes the drug and you can't get access to it. Thus, I suggest that if you are having problems taking your Oxycontin as prescribed, see a compasionate and qualified pain specialist who understands the above. For the past 2 years, I have a job that requires frequent travel. I travel about 3 weeks a month and thus, I'm away from home (and my doctor) 75% of the time. The deaths from people abusing Oxycontin and the fear of prosecution have scared many doctors from prescribing the drug and most doctors that do prescribe the drug will not fill a patients prescription until he has used all of the previous prescription. This is a big inconvenience for me since I travel a lot. Two years ago, it used to be no big deal. If I was on a business trip and ran out of medicine, I could go to an Emergency Room and get enough pills to do me until I returned home and was able to see my doctor. However, this happened about six months ago, and the ER was unwilling to give me a week's supply to do me until I returned home. I went to another ER and the same thing happened. Thus, I had to cut my business trip short and return home. Thus, doctors are getting the message. I know first hand that it is much more difficult to get Oxycontin than it was 2 years ago. Five years ago, it was real easy to get Oxycontin if you experienced severe pain. The reason being was no one abused the drug because no one had heard of the drug because the media hadn't sensationalized it and told people how to abuse it. In summary, I feel like the Oxycontin situation is finally being brought under control. Much of the credit goes to those who lost loved that abused Oxycontin with other drugs, including anti-depressants and alcohol, that triple the effect of the Oxycontin. These people should be proud of their crusade and what they have accomplished. However, as a cronic pain patient I beg you to stop your crusade before it goes to far. If they take Oxycontin off the market, I know that there will be a lot of chronic pain patients that will kill themselves because they can't live with the pain. There has to be a balance here. Oxycontin should be prescribed to chronic pain patients that have tried every means possible to relieve their pain, but find that only Oxycontin helps them the best. It is a true injustice, if not criminal and inhumane, to take a wonder drug off the market that helps so many people because drug addicts are abusing this drug that helps so many. What if people started abusing chemotherapy drugs, should we take them off the market and let the cancer patients die. Of course not! The drug addicts have a choice, the chronic pain patients don't!!! Do the right thing and help the people that are obeying the law and need this medice. They shouldn't be punished. David .............................................................. Ed Bisch: Please reread my website. People like yourself deserve this drug. Greed and Overprescribing it is what caused this epidemic NOT the media. You would NOT give MORPHINE for moderate pain but they reccommend OXY???? = $$$$$$... Eddie was the 22nd death in Philadelphia in 3 months and NOT one media story was ever written here until his death because I made it my goal to warn everyone. Kids get word about drugs before the parents BUT the pills on the street come with NO WARNININGS. We must limit the street supply somehow. Oxy sales are going through the roof so someone is getting these pills. It's all about the $$$$$$$$

Name:tiffany west Email:hnsnfred@home .com Type:Death Story Date:8/13/2002	in october of 1997 my uncle of age 38 dies of heroin and alcohol mixture which is the same as oxycotin he was deppressed about life and couldn't find the other drug he was looking for crank so he turned to the others he could find and did them together and the next morning the dog was barking really loud so my grandmother had to get up to find my uncle face down in the kitchen floor woth needle in his arm dead t he most horrible thing a mother could find is her baby son dead on the floor then my grandmother died just a few couple of years later so please anybody that see's this leave the drugs alone and getb help thanks for your time.

Page: 393 of 435

[ Page 1 ] [ Previous ] [ Next ] [ Page 435 ]