OxyContin Awareness


Name:Kara Email: Type:Chronic Pain Story Date:5/27/2002	I'm 17 years old and 2 years ago i had some intense surgery done on my back for Kyphosis, i'm perfectly fine now. When i came home i was prescribed OXYCONTIN for my pain. I agree its a tremendously helpful med for pain, yet i wasn't myself on it. I didn't eat, and i love to eat lol, and most importantly i was getting better that fast. My friends would come visit but i wasn't my normal talkative self i was very mellow and could care less. My mom was concerned so i went to my primary doctor and he said no kidding you feel this way, OXYCONTIN is like the new heroin. I couldn't beleive that he said that. He said to go back to Tylenol and IB Profen. Little did I know gettin off OXYCONTIN would be so difficult. I was experiencing withdrawals you could probabaly cause it. I don't think i ever threw up so much in my life. I was finally able to veen myself off the med....slowly but surely i returned to my normal self. It was like OXYCONTIN was taking over me. I want life to do that not a prescription drug. I hope you beleive this because its very true and i'm very sorry about your son. Kara

Name:Dawn Email: Type:Death Story Date:5/27/2002	To whom it may concern: On December 8th 2001 my twenty nine year old sister was found dead as a result of oxycontin overdose. She was also mixing pharmaceuticals. She was discovered to have had probably six Flexerall (muscle relaxants) as well as an undetermined amount of Oxycodone in her stomach. She lay dead, face down on the floor of her bedroom while her two young sons watched TV in the next room. My sister was an addict. She claimed chronic pain due to an unverified back injury. Our family knew that she was an addict, however the pharmacies and the doctors refused to acknowledge the information that we passed along to them. As a result of a quick fix to her incessant demand for medication she is dead. This death is no less a tragedy than any other. She manipulated a system that is quick to dispense medication to deal with patients. She has been on so many different kinds of medication that when we gathered them all up from their hiding places we were astounded and furious! She had prescriptions for codiene based cough syrups and muscle relaxants, benzodiazepines ( tranquillizers) and other meds that are NOT to be mixed. Prescribed by the same doctor dispensed by the same pharmacy. NO one asked questions, no one verified or bothered to check with anyone else about the obvious problem of mixing these meds! I just want others to know that sometimes we have to take the initiative to QUESTION and ask for clarification. Thanx for listening Dawn

Name:Bonnie Email: Type:Death Story Date:5/27/2002	I emailed you approx. a year ago requesting information on treatment centers for my son and you sent me information. My son was prescribed Oxycontin for back pain a year and a half ago without any notification to his wife or family members that he was on it. By the time we realized how bad it was, he was a full-blown addict. We called the doctor and he stopped prescribing it. It totally ruined his life, he lost his job, his family, his home and his dignity. He turned to the streets to obtain it, when he couldn't get it anymore he started shooting up heroin. He died on May 2nd, 2002 from a drug overdose. He was 25 years old and would have turned 26 on the 24th of this month. He left behind 4 children twins; Kerianne & Sara age 9, Slyvia age 5 and Evan age 4 and the rest of his family who loved him very much. We tried to get him to go to a detox center but he thought he could beat it on his own. He finally signed up for a detox bed with the county and had planned on going in three days before his death. I am angry, angry that the drug is readily prescribed when they know full well how addictive it is. And more than anything angry because he son is dead and we are left with the pain and loss...I now he would still be alive today if that doctor had not put him on this drug. Please add him to your memorial page and please advise how I can help in any way to stop this drug from being administered to anyone other than terminally ill people. I am attaching a picture of my son. It was taken a week before his death. We miss him terribly and will forever have a void in our hearts. Thank you, Bonnie Gow

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