Many people in chronic pain are afraid to take their opiate pain medication because they have heard horror stories of people getting hooked on pain pills.  This leads to a decision to under-medicate and leads to suffering as a result. 

On the other hand not taking effective precautions could lead to developing an addictive disorder.  If someone happens to be in recovery for alcoholism or another drug addiction the problem is even worse.  If they under-medicate it could trigger a relapse.  Of course the other side of the coin is overmedication; which could lead to rapid tolerance building and finally reactivation of an existing addictive disorder that was in remission.

One tool I developed is called The Red Flags Checklist.  It’s a list of indicators that can help someone identify if they are using their pain medication in a manner that could eventually lead to problems or even addiction.  Both the patient and their support network, as well as their treatment providers, need to be familiar with these red flags and to seek professional help from a person trained in addiction who also has experience, understanding, or training in pain management if problems surface. By doing this people will be able to work with their healthcare providers to make better, and safer, decisions about using potentially problematic pain medication. 

This checklist is designed for motivated people who want to take an honest look at how they are using their medication.  It is only as accurate as the person answering it is being honest with themselves.  I often ask my patients to have someone who knows them and their medication use patterns to go over the results and give them honest feedback.

Below are ten (10) important indicators from the twenty-eight (28) item Red Flags Checklist that people need to be aware of.

Instructions: Please review each of the items below and rate each on a 0 to 10 scale with 0 meaning this item is not and has not been a problem for me to 10 meaning this is or could be a serious problem for me.

1. After adjusting to the medication you still experience a sense of euphoria (feeling buzzed).

2. You start having urges or cravings for your medication in between scheduled times.

3. You are unable to take your medication exactly as prescribed.

4. You start thinking you might be having a problem with your medication.

5. Your quality of life and/or relationships are being impacted by your use of medication.

6. You use medications in physically dangerous situations, i.e., driving a car, operating power tools, providing childcare to young children, etc.

7. You find yourself not informing one healthcare provider what medication another provider is prescribing for you.

8. Family members or friends report concerns about your use of medication.

9. You start using your medication to cope with psychological/emotional type pain or to cope with stressful or uncomfortable situations.

10. You find yourself needing early refills and may rationalize this by coming up with unusual excuses: I lost it, someone else took it, it fell in the water, etc.

To learn more about coping with a potential medication management problem please check out my article Addressing the Problem of Perscription Drug Abuse/Addiction that you can download for free on our Article page.

You can learn more about the Addiction-Free Pain Management® System at our website www.addiction-free.com. If you or a loved one is undergoing chronic pain management, especially if you’re in recovery or believe you may have a medication or other mental health problem and you want to learn more effective chronic pain management tools, please go to our Publications page and check out my books; especially the Addiction-Free Pain Management® Recovery Guide: Managing Pain and Medication in Recovery. To purchase this book please Click Here.

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To see an online overview of Cognit delivering Addiction-Free Pain Management® please go to this Link for a free demo.

To learn about my upcoming trainings you can check out our Calendar page.