To Medicate or not to Medicate — That is the Question
Looking for the Quick Fix
When you live with chronic pain it can become very frustrating when you aren’t getting the pain relief you want. I know that when I experience a pain flare up my first reaction is I want it to stop—now! Many of the pain medications were developed for acute pain conditions. It can soon become very problematic when you use an acute pain plan on a chronic pain condition. Some people have a need for instant gratification (I want it and I want it now). Unfortunately, some of the acute pain medication leads people into this instant gratification trap—looking for the quick fix.
Telling the difference between appropriate and effective use of pain medication and the beginning of medication abuse can sometimes be difficult for you or your healthcare providers to determine. There are progressive stages of problematic use including medication dependency, medication abuse, pseudo-addiction, and finally addiction. The confusion and uncertainty of this progression is a challenge for both you and your treatment provider.
Some people living with chronic pain are afraid to take their narcotic (opiates, benzodiazepines, etc.) medication because they have heard horror stories of people getting hooked on pain pills. This leads to a decision to under-medicate and to suffering as a result. If you happen to be in recovery for alcoholism or any other drug addiction the problem is even worse. If you 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 your addiction.
It is crucial to take an honest look at your relationship with pain medication. Differentiating between appropriate use of pain medication and the beginning of abuse can sometimes be difficult for you or your healthcare providers to determine. There are progressive stages of problematic use including medication dependency, medication abuse, pseudo-addiction, and finally addiction. The confusion and uncertainty of this progression is a challenge for both you and your treatment provider.
To learn more about the quick fix mentality in chronic pain management, please check out my article Chronic Pain Management Needs More Than a Quick Fix that you can download for free on our Article page.
If you’d like to receive training for helping people with chronic pain and coexisting disorders, including addiction, I’m very excited to announce we are presenting my Addiction-Free Pain Management® Certification Training in Sacramento on August 5-7, 2010. To learn more about this and my other upcoming trainings you can check out our Calendar page.
You can learn about the Addiction-Free Pain Management® System at our website www.addiction-free.com. If you are working with people undergoing chronic pain management and want to learn how to develop a plan for managing their chronic pain and coexisting psychological disorders; including depression, addiction and other coexisting psychological disorders effectively; please consider my book Managing Pain and Coexisting Disorders: Using the Addiction-Free Pain Management® System. To purchase this book please Click Here.
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