The Peace-Be-With-You Superpower

Even though I have an award-free blog, sometimes a friend will challenge me anyway. And on the few times that I’ve answered a challenge, I’m notorious for not following the rules. Some things never change. 🙂

http://www.lifeofanelpasowoman.com/2016/08/30/superpower-challenge/

Lisa wants to know:  Which or what super power would you want and why?

I don’t think humans were meant to have any kind of superpower. I have a feeling that if any of us were given a superpower, we’d somehow, I dunno, accidentally destroy the planet. (Not that we need superpowers to do that.)

But just because I’m a realist, that doesn’t mean I can’t play.

http://list25.com/25-superpowers-you-wish-you-had/1/

My first thought was that I’d like to be able to heal. Then I thought that I would specifically like to have the ability to see inside a person’s brain, find the areas that aren’t working, and fix them. Thinking further, I could easily imagine how this superpower could backfire, possibly creating more problems within the brain. After all, could any superpower be stronger than the human brain?

And now I’m back to my belief that humans shouldn’t have superpowers. If you think about it, we already have superpowers. Why do we need more? Oops, I forgot we were playing a game…

When I was young, I had to pretend to be Catholic at church every Sunday. At one point during the mass, the priest would direct us to turn to the person on each side of us, shake their hand and say, “Peace be with you.” The person would reply, “And also with you.” It would’ve been nice if people really meant it, instead of just saying it by rote.

I’ve decided that I’d like to have a Peace-Be-With-You superpower. I’d like the ability to create peace wherever I go, whomever I encounter. If another person has any bad or violent thoughts, with just one look from my tired, blue eyes, all those thoughts would disappear. Cease to exist. Poof! I would smile at the look of bafflement on people’s faces, then they would shake their heads, as if coming back to the present, and smile back at me.

My superpower would be transferable with each look, and so peace would then spread throughout the world, from person to person, city to city, country to country.

We would never have another war. And we would all work together to live happily ever after. The End.

And because I don’t follow the rules, I’m picking two superpowers. I would also like to be invisible, like Lisa, because I think it would be loads of fun. 🙂

(Photo taken by my sister — and cropped by me, #croptilyoudrop — at the 2013 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.)

Thinking of you, Victoria Martens

Lisa posted the story of Victoria Martens, a 10-year-old who was brutally murdered in Albuquerque:

http://www.lifeofanelpasowoman.com/2016/08/25/victoria-martens-a-10-year-olds-tragic-death-shocks-the-world/

In a statement, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (R) called the manner in which Victoria was killed “atrocious.”

“What happened to this little girl is unspeakable,” she said, according to media reports, “and justice should come down like a hammer on the monster who committed this murder.”

Governor Martinez (a former prosecutor and previous Democrat) has been making noise about bringing back the death penalty (for child killers and cop killers) even before Victoria Martens’ murder. I guess that’s the kind of talk Republicans want to hear.

Do you think if this state had the death penalty, Victoria Martens would still be alive?

If the death penalty really worked as a deterrent, I might be for it. But it doesn’t do anything except quench our thirst for revenge and cost a lot of money — just like making drugs illegal isn’t a deterrent to people using them and how the billions of dollars we’ve spent on the failed drug war has just been wasted.

Like in Victoria’s case, meth was involved here, too:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/couple-wanted-womans-killing-kids-kidnapping-arrested-231022653.html

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California couple wanted in connection with a woman’s killing and the kidnapping of her three children in the Los Angeles area were arrested Thursday in Colorado. 

Joshua Aaron Robertson, 27, and Brittany Humphrey, 22, were arrested without incident in Pueblo, about 40 miles south of Colorado Springs, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The couple was wanted in connection with the death of Humphrey’s half-sister, Kimberly Harvill, whose body was found with multiple gunshot wounds along a road in a remote area of Los Angeles County on Aug. 14.

Investigators said the couple kidnapped Harvill’s three young children, who were found safe Wednesday in a motel on the outskirts of Albuquerque. Humphrey is Harvill’s half-sister, and therefore the children’s aunt…

Harvill and her children had most recently lived in Fresno and were transitory, moving from motel to motel, sheriff’s Capt. Steve Katz said Wednesday, adding that they depended on panhandling to survive. Harvill was involved with methamphetamine, as were Humphrey and Robertson, Katz said.

The father of Harvill’s children, Kenneth Chad Watkins, killed himself by lying in front of a train last year, according to the Fresno County Coroner…

Three children, now without either parent. You have to wonder what these three kids will grow up to be.

See, Governor Martinez decapitated the mental health system in this state, falsely accusing a handful of providers of wrongdoings and refusing to pay them (in effect, closing them down). While these providers fought to clear their names, the governor gave contracts to out-of-state providers (paying back political promises) to replace them. I’ve read that a few of these out-of-state providers have already gone bankrupt, but I don’t know how many.

Which leaves patients without continuing mental health care, as well as having to deal with new providers, never an easy thing. What was Kenneth Chad Watkins being treated for before he gave up and committed suicide?

Statistics say that meth is even more popular than heroin in New Mexico (but not as popular as marijuana). I just read another study about the 17 states that have medical cannabis programs and how the amount of painkillers, antidepressants, and anti-anxiety medications have been substantially decreased in these states. But in New Mexico (as well as around the country), drug abuse and overdoses have increased.

I guess all the restrictions on my allergy medicine haven’t stopped the meth epidemic. The opioid war is obviously not stopping the heroin epidemic. Really, the DEA should be fired. Maybe Trump can take care of that.

The drug war isn’t the only reason that kids are being killed:

http://www.theroot.com/articles/news/2016/08/minn-man-accused-of-beating-7-month-old-to-death-after-discovering-he-wasnt-the-father/

According to the Washington Post, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said McMorris killed the infant after discovering he wasn’t her biological father. A paternity test had confirmed that fact about three days before the baby was killed…

Risk factors which exclude large number of pain patients from getting treatment

http://www.pressherald.com/2016/08/06/insurance-companies-clamping-down-on-over-prescribing-of-opioids/

Dr. Stephen Hull, director of Mercy Hospital’s Pain Center, said insurance company policies to reduce over-prescribing will be helpful, but more needs to be done to lower America’s reliance on opioids to control pain. There are no long-term studies that prove the effectiveness of opioids in controlling chronic pain, scientists say…

Anthem also will warn doctors when they see a patient seeking painkillers from an emergency department and will investigate doctors who are prescribing high doses of opioids, she said. Harrell said another program set to start this fall will notify doctors if a patient has previously been in a substance abuse treatment program or overdosed and gone to an emergency department, all warning signs that a patient may try to doctor shop…

Mark Slitt, a Cigna spokesman, said the insurance company launched a program a decade ago to identify over-prescribing, and has been adding to it ever since.

“The opioid crisis is a national tragedy. Cigna’s goal is to work collaboratively with doctors, as well as organizations like (the American Society for Addiction Medicine) to help find ways to fix the problem. Contacting doctors proactively regarding their patients’ risk factors is just one part of this effort,” Slitt said…

https://painkills2.wordpress.com/2015/07/09/insurance-companies-and-the-war-against-pain-patients/

https://painkills2.wordpress.com/2015/06/15/smokers-and-abuse-victims-at-risk-for-being-denied-pain-meds/

First of all, if opiates are to be used for chronic noncancer pain, physicians need to assess the patient for risk factors, which include a history of smoking, family or personal history of substance abuse, history of sexual abuse, and a history of psychological disease…

https://painkills2.wordpress.com/2015/02/01/screening-for-addiction-and-monitoring-for-aberrant-behavior-in-patients-with-chronic-pain/

Risk Factors for aberrant behavior

• Lifetime history of substance use disorder (alcohol, tobacco, illicit substances)
• Psychiatric co-morbidity
• History of pre-adolescent sexual abuse
• Family history of substance abuse
• History of legal problems
• Younger age (16 – 45)
• Increased functional impairment

Another awesome black woman

“Freedom is mine!” Pieces

There’s Alicia Keys, keeping to her decision to go without make-up. She’s so smart and such a lovely person. And can someone explain to me what the heck Miley Cyrus is wearing? Is that a new style? Finally, we have a 17-year-old who was bullied, yet stood up on stage and sang her heart out.

The song “Feeling Good” is perhaps best sung by Nina Simone. I recently watched the Netflix documentary about Nina, which I highly recommend. I didn’t know she was bipolar. And it was interesting to hear about Nina from her daughter and what it was like living with someone who suffered from mental illness.

Goodbye, Olympics

Some people hope that the Olympics will foster good feelings among nations, and I guess it does that. (Along with fostering bad feelings.) But I just hope that it’s an incentive for people to get off their asses. Step away from their phones and computers. Take a long walk, and then when you’re finished, raise both arms in the air as if you just crossed a finish line in first place.

http://distractify.com/trending/2016/08/12/schmitt-battles-depression

Women’s Gold Medalist Gets Real About Not Being Able To ‘Get Over’ Her Depression

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-37103450

Sakshi Malik, the female wrestler who got India’s first medal

She was born in India’s Haryana state, where women were for some time not allowed to take part in wrestling events. The 23-year-old started training young, having gained support from her parents to pursue the sport. Media reports say locals initially berated her parents, telling them that their daughter would become undesirable to potential suitors.

But she went on to earn a silver medal at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and walked away with the bronze at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games…

https://mic.com/articles/151485/meet-michelle-carter-the-first-american-to-win-gold-in-shot-put#.uH5XNztFS

http://distractify.com/humor/2016/08/12/olympics-twitter-rxns-day-6

Kevin Seccia @kevinseccia
After he won a couple of gold medals in swimming I was like “Whoa!” After twenty it’s like… “I don’t know, can you do any other stuff?”

When no one believes you

http://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2016/8/11/prop-ends-affiliation-with-phoenix-house

Like PROP, the foundation’s main goal is to reduce opioid prescribing. It is named after Steve Rummler, a Minnesota pain patient who became addicted to opioid medication while being treated for a back injury.

After several attempts at addiction treatment, Rummler relapsed and died of a heroin overdose at the age of 43.

“He struggled with the pain for a long time,” said Judy Rummler, Steve’s mother and chief financial officer of the foundation. “He had what I think later was figured out to be some damage to the nervous system around his spinal cord because he had what he described as shooting electric shock-like sensations that would shoot up his back into his head and down his legs into his feet.”

Steve sought help from many doctors, but never received a treatable diagnosis. He started taking OxyContin for pain relief. “Once he was prescribed the opioids in 2005, then he didn’t care about getting answers anymore,” his mother said.

After Steve’s death in 2011, the Rummler family established the foundation with the goal of helping others who also struggle with chronic pain and addiction. It was PROP’s founder and chief executive, Andrew Kolodny, MD, who approached the foundation with the idea of joining forces…

“Basically as the fiscal sponsor we accept donations and we manage the funding. We don’t set any policy for him,” Judy Rummler told Pain News Network. “Obviously our missions are similar. We are very concerned about the overprescribing of opioids. Yet I know if my son were alive today he would probably be telling you what you hear from so many other pain patients; that he couldn’t live without them. But the problem was he died as a result of it.

“I know there are a lot of people who are going to be hurt by cutting back on the prescribing, but I just think a lot of them are addicted as my son was. Yet he would have been the first one to scream and yell about having his pills cutoff.”

The Rummler Foundation calls this tug-of-war between opioids and addiction “The Dilemma.” It advocates for wholesale change in the treatment of chronic pain, emphasizing “wellness rather than drugs” and the use of “a wide array of non-opioid options.”

Opioid medication should not be prescribed for chronic pain, according to Rummler…

Poor Steve. So desperate and in so much pain — but he had nowhere to turn for help. He was being treated for addiction, not chronic pain. His chronic pain was ignored, even though it was the constant pain that caused Steve to become addicted to pain relief in the first place.

(Let me just say that I’m not sure Steve was suffering from addiction, but that is what he was being treated for.)

I’m sure that most chronic pain patients understand Steve’s desperation. Personally, I’m beginning to think that desperation is my middle name.

It was his pain (environment) and his DNA that made Steve susceptible to addiction. (DNA, by the way, he got from his parents.) A part of his addiction was probably caused by low self-esteem due to the censure of his loved ones and the shame all drug addicts feel (also his environment). There’s no shame in suffering from cancer, but those who suffer from addiction and chronic pain are weak and morally corrupt — according to the anti-opioid lobby. According to the drug war.

I consider it hypocritical and ignorant when anyone claims there’s no evidence that opioids work for chronic pain. (I also find the medical industry’s use of the word “evidence” to always be suspect. After all, I’m not a mouse. And my intractable pain is as unique as my DNA.) You can’t tell me that opioids don’t work — I took them for 10 years. You can’t tell millions of chronic pain patients that opioids don’t work — they’ve taken them for years, too.

Denying reality has always been helpful when fighting on the side of the drug war. #DenyingReality #ItsAllAboutFear (#DonaldDrumpf)

To all you hypocrites:  How much unbiased “evidence” exists that shows antidepressants or cortisone injections work for chronic pain? Denying adequate treatment for those in constant pain is the definition of torture. So, when someone advocates against the option of opioids to treat chronic pain, then that person is advocating for torture. (It seems there’s a high percentage of masochists within the 200 million people who don’t suffer from chronic pain in this country.)

Grief can motivate a person to do great things, but the reverse is also true. Rich, grieving parents, too blinded by their own pain to see anyone else’s. Like their grief is so raw and overwhelming that it destroys any empathy those people may have had for anyone else. Like their pain is more important than anything else. Like they’re more important than anyone else. (#TrumpSyndrome)

Let’s get this straight: Steve was not your average chronic pain patient. (To learn a little more about Steve’s story, click on the link below.) But, Steve is an example of the suffering that pain patients, who also suffer from drug addiction, go through. If you have a history of drug addiction, no one believes you’re in pain. And I know many chronic pain patients can understand what it feels like when no one believes you.

https://painkills2.wordpress.com/2015/09/22/the-epidemic-of-grief-stricken-parents/

When doctors lie

http://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2016/8/4/survey-opioids-stopped-or-reduced-for-most-patients

“My doctor said I cannot be cured so there is no point in treating me for pain,” wrote one patient.

Cancer can’t be cured. Schizophrenia and asthma are also incurable. Then there’s AIDS.

The treatments for these medical conditions can also cause pain, including chronic pain. Why suffer through expensive, painful treatments when there is no cure? What kind of doctor would say there’s no point in treating cancer or AIDS? (Doctors suck.)

Yes, cancer and AIDS can be fatal. (Actually, being human is a fatal condition.) But chronic pain can take a long time to kill you, so the medical industry thinks the danger isn’t imminent. And I think chronic pain isn’t really considered a medical condition, like cancer.

When patients die from suicide or an overdose, it’s the patient’s fault. When a cancer patient dies, it’s the disease’s fault (or the fault of the medical industry). Because drug war.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/06/18/the-other-side-america-war-opioids/i9YYLR0bGWFdP9z1T1pwjI/story.html

But Lussier said her doctor was concerned that opioids would actually increase her sensitivity to pain, and informed her three months ago that she would get only three more monthly prescriptions for the drug.

If you suffer from chronic pain, your body is already sensitive to pain. Duh. Can opioids increase that sensitivity?

I suppose it’s possible, although it doesn’t seem very logical. It makes more sense to say that not treating chronic pain would increase a person’s sensitivity to pain. That’s why pain progresses from acute to chronic — you can’t suffer from chronic pain unless you’ve suffered from acute pain first.

Think of a dial for volume, zero to ten. Similar to the pain scale, each number represents a different level of pain. When you stub your toe or burn your finger, you’ve felt pain at the level of a 1 or 2. Let’s say a root canal or a broken bone would be a 4. Having a baby is like a 6, while cancer is around a 6+.

The purpose of this dial is not to rate a person’s pain — it’s to mark the different levels of pain you’ve been exposed to and have experienced. If you’ve never broken a bone, then your brain doesn’t know of or understand that level of pain. But once your brain has experienced pain at the level of a 6 or 7, there’s a greater chance that you will experience that level of pain in the future. It’s easier for your brain to reach that level after you’ve already reached it once.

While I’m focusing on physical pain for my pain dial, the same applies to mental pain and anguish. Unless you’ve experienced grief or suffered from Major Depressive Disorder, your brain can’t understand that level of pain. But once you do experience different levels of mental pain, it’s not hard for your brain to feel it again.

So, maybe the risk of developing chronic pain includes experiencing high levels of acute pain. Like if you were a gymnast or a football player. It’s no wonder women are more prone to chronic pain because so many of us have experienced the pain of labor. Like the risk of suffering from drug addiction climbs after someone experiences physical or mental trauma.

Where would the experience of chronic pain fall on this pain dial? It’s one thing to experience level 6 pain during labor, but that pain goes away.

Let’s say you have a toothache that registers around a 5 on the pain dial. After treatment, most if not all of that pain goes away. (Who could function with a constant toothache?) My TMJ causes a level 5 toothache in every one of my teeth. Does that mean my pain level is a 5? No, because TMJ is not the only thing that causes me pain. And because my pain is constant.

Constant/chronic pain should have a place on the pain dial, just like a broken bone or root canal. Because no matter what level of physical (or mental) pain you’re suffering from, when that pain is constant and incurable, the volume on your pain dial increases.

Intractable pain is not a symptom of my TMJ — not like addiction can be a symptom of trauma. No, intractable pain is a condition all on its own. Maybe I could even call it a cancer of the soul.

Doctors lie all the time. Of course they do. I know it’s hard to stand up for yourself when you feel like shit, and when you need and depend on your doctor. Just be prepared for when your doctor repeats information that’s biased and untrue. Don’t let him or her get away with it.

Thinking of you, Short family

https://www.yahoo.com/news/prosecutor-murder-suicide-note-found-dead-family-160519425.html

SINKING SPRING, Pa. (AP) — A couple featured in news stories about their difficulties getting medication for a daughter who had a heart transplant were found shot to death in their home along with their three children in an apparent murder-suicide, authorities said…

Police went to the home to check on the welfare of the family after receiving a call from a relative concerned that the woman had not shown up for a lunch date. Mark Short Sr., 40; Megan Short, 33; and their children — 8-year-old Lianna, 5-year-old Mark Jr., and 2-year-old Willow — were found dead in the living room, Adams said. A dog also was found dead…

Are Opioids the Next Antidepressant?

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/05/opinion/sunday/are-opioids-the-next-antidepressant.html

Essentially, all the anti-depressants now in use affect a single group of neurotransmitters called monoamines and are likely to treat only specific subtypes of depression. Clinicians and scientists alike are in agreement that other pathways in the brain that control mood need to be explored. The opioids are one such pathway…

Opioids may also hold out hope for a devastating illness formally known as borderline personality disorder. Characterized by severe emotional dysregulation, patients with this disorder have feelings of loneliness, rejection, anger and sadness that can quickly overwhelm them. They struggle to maintain relationships and are terrified of abandonment. They are often substance abusers and — in fact — opioids are frequently their drugs of choice. In one study, 44 percent of patients seeking buprenorphine treatment for their opioid addiction were found to have borderline personality disorder. There are no Food and Drug Administration-approved medications for this illness…

Research looking at opioid receptors in patients with borderline personality disorder in comparison to control subjects has documented abnormalities in these patients’ opioids system. It is a finding that would help explain why many opioid abusers describe the sensation they get from using drugs not as “getting high” but as “getting right,” or as “feeling normal.”

It may seem counterintuitive and even dangerous to be considering the medicinal use of substances that are currently a scourge to our society. Yet opioids have a long history of being used to treat melancholia and other psychological disorders — right up until the 1950s, when the current group of antidepressants were discovered…

Thinking of you, Sgt. Brandon Michael Ketchum

http://host.madison.com/news/local/obituaries/ketchum-sgt-brandon-m/article_1372229a-1d77-5bb4-b6c2-b078fec18ef9.html

DAVENPORT, Iowa – Sgt. Brandon Michael Ketchum, age 33, of Davenport, Iowa lost his battle with PTSD on Friday, July 8, 2016…

http://www.illegallyhealed.com/national-epidemic-another-veteran-commits-suicide-after-being-refused-treatment/

Here’s what Brandon experienced. Unedited and in his own words…

Brandon’s last post to OIF/OEF Veterans – Military Empire’s Facebook Page.

“Have any of you had a similar situation to my VA shitsh0w today? I went in to see my psych doc for an emergency appt due to some serious mental health issues I’ve been having. I requested that I get admitted to 9W 9psych ward) and get things straightened out. I truly felt my safety and health were in jeopardy, as I discussed with the doc. Not only did I get a NO, but three reasons of no based on me not being ‘fucked up enough.’ I wish I were making this up, but I’m sure I’m not alone. At this point, I say, ‘why even try anymore’ They gave up on me, so why shouldn’t I give up on myself? Right now, that is the only viable option given my circumstances and frame of mind. Insight and/or advice welcome. Tell it as it is, I’m thick skinned.”

Hours after writing this post, Brandon shot and killed himself…

Here is Brandon Ketchum‘s bio that I received from him in preparation for his going to Peru to participate in the veteran plant medicine healing. Rest in peace brother.

“My name is Brandon Ketchum and am a 33 y/o veteran. I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin and joined the military when I was 21 y/o. I served in the Marine Corps from 2004-2008 as a combat engineer, serving two tours in Iraq, locating and clearing road side bombs. I survived 5 “hard hits” or explosions on the vehicles we used to mitigate explosive obstacles. Unfortunately, not all of my brothers were as lucky as I was…

Since exiting the military I have faced many struggles with my mental health and also substance abuse. I was addicted to a high dose of narcotic pain meds, began abusing them and eventually started using heroin. In February 2015 I overdosed and nearly died but was saved by paramedics and coincidentally a police officer who I had once served in the military with.

I have been involved with the substance use disorder program at the VA since 2014 and will graduate the final portion of the outpatient program this Thursday, the 24th of March, 2016. Now that I have more control of myself and my life I have begun the daunting task of starting to piece my life back together after the traumas of three hard fought combat tours had taken a costly toll on nearly every aspect of my life.

The physical and mental symptoms of severe PTSD, depression, anxiety, and the inability to adapt back to the real world has been a tremendous obstacle for me, particularly going through nearly 25-30 different types of meds yet finding no solid gains or improvements. I am a firm believer in medical marijuana but unfortunately it is not yet legalized where I live…

Although I find a great deal of therapeutic value in woodworking, every day I am haunted by my past; I struggle to find meaning in the wars I waged against people I felt we didn’t protect or help…

Asking for help has only clouded my life with such a stigma that I have carried the ‘crazy’ or ‘broken’ labels, forcing me to have to fight for custody of my little girl that I love more than the world. I’m nearing some possible successes in some aspects of my life, directly as a result of my unwillingness to be discarded and dismissed by the country I swore to give my life for. But at the end of the day, I feel that I am also at war with myself and my ‘demons.’”

Shootings of people with mental health disorders inspire less outrage

https://apps.bostonglobe.com/spotlight/the-desperate-and-the-dead/series/police-confrontations/

In the midst of impassioned national debate about race and policing, prompted by a spate of shootings of unarmed black men, shootings of people with mental health disorders have inspired less outrage. No national law enforcement database tracks police shootings of mentally ill people. Recent efforts by journalists to count them, notably at The Guardian and The Washington Post, found that mental health was a likely factor in at least one-quarter of all fatal police shootings in the U.S. last year…

In Massachusetts, where the suicide rate has long been lower than in most other states, the total number of suicides per year grew an alarming 47 percent from 2003 to 2012, from 424 to 624…

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/dylan-noble-fresno-police-shooting_us_577efcdce4b01edea78d494d

Cell phone video footage emerged this week showing police officers shooting a teenager to death at a gas station in Fresno, California.

The Fresno Police Department said the officers believed 19-year-old Dylan Noble possessed a firearm at the time of the shooting on June 25, but it emerged later that he was unarmed…

“When he gets within about 12 feet of the officers, he makes the statement ‘I hate my effing life,’” Dyer told local news station KFSN…

https://painkills2.wordpress.com/2015/04/12/suicide-by-cop/

Anxiety and Facebookitis

It’s been reported that Prince began using opioids to treat crippling anxiety. Seems like he would have tried other treatment methods before trying painkillers, but I’m not sure I agree with treating anxiety with opioids.

Some people use alcohol or food as a social lubricant and/or to treat anxiety, and some people take antidepressants, Xanax, or Valium. And some people smoke pot (if you’re lucky). I suppose any drug that alters your perception would help treat anxiety, but how to treat crippling anxiety in a musician and performer? (Do you think Prince felt naked every time he went on stage? Or maybe he threw up before every performance? Or was it the drugs that kept the worst of his symptoms at bay, allowing him to perform?)

I guess I didn’t realize there was such a large percentage of people who use drugs “to be sociable” and “to feel more relaxed,” as illustrated in this chart:

http://www.theinfluence.org/graphic-the-major-reasons-people-use-drugs-or-dont/

Two leading UK health organizations have just released a report titled “Taking a New Line on Drugs.” In the report, they make an unprecedented call for the decriminalization of personal possession and use of all drugs. They also referenced data from a survey of 2,000 UK adults about drugs—including why people use and don’t use…

The opioid war is against treating physical pain — against chronic pain patients and doctors — but it doesn’t really address the people who take painkillers to treat mental illnesses or just to be sociable. Seems like a lot of people are feeling pressured to be sociable these days, which I blame on Facebookitis.

Progress?

What would progress in the opioid war look like? For the government, progress is a decrease in the supply of opioids, along with the number of doctors prescribing (treating pain). And of course it means a decrease in the number of drug overdoses and deaths. In this Bloomberg article, New Mexico is highlighted as a state that’s making progress, but that’s not the reality.

Unfortunately, any “progress” in the opioid war is bad news for patients.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-23/opioid-crisis-draws-failed-response-from-most-states-group-says

Kentucky, New Mexico, Vermont among states making progress

States were evaluated on six criteria, including the availability of treatment; mandatory education for doctors who prescribe opioids; and access to naloxone, which can reverse the effect of opioids. Michigan, Missouri and Nebraska didn’t meet a single one of the standards, according to a report from the council. Twenty-four other states were labeled as “failing” because they meet just one or two of the six objectives. While Kentucky, New Mexico, Tennessee and Vermont passed at least five, no state had a perfect score…

Does this look like progress to you?

https://nmhealth.org/publication/view/marketing/2117/

In 2014, there were 540 deaths to drug overdose in New Mexico.

New Mexico has the 2nd highest drug overdose death rate in the U.S.

https://nmhealth.org/publication/view/help/1832/

In 2014, 450 New Mexicans died by suicide (21.1 deaths per 100,000 residents)

The New Mexico suicide rate is more than 50% higher than the United States rate

http://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/resources/ethics/new-mexico-approach-improving-pain-addiction-management

However, New Mexico decided not to establish a “trigger” dosage threshold because of concern that such a policy would interfere with the patient-provider relationship. Instead, the state requires a mandatory continuing medical education course covering both prescription drug abuse prevention and the treatment of pain…

Opioid prescribers are mandated to sign up with the New Mexico Board of Pharmacy prescription monitoring program (PMP) and obtain a patient PMP report for the preceding 12 months when initially prescribing chronic opioid therapy (ie, ≥10 days) and every 6 months thereafter…

https://painkills2.wordpress.com/2015/09/06/unm-project-echo-bites-the-dust/

New Mexico is one of 16 states that successfully competed for the four-year grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The grant is from a new program called Prescription Drug Overdose: Prevention for States that helps states address the ongoing prescription drug overdose epidemic.

It appears that a bucket load of education and the PDMP were not enough to make a real difference in the number of overdoses in New Mexico. In fact, after a few years of seeing a small decrease in overdoses, the latest statistics show an increase.

Which leaves me to wonder what is being taught in these continuing education classes and seminars on chronic pain and addiction. Since this education is being funded by the government — and disseminated with the help of the medical industry — I assume everyone is learning to comply with the new CDC rules. And treating pain according to the CDC rules is not going to work for very many patients.

http://amarillo.com/news/2016-02-04/new-mexico-lawmakers-look-curb-opioid-addiction

More New Mexicans died in 2014 of drug overdoses than in any other year on record…

Neurologist Joanna Katzman, president of the American Academy of Pain Management and head of the University of New Mexico’s Pain Consultation and Treatment Center, said continued education for medical professionals who prescribe opioids as well as better access to care for patients dealing with chronic pain must still be part of the equation.

“Chronic pain overlaps with addiction. Chronic pain overlaps with mental health,” she said, pointing to higher incidences of depression, anxiety and even suicide. “We need to really think about increasing treatment for chronic pain, increasing access to treatment.”

Dr. Katzman can talk a good game, making it seem like she could be on the side of pain patients. But I can’t imagine that too many pain patients would agree with her view of what constitutes treatment:

https://painkills2.wordpress.com/2016/03/18/addiction-clinics-masquerading-as-pain-clinics/

Click to access Michael-Landen-Prescribing-and-Drug-Overdose-Deaths-in-NM-May-7-2016.pdf

Council leading joint process to develop common language for the 7 licensing boards to use in developing their chronic pain management rules by 1/1/17

If you’re a pain patient in New Mexico, you should keep a watch out for these new rules. I assume they will mostly be in line with the new CDC rules, but I also assume that they will include a lot more restrictions on what doctors can prescribe.

I’m sorry, but I think things are about to get a lot worse, not only for patients in New Mexico, but in every state.

Is this the future for pain patients?

http://nyketamine.com/

NY Ketamine Infusions, LLC., offers ketamine infusion therapy treatments for those throughout the Tri-State area as well as NYC suffering from chronic pain syndromes and depression…

Chronic pain can be dramatically altered or even eliminated by ketamine infusions. Certain types of pain considered to be “neuropathic” in origin are considered to be most responsive to ketamine therapy. Examples of these kinds of pain are trigeminal neuralgia, complex regional pain (CRP), diabetic neuropathies, phantom limb pain, post herpetic neuralgia and fibromyalgia. However, other types of chronic pain such as chronic temporal mandibular joint (TMJ) pain, some headaches, and musculoskeletal pain may also benefit from ketamine infusions.

The few stories I’ve read from patients who have used ketamine treatments have been mostly positive, with the caveat that the treatments don’t last very long. It’s similar to how steroid injections can work, lasting for weeks or months, until it’s time for more.

Cost? Covered by insurance? You won’t find that information on the above website.

Alternatively, here in Albuquerque, there’s oxygen therapy:

http://www.pro-oxygen.com/

We offer a recreational Oxygen Bar as well as Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy and portable Boost Oxygen cans to enhance your body’s ability to heal, reduce swelling, relieve joint pain, improve recovery time, increase athletic performance and promote an overall feeling of wellness.

$1 a minute, or $150 for 90 minutes.

Breathing has become expensive, lol.

How the government creates criminals

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/04/15/feds-pill-crackdown-drives-pain-patients-to-heroin.html

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a broad set of recommendations in March for physicians and treatment facilities that dispense opiate medications. The same week Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law some of the most restrictive regulations ever governing the therapeutic use of narcotic drugs—including limiting first-time prescriptions for opioid pain medication to seven days worth of pills. At least six states have passed similar measures restricting the amount and potency of narcotic medications doctors can prescribe…

[Christopher] Baltz was in his third year of treatment for chronic pain resulting from a severe motorcycle accident and was being prescribed a high dose of oxycodone when Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared war on the state’s robust pain management industry in 2011…

Scott’s crackdown led to the closure of some 400 pain management clinics almost overnight, while a coordinated effort by the Drug Enforcement Administration targeted pharmacies suspected of over-dispensing controlled substances.

This took the form of more aggressive enforcement of a decades-old federal mandate known as “corresponding responsibility” that holds pharmacies legally accountable for ensuring the drugs they dispense are being used for a “legitimate medical purpose.”

In theory, the policy is designed to add another check in the process of preventing drug abuse and diversion. In practice, it places pharmacists in the unwarranted position of policing doctors, and discriminating against patients on the basis of often arbitrary red flags (for instance, paying for their prescriptions in cash).

The net effect of the crackdown in Florida was profound and acute. Prescription drug deaths dropped precipitously within the first year-—but heroin deaths rose 39 percent, as patients cut off from legal opioids turned to illegal drugs for relief…

In spring 2013—two days after receiving a courtesy call confirming his monthly appointment—Baltz showed up at his pain management clinic only to find it had been closed down. Within weeks he was making regular trips to Miami to buy heroin.

“The government wants to prevent people abusing pain medication, but there’s no exit strategy,” said Baltz. “I never even saw heroin until this happened.” …

According to the United Nations, 5.5 billion people around the world already suffer from inadequate pain treatment. This includes roughly a third of all cancer patients in the U.S.

Dr. Webster is one of hundreds of doctors and pharmacies that have been investigated by the DEA since it launched its OxyContin Action Plan in 2001. The plan signaled a shift in federal enforcement tactics away from a focus on illicit street drugs and toward preventing controlled pharmaceuticals from falling into the wrong hands. Over the next 13 years the DEA added more than 1,500 personnel and more than doubled its budget. It also significantly ramped up administrative audits of registrants authorized to dispense controlled substances. (As The Daily Beast reported last year, over the same period the DEA was increasing its quotas of Schedule II pharmaceuticals approved for commercial sale).

During one year alone (2009-2010) the number of regulatory investigations conducted by the DEA’s Office of Diversion Control (responsible for policing prescription drugs) more than tripled, according to the Government Accountability Office…

Federal law requires that all prescriptions for controlled substances be for a “legitimate medical purpose,” but it doesn’t define the term…

Ironically, there is evidence that restricting patient access to pain medicine could actually lead to more overdoses, not fewer. Medical examiners are already unsure of how many deaths attributed to “unintentional overdose” are actually suicides. Chronic pain patients frequently suffer from ancillary mental health problems—including depression, anxiety and insomnia—and are at least twice as likely to commit suicide.

In 2013, when the Department of Veterans Affairs responded to a runaway painkiller problem with a new Opioid Safety Initiative, reports surfaced of patients being cut off their medication without proper dose reductions. Within months the agency came under fire for its new policy when a 52-year-old Navy veteran shot himself in the head in front of an outpatient clinic in Virginia after he was forced off his pain meds.

“The medications were the only thing that was helping him, and when they took that away from him, his life just went downhill,” a friend of the dead man told a local paper…

Meanwhile, there is evidence that the majority of prescription opioids that are diverted for illicit use come from the acute care setting, not the treatment of chronic pain.

I’m not sure that makes sense, if this is also true:

From the New York Times:  “And so although emergency physicians write not quite 5 percent of opioid prescriptions, E.R.s have been identified as a starting point on a patient’s path to opioid and even heroin addiction…”

But perhaps it just shows how small the diversion problem really is, even though we’ve spent so much money (and ruined so many lives) in the effort to combat it.

Dr. Daniel del Portal, who teaches emergency medicine at Temple University’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine, says the modern health care system often incentivizes doctors in acute care settings to find a quick fix for patient complaints. “The pressure is on physicians to make patients happy at any costs,” he told The Daily Beast…

Really? How many doctors have you known that made an effort to make you happy? I don’t ever recall feeling happy after leaving the doctor’s office.

Finally, doctors say there is little use in recommending alternative treatments for patients if they can’t afford them. Pain pills are cheap, and usually fully covered by insurance; physical therapy, chiropractic care, and yoga are expensive, and almost always include co-pays (if they are covered at all)…

Sure, the only reason pain patients don’t use alternative treatments is because of the cost. That really flies in the face of how many pain patients pay out-of-pocket for these alternative treatments, as many are forced to do before they are even given access to opioids.

The fact is that alternative treatments have not proven to be very successful, and their gains are extremely short-lived. This is about treating constant, daily pain, not an injury that will improve over time. For instance, I’m sure there are plenty of pain patients who would welcome a daily massage (if they could afford it), but I would need painkillers before I agreed to let someone work on my body. It would be a treatment that caused more pain, just like so many others I’ve tried. Seems to me that most of the treatments which cause more pain don’t provide as much benefit as their practitioners would have you believe. “No pain, no gain” doesn’t really work when we’re talking about chronic pain.

Another problem is that many of these alternative treatments can be practiced at home, but unless you’re being seen by a doctor, disability insurance companies will question if you’re really suffering from chronic pain. And what’s the point of paying for a doctor if all she can prescribe are these alternative treatments? Because you really don’t need a prescription for yoga, meditation, stretching and exercise, and many other alternative treatments. (Doctors suck.)