Chronic Pain vs. Addiction? What is the Difference?

​If you have a Substance Abuse Disorder or have ANY of the following SYMPTOMS come on in for treatment. We are your local experts. Addiction changes your brain and we will teach you how to change it back and then, " together"  we will work on getting your life back!

Problems at school or work
You can't stop using a drug
You continue using the drug despite the harm it causes
Your drug use has led to unsafe behavior, such as sharing needles or unprotected sex
You think you may be having withdrawal symptoms after stopping drug use
Physical health issues
Neglected appearance
Changes in behavior
Money issues
Reduced number of friends and interests
Anxiety or paranoid thinking
Difficulty concentrating or remembering
Decreased mental sharpness
We are experts in distinguishing between pain-related dependence on medication verses an addiction
Increased heart rate and blood pressure or heart attack
Extreme anxiety or agitation
Extreme anxiety or agitation
Paranoia
Psychotic and violent behavior
Dizziness
Falls or accidents
Feeling of exhilaration and excess confidence
Nasal congestion and damage to the mucous membrane of the nose (if snorting drugs)
Mouth sores, gum disease and tooth decay from smoking drugs ("meth mouth")
Rapid or rambling speech
Involuntary shaking (tremors
Rapid shifts in emotions
ETC. ETC. ETC.

Understanding the difference BETWEEN Substance Abuse verses Chronic Pain Management is critical for patients, their families and their healthcare providers because a misinterpretation can lead some to blame patients unnecessarily for a condition that is not within their control, as well as people avoiding pain medications that they need.

Interventional Pain Management and the diagnosis of Chronic Pain is completely at the opposite end of the spectrum from Addiction and Substance Abuse. Opioids should only ever be prescribed by a Medical Doctor who is Board Certified and is a Fellowship Trained Pain Management Specialists, working either in the hospital or out in the community. All Pain Management Patients as well as ALL Substance Abuse Disorders are placed on an extensive (but very different) Contracts signed between patient and provider and are closely monitored.

The opioid crises was started by healthcare providers in Primary Care treating pain subjectively with no MRI's, or diagnostic data or skill in understanding treatment success using Interventional techniques such as injections or radiofrequency or pump implants. The increase in opioid prescriptions was influenced by reassurances given to prescribers by pharmaceutical companies and medical societies claiming that the risk of addiction to prescription opioids was very low. Communities where opioids were readily available and prescribed liberally were the first places to experience increased opioid abuse and diversion (the transfer of opioids from the individual for whom they were prescribed, to others, which is illegal).

For many people living with chronic pain, finding pain relief can be tough. A lot of trial and error is involved to find a pain treatment that works. Interventional pain management may help chronic pain patients cope with their pain. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued comprehensive guidelines for prescribing opioids for chronic pain outside of cancer treatment, palliative care, and end-of-life care. These prescribing recommendations say that non-opioid treatments are the preferred first step for treatment of chronic pain. medications should only be added after careful assessment of pain control and followed by regular evaluations of their continued need.

Drug addiction, also called SUBSTANCE ABUSE DISORDER, is a DISEASE that affects a person's BRAIN and BEHAVIOR and leads to an inability to control the use of a legal or illegal drug or medication. As early efforts to decrease opioid prescribing began to take effect, making prescription opioids harder to obtain, the focus turned to heroin, a cheap, widely available, and potent illegal opioid.

Dependence on opioid medication in order (to take your next step or get up out of a chair) due to spinal stenos or failed back surgery for example is very (very) different than taking opioids when you have NO PAIN.

Substances such as alcohol, marijuana and nicotine also are considered drugs. When you're addicted, you may continue using the drug despite the harm it causes.

Drug addiction can start with experimental use of a recreational drug in social situations, and, for some people, the drug use becomes more frequent. For others, particularly with opioids, drug addiction begins with exposure to prescribed medications, or receiving medications from a friend or relative who has been prescribed the medication.

The risk of addiction and how fast you become addicted varies by drug. Some drugs, such as opioid painkillers, have a higher risk and cause addiction more quickly than others.

As time passes, you may need larger doses of the drug to get high. Soon you may need the drug just to feel good. As your drug use increases, you may find that it's increasingly difficult to go without the drug. Attempts to stop drug use may cause intense cravings and make you feel physically ill (withdrawal symptoms).

The Truth About Opioids is a comprehensive public education campaign focused on preventing and reducing misuse of opioids among youth and young adults.

In 2013 an increase in deaths related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl. The sharpest rise in drug-related deaths occurred in 2016 with over 20,000 deaths from fentanyl and related drugs. The increase in fentanyl deaths has been linked to illicitly manufactured fentanyl (not diverted medical fentanyl) used to replace or adulterate other drugs of abuse.

These videos portray first-person, true stories of young Americans with an opioid use disorder. Some viewers may find this footage disturbing.

An investigation by the US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs detailed the financial ties that exist between opioid manufacturers, advocacy groups, and medical professional societies. The report exposed patient advocacy groups and professional societies spending millions of dollars to promote messages and policies favoring the interests of the pharmaceutical industry.


https://youtu.be/dbskRwUudzc