Methadone: Deadly Solution to Pain Management

It is amazing that medicine learns nothing from its past mistakes. Heroin was pushed by Germany as the answer to morphine addiction. After it quickly proved that it was as addicting as Morphine, Cocaine was brought in. It is the same story with each drug.

Does it help the patient to trade one addiction for another?

Why did physicians, after knowing the addictive nature of these drugs, then begin prescribing them for pain in non-addicts?

Why are patients not given a solution that is not addicting?

The answer is money. The cost would go up for insurance companies. Insurance companies will not pay for acupuncture but will pay for addicting pain killers. Patients cannot afford acupuncture and other treatments privately. The drug companies are making a fortune on the addiction they are creating.

Methadone was hailed as the inexpensive answer for heroin and morphine addiction. Methadone is legally less a problem than morphine and heroin, in some respects, but still creates an addiction. The substitution of methadone for the heavier drugs slows down HIV and hepatitis because it isn't injected. Trading one addiction for another is not a good solution. The real problem today, is that doctors are again prescribing methadone for pain relief in non-addicts.

Four million prescriptions of methadone were written for pain relief in 2006 alone. What are they doing? Death rates involving methadone have tripled from 4000 in 1999 to 13,800 in 2006. This is a crisis. Prescribing it for pain relief is creating a deadly problem.

Methadone is just as addicting as morphine:

If you are told that Methadone is not addicting, don't believe it. Patients will tell you methadone is harder to kick than morphine. Withdrawal effects include difficulty breathing; bronchospasms; fatal stoppage of breathing; spasms in the stomach and intestine; muscle spasms; low blood pressure; weak pulse rate; drowsiness; disorientation; nausea; vomiting; vertigo; edema; coma and death.

Methadone facts from the CDC:

Forty percent of all poisoning deaths in 2006 involved opioid pain killers such as morphine, heroin, and methadone.

Methadone deaths rose from 790 in 1999 to 5,420 deaths in 2006. The death rate is highest in adult white males ages 35 to 54. These are not kids experimenting with drugs but adults who should know better. It should be noted that many of these deaths were due to the combination of legal prescription drugs and methadone. The patients were not informed of the danger adequately.

Why methadone is becoming such a deadly killer?

Methadone stays in your blood for almost 2 ½ days. It only relieves pain for 4 to 8 hours. That is a problem. When the methadone wears off, the patient still needs pain relief. The patient then takes another pain killing prescription over the methadone still in his bloodstream. This creates an overdose and often death. Many of the deaths involve cocaine and benzodiazepines such as Xanax and Valium. These sedatives are used to treat patients for anxiety, insomnia, and stress. Taking other drugs with methadone leads to lethal consequences.

Alternative Therapies for pain:

It is such a shame that insurance will not pay for alternative pain control therapies such as chiropractic, biofeedback, and acupuncture. Massage also gives pain relief. If you don't like needles, acupressure really works. Herbs and essential oils are extremely effective for pain.

What I do for pain.

I recently threw my back out. I had extreme pain from my left lower back, radiating down into my calf. The severe pain shot down into my knee, that was injured in a fall two years ago. Putting weight on that left side was extremely painful. Here is the pain relief program I follow after an injury:

Chiropractic: I went to my chiropractor for an adjustment. After an injury, I go several times a week.

Within a few minutes of the injury, I massage a few drops of an Essential pain oil formula into the area. The essential oil formula I use contains wintergreen, helichrysum, clove, and peppermint. The helichrysum, makes this an expensive essential oil blend, but effective and fast acting.

Chinese anti-inflammatory herbal combination usually taken 3 times a day

Dl-phenylalanine is an amino acid used to relieve chronic pain. It increases endorphins in the body. It can take anywhere from 1,000 to 2,500 mg to relieve pain. It can take up to a month to give results. I take 2000mg, 3 times a day. I have found it to work more quickly, when I have used it.

Herbal pain formula, containing the herbs: hops, valerian and skullcap. If you are kept awake with pain, this formula is especially effective.

This program has gotten me through a number of painful injuries, including a car accident. None of it was toxic or addicting. I always suggest that you clear any new dietary program with a holistic doctor first. Herbs and prescription medications often create problems. Herbs added to prescription medications can potentate the medicine, reduce its effectiveness, or cause a negative reaction.

Herbs may not always be the solution for pain, but are quite effective in mild to moderate pain. For myself, I have found this program effective for severe back pain and knee pain. Using herbs, I have not had to take addicting pain killing medicine and I am not destroying my liver either. They do work.

References:

http://www.heroinaddiction.com/heroin_methadone.html

http://www.summerhousedetoxcenter.com/methadone-detox.html

http://www.dmso.org/articles/information/muir.htm

Government Accountability Office Report: "Methadone Associated Overdose Deaths," March 26, 2009. Chugh, S. American Journal of Medicine, January 2008; vol 121: pp 66-71.

WebMD Medical Reference: "Opioid Analgesics for Chronic Pain."
Hall, A.J., Journal of the American Medical Association, Dec. 10, 2008; vol 300: pp 2613-2620.

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