The Back Pain Blog

If ever there was a story that highlighted the benefits of using a natural, non-addictive pain medication this is it. The woman in this article takes 70 Nurofen Plus tablets a day!

I guess like any other addict she has an addiction that has taken hold of her but I question why this is allowed to happen. In her own words she says that when her symptoms get bad she heads straight for the chemist, like a drug addict hooking up with their dealer only this time it is legal!

I feel sorry for her and I think that there needs to be measures put in place to protect people that have a somewhat ‘addictive’ nature. Please have a read of the article and share your thoughts with us – should people be protected against the addictive side of these medications by not having them so readily available or do you think it is up to the individual to exercise common sense and avoid these situations in the first place?

Source – UK Sunday Mirror

It’s an addiction that has ruined her life and wrecked two marriages but not even the desperate pleas of her three children stops Jo Halsey, 37, taking pills.

Sweating and in crushing pain, I reach out for the packet at my bedside. Then, trembling, I shake 10 tablets into the palm of my hand and quickly gulp them back.

Of course, I know that taking so many tablets at once could kill me. But, despite pleas from my family to stop, I simply can’t. Because I am an addict.

But not to heroin or any other illegal drug – I am addicted to ordinary painkillers, the sort available at any supermarket.

And every day I swallow 70 Nurofen Plus tablets. My life revolves around them; I live for them. Taking this many painkillers is the only way that I feel normal.

Two years ago I did almost kill myself doing it. But, despite that warning and my GP’s advice, I still take them.

Now I am desperate to quit the habit. I’m not stupid – I’m actually studying for a PhD in psychotherapy – and I know that I am killing myself.

In fact, the nightmare of one day accidentally overdosing stalks my every thought. But even when my children, Zoe, 17, Rebecca, 13, and Ben, 12, beg, “Mummy, please don’t take any more pills,” I just can’t help myself.

I’ve drawn my partner, Keith Palmer, 43, into my awful cycle of addiction, too.

I have become so dependent on my pills that he is forced to buy them for me – each time knowing he might be bringing home the packet that will eventually kill me.

My addiction began when, aged 17, I was given long-term painkillers for period pain by my GP.

But by the time I turned 18 and moved in with my first husband, Gary, I had already discovered the pills were affecting my moods. And, whenever I felt a little low, I would just take a couple more.

By 20, when I gave birth to Zoe, I was taking them every day. Occasionally, I would try to wean myself off the tablets but I’d feel so low I could never stick with it.

My addiction caused terrible rows in our marriage and, in the end, it drove us apart. Worst of all, as a result of my drug problem, Zoe went to live with her dad.

I was devastated to lose my little girl and, although I desperately wanted to quit, I was so depressed I started taking more painkillers.

Two years later I married my second husband, also called Gary, and had my other two children. When Zoe was 12 her dad died and she came to live with us.

And even though I was overjoyed to see my family reunited, I still found myself relying on the painkillers to boost my mood.

They were like little friends – if I’d had a hard day they helped numb the pain and even soothed any emotional anguish. Soon another marriage was over.

Then, about four years ago, I met Keith and we moved to Torquay, Devon. But I didn’t tell him about my drug addiction.

Instead, I tried to hide it. And when he did ask me why I took so many pills, I just passed it off as medication for a backache.

But 18 months ago I began to cough up blood and was taken to hospital, where a doctor explained I had a bleeding ulcer.

It was life-threatening but even then I was too ashamed to confess my addiction – not that I had to. The doctor confronted me and said that tests showed my ulcer was caused by painkillers.

What’s more, the amount I was taking would be enough to kill any normal person but my body had built up a resistance to them.

I couldn’t lie anymore and had no other option than to confess. Keith was shocked and demanded I get help immediately.

I saw my GP and together we worked out a programme. For a couple of weeks it worked but then I got a headache and took a couple of pills – it felt so fantastic that I began taking painkillers again in secret.

Keith was so upset when he found out that he left in disgust. But thankfully he stayed in touch and after six months came back.

Since then we have both tried everything to get me off the drugs – from going cold turkey to gradually cutting back.

In desperation Keith has even locked me in a bedroom or hidden the pills from me. But my withdrawal symptoms are so bad I ultimately escape and head straight for the chemist.

Now he’s resigned to buying the 70 Nurofen Plus that I feel I need to function each day.

I constantly seek help for my problem but it seems addicts of other drugs are a priority.

If I had been a heroin addict, I’d be put in a rehabilitation unit.

And, though my addiction could prove deadly my only option is private treatment I can’t afford.

Now I’m starting to have heart palpitations and can’t help wondering, ‘Is this it?’

“I look at my family and cry at the thought I may not be around much longer. We are planning to marry in December and I am always worried that I won’t even survive until then. I really don’t want to die but I know that I am slowly killing myself.

Keith says:

“Often I wake up in the morning with a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach. My first thought is of Jo, and whether she has lived through the night. Sometimes, when I’ve gone to wake her she is so cold I fear that she’s dead.

Then I face the daily hunt for different places where I can buy her tablets. I feel like a criminal.

There’s no way that I should be buying so many and pharmacists have questioned me about.

Worse yet, every time that I pick up a packet of them, I think, “Are these the ones that’ll kill her?”

Knowing I could be contributing to her death feels truly terrible and I imagine people are amazed that I buy them for her.

But if I don’t do it – and I have refused to many times – she starts writhing about in agony, crying for her pills. And I just can’t stand seeing her in that much pain.

When I first met Jo I never imagined she had a drug addiction. I just felt as though I had met my soulmate.

I did notice she took a lot of pills but when I mentioned it she dismissed them as medicine.

Even when she was in hospital I didn’t make any connection between her ulcer and her pills. Her confession really shocked me.

I didn’t understand why she couldn’t just stop and I had to leave. But I love her and there was no way I’d leave her on her own.

Since then we have tried everything to help her quit. But Jo’s very wily and keeps secret emergency stashes all over the house.

The worst part is seeing the kids beg her to stop taking painkillers. But Jo’s addiction is too strong.

Jo is about to begin therapy at a local clinic to try to quit. I only pray it works before it’s too late.”

PAINKILLER ADDICTION – Are you at risk?

• At least 30,000 people are thought to be addicted to painkillers ( 2005 estimate). Most vulnerable to painkiller addiction are people taking pills for back pain, period pain and tension headaches.
• The most addictive type of painkillers contain codeine, an opiate from the same family as morphine and heroin, and often combined with another ingredient such as paracetamol or ibuprofen.
• Signs you might be becoming addicted include taking medication when you have no symptoms and taking increasing amounts in excess of the recommended dose.
• Treatment might involve psychotherapy plus a detoxification programme – often using sedation and other medication to alleviate withdrawal symptoms.
• Celebrities who’ve admitted to a painkiller addiction include Jamie-Lee Curtis, Jack and Kelly Osbourne and rapper Eminem.

One Response to “The Evil Side Of Pain Medication”