Healing my Heart Part 6

[25yearsmlc]

If it's insane to be on them, get off. I'm out of line here a bit, so I apologize. But I defend MD's for a living, and my h is a pain specialist.

Do you really really not know that if you have taken ANY medication for a long time, that going cold turkey might be a bad idea? Honestly, take some responsibility for knowing what you are taking as well. Already you have said "opiates" but the original person was referring to clonazepam, didn't seem to know why she was taking it, but called it a narcotic. Strictly speaking, its' an anti-anxiety med, not a pain med. Her med belongs to the family called the benzodiazapines but yours, MAY be an opiate. I say "may" because you didn't name it. So I don't know what you are discussing but she is not taking an opiate.

If you dont' want to be on a medication, TELL your MD and if your pain symptoms are better and you don't need the meds anymore, wean off. WEAN off. Burn patients get "addicted" to morphine for obvious reasons. They don't get discharged from the hospital cold turkey with some advil. They wean off.

IF your doctor knows you want to be off of them (which YOU will have to communicate b/c he/she won't guess or mind read) then he/she will help you slowly decrease your dose. Otherwise blood pressure can rise and it can be very unpleasant. Withdrawal from benzodiazapines can even be fatal with seizures, if not monitored.

But I do not hold the physician responsible for what I've read here so far. Sounds as if some people don't tell their docs, or ask their docs enough. No one is a mind reader and folks on this board of all places must remind ourselves of that.

Sorry for the lecture and hijack but it rubbed me the wrong way, obviously. Felt that docs were getting hit and you were not taking responsibility for yourselves OR even discussing the same meds, AND dangerously using medical words interchangeably and incorrectly. And if your mom has taken ANYTHING for 6 years, I'd be amazed if she thought she could simply stop, and not notice or feel different. If it were true that she wouldn't notice a thing, I'd suggest she tell her doc and stop. IOW, it must be wasted if she gets nothing good out of it. IT's always a cost vs benefit analysis...much like marriage.

Okay, lecture over.
(( j ))