Addiction too high a price to pay

Before I begin, it's important to realise that both Tramadol and Oxycontin are widely prescribed for serious neuropathic pain.
The following extracts are from an American detox centre's website.I don't want to promote a commercial organisation but am using text from their webpage, so the least I can do is publish their web address (see below). What is important is the problem they are highlighting and that is the worldwide problem of addiction to medication that is given for another purpose. I came across this because I was on 300mg Tramadol a day , plus Diclofenac for arthritic pain. I was forced to stop because of damage to the kidneys but then having nothing to control either the arthritis or the neuropathic pain, the doctor put me on Oxycontin twice a day. Thanks to 'wrong' prescriptions in the past I check every single medication I'm given, for potential side effects, or conflicts with other drugs, especially those for HIV so Oxycontin was no different. When I came across this page and this text, I was shocked to say the least, not so much at the strength of certain drugs but at the ease in which they are given in combination with each other. Fortunately, Tramadol is not part of my arthritis treatment any more but I could have so easily been taking both Tramadol and Oxycontin.
I remember years ago when diazepam (Valium), amongst others, was issued like candy to the desperate housewives of the time and the consequent row when half the western world became addicted and this sounds alarmingly similar ('Valley of the Dolls' was a big hit for a reason!
In a time when doctors are under more pressure from time,numbers and cost constraint than ever and drug companies are aggressively pushing their products to the exclusion of their rivals, plus the fact that drugs are easily available via the internet I believe it's up to us, the patients, to share responsibility for what's given to us. Always check and double check and if necessary, pose the questions to your medical professionals and don't be brushed off with the "trust me, I'm a doctor" approach. It's your body after all but you can't leave the responsibility for what happens to it, solely up to the doctors - it's in everybody's interest that you're given the right treatment for the right condition.
Read this and I'm sure you'll agree with me. Neuropathy is difficult enough to live with, without given another 'condition' by your own medicine.

The widely-prescribed prescription painkiller tramadol has tricked doctors, and in turn their patients, into thinking it is a safer alternative to what are considered stronger narcotic painkillers, such as OxyContin.

The truth is, tramadol can produce a morphine- or heroin-like high, and according to public health officials, it’s in the running to compete with OxyContin addiction.

Thousands of tramadol overdose cases arrive at emergency medical centers every year, and hundreds more are seeking treatment for tramadol addiction. And just like the rising death toll from OxyContin abuse, a significant number of people are dying from tramadol overdoses.

So far, tramadol hasn’t equaled the destruction caused by OxyContin addiction and abuse, but there are indications that it could. OxyContin addiction has skyrocketed across the country, and has killed so many innocent people there is even a public grass-roots movement to ban OxyContin.
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Could tramadol abuse possibly equal
OxyContin abuse?
OxyContin is a time release formulation of the opioid oxycodone which is a favorite with serious opioid abusers because they can crush the pill to defeat the time release mechanism. Once it is crushed, they can snort it or shoot it up, and get the instant euphoria of heroin.

Don’t forget that OxyContin is essentially legal heroin, and in the Appalachians it is nicknamed “hillbilly heroin”.

Tramadol tablets (brand names Ultram® and Ultracet®) are known as "chill pills" or "ultras" on the streets, where they are sold as an alternative narcotic—sort of an “OxyContin lite”.

Although it’s not a traditional street opioid like heroin or morphine, tramadol can produce a euphoria comparable to heroin, even at a single dose of 75 mg. And many recreational users claim it doesn’t come with the cognitive impairment of OxyContin and other opioids.

But there’s another, more dangerous aspect to tramadol: it also comes in a time-release version, called Ultram ER® (Extended Release) 100mg-300mg, which abusers are now defeating and ingesting all at once—the best formula for rapid addiction and sudden death.

Ten reasons why tramadol may eclipse OxyContin addiction
Here are ten reasons why tramadol could become as deadly as OxyContin addiction:

1.Tramadol is not scheduled as a controlled narcotic substance, which makes it easier to get than OxyContin or any other controlled narcotic—and it’s a lot cheaper.

2.In the US, more than 26 million tramadol prescriptions were dispensed in 2008, according to government statistics, and those numbers continue to rise.

3.Doctors and patients still think—quite incorrectly—that tramadol is less harmful and addictive than OxyContin and other opioid painkillers.

4.Until doctors and the public are made aware of its real dangers, tramadol will continue to be prescribed until the number of tramadol addicts equals those suffering from OxyContin addiction.

5.Anyone, including teenagers and even children, can get the drug from hundreds of internet sites which advertise “no prescription needed” and charge as little as 18 cents a pill.

6.Police across the country say teens can get tramadol more easily than alcohol, and no one is saying how many millions of tramadol pills are being diverted to illicit sales. Of course, no one knows how much OxyContin is being diverted to support OxyContin addiction either.

7.Here is the big one: Serious tramadol abusers defeat the time-release capsules and ingest it all at once to get the same instant euphoric effects as heroin and, guess what? OxyContin!

8.Crushing and mainlining tramadol, or OxyContin for that matter, is not required to become addicted or even to die. For some people, just following doctor’s orders can lead to tramadol or OxyContin addiction, and even death.

9.Tramadol abusers compare the high favorably to heroin, morphine, and OxyContin. There’s nothing like good customer reviews to ensure brisk sales.

10.They also say tramadol effects can last for eight, ten or even twelve hours—far longer than the four to six hours common to other opioids = more customer satisfaction.

http://www.novusdetox.com/oxycontin-tramadol-addiction-abuse.php