LoveMeNow

So my daughter went to the ER last night. She was diagnosed with Mono. She called me late last night - very sick with a sore throat and fever. She is hardly ever gets sick but when she does, she gets SICK!!

After being admitted into the ER, she was immediately given an IV drip - with pain medicine too!! Two 18 yrs old left the ER with a RX for 30 - 500mg Hydrocodones!! When I told her what that was, she crumpled it up and was throwing it out. She told me she felt very "loopy" and was already feeling better.

I had mono a few years ago, I was not given any pain medicine, nor did I need any. I had tonsillitis and eventually had to have them removed. Never once did I take pain medication when my tonsils got infected. As a kid when I got sick with strep, tonsillitis, etc - I never was given any pain meds.

I now know my daughter has a 50% pre cursor to addiction and I have to be honest, my anxiety level shot up upon being told about the pain medicines.

I think pain killers prescriptions are given out like candy now. I know its the person, not the drug but I still think our Dr's are being very irresponsible!!

Is it me??

Kindeyes

My dear husband had minor knee surgery yesterday. He was given a prescription for 40 Percocet. He took two yesterday and announced this morning that he doesn't need any more of them. Ibuprofen will do nicely. So we now have 38 pills we don't need and have to get rid of.

I agree with you. Pain mess are given out like candy. God forbid if anyone should have to endure any pain at all. No wonder so many are addicted to prescription meds.

I hope your daughter feels better soon!

gentle hugs
ke

EnglishGarden

I hope your daughter feels well again soon. I'm glad she has a parent who is aware of her high risk of having the gene for addictive disease and can share that vital health information with her.

Yes, it is disturbing that addictive pain medication is the first choice for pain relief before non-addictive choices. The field of medicine has been slow to respond to the current epidemic of prescription medicine abuse in this country. Many doctors still seem to think it is a matter of personal responsibility. But addictive disease has a deadly, silent onset. A hydrocodone prescription can have a deadly outcome for someone with a biological vulnerability. Why risk it, when Tylenol will work well enough?

incitingsilence

It is what it is. This is why it is important to educate our children because we can not protect them and they need to be educated enough to ask the right questions, like why any doctor they see is prescribing a medication … the specific reason behind that why and what the medication is in detail… They also need to be able to get their own information as well, be an informed patient be confident enough to ask questions and know they can and should.

My daughter is having healthy issues that can be very painful (kidney stones) … at this point she hasn’t needed pain medication yet she knows the drill. Knows that she has to decide when the pain is bad and say I can’t take this (she also knows no one else can tell her to use medication or not, that this is on her)… and she has to understand her own body and if she needs medication or not. There is no way in hell I would tell anyone not to take a medication if they are in pain … But it would be remiss to not educate my children about the family history although they all know about addiction in the home … remiss for them to not be open and honest with their own concerns to their doctors. I can’t speak for them anymore and they need to know the importance of being able to speak for themselves.

interrupted

I agree that it seems like it's totally off the deep end at this point. People throw prescription pain meds at everything. I think part of the issue is one of risk management. For a hospital, following the documented standard practice limits their liability in any anomalous cases, regardless of any individual irregular case components that might contra-indicate standard practice.

I have a rare doctor that I've finally found who puts in the extra effort to not just follow the routine handling of every issue that arises, but he's in a very specialized private practice. After major surgery I was initially given something pretty strong, and I was in a lot of pain; on followup I mentioned that I was still in a lot of pain but he insisted that I make a go of Ibuprofin to avoid any potential addictive side-effects. It was a little uncomfortable at first but the Ibuprofin worked well enough, I'm here and well again. I wish more doctors would operate outside the norm like that. (Ha! Operate! I kill me.)

Ann

I agree that the doctor's should know better and someone needs to educate the public about the danger of taking these drugs...and the danger of leaving the unused medications at home.

A high percentage of teenagers who abuse drugs, begin by stealing their parent's medications, they use them to get high or they sell them to get cash...or both. It's another sad reality of addiction.

There are sites that tell you how to dispose of unused medications (don't flush them and contaminate the water).

I hope that someone with a voice loud enough speaks out about this to doctors and pharmacies and the manufacturers of addictive pain medications. It's a serious problem and time it was addressed.

Hugs

kmangel

When my son had mono years ago he was given pain meds, too. I didn't realize he even had pain meds until this year when he told me. He wasn't addicted to them at that time yet, but it may have set him up on the road to becoming addicted. He told me that he really liked how they made him feel. I've had pain meds and they did the trick of relieving the pain and made me sleepy--but I wouldn't describe the feeling as something that I intensely enjoyed.

However, not all doctors go straight to prescribing addictive pain meds. When I had my gall bladder out and I was very uncomfortable, extra strength Tylenol was the most I was told I could get.

This year when my son had kidney stones I was with him at the doctor's office and I specifically spoke to the doctor about my son being a recovering drug addict--and the doctor STILL prescribed pain meds. My son relapsed and began to manufacture all kinds of stories and plots to get more of the drug. He couldn't (wouldn't) take the prescribed dosage. He took them all pretty much right away and was right back where he left off before rehab. No way as a recovering addict could he be content with one pill four times a day when he was used to downing handfuls when he was in active addiction. The first pain pill put him back in active addiction mode.

So watch out. Your daughter is on a slippery slope. She may decide after the IV pain meds wear off she wishes she had those scripts back.

LoveMeNow

Thank you for all the replies. My daughter just left and said she threw that "evil" prescription away. I believe her and I pray I am not being naive.

She feels a little better and was very loving to her Dad. She was laughing and reminiscing about when her father took her to hospital for a spider bite and another time when he ran to the school to take a stinger and brought his own tweezers and a magnifier glass.

Saw my son today, as well. He looked great, had a great attitude and is saying all the right things.

Just for Today - life is awesome!!

Anaya

Hope your daughter is ok and feels better real soon. Take care.