FDA to eliminate Vicodin & Percocet!

[vivfox]

Originally Posted by Lee

the ER doctor prescribed Vicodin because she also hit her jaw & it really hurt. The doctor wasn't none too happy that they will be eilminating this medicine. My mom only took it once though. She's didn't like it, upset her stomach.

I'm glad to hear your mom is feeling better. Like her, my body does not like vicodin. I can take them but within a few days I will puke and I can actually taste them in my vomit when that would happen. I haven't had any this century but I remember it well when I had a lot of issues with teeth pain in the 1990's.

[vivfox]

This post is definately real. It is in the news again today. I know a couple of people who will die if they can't get their percocet's.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31782102...5773?GT1=31037

[jannieC]

Originally Posted by vivfox

This post is definately real. It is in the news again today. I know a couple of people who will die if they can't get their percocet's.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31782102...5773?GT1=31037

They won't die. They'll sure cry and whine that they will, though.

[markolas]

Pardon me if I don't get all choked up about this.

My grandmother and most of her siblings stayed doped up on Vicodin, Percocet, Percodan, Soma, Xanax, and god knows what else from the time they were in their 20s until they died in their 60s and 70s. In the meantime, they made life hell for the rest of us due to their addiction to pills, which they either got via doctor shopping, or procuring them from their friends.

As a child, I frequently witnessed my grandmother snarf down a handful of whatever muscle relaxer or pain reliever she managed to get her mittens on that day (usually washing them down with a fifth of Old Crow), and then staggering around in a stupor for three days. I remember coming home from school and attempting to strike up a conversation with her, only to discover the minute she tried to open her mouth that she was off in la-la land and had no ability to comprehend what I was saying. Frequently, she would choke on her food because she had just eaten a handful of muscle relaxers which apparently rendered the muscles in her throat useless so that she couldn't swallow.

Then there were the years of verbal, emotional, and physical abuse she inflicted on me and my brother, mostly when she was under the influence of alcohol and/or pills (usually both). Not to mention the effect she had on my mother, who is the worst co-dependent you will ever meet in your life. In my 20s, I realized it would be impossible to have a normal adult relationship with my mother with normal boundaries because of all of her issues (which were mostly the result of being "raised" - and I use that term loosely - by two alcoholic, drug-addicted parents, and an extended family composed of mostly alcoholics and drug addicts), and I had to cut off contact with her.

When she was 39, she overdosed and had a massive stroke. When she was 65, she overdosed again and a neighbor found her laying unconscious by the side of the road. Shortly after that, she began exhibiting symptoms of dementia - I guess all the pills and liquor had finally fried her brain. She's been in a nursing home for the last 8 or 9 years, and I couldn't care less.

Unless you have a diagnosed medical problem that has a name, and not just vague complaints of "backaches" or "headaches," you do not need to be on pain medication long-term. And I'm sorry, but I've had lots of dental work done, and have never been prescribed Vicodin (nor would it have occurred to me to ask for it) or any other narcotic pain reliever. That is ridiculous.

I have never known a single solitary soul who has taken these pills that wasn't addicted to them. The FDA can erect a giant toilet and flush the entire national supply of them for all I care - hell, I'd probably volunteer to help them do it.

[jannieC]

Originally Posted by markolas

Pardon me if I don't get all choked up about this.

My grandmother and most of her siblings stayed doped up on Vicodin, Percocet, Percodan, Soma, Xanax, and god knows what else from the time they were in their 20s until they died in their 60s and 70s. In the meantime, they made life hell for the rest of us due to their addiction to pills, which they either got via doctor shopping, or procuring them from their friends.

As a child, I frequently witnessed my grandmother snarf down a handful of whatever muscle relaxer or pain reliever she managed to get her mittens on that day (usually washing them down with a fifth of Old Crow), and then staggering around in a stupor for three days. I remember coming home from school and attempting to strike up a conversation with her, only to discover the minute she tried to open her mouth that she was off in la-la land and had no ability to comprehend what I was saying. Frequently, she would choke on her food because she had just eaten a handful of muscle relaxers which apparently rendered the muscles in her throat useless so that she couldn't swallow.

Then there were the years of verbal, emotional, and physical abuse she inflicted on me and my brother, mostly when she was under the influence of alcohol and/or pills (usually both). Not to mention the effect she had on my mother, who is the worst co-dependent you will ever meet in your life. In my 20s, I realized it would be impossible to have a normal adult relationship with my mother with normal boundaries because of all of her issues (which were mostly the result of being "raised" - and I use that term loosely - by two alcoholic, drug-addicted parents, and an extended family composed of mostly alcoholics and drug addicts), and I had to cut off contact with her.

When she was 39, she overdosed and had a massive stroke. When she was 65, she overdosed again and a neighbor found her laying unconscious by the side of the road. Shortly after that, she began exhibiting symptoms of dementia - I guess all the pills and liquor had finally fried her brain. She's been in a nursing home for the last 8 or 9 years, and I couldn't care less.

Unless you have a diagnosed medical problem that has a name, and not just vague complaints of "backaches" or "headaches," you do not need to be on pain medication long-term. And I'm sorry, but I've had lots of dental work done, and have never been prescribed Vicodin (nor would it have occurred to me to ask for it) or any other narcotic pain reliever. That is ridiculous.

I have never known a single solitary soul who has taken these pills that wasn't addicted to them. The FDA can erect a giant toilet and flush the entire national supply of them for all I care - hell, I'd probably volunteer to help them do it.

Extremely heartbreaking and tragic story- I am really sorry you had to experience all of that. My husband is a recovering drug addict who started out on opiates, so I know firsthand how awful it can be.

I do disagree with your final statement, though. There are plenty of people who can take narcotic pain medicine and not become addicted. I have had two major back surgeries and most recently a collapsed lung and would have been in big trouble had I not had those meds. It is a tricky situation though, because people with chronic pain do so often become addicted and will do anything for more meds. There is no magic formula to figure out who will become addicted and who won't. And is it fair to deprive a non-addict a drug that could reduce severe pain? The alternative would be to keep folks in the hospital longer and then send them home with Tylenol. And we all know that would NEVER happen.

In response to vivfox's statement about his friends dying without these drugs : people who are withdrawing from narcotics will not die from the withdrawal, even though they may feel like they will. Folks who are withdrawing from alcohol or benzos (Valium, Xanax) definitely can (die).

[RoseGarden]

^^^Wow, 2 very powerful last posts. I am so sorry that anyone gets abused from people who have been addicted and having to be the victim of there out of control behavoir.
My point of view comes from looking at history. Mind altering drugs have been around forever. These particulars mentioned can be wiped out but that will only make people resort to making underground drugs / buy from out of the country or just use another form of pain relievers (liquor).

personally, degenerative disc disease is excrutiating. Dr's refuse to give me any narcotic . I am meaner than hell somedays from the pain. Slowly losing my mobility and in so much pain cannot even think straight---I do resort to my own conncotion of what it takes to sleep at night. My point being, pain is real. When it renders to the point where you cannot even move your leg or been faced that the disc in the neck could move a bit more and render a paraplegic state---I have to say yes---the known pain killers are a better choice than lying awake screaming inside while life passes you by...........................................(and don't even mention the USA health care system---it's disgusting. If I was on welfare I'd have the surgery )

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

Also, the panel's concerns were solely around the acetaminophen/paracetamol content in Vicodin and Percocet, and not the opiates themselves. Accordingly, pure opiate products (not containing acetaminophen/paracetamol) like Oxycontin are considered okay.

And, they're definitely ok with me, too!

Since I can't take NSAIDs due to chronic kidney disease, Norco (a stronger dosage of Vicodin--10/350 instead of 5/500) is what is keeping my back & feet relatively pain free.

Originally Posted by markolas

Unless you have a diagnosed medical problem that has a name, and not just vague complaints of "backaches" or "headaches," you do not need to be on pain medication long-term. And I'm sorry, but I've had lots of dental work done, and have never been prescribed Vicodin (nor would it have occurred to me to ask for it) or any other narcotic pain reliever. That is ridiculous.

I have never known a single solitary soul who has taken these pills that wasn't addicted to them. The FDA can erect a giant toilet and flush the entire national supply of them for all I care - hell, I'd probably volunteer to help them do it.

And, so because YOU don't need Vicodin or other narcotic painkillers, NO ONE does?? THAT is idiotic.

[SuzeQuze]

It's the liver failure due to acetaminaphin overdoses that is the issue. What I heard was the FDA was going to reduce the daily recommended dose. What was happening was people would take a drug like percoset with Tylenol not realizing this could lead to severe liver damage. The accidental acetaminiphone overdoses, which don't yield immediate symptoms, are the problem. I really think it would be idiotic to get rid of these drugs altogether.